Qwest Resists Surveillance Efforts to Widespread Praise

Long before Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA’s vast spying network, Qwest resisted the NSA’s request for telephone records and received a significant amount of positive media coverage as a result. Qwest was hailed as “a gleaming political touchstone and a beacon of consumer protection” and many users switched to Qwest purely because of its principled stand against government surveillance. The Associated Press declared that Qwest was “squarely on the side of the little guy,” and bloggers created online buttons reading “Qwest: N.S.A.-Free. Who are you with?” In assessing the effects of Qwest’s pro-user move, the New York Times observed that “[c]ompanies can’t buy that kind of buzz.”