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EFF Shows How AT&T's Network is Fused to the NSA

For years it has been abundantly clear that the line between AT&T and the US intelligence services is blurry at best. AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein showed us how the telco effectively uses fiber splits to clone and potentially deliver every shred of data that touches the AT&T network to the NSA. Subsequent reports have indicated that the AT&T has volunteered its employees to work as intelligent analysts, even giving the government advice on how best to skirt around privacy and wiretap laws.

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Edward Snowden documents again confirmed all of this back in August.

The EFF, which has been at the forefront of fighting the government's often mindless surveillance power expansion in the courts, has posted an amazing breakdown of some of the revelations made in the last decade of court battles.

The latest NSA docs confirm what Klein claimed all along. AT&T's peering traffic is copied by splitters on its way to the common backbone, enabling initial on-site searching and analysis of the traffic, before it's transmitted to a central processing facility for further analysis. AT&T is, by all accounts, a giant NSA-contracted intelligence gathering apparatus.

If you'll recall, Klein's claims that this was happening were largely ignored by the technology media at the time, given most still believed this kind of deep-rooted surveillance was tin-foil hat territory. Meanwhile, the EFF's Jewel v. NSA case was thrown out earlier this year because the government continues to pretend this publicly-revealed data remains a state secret.

"There are limits to the government’s ability to play ostrich—to stick its head in the ground and pretend like the world does not already know that AT&T is facilitating its Internet surveillance program," notes the EFF, which is appealing the district court's dismissal of the case.

"It’s time for the government to come clean about its collaboration with AT&T, and it’s time for the public, adversarial courts to decide the constitutionality of the NSA’s surveillance program," said the group.

Most recommended from 37 comments


pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

11 recommendations

pandora

Premium Member

We are slowly devolving into a dictatorship

Our private expressions are now routinely monitored by government and corporations. Often without our full understanding of how they do this, and without any reasonable method to opt out. We are losing liberty, but don't seem to care. In 1984 an imagined totalitarian government oppressed the people, today we purchase TV sets with integrated video to pay companies and government to spy on us.
shmerl
join:2013-10-21

7 recommendations

shmerl

Member

What about other ISPs?

I doubt AT&T is the only one doing this.

fiosultimate
join:2014-06-09
San Antonio, TX

7 recommendations

fiosultimate

Member

Surrender

Embrace it,there is no escape ,only the illusion of one

Modus
I hate smartassery on forums
Premium Member
join:2005-05-02
us

5 recommendations

Modus

Premium Member

Acquisitions allowed

This would be the reason that at&t has been allowed to swallow up all the other telco's. If they only have a few main sources (at&t, verizon, etc.) then it would be easier to hover up traffic
Roadkill
Premium Member
join:2008-06-17
united state

2 recommendations

Roadkill

Premium Member

Privacy

The first time I installed a 33/3 modem in a computer I was impressed by the internet. Such a thing also invited anyone that could to invade my computer and telephone. We were led to believe wire taps, back in the day, were only used to convict the most grievous of criminals. The internet grew and so did the methods to connect to the internet. I now assume if a thought or idea is spoken to someone; your privacy is compromised. Watching the lights on my modem blinking away spawned the idea I had lost my privacy. Never, ever assume you have privacy once you write or speak anything.
DSL154
join:2015-08-25

2 recommendations

DSL154

Member

They will reap what they soe.

Disgusting!