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 New York-based Verizon, the second-largest U.S. telephone company by
revenue, unveiled its move on Thursday following pressure from
activist investors concerned about the extent of network operators'
roles in systematic government surveillance.
"Like Verizon recently announced, we intend to publish a semi-annual
online report that will provide information on the number of law
enforcement requests for customer information that our company
receives in the countries in which we do business," AT&T said in a
statement on Friday.
Investors, including Boston's Trillium Asset Management and the New
York State Common Retirement Fund, publicly pushed Verizon and AT&T
last month to disclose details on their sharing of customer
information with government agencies.
The carriers' moves come days after a White House-appointed panel
proposed curbs on various U.S. National Security Agency operations,
including a halt to bulk collection of phone call records.
The shift by carriers toward greater disclosure followed similar
initiatives from tech companies such as Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, in
the wake of revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that
highlighted close ties between spy agencies and technology firms.
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Silicon Valley, worried about a customer backlash, has called for
greater transparency around U.S. government requests for user
information. Until now, telephone companies like Verizon had been
much less outspoken than their technology and Internet counterparts.
AT&T said it intends to start next year by disclosing the total
number of requests received in 2013 in criminal cases, the number of
customers affected and details about legal demands.
(Reporting by Edwin Chan; editing by Jan
Paschal)
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