Top > Business > 2006 > February > 2006-02-05

Phone Taps and Big Brother

The whole world is worried about conspiracy theories and big brother watching over them. However, crazy this may seem, with recent terror threats in the US and post-9/11, having your conversations tapped isn`t so extreme. There are many groups who feel that this infringes on their basic civil rights and hope to do something to change things. A civil liberties group sued AT&T on Tuesday, accusing the company of aiding in the U.S. government`s secret spying on Americans` telephone and Internet communications without warrants.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, seeks to stop the surveillance program that started shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks. It also seeks billions of dollars in damages. The National Security Agency program, carried out without court authorization, was revealed in December. The Bush administration has contended that the program is within its executive authority. The lawsuit contends that the New York-based telecommunications company`s alleged help to the National Security Agency violates the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches as well as several federal and state laws.

The lawsuit seeks to be certified as a class action lawsuit on behalf of all present and former customers who have used AT&T`s telephone or Internet services since September 2001. In its lawsuit, the EFF claims AT&T violated U.S. law and the privacy of its customers as part of the "massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans` communications". The group said it identified AT&T through news reports and its own investigation. The lawsuit names both AT&T Inc. and its predecessor, AT&T Corp. Last year, SBC Communications Inc. purchased AT&T Corp. and renamed itself AT&T Inc.