AT&T is now the defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The suit stems from revelations that President Bush has authorized warrantless wiretap surveillance of American citizens, apparently in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
According to the EFF:
This surveillance program, purportedly authorized by the President at least as early as 2001 and primarily undertaken by the NSA, intercepts and analyzes the communications of millions of ordinary Americans.
In the largest “fishing expedition” ever devised, the NSA uses powerful computers to “data-mine” the contents of these Internet and telephone communications for suspicious names, numbers, and words, and to analyze traffic data indicating who is calling and emailing whom in order to identify persons who may be “linked” to “suspicious activities,” suspected terrorists or other investigatory targets, whether directly or indirectly.
The EFF further explains its lawsuit against AT&T by stating that the government is not acting alone, but rather its surveillance of American citizens required the collaboration of major telecommunications companies, including AT&T (formerly known as SBC Communications).
The lawsuit alleges that AT&T Corp. has opened its key telecommunications facilities and databases to direct access by the NSA and/or other government agencies, thereby disclosing to the government the contents of its customers’ communications as well as detailed communications records about millions of its customers, including the lawsuit’s class members.
The lawsuit also alleges that AT&T has given the government unfettered access to its over 300 terabyte “Daytona” database of caller information — one of the largest databases in the world. Moreover, by opening its network and databases to wholesale surveillance by the NSA, EFF alleges that AT&T has violated the privacy of its customers and the people they call and email, as well as broken longstanding communications privacy laws.
Should be interesting to watch.
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