It could be a while, though possibly never, before we learn whether large telecom companies worked hand-in-glove with the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on phone conversations and collect phone-call records in the name of fighting terrorism. Two telephone companies reported to be cooperating with NSA-BellSouth Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc.-issued strongly worded denials last week, though Verizon said it could not confirm or deny whether it has any relationship to the NSA surveillance program. It all has a Catch-22 flavor to it, indeed.
Some mobile-phone carriers disavowed any relationship to NSA, while others were silent. Stories filled newspapers and cyberspace. A House lawmaker and a Federal Communications Commission member called for an investigation. Lawsuits were filed. The NSA conveniently gave briefings to House and Senate intelligence committee members. All this before Michael Hayden, President Bush’s pick to head the CIA and the former NSA director who oversaw the launch of the anti-terrorist surveillance project, had even fielded a single question at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Is the NSA program legal? It is effective? What are the risks? Who knows? We just don’t know what we don’t know.
We do know a little something about the REAL ID Act, a measure attached a year ago to must-pass spending legislation for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and tsunami relief. The REAL ID Act had trouble getting passed as a stand-alone bill. That could be because detractors view the REAL ID Act as a blueprint for creating a de facto national ID card and a colossal national database perhaps far more pernicious than anything NSA is doing with telecom companies.
The REAL ID Act establishes minimum standards for state issuance of drivers’ licenses and identification cards, accommodating one of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The idea is to make it harder for terrorists and illegal immigrants to enter the United States and seamlessly blend in with the rest of us. Drivers’ licenses must be machine-readable, creating a potential boon for radio frequency identification technology. Before entering an airplane, a federal building and other venues, an individual will be required to produce the REAL ID-based card. In other words, you literally won’t be able to leave home without it.
Democrats and Republicans alike have voiced concerns about the REAL ID Act, which goes into effect in 2008. But cities and states will feel the real pinch. Whatever federal dollars filter down will not be enough to cover the cost of implementation. Some call it an unfunded mandate. Obtaining a driver’s license could get much more expensive for law-abiding citizens. “This system also carries the potential unintended consequence of establishing a `gold standard’ for fraudulent activity,” Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) wrote in his state’s Union Leader newspaper. “A fraudulently obtained `national license’ could open doors for terrorists in situations that previously might have required supporting or secondary documentation or identification.”
And we all thought the sky was falling when we learned of cell-phone-record pretexting and NSA phone-record data mining. What will it be this week?
