Yep ... Looks Like Verizon Is Airing ALL Your Business

In another story that I'm sure is going to leave my favorite conspiracy theorist friend going "toldja", it looks like Verizon has admitted to releasing tens of thousands of communication and business records relating to customers based on emergency requests from state and local law enforcement agencies without a court order or administrative subpoena.

Oh, fantastic.

And this is after I have told everyone how much everyone I know on Verizon wireless just loooooooooves the great signal coverage they get on Verizon.

Then there's the matter of our favorite "alternatively employed" blogger who seems to be getting all kinds of use out of Verizon's fiber optic service within a stone's throw of our nation's capital.

Now, it does look like some of the information requested WAS clearly of IMPORT - coughing up the IP of a child predator who had abducted a 13-year-old girl leading to his capture, and helping to track down a webcam being used to broadcast a six year old being sexually abused.

Yes, these are worthy endeavors of course, but someone better set up some sort Emergency Room of the judicial system so that these agencies can get in a request 24/7 with SOME modicum of checks and balances still in place.

Of course no one has a problem with a communications company coughing up information leading to the capture of a child sexual predator, but, if all it takes is one phone call to cough up this information, yes, someone COULD extract the top-secret Sun workstation configuration video from my conspiracist friend and we can't have THAT now, can we?

But, seriously ... this is some scary stuff. Obviously there are legitimate needs to obtain this information in a hurry, and obviously there ought to be more legit ways of going about allowing law enforcement access to this information ...