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Report Reveals 8 AT&T Buildings Across the US, Hidden in Plain Sight, That Are Central To One of NSA's Most Controversial Internet Surveillance Programs (theintercept.com)
News outlet The Intercept on Monday published a report that reveals eight AT&T-owned locations: two in California, one in Washington, another in Washington, D.C., one in New York, one in Texas, one in Illinois, and one in Georgia, that serve as backbone or "peering" facilities that the NSA has secretly been using for eavesdropping purposes. Spokespeople of AT&T, which refers to the aforementioned peering sites as "Service Node Routing Complexes", and NSA, could neither confirm or deny the report's findings. From the report: 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.
[...] While network operators would usually prefer to send data through their own networks, often a more direct and cost-efficient path is provided by other providers' infrastructure. If one network in a specific area of the country is overloaded with data traffic, another operator with capacity to spare can sell or exchange bandwidth, reducing the strain on the congested region. This exchange of traffic is called "peering" and is an essential feature of the internet.
Because of AT&T's position as one of the U.S.'s leading telecommunications companies, it has a large network that is frequently used by other providers to transport their customers' data. Companies that "peer" with AT&T include the American telecommunications giants Sprint, Cogent Communications, and Level 3, as well as foreign companies such as Sweden's Telia, India's Tata Communications, Italy's Telecom Italia, and Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
[...] While network operators would usually prefer to send data through their own networks, often a more direct and cost-efficient path is provided by other providers' infrastructure. If one network in a specific area of the country is overloaded with data traffic, another operator with capacity to spare can sell or exchange bandwidth, reducing the strain on the congested region. This exchange of traffic is called "peering" and is an essential feature of the internet.
Because of AT&T's position as one of the U.S.'s leading telecommunications companies, it has a large network that is frequently used by other providers to transport their customers' data. Companies that "peer" with AT&T include the American telecommunications giants Sprint, Cogent Communications, and Level 3, as well as foreign companies such as Sweden's Telia, India's Tata Communications, Italy's Telecom Italia, and Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
The NSA considers AT&T to be one of its most trusted partners and has lauded the company's "extreme willingness to help."
Translation: AT&T is the NSA bitch...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
Spokespeople of AT&T ... and NSA could neither confirm or deny the report.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
everyone knew about this, and it's pretty damn obvious too. Huge building with no windows, no people going in/out, and giant radio antennas and satellite dishes sticking out at the top. Hmm...I wonder what it could be.
All of Washington is to blame. Trump is keeping status quo, so yes he gets blame too. Along with Obama. Along with George W Bush.
Yeah, but Telephone Company Central Offices have always tended to be windowless bunkers parked in plain sight. Often with Microwave systems on their roof as a backup to terrestrial lines.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
The Washington DC one is a Verizon switching center, not an AT&T one. You can go look yourself.
Under GW Bush the telcos all claimed they were doing unconstitutional widespread monitoring of law abiding citizens because they were totally patriotic and selfless. They wrapped themselves in the flag.
McCain and Obama both broke off campaigning for the Presidency so they could give the telcos immunity from prosecution, despite both of them saying they wouldn't (Obama saying so quite strongly).
BUT when the fedguv screwed up their accounting and stopped paying the bill, the telcos immediately cut them off, proving their true motivation - wealth.
Patriots acting for a principle don't stop acting just because they aren't being bribed enough.
No need to resort to arson. Just rock up with some friends in hi-viz jackets and some pneumatic drills and "accidentally" cut through the cables when digging up the street...
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
That sure is a lot of storage just for a list of phone numbers.
There are legitimate reasons for the NSA's data access.
At times yes. Nobody argued otherwise. Problem is that they cannot seem to restrain themselves from listening in on people who they should need a warrant to listen to. It's not even a debate that they performed illegal and unjustified surveillance of US citizens.
The NSA and CIA are legally empowered by all three branches of the government to conduct surveillance operations to safe guard the security of the US.
That doesn't mean they get to step on my civil rights in the process. Their convenience does not supersede my Constitutional rights.