Court Papers Show Secret AT&T Spy Room

Klein’s statements and EFF’s motion for a preliminary injunction against AT&T were filed under seal in April. Last week U.S. Dist. Judge Vaughn Walker, San Francisco, told the telecom giant to work with the high-tech watchdog group to redact the documents and make them publicly available. The next hearing in the suit, filed in Jan., is set for June 23, when Walker will consider govt. and AT&T motions to dismiss.

While employed at an AT&T facility that provided WorldNet Internet, VoIP and data transport service to the Asia/Pacific region, Klein was told by coworkers to expect visits from the NSA, he testified. In Jan. 2003, he saw the secret, secure room in its final stages of construction. A management-level technician approved by NSA for the special job was installing equipment, he said. Klein assumed “only employees cleared by the NSA were permitted to enter the [sic] room,” but a colleague once invited him inside to show him some “poorly installed cable,” he said.

The secret room’s equipment complement included large routers, stacks of modems for AT&T customers’ WorldNet dial- in services and other telecom gear, Klein said. The equipment was used to direct e-mails, Web browsing requests and other electronic communications sent to or from customers of AT&T’s WordNet service. During Klein’s tenure, he said, he reviewed 2 documents that instructed technicians on how to connect in-service lines to the special room.

“Now the public can see who was brave enough to step forward and provide evidence of the company’s illegal collaboration with the NSA,” EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston said. The evidence supports EFF claims that AT&T gave the NSA direct access to its fiber network so the agency could read the e-mail of “anyone and everyone it chooses, all without a warrant or any court supervision, and in clear violation of the law,” he said. There’s no “proper basis” for permanently sealing any material supporting his group’s preliminary injunction papers, EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl said.

A spokesman for AT&T wouldn’t speak directly to Klein’s declaration but said the company “vigorously protect[s] our customers’ privacy.” AT&T doesn’t give customer data to law enforcement or govt. agencies without legal authorization, he said. “We have an obligation to assist law enforcement and other government agencies responsible for protecting the public welfare, whether it be an individual or the security interests of the entire nation,” he said: “We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions.”

The next hearing could make or break the case, Center for National Security Studies fellow Brittany Benowitz told us. “My sense is that we have a very cautious judge who is skeptical of some of the government’s claims,” she said. The applicability of the state-secret defense depends on “how good of a case they have,” she said. If there has been illegal wiretapping, as the newly released documents indicate, “this gets [EFF] somewhat past speculation,” she said. “The real issue is what evidence does EFF have,” Benowitz said: “The more whistle-blowers that come forward, the harder it is for the government to close down the case under state secrets doctrine.”

Wired News last week released the text of the AT&T NSA wiretap documents previously under court seal (CD May 23 p6). The documents came from an anonymous source close to the case. The 30-page sheaf included an affidavit attributed to Klein and 8 pages of AT&T documents marked “proprietary,” plus pages of news clippings and other public material related to govt. surveillance. The online news outlet and other media entities filed a motion asking ask that the court unseal the evidence.