Government pays industry millions for surveillance

[OhioChick]

AP July 10, 2013 at 1:43 PM

WASHINGTON -- How much are your private conversations worth to the government? Turns out, it can be a lot, depending on the technology.

In the era of intense government surveillance and secret court orders, a murky multimillion-dollar market has emerged. Paid for by U.S. tax dollars, but with little public scrutiny, surveillance fees charged in secret by technology and phone companies can vary wildly.

AT&T, for example, imposes a $325 "activation fee" for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Smaller carriers Cricket and U.S. Cellular charge only about $250 per wiretap. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that, according to industry disclosures made last year to Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

Meanwhile, email records like those amassed by the National Security Agency through a program revealed by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden probably were collected for free or very cheaply. Facebook says it doesn't charge the government for access. And while Microsoft, Yahoo and Google won't say how much they charge, the American Civil Liberties Union found that email records can be turned over for as little as $25.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/07/government_pays_industry_milli.html#incart_river_default

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. And let me guess -- without reading the article -- these companies then

donate to the politicians to keep them in power.

[bunnies]

2. Facebook says it doesn't charge the government for access.

Why doesnt that surprise me?