State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn, has launched an inquiry into the federal government's efforts to obtain subscriber and customer information from telecommunications companies, technology platforms and financial services providers, saying he wants to determine whether New Yorkers' data has been sought through administrative demands that bypass judicial review.
 

In letters obtained by the New York Law Journal, Myrie is seeking information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well as companies including Meta, X, Reddit, Google, PayPal, Venmo, AT&T and T-Mobile about requests for customer information, company responses to those requests and policies governing user notification.

In an interview, Myrie said he was prompted to act after reading news reports and court filings involving DHS efforts to obtain information through administrative summonses and subpoenas that, unlike warrants, do not require prior judicial
approval.

"I was particularly alarmed when I saw some reporting and some case filings about summonses and subpoenas that were being issued that would not require judicial review," Myrie said in an interview. "That at least on its face appears to be an attempt to circumvent judicial review for getting private information."

The Brooklyn Democrat said he is attempting to determine whether federal authorities have sought information regarding New Yorkers and whether private companies complied with those requests.