Hepting Resources
This page collects general information related to EFF's class action lawsuit against AT&T. For legal documents, visit our AT&T Class Action Legal Documents page.
Overview
Background
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of AT&T’s customers against AT&T on January 31, 2006. The suit accuses the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans’ communications. The case is based on evidence of ongoing dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans.
The EFF lawsuit arose from news reports in December 2005, which first revealed that the NSA has
been intercepting Americans’ phone calls and Internet communications without any court oversight and
in violation of the privacy safeguards established by Congress and the U.S. Constitution. Recent evidence
indicates that the surveillance began well before September, 2001.
But the government did not act—and is not acting—alone. EFF’s case includes undisputed evidence that AT&T installed a fiberoptic splitter at its facility at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco that made copies of all emails, web browsing and other internet traffic to and from AT&T customers, and provided those copies to the NSA. This copying includes both domestic and international Internet activities of AT&T Worldnet customers. EFF is suing to stop this illegal conduct and hold AT&T responsible for violating the law and the fundamental freedoms of the American public.
Where the Case Stands Now
On July 20, 2006, a federal judge allowed the case to go forward, denying the government’s and AT&T’s motions to dismiss the case, which were asserted chiefly on the ground of the states secrets privilege. As Chief Judge Vaughn Walker wrote when dismissing AT&T’s immunity claims, “AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal.” Judge Walker also flatly rejected the government’s secrecy argument: “The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one. But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security.”
The government and AT&T appealed Judge Walker’s ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On August 15, 2007, EFF urged a three-judge panel to allow AT&T customers to continue to fight against illegal spying on their telephone and Internet communications. The appeals court is still considering its decision.
While the complaint was filed in early 2006, the case remains at the earliest states of litigation. So far AT&T has not filed an answer to the complaint, nor has any party produced any documents in discovery, nor have any depositions been held.
Amnesty for Lawbreakers?
The Bush Administration and telecommunications companies have now demanded that Congress grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies that have been participating with the National Security Agency in the illegal warrantless surveillance. Their goal is to prevent the courts from ever ruling on whether the surveillance is legal and from imposing needed restraints. This would subvert the rule of law, and effectively grant the President the power to ignore the law with impunity. Congress should not participate in this cover- up of illegal activities affecting millions of ordinary Americans.
Press Contact
For press inquiries only, email press@eff.org or phone 415.436.9333 x125.
Media Highlights
"The Whistleblower Vs. The Spies": AT&T Whistleblower on MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olbermann
November 7, 2007"My job was to connect circuits into the splitter device which was hard-wired to the secret room," said Klein. "And effectively, the splitter copied the entire data stream of those internet cables into the secret room -- and we're talking about phone conversations, email web browsing, everything that goes across the internet.
Video [offsite]
Washington Post: A Story of Surveillance
November 7, 2007His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco.
"What the heck is the NSA doing here?" Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself.
A year or so later, he stumbled upon documents that, he said, nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. The documents, he said, show that the NSA gained access to massive amounts of e-mail and search and other Internet records of more than a dozen global and regional telecommunications providers. AT&T allowed the agency to hook into its network at a facility in San Francisco and, according to Klein, many of the other telecom companies probably knew nothing about it.
Full Article [offsite]
Key Resources
In the News
- The Media on Mark Klein — An archive of media coverage of AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein's November 2007 trip to Washington, DC.
- Amnesty Editorial Roundup — An archive of newspaper editorials across the nation opposing amnesty for
- NSA Spying in the Media Roundup — An archive of media coverage of the NSA surveillance program. the telecoms.
From EFF
- Frequently Asked Questions about the case's legal and technical particulars.
- Evidence One-Pager [PDF] — Summarizing the technical evidence of AT&T's complicity.
- Related EFF Press Releases
Press Kit [PDFs]
- One Page Summary: AT&T’s Role in Dragnet Surveillance of Millions of Its Customers
- Roundup of Newspaper Editorials Rejecting Telecom Amnesty
- FISA Modernization: Lawmakers Should Reject Retroactive Amnesty for Telephone Company Violation of Privacy Rights
- Whistleblower Mark Klein: Reject Amnesty for Telecoms
- EFF Speaker Bios
- Statement of Telecommunications Expert Brian Reid
- One Page Update: Hepting v. AT&T
Press Releases
- November 06, 2007 Judge Orders Telecommunications Companies to Preserve Evidence in Government Surveillance Cases
- November 05, 2007 AT&T Whistleblower to Urge Senate to Reject Blanket Immunity for Telecoms
- October 17, 2007 EFF Suit Demands Telecom Lobbying Records from Director of National Intelligence
- October 12, 2007 Illegal Government Surveillance Opens Door to More Privacy Violations
