    





    TRE PRIV6rE E6R
    
    It has recently come to our attention that a new device f~or invadlng your
    prlvacy is an the market. Called the Telecommand, thls de~lce ls only an
    extension of what was forrnerly available to law enf~orcement officers. The
    Telecommand attaches to your phone internally, and whenever they want to
    bug your pad, they Just call up and send a tone loto thelr phone before
    they dial the last digit of your nwnber. This automatically plCka up your
    phone bef~ore it rings. Nc~w your phone, whlch looks llke itB JUBt Blttin~
    there hung up, is rea lly 11 ve and listenlng to everythin~ goln'g on wlthin
    earehot . When he's heard enaugh, he simply hanc,s up and your phone ie
    back to normal.
    Recently, Screw magazlne revealed that Nassau C~unty D.A. Cahn had purchased
    several thausands of dollars worth of surYeillance equtptment, including the
    te lecommand . And this will probably be f.ollowed by police departnents all
    aver the c~untry.
    I don't think I have to explain in detall Just h~w fucked up lt is f~r a D.A.
    to eaveadrop ~n the c~unty he 1s supposed to be servin,~. ~t ' ~ worse, the
    equiptment is pald for by c~unty taxes, 'Just as Federal taxes pay for the
    F.B.I. 's versions of the same shit.
    It should be realized, h~wever, that the Telecommand is anly a remote-contro1
    extension of what the Telephone Company has been using for years. Previc~'y,
    the police or F.B.I. had to listen from inside the Telephone Cornpany ut.~ln3.
    Now they can listen from the pay bo~th across the street. The results are
    fri~htenin=. They can wait for ,just the rl~ht m~ment t ~ break d~wn the do~r
    and c~tch you sm~kin~ pot, for example.
    It i~ be lieved, furtherrnore, tbat c omputertzed networks for tapping are beinO
    set up across the c~un`. . Thie would mean J. Ed,ar himeelf could strnply
    dial out your number form his office and the tap would autornatically be act-
    ivated .
    And ~f you don't think that they have the capabllity to monltor thousands of
    pe~ple at the same t~me, ,Just remernber that in a wh~le year, your cu;nuLative
    tatal of phvne time is probably anly a few hours. Tapes stored for [uture
    reference couLd be quick~y scanned for lncrtminatina statemente.
    Clicks are anly a sign of an amateur tap. Do not ever assume that your phone
    is safe, even for a m~ment .
    
    And if you dontt believe it-
    
    Arthur S. BrewQter is division security superv sor for the Southwestern Be ll
    Teleohone Company, assi ,ned to .the Kansas City offlce. He is a lawyer and
    since 1ø50 has had the responsitility, a~on~ other thin,~) of assurin., pri-
    vacy of the hundrebs of thousands of subsccibers -to the company's service.
    Brewster'~ relationship with the FBI was a close ~ne; when the Lon~, commit-
    tee subpoenaed hlm to testify, he notified the FBI's Kansas City office.
    
    Senator Lon_: Do your employees ever =o with the FBI men when they were
    ,u ised a s te leph^ne emp I~yee s ?
    
    ;Ir. Brewster: I will ,~ut it thiC way. I tnin.c ti~ere were some bure.au
    men -~ho went with the te lephone c^mpany oe~ple. The~i hac3 on old cl~thes
    and those thln-;s....
    
    Senator E'_n-r; I)o yOu do this f_r prlvate detect ives ?
    
    ,1r. Brewster: ;i~, sir.
    
    Senator Lon ;: ',hy not ~
    
    It ~ s a ~,ubl Ec serv ice .
    
    Mr. Brewster: I would hsve t_ t;ave a lot of. exp Lanat lon....
    
    " I should like to ask the Senator from Utah wLether the te lephone company
    has of~fered him the kind of. proposal that it has offered me ?
    
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