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AT&T A Conduit In U.S. Wiretapping? |
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Friday, 03 February 2006 |
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Seems like tap, tap, tap... even in Bush country... The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - a group which protects electronic freedoms is suing AT&T in a class action lawsuit, alleging that the telecom giant gave the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to huge amounts of private information related to its customers.
Techtree News Staff Feb 03 2006
EFF claims that the US government did not act alone and is not acting alone, and that it requires the collaboration of major telecom companies such as AT&T to implement its illegal "spying program". The suit claims that the NSA program is illegal, and that AT&T which serves millions of customers through its long distance and Internet services has actually been giving NSA direct access to customers' personal and protected data, almost since 2001. Filed in the Northern District of California, on behalf of an unknown number of customers within the state and across the nation, the complaint says that AT&T's conduct violates several federal competition and privacy rules as also the 1st and 4th Amendment rights. EFF says that AT&T handled over 300 million voice calls and more than 4,000 terabytes of data, citing media reports including an earlier case which suggests that the NSA has had and continues to have direct access to AT&T's database. While AT&T has not as yet responded to the lawsuit, the case is likely to hinge on whether the NSA and the White House violated laws which require subpoenas for wiretapping, and whether media reports about the alleged spying program are accurate. Meanwhile members of Congress, privacy advocates and civil liberties groups have come out openly against the program, saying it's illegal. Congressional hearings into the matter have been scheduled for next week. www.TechTree.com |
