Bush-Era Warrantless Wiretapping Program on Trial Tomorrow in Seattle
By Keegan Hamilton
Tue., Aug. 30 2011 at 11:30 AM
Seattle Weekly
Big Brother really is watching you. And reading your e-mails. And tracking which websites you visit. According to the court testimony of a former AT&T technician, there is a secret room--the "SG-3 Room"--in the company's San Francisco offices that is occupied by the National Security Agency. All Internet traffic AT&T receives is filtered through high-powered NSA computers there, and the machines sort through the communications of "millions of ordinary Americans" searching for . . . something. Perhaps a terror plot, perhaps which library books you're checking out. No one is quite sure what they're after, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU are fighting an ongoing legal battle with the government and AT&T in attempt to establish some sort of accountability for the domestic spy program.
Two key appeals cases will be heard in Seattle federal court tomorrow. The first, Jewel v. NSA, was filed by the EFF in 2006, "on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records." The case also targets former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's former chief of staff David Addington, and former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales--the officials who authorized the NSA wiretapping.
The second case, Hepting v. AT&T, covers much the same ground. Also filed in 2006, the EFF is again suing on behalf of AT&T customers, alleging that the telecommunications company violated privacy laws "by collaborating with the NSA in the massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications."
(More here.)
Tue., Aug. 30 2011 at 11:30 AM
Seattle Weekly
Big Brother really is watching you. And reading your e-mails. And tracking which websites you visit. According to the court testimony of a former AT&T technician, there is a secret room--the "SG-3 Room"--in the company's San Francisco offices that is occupied by the National Security Agency. All Internet traffic AT&T receives is filtered through high-powered NSA computers there, and the machines sort through the communications of "millions of ordinary Americans" searching for . . . something. Perhaps a terror plot, perhaps which library books you're checking out. No one is quite sure what they're after, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU are fighting an ongoing legal battle with the government and AT&T in attempt to establish some sort of accountability for the domestic spy program.
Two key appeals cases will be heard in Seattle federal court tomorrow. The first, Jewel v. NSA, was filed by the EFF in 2006, "on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records." The case also targets former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's former chief of staff David Addington, and former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales--the officials who authorized the NSA wiretapping.
The second case, Hepting v. AT&T, covers much the same ground. Also filed in 2006, the EFF is again suing on behalf of AT&T customers, alleging that the telecommunications company violated privacy laws "by collaborating with the NSA in the massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications."
(More here.)
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