Wireless Companies Ranked By How Much They Charge The NSA For Tapping Your Phone And Email
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Verizon has a nice little business going in wiretaps. It charges the federal government $775 to tap a customer's phone and then $500 a month after that to maintain it, making it the most expensive of the government's wireless service intelligence assets, according to the Associated Press.
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Here is how the companies named in the NSA's PRISM domestic surveillance scandal stack up against each other, as ranked by what they charge for intelligence requests:
- Phone taps
- Verizon: $775 startup fee then $500 per month
- AT&T: $325 "activation fee" and $10 a day afterward (~$310 per month)
- Cricket: ~$250 per wiretap
- U.S. Cellular: ~ $250 per wiretap
- Sprint: $30 per month
- Email access:
- Microsoft, Yahoo and Google: ~$25 per account
This is a real business, by the way. The AP says AT&T collected $24 million in government fees between 2007 and 2011. Verizon collects $3-5 million.
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