Thursday, 4:30 PM
Four Massachusetts mayors join ACLU challenge to sharing of phone records
By Kathleen Burge
Globe Staff
Four Massachusetts mayors announced today that they are requesting public hearings with the state agency that oversees telephone companies, part of an American Civil Liberties Union campaign to demand whether the country's largest security agency has access to private phone records.
"We've gone from, 'Can you hear me now?' to 'Who can hear me now?'" said Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, one of the four mayors requesting the hearings.
The ACLU launched its campaign today to probe whether telecommunications companies are illegally sharing customer information about calls and email with the National Security Agency. The ACLU requested that the Federal Communications Commission and 17 state public utilities commissions take action.
Massachusetts will play a prominent role in the campaign because state law allows mayors to demand public hearings with the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy. The mayors of four cities -- Newton, Somerville, Northampton, and Chicopee -- are requesting public hearings with the department to question whether the companies violated the law.
