On Sun, Nov 3, 2013 at 12:34 AM, Jim Bell <[1]jamesdbell8@yahoo.com>
   wrote:

   I predict that any proposed new bill will contain requirements that the
   phone co's record 'all' of the data the government might want, and keep
   it for an extended period of time. The government knows that if no such
   requirement is put into law, phone co's will compete for customers by
   offering ever-more-complete privacy. Soon enough, no phone company will
   store metadata, or they will store it in such a way that it will be
   useless for government purposes.

   I'm not so sure I trust the US-based phone companies. Even without
   government requirement, they'll need to track some customer data in
   order to keep their services running efficiently. They could anonymize
   the data, but that would be extra complication and expense as well as
   another possible foothold for the camel's nose to enter the tent (if
   you'll pardon a mangled metaphor).
   My house phone is VOIP, served by a company in the PRC. (My wife is
   Chinese and this service gives unlimited calls between the US and PRC.)
   The PRC is hardly a defender of individual liberty and privacy, but I
   don't especially care if the PRC keeps track of how often I call my
   mother and I'm not worried about the PRC sharing this data with the US
   government. This isn't a complete solution to the problem, but it's
   part of a solution.
   --
   Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet. -- Arnaud-Amaury, 1209

References

   1. mailto:jamesdbell8@yahoo.com