FBI: You Might Sue Your Carrier If You Knew What They Were Doing Agency's Top Concern Isn't You, It's AT&T's Wallet The AT&T T-Mobile deal will likely be approved by regulators not only because is AT&T a powerful lobbying force, but because they're also now bone-grafted to the nation's surveillance apparatus. AT&T funnels all voice and data wholesale to the NSA, and helps the FBI not only with domestic spying, but has gone so far as to advise the FBI on ways to wiggle around privacy laws. With that lovely backdrop in mind, quote: "Specifically, these businesses would be substantially harmed if their customers knew that they were furnishing information to the FBI. The stigma of working with the FBI would cause customers to cancel the companies' services and file civil actions to prevent further disclosure of subscriber info." As Techdirt notes, "a company could get sued" is a pretty flimsy excuse for the FBI, NSA and AT&T's recent trampling of privacy law, and it's amusing the concern for company pocketbooks trumps concerns over either transparency or adherence to law. Still, it's par for the course for a government that consistently wiggles around or ignores the law -- and/or changes the law when it suits either the government -- With that lovely backdrop in mind, Techdirt directs our attention to some recent comments by the FBI, where they argue that the public should not know about companies that are helping the feds with warrantless wiretapping -- because they might sue about their rights being violated. Says the FBI in some freshly obtained FOIA documents:As Techdirt notes, "a company could get sued" is a pretty flimsy excuse for the FBI, NSA and AT&T's recent trampling of privacy law, and it's amusing the concern for company pocketbooks trumps concerns over either transparency or adherence to law. Still, it's par for the course for a government that consistently wiggles around or ignores the law -- and/or changes the law when it suits either the government -- or AT&T and Verizon







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Rob

Premium Member

join:2001-08-25

Miami, FL 2 recommendations Rob Premium Member Silly FBI.. We can't sue our carrier.. we can only go to arbitration and hope that the arbitrator isn't appointed by the carrier (ha) and that we actually have a fighting chance!