By Ryan Gallagher, and Henrik Moltke
The secrets are hidden behind fortified walls
in cities across the United States, inside towering, windowless
skyscrapers and fortress-like concrete structures that were built to
withstand earthquakes and even nuclear attack. Thousands of people pass
by the buildings each day and rarely give them a second glance, because
their function is not publicly known. They are an integral part of one
of the world’s largest telecommunications networks – and they are also
linked to a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program.
Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco,
Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In each of these cities, The Intercept has
identified an AT&T facility containing networking equipment that
transports large quantities of internet traffic across the United States
and the world. A body of evidence – including classified NSA documents,
public records, and interviews with several former AT&T employees –
indicates that the buildings are central to an NSA spying initiative
that has for years monitored billions of emails, phone calls, and online
chats passing across U.S. territory.
The NSA considers AT&T to be one of its most trusted partners and
has lauded the company’s “extreme willingness to help.” It is a
collaboration that dates back decades. Little known, however, is that
its scope is not restricted to AT&T’s customers. According to the
NSA’s documents,
it values AT&T not only because it “has access to information that
transits the nation,” but also because it maintains unique relationships
with other phone and internet providers. The NSA exploits these
relationships for surveillance purposes, commandeering AT&T’s
massive infrastructure and using it as a platform to covertly tap into
communications processed by other companies.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Intercept_
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