Wired News has published internal AT&T documents that, according to a former AT&T technician, provide evidence of the company's involvement in illegal government surveillance.
The documents are now being used as evidence in a class-action lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which alleges that the company illegally turned over vast numbers of phone records to the National Security Agency (NSA), and connected its Internet backbone to NSA surveillance equipment.
AT&T attempted to recover and suppress the documents, but was denied by a U.S. district judge. However, the judge turned town the EFF's request that the documents be unsealed in court records, and ordered that the EFF not share them with anyone.
Meanwhile, the government formally asked that the EFF's case be thrown out for "security reasons," and a motion has been scheduled.
Wired News has also published a commentary on why your privacy is incredibly valuable: rather than being about hiding a wrong, as some suggest, it's an inherent human right that protects us from abuses by those in power.
Wired News May 22, 2006
Wired News May 18, 2006
Wired News May 17, 2006
