Another Household Device Spies on You

Paranoid conspiracy theory of the week: In regard to the recent decision to allow the phone company to sell "your name, who you call, and for how long you talk", 'jv42' posts the following on Slashdot:

This means that now all any government agency needs to do is set up a dummy corporation that's an "affiliate", and my phone company will give them unlimited access to all the data about me... Ya gotta admit, it's a neat end run around the laws that restrict government surveillance.

This surprises even cynical old me. This is insane.

Question: Just how low is the bar for being "an affiliate", I wonder? If I was dedicated, could I get there and buy my neighbor's records for my personal perusal? Probably.