Qwest Calls for Mandatory Data Retention Laws

In the wake of AOL's release of user search data, broadband company Qwest Communications is the lone provider strongly endorsing federal legislation requiring Internet providers to keep records of their customers' behavior.

"We support legislation," Jennifer Mardosz, Qwest's corporate counsel and chief privacy officer, said this week. "We want to be at the table. We want to have these discussions. The main thing is what's reasonable and balancing the interests of privacy and law enforcement." According to Mardosz, Qwest already keeps logs for more than 99 percent of its services for one year.

The endorsement is an unusual stand for Qwest, which defended its customers' privacy rights when requiring the National Security Agency to obtain a court order to conduct electronic surveillance, according to a USA Today article in May. Their enthusiastic support of mandatory data retention could make it politically easier for members of Congress to enact new laws even if other companies remain staunchly opposed.

Read more about Qwest's position and the propsed legislation in the CNETnews.com article Qwest calls for mandatory data retention laws.