Wednesday, February 1, 2006

EFF Sues AT&T Over Illegal Wiretapping

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit against AT&T yesterday, over what it says is the company's collaboration with the National Security Agency (NSA) to illegally wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications. The EFF, which is known for its legal activity in the civil liberties area, said that AT&T had vioalted the law and privacy of its customers by collaborating with the NSA. The EFF charges that telecom companies, and specifically AT&T, has given the NSA direct access to their vast database of communications records, including information on both phone and email contacts. The EFF is alleging that AT&T has given the government full access to a 300 terabyte database, "Daytona" which collects information and callers. The NSA spying program came to light in December in a story by the New York Times.