AT&T Collaborated With NSA to Invade Americans' Privacy, Suit Says

A purported class-action lawsuit against AT&T Corp. alleges the telecommunications giant has allowed the National Security Agency access to its facilities and databases for the purpose of spying on American citizens.

The purpose of the suit is to challenge the legality of AT&T's alleged participation in a "secret and illegal" government program to intercept and analyze Americans' telephone and Internet communications, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The plaintiffs are current or former subscribers of AT&T's telephone or Internet services.

Their complaint says AT&T has participated in the warrantless domestic surveillance effort by allowing the government direct access to its facilities and databases and by supplying the government with detailed communications records about millions of its customers.

The lawsuit was prompted by the revelation in December that the NSA has been conducting a domestic surveillance program since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the complaint says. The program does not require the government to get judicial warrants or seek court approval for any surveillance activities, according to news reports.

The program intercepts millions of communications made or received by Americans in what has been described as a large "data-mining" operation, the complaint says.

The government has accomplished this extensive data-mining operation through the cooperation of companies like AT&T that allow access to the communications transmitted through their facilities and cooperate with the government in installing devices to monitor wire or electronic messages, the plaintiffs say.

AT&T also allows the government access to the databases where stored telephone and Internet records are kept, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs allege violation of their rights under the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution based on the government's failure to get judicial authorization for invading what the plaintiffs say is a reasonable expectation of privacy in their communications and the records of those communications.

Because AT&T has been acting as an instrument or agent of the government in the activities described in the complaint, the company must be held liable for invading the class members' privacy and conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, the plaintiffs say.

AT&T has also violated federal laws prohibiting the interception of wire or electronic communications and has publicized, used or divulged those communications without authorization, the plaintiffs allege.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that AT&T's participation in the warrantless surveillance program is illegal and violates their constitutional rights and California state law.

They want the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting AT&T's future participation in the program and to levy statutory damages and punitive damages.