Further Invasion of Privacy

Any one know if this is true? If so, it is a very frightening development

It sounds unbelievable-but did you know that anyone can go online and purchase cell or home phone records of people like you?

Today, AMERICAblog was able to buy Gen. Wesley Clark's personal cell phone records with no problem. Phone companies and congressional leaders have known about this problem, but they've failed to address it.

Even at a time when our right to privacy is under attack on multiple fronts, the idea that someone can simply go online and buy another person's phone records seems beyond possibility-but it is true, and it must be stopped immediately.

Please sign this emergency petition to your congressional representatives today.

http://civic.moveon.org/phonerecords/?id=6637-1279812-KlDic5TBU2Y.__KmCxlAPg&t=2

The petition reads:

"Congress and phone companies have dealt a stunning blow to the privacy rights of everyday Americans by allowing cell and home phone records to be sold online to anyone. Congress must immediately pass a law that strictly prohibits these unauthorized sales, and begin enforcing this law now."

CBS Evening News plans to run a story on this issue tonight.1 With bipartisan uproar over the Bush administration's illegal wiretapping of American citizens and the Patriot Act's allowing of government spying into people's library records, concern over privacy has never been higher.

Those who sign our petition will be kept informed of the next steps that can be taken to pressure Congress into stopping the sale of unauthorized phone records-so please be sure to pass this petition to others who care about privacy issues.

The Chicago Sun-Times set off alarm bells on January 5 when it ran a story titled, "Your phone records are for sale." The article said:

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone-for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a psychologist-or a competing company...

Late last month, the department sent a warning to officers about [a company], which sells lists of calls made on cell phones and land lines.2

The Washington Post reported this six months ago and nothing's been done by the phone companies or Congress. A spokesperson for Cingular Wireless called the acquisition of call records "an infinitesimally small problem." A spokesperson for Verizon Wireless dismissively said, "There are probably 100 such sites"-as if they were nothing to worry about.3

But John Aravosis of AMERICAblog has recently taken the lead in exposing this outrage. Today, AMERICAblog was able to purchase the personal cell phone history of former presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. He writes:

AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95...All we needed was General Clark's cell phone number and our credit card, and 24 hours later we had one hundred calls the general made on his cell phone in November. The calls included a number of calls to Arkansas, to foreign countries, and at least one call to a prominent reporter at the Washington Post.4

In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced last week a series of state proposals to crackdown on the unauthorized release or sale of phone records, saying, "This is outrageous and will not be tolerated in Illinois." We need Congress to take the same attitude and pass strong federal legislation immediately.

There is no time to wait. Congress must act immediately and shut these sites down now.