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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31 — The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization, filed a class-action suit against AT&T on Tuesday in federal court here, saying the company was violating the law and customers' privacy in cooperating with the National Security Agency on computerized surveillance.
The program has been in the news for more than a month after news reports that President Bush authorized the N.S.A. to intercept international telephone and Internet communications of people in the United States without court authorization. A spokeswoman for AT&T said it would not comment on questions involving national security or privacy.
In its suit, the foundation says the company has allowed the agency direct access to phone calls and Internet data moving over its network, as well as access to a vast database of call records.
"AT&T is breaking the law and invading the privacy of its customers," said Kevin Bankston, a staff lawyer for the foundation here.
Mr. Bankston said the group was not at liberty to say how it knew that the company and the spy agency were cooperating, but said it was confident that there was an illegal relationship.
AT&T has described its development of a vast data warehouse, including the Daytona system and databases like Hawkeye and Scamp, as a tool for market research and fraud detection. The company has stated that information from the databases is made available for warranted law enforcement inquiries.
I'm switching phone companies...
The program has been in the news for more than a month after news reports that President Bush authorized the N.S.A. to intercept international telephone and Internet communications of people in the United States without court authorization. A spokeswoman for AT&T said it would not comment on questions involving national security or privacy.
In its suit, the foundation says the company has allowed the agency direct access to phone calls and Internet data moving over its network, as well as access to a vast database of call records.
"AT&T is breaking the law and invading the privacy of its customers," said Kevin Bankston, a staff lawyer for the foundation here.
Mr. Bankston said the group was not at liberty to say how it knew that the company and the spy agency were cooperating, but said it was confident that there was an illegal relationship.
AT&T has described its development of a vast data warehouse, including the Daytona system and databases like Hawkeye and Scamp, as a tool for market research and fraud detection. The company has stated that information from the databases is made available for warranted law enforcement inquiries.
I'm switching phone companies...