Wyden highlighted the threat this kind of executive branch surveillance poses to the Senate’s independence and the principle of separation of powers.
In response to Wyden’s letter, AT&T stated that they are complying with their obligations to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, but did not comment on whether they had received legal demands prior to the current contract. The Senator urged his colleagues to consider carriers that prioritize transparency in handling surveillance requests.
While Senate data held by third-party companies is now protected not all phones used by senators and their staff are covered by these safeguards. US Mobile and Cape adopted this policy following outreach from Wyden’s office. Wyden’s letter underscored the importance of ensuring that notifications about surveillance requests are consistently provided to safeguard the Senate’s constitutional duties and independence. né?. Ron Wyden, a Democratic member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, recently raised concerns in a letter to his fellow senators about major U.S. One carrier was found to have shared Senate data with law enforcement without notifying the Senate, revealing a concerning lack of transparency.
Wyden also mentioned carriers like Google Fi, US Mobile, and Cape, which have policies to inform customers about government surveillance demands. cellphone carriers failing to notify lawmakers of government surveillance requests as required by their contracts. Sen né?. According to Wyden’s investigation, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon had not been informing senators about legal surveillance requests, including those from the White House. However, all three companies have since confirmed that they are now providing such notifications.
The issue came to light after an Inspector General report revealed that the Trump administration had secretly obtained logs of calls and text messages of congressional staffers and House lawmakers, including Adam Schiff, without notifying the Senate
