Is the CIA Paying AT&T for Your Call Data?

image
Published: 07 Nov, 2013
Updated: 14 Oct, 2022
1 min read

Since Edward Snowden first revealed the NSA was collecting massive amounts of call data from Americans, most attention has been on the controversial surveillance programs of the United States intelligence community accompanied with demands for more transparency and accountability. While wireless providers and Internet companies have scrambled to do damage control for the role they played in these programs, many of them claim they were coerced into cooperating by federal agencies or forced to by subpena or court order.

However, a recent report by the New York Times reveals some of these companies may not be so innocent. In fact, government officials now say the CIA is currently paying communications giant AT&T $10 million a year for their assistance in counter-terrorism overseas. AT&T was not bullied into doing either, but participated voluntarily. The contract between the CIA and AT&T allows the intelligence agency access to a massive phone database, which includes international calls from Americans.

"The C.I.A. supplies phone numbers of overseas terrorism suspects, and AT&T searches its database and provides records of calls that may help identify foreign associates, the officials said."

While the program may only affect a limited group of Americans, it does raise further questions about the relationship between the intelligence community and major companies in the communications and Internet industries, as well as the overall scope of the collection of metadata.

Photo Source: engadget.com

 

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read