News / Human Rights

AT&T partnered with NSA for spying: Report

Sunday, 16 August 2015 12:54 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 16 August 2015 8:36 AM ]

New documents provided by Edward Snowden show AT&T handed over billions of emails and online interactions to a US spy agency.

Newly disclosed documents have revealed that AT&T has partnered the US National Security Agency (NSA) in its mass espionage program.

The telecom giant has helped the NSA spy on US internet traffic for over a decade, according to documents by Edward Snowden, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Whistleblower and former NSA contractor Snowden provided the documents dated 2003 to 2013 to the New York Times and ProPublica.

The leaked documents revealed the company was cooperating with the NSA in a broad range of classified activities.

The documents showed that AT&T handed over billions of emails and online interactions to the US government.

The American multinational telecommunications corporation reportedly helped the spy agency wiretap all internet communications at the headquarters of the United Nations, which is an AT&T client.

Thanks to the company’s assistance, the NSA was able to spy on international and foreign-to-foreign internet communications as well.

NSA surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden

Snowden, a former NSA contractor, began leaking classified intelligence documents in June 2013, revealing the extent of the NSA's spying activity.

The disclosures have revealed that the NSA has been collecting the phone records of millions of Americans and foreign nationals as well as political leaders around the world.

Snowden, who lives in Russia where he has been granted asylum, has said that US government surveillance methods far surpass those of an ‘Orwellian’ state, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel “1984,” which describes a society where personal privacy is continuously invaded by spy agencies.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk