WHAT YOUR PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS COST

It turns out your private conversations can be worth a lot of money, said Anne Flaherty in the Associated Press. “In the era of intense government surveillance and secret court orders,” technology and phone companies are raking in millions in U.S. tax dollars by collecting hefty fees from the government for its secret surveillance activities. AT&T, for example, charges the government a $325 “activation fee” for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Tapping a Verizon customer costs Uncle Sam considerably more—$775 for the first month and $500 for each month thereafter. But emails and Internet records come more cheaply. Facebook says it doesn’t charge a dime, “and while Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google won’t say how much they charge, the American Civil Liberties Union found that email records can be turned over for as little as $25.”