AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile Also Failed to Warn Senators About Government Surveillance on Senate-Issued Devices
Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) warned that major phone companies allow the government and law enforcement to access customer communications and data without notifying them. Wyden also revealed that AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile failed to create systems warning senators that the government was surveilling Senate-issued devices. Demand Progress has previously spoken out against government efforts to spy on lawmakers and has long opposed warrantless government surveillance.
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka:
“We now know that Comcast, Verizon, T-Mobile and other phone companies have followed AT&T’s unprecedented efforts to facilitate secret government surveillance of their own customers, with some even allowing the government to secretly spy on senators. This is a bright, red warning sign at a time when the Trump administration keeps blowing past constitutional checks on executive power and is siccing the Justice Department on elected lawmakers. These companies should be shamed and ashamed until they fix this.”