Perkins Coie Partner Al Gidari was quoted Monday in a story focusing on NeuStar, a company that runs a digital directory for telephone companies. The story explains how the FBI sought access a few years ago to one of NeuStar's databases that "contained 310 million phone numbers in the United States and Canada." The request was denied, but NeuStar set up a site where law enforcement officials with court orders can obtain information on telephone numbers.
Gidari explained that other major telecom entities - "billing vendors, 911 emergency service providers, and call center operators" - also have databases that the government may want to access. "There are no clear procedures regulating that access as there are for phone companies," he said. "That's a danger."
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