EFF Sues AT&T Over Cooperation With NSA

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit against AT&T for allegedly cooperating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in eavesdropping on individuals without a warrant. President Bush ordered the wiretaps following the terrorist attacks of 2001 and has vigorously defended them, saying the Constitution and Congressional resolutions allow them. Civil liberties groups and others reject that, saying that the wiretaps violate existing laws on surveillance. The EFF said it identified AT&T as one company involved in the activities and has filed suit “to stop this invasion of privacy, prevent it from occurring again, and make sure AT&T and all the other carriers understand there are going to be legal and economic consequences when they fail to follow the law.” The EFF alleges that AT&T provided the NSA with access to its network, which carries both voice and data, and to its vast databases that store information on phone calls and Internet activity.

AT&T refused to comment on the litigation.

Yahoo, 31 January 2006