By Nicole Ozer, Technology & Civil Liberties Policy Director, ACLU of Northern California

We are very pleased that following our shareholder proposal, Verizon released its first transparency report today. We applaud Verizon for finally making it clear how much information is being demanded by the United States government without a warrant, including location information, and for also pushing for even greater transparency. While this transparency report does not provide a full picture to the public about government and civil demands for information, it is rich with information that is essential for citizens around the world to know. Verizon took an important step in the right direction today.

UPDATE: AT&T announced today that it will also release a transparency report! We are very pleased that both AT&T and Verizon are finally going to break their silence. We all deserve to know when and why our personal information is being handed over to the government and it was time for these companies to release transparency reports. We will be carefully reviewing the information that the two companies intend to include in their transparency reports and work to ensure that forthcoming reports provide the transparency expected by shareholders and customers.