AT&T Allegedly Provided Customer Data To Feds

A group that aims to protect electronic freedoms is suing a private telecommunications company in a class action lawsuit that claims the company gave the National Security Agency direct access to massive amounts of communications data.

"The government did not act alone – and is not acting alone," lawyers for the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in a complaint filed against AT&T Tuesday. "The government requires the collaboration of major telecommunications companies to implement its unprecedented and illegal spying program."

The suit claims that the NSA program is illegal, that AT&T serves many millions of customers contacting people in foreign countries through their long distance and Internet services and that it appears AT&T has been giving direct access to customers' personal and protected data at least since 2001.

The complaint, filed in the Northern District of California on behalf of an unknown number of customers nationwide and in the Sunshine State, alleges that the company's conduct violates several federal competition and privacy rules as well as First and Fourth Amendment rights.

EFF points to AT&T's databases, which it says handled more than 300 million voice calls and over 4,000 terabytes (million megabytes) of data, which is about 200 times the data contained in the entire Library of Congress. It cites media reports, including a Dec. 22 Los Angeles Times story indicating that the NSA has had and continues to have direct access to the database, a proprietary tool that AT&T researchers developed and named Daytona.It describes AT&T's communications facilities as one of the world's most advanced communications networks, spanning more than 50 countries. It also describes the company has being one of the largest long-distance, local and Internet providers in the United States. The complaint states that the company is also the largest broadband DSL provider in the United States.

It also points out that the company does business with the federal government on a regular basis and employs thousands of people with government security clearance.

It names several defendants who live in California and make frequent calls to foreign countries for professional and personal reasons.

AT&T has not yet responded to the suit, but the case is likely to hinge on whether the NSA and the White House violated laws requiring subpoenas for wiretapping and whether media reports about the spy program have been accurate.

Members of Congress, privacy advocates and civil liberties groups have come out against the program, saying it's illegal.

However, the administration and supporters believe there is ample legal basis for President Bush to authorize NSA wiretapping.John Eastman, professor of law at Chapman University is one of them. He specializes in constitutional law and legal history. He is one of many people stating that the Constitution was allows for a unitary presidency, one in which presidents have broad authority, especially when the nation is at war.

In an interview, Eastman said the Constitution was deliberately vague to allow such actions, that Abraham Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus and that telecommunications companies are mandated to cooperate with the investigations.

"They could say we're not going to comply and face criminal prosecution," he said. "During the days of the telegraph, if they got something across wire to know when invasion of Normandy was coming, they would let us know. I think they have to do that."

He also said the presidential role of military leader and the Patriot Act authorize the program, though congressional representatives have disputed those claims.

EFF outlines a series of claims by members of the Bush administration, alleging they admitted surveillance requires a court order, that no such orders were obtained and that the program continues.It states that EFF believes that NSA shift supervisors approve the targets of surveillance, eavesdrop on specific communications, try to determine patterns of interest and use powerful computers to scan the content of communications for particular names, numbers, words or phrases to identify people who may be directly, or indirectly, linked to law enforcement targets.

It claims AT&T has installed or helped install interception and tapping devices.

Congressional hearings into the matter have been scheduled for next week.