Want to DO Something About Telephone Spying?

Then file a complaint. For real. Ask your phone company about its cooperation with the FSA, then report its response -- and your own attitude toward telephone snooping -- to your state utility regulator and/or the FCC. That's the recommendation from the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing the FCC and filing complaints with state officials. In Pennsylvania, the filing is on behalf of individuals and organizations concerned with protecting the confidentiality of phone calls, such as to domestic-abuse shelters and mental-health hotlines, to business clients, to anyone..

In addition to the ACLU of Pennsylvania, actions were filed today by ACLU affiliates in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Other ACLU affiliates are expected to file additional letters and complaints in the coming weeks..

Disclosure time: I'm on the board of an ACLU chapter, and am not at all neutral about government intrusion into personal privacy.

My fellow Pennsylvanians can file a complaint with the Pa. Utility Commission here (you'll need to print it and send it snail mail) or call 1-800-782-1110. Anyone, ACLU member or not, can add his or her voice to the ACLU's petition to the FCC here.