I know, I know - it just doesn’t seem right these days. But, it appears to be true! With all the frenzy about the new spying “law” that’s being imposed on us, I was doing a little research on the subject and came across EFF’s Class-Action Lawsuit against AT&T:

AT&T moved to dismiss the case, basically arguing that it should be immune from suit because “whatever we did, the government told us to.” The U.S. government also moved to dismiss the case, arguing that allowing the case to go on would necessarily reveal “state secrets” that would harm national security. But in July, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a decision denying both motions.

As Judge 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.”

Here’s what I have to say - Hooray for Judge Walker! Although I don’t believe there’s ANY compromise between liberty and security that’s acceptable, the bottom line is that he made a good ruling.

I highly doubt anything will come of an appeal but we can all hope. The government has no right, whatsoever, to spy on its people and it doesn’t matter if it’s just to take “random data.”

If they want to know something about its citizens, give us a call and perhaps we’ll volunteer it. (Personally, I won’t give them anything).

When we enter into a private contract and pay AT&T for their service, we also trust them with our privacy. But, it seems like they’re acting more like a government agency than a company that cares about their customers.

I wonder. What is AT&T really gaining from helping the NSA?