Verizon Ethics Line: 800-856-1885

stealing this from a Daily Kos diary

The Verizon website says:
"Verizon was one of the first large employers to create an ethics office headed by an executive responsible for compliance. Our comprehensive Code of Business Conduct... has become a model for other companies. We train and certify our employees on their understanding of the code, and the code is available online for reference.

Because the code cannot address every situation that might arise, we also operate a confidential VZ Ethics Line (800 856-1885 or 800 968-4586 TTY and 800 488-7900 for Verizon Wireless) that employees, suppliers and the public can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ask questions, seek clarification or report alleged misconduct or violations of our code."

I called their Ethics Line, which is staffed by a 3rd-party ethics investigation firm called Global Compliance. I was impressed by how they handled my complaint.

"Rudi" was respectful, took all my information, and took down my questions word-for-word (along the lines of: Did Verizon sell my private information to NSA as reported in USA Today? Did they do so without a warrant? Why did they not notify me that they had done so? Did they violate the law in doing so?) and took the whole matter very seriously. She asked for the name of the USA Today reporter, the date of the article, and was professional about the whole thing. I also got a sense that she gathered the gravity of my complaint.

So if you call, this is what you can expect. At least Verizon bothered to hire this outside firm to take ethical complaints. I suggest we make use of the service. Have your facts on hand and be concise. The people answering the phone aren't Verizon--but every complaint gets logged with a ID number and Verizon will have to decide how to deal with each one. That number again: 800-856-1885.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/11/195228/425

I'm calling as soon as my wife hangs up.

Were they nice? Did they ask more about it? Thanks for calling them.

My cellphone service is Verizon, and I'd sure like to know if my info has been turned over.

called as a potential customer. The rep I talked with was really nice, said she was wondering wtf also, "so Big Brother IS watching" were her words.

Flood them with complaints.

They're actually in jeopardy of being sued over this.

about it.

already.

this is their press release
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/newsroom/releases/pReleases.asp?ObjID=K2B9ukn3e6&Content=764

of the century.

they will drop Bush like the stinkin' turd that he is.
Bush and the Republicans are VERY BAD for business these days.
And I'm very curious how the Telco stocks will perform tomorrow.
There's a seismic shift among consumers who won't put up with
any of this nonsense. The Telcos are gonna bleed customers unless
they end these illegal privacy intrusions NOW.

Perhaps a smart marketer will have the sense to
GUARANTEE their customer's RIGHTS. Seems that Qwest is
already benefitting from being on the right side of this issue.
The coming weeks are gonna be fascinating. Indeed.

Once the woman I talked to quit giggling (we both giggled when I got out what I was calling about, think she doesn't think much of bushite, said "so Big Brother IS watching"), we got on with it. I got a report #, a PIN # and an estimated date of response (June 6). If they don't get back to me by then, please call them back. Thank you very much for giving us these phone numbers. She said she had heard bits on the news and wanted to know more about it, by the way.

Their reply:
Dear spuddonna,

Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter. My name is xxx, and I will be handling your request today.

This message is in response to your email dated May 11, 2006. You inquired about the NSA article on Verizon. I understand your concerns with your records and will be happy to assist you.

We appreciate that the USA Today article and other reports about the possibility that the NSA is able to analyze local call data records is causing concern. Please be assured that Verizon places the highest value on protecting the privacy of our customers.

Anything to do with the NSA is of course highly classified, so we can not comment on whether or not the news article causing concern is even accurate. But we can say that, to the extent that we cooperate with government authorities, we are confident that we are complying with all applicable statutes. We appreciate the continuing opportunity to provide you with service.

Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
xxx
Verizon eCenter
---
So I sent this back to them:
In your previous letter concerning my dismay at the NSA/Verizon database, your representative xxx wrote:

"Anything to do with the NSA is of course highly classified, so we can not comment on whether or not the news article causing concern is even accurate. But we can say that, to the extent that we cooperate with government authorities, we are confident that we are complying with all applicable statutes. We appreciate the continuing opportunity to provide you with service."

Could you please cite what statutes cover these unauthorized intrusions to my privacy? My understanding is that "under Section 222 of the Communications Act, first passed in 1934, telephone companies are prohibited from giving out information regarding their customers' calling habits: whom a person calls, how often and what routes those calls take to reach their final destination. Inbound calls, as well as wireless calls, also are covered." Unless there is a warrant from a court, I can see no statute that covers this.

Also, you have not addressed my question - what information of mine have you released to the federal government without written or verbal permission from me? I understand that you cannot comment as to what the NSA is doing with this data. But you should be able to address what your company has done with my data.

Show me the warrant and none of this "we are complying with statutes" business.

You called them on their bs.

:yourock:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1163703&mesg_id=1163703
But I literally just found it...

If we do another round of 'they say nothing' back, I may hit them with another one using some of that info...