AT&T leaks sensitive info in NSA suit
Lawyers for AT&T accidentally released sensitive information while defending a lawsuit that accuses the company of facilitating a government wiretapping program, CNET News.com has learned.
AT&T's attorneys this week filed a 25-page legal brief striped with thick black lines that were intended to obscure portions of three pages and render them unreadable (
center in downtown San Francisco
at 611 Folsom St. is alleged to
be a place where the National
Security Agency taps Internet and
telephone communications. AT&T
has neither confirmed nor denied
these allegations, which surfaced
in a lawsuit filed by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The deleted portions of the legal brief seek to offer benign reasons why AT&T would allegedly have a secret room at its downtown San Francisco switching center that would be designed to monitor Internet and telephone traffic. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the class-action lawsuit in January, alleges that the room is used by an unlawful National Security Agency surveillance program.
"AT&T notes that the facts recited by plaintiffs are entirely consistent with any number of legitimate Internet monitoring systems, such as those used to detect viruses and stop hackers," the redacted pages say.
Another section says: "Although the plaintiffs ominously refer to the equipment as the 'Surveillance Configuration,' the same physical equipment could be utilized exclusively for other surveillance in full compliance with" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The redacted portions of AT&T's court filing are not classified, and no information relating to actual operations of an NSA surveillance program was disclosed. Also, AT&T's attorneys at the law firms of
In other news:
Although EFF's lawsuit was filed before allegations about the room surfaced, reports of its existence have become central to the nonprofit group's attempts to prove AT&T opened its network to the NSA. A former AT&T employee, Mark Klein, has released documents alleging the company spliced its fiber optic cables and ran a duplicate set of cables to Room 641A at its 611 Folsom Street building.
This is hardly the first time that PDF files have leaked embarrassing or sensitive information. In an ironic twist, the NSA published a 13-page paper in January describing how redactions could be done securely.
A similar problem has arisen with metadata associated with Microsoft Office files. In March 2004, a gaffe by the SCO Group revealed which companies it had considered targeting in its legal campaign against Linux users. Microsoft Office 2003/XP even offers a way to "permanently remove hidden data and collaboration data" from Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.
Documents that EFF filed, including a redacted version (hearing last week.
'State secrets' invoked
Also this week, the Bush administration submitted a 29-page brief that elaborates on its argument that the case should be tossed out of court because of the "state secrets" privilege.
Lawyers for the Justice Department have offered to fly a courier from Washington to San Francisco with classified documents that Walker could review in private--documents that, in the eyes of the government, will convince him to dismiss the lawsuit. (The Bush administration also argues that EFF lawyers should not be permitted to see the classified information.)
"No aspect of this case can be litigated without disclosing state secrets," the government said in its brief this week. "The United States has not lightly invoked the state secrets privilege, and the weighty reasons for asserting the privilege are apparent from the classified material submitted in support of its assertion."
It also pointed to a May 12 ruling from a federal judge in Virginia who
dismissed a case against Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese
descent. (El-Masri had claimed to have been abducted and tortured by the
CIA in an "
The Bush administration said the case must be dismissed on "state
secrets" grounds, and U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis reluctantly agreed.
Ellis wrote that "any answer to the complaint by the defendants risks
the disclosure of specific details about the rendition argument."
In addition, Wired News filed a brief written by
Read more on this story's topics and companies
TrackBack
See links from elsewhere to this story.Post a comment
TalkBack
No Such Agency Says There Is No Such Room
CancerMan2
May 27, 2006, 9:42 AM PDT
You can listen to the "redacted" text
cacondor
May 26, 2006, 10:49 PM PDT
The old story
heystoopid
May 26, 2006, 10:32 PM PDT
If the room doesn't exist, why is the Bush
wtortorici
May 26, 2006, 7:50 PM PDT
Where is the original document? PDF Link?
reecewilson
May 26, 2006, 5:19 PM PDT
Wire Tapping ...
Ian Gumby
May 26, 2006, 11:44 AM PDT
Why?
ScullyB
May 26, 2006, 11:40 AM PDT
lawyers can do it confidentially
marileev
May 26, 2006, 11:01 AM PDT
at&t
saturnine01
May 26, 2006, 10:53 AM PDT
Microsoft offers redaction add-in
Charles Upsdell
May 26, 2006, 10:10 AM PDT
Deal of the Day
Onkyo home theater system for $213
Here's a good deal on this home theater system, but the rebate expires Tuesday. Read more...
Put this story in perspective with this unique visual tool (full screen). Learn more
Related news
-
Legal loophole emerges in NSA spy program
May 17, 2006
-
Judge denies AT&T request for closed hearing
May 17, 2006
-
News sites fight to keep spying hearing open
May 17, 2006
-
Verizon sued for alleged NSA cooperation
May 15, 2006
-
Telecom firms distance themselves from NSA flap
May 12, 2006
-
FAQ: NSA's data mining explained
May 12, 2006
-
NSA spying comes under legal, political attack
April 27, 2006
-
NSA eavesdropping: How it might work
February 7, 2006
-
Some companies helped the NSA, but which?
February 6, 2006
-
AT&T sued over NSA spy program
January 31, 2006
-
Editing tips from the NSA
January 24, 2006
-
Hidden text shows SCO prepped lawsuit against BofA
March 4, 2004
Related videos
Watch more videos >From News.com Extra
- AT&T whistleblower tells about NSA surveillance from Wired News
- More surveillance puts strain on carriers from Wall Street Journal
- US film looks at the future through dark lens from Reuters
- Much more on the NSA's domestic surveillance efforts from Ars Technica
Related white papers
- 2003 In Review Reed Elsevier
- Business & Securities Litigator: Vol. 14 No. 13 Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Bankruptcy Bulletin: Vol.10. No.12 Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Agreements Of Sale: Mortgage Contingencies Are Not Simple Reed Elsevier
- Bankruptcy Bulletin: Vol.10. No.11 Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Scan the 15 newest and most read stories on News.com right now. Learn more
- Adelphia asks court to allow quicker asset sales
- Timing the electronics market for the best PC deal
- Week in video: Big week in Redmond
- Gonzales pressures ISPs on data retention
- Windows in view
- Flaw found in Symantec business antivirus software
- Microsoft bug-checking tools promise fewer crashes
- Podcast highlight: AT&T's lawsuit leak
- Apple thwarted in bid to unmask leaker
- 'Made in India' phones set to tap global markets
- EU to tax e-mail, text messages?
- Teens arrested in alleged MySpace extortion scam
- Life in Legoland's model shop
- Police Blotter: eBay suit over $380,000 Porsche
- This week in tech heavyweight action
- See all headlines from the past week >
Resource center from News.com sponsors
Dice Career Guidance Center
Look to the tech leader first!
Get a job! Search more than 60,000 tech jobs by keywords skill, title, etc.
Copyright ©1995-2006 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/