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Comment by wtn | Hacker News Reader

Besides using SSH and VPN more, the only thing I can do is avoid ATT.

I was on T-Mobile for years (out of ATT spite) until Verizon got the iPhone and I jumped within the week. I also spent a lot more money on internet using alternatives to ATT DSL (although I doubt my information was more secure from that choice).

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I'm guessing those other big companies are just as bad, however. Might not have the facts yet, but being paranoid leads me to think that way....

I feel the same. What we would need is a telecommunication company that puts the respect of privacy as one of its core goals (think Zappos), and not just in the boilerplate license agreements. Although entering that arena has high entry costs, it seems like a huge demand for such a service exists.

Quest communications was allegedly the only telecom co that didn't roll over to the NSA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Refusal_for_NSA_spying

A lot of time has passed, and they have a new CEO. I wonder if they have continued to hold out, or have quietly installed the black-room...

EDIT: I see they were just acquired last year by CenturyLink. I have to doubt that they have now not rolled over (call me a pessimist).

Very sad that corporations are so willing to forsake the privacy of the entire country's citizens (on the level of a constitutional breach) in order to make a dime or curry favor. Beyond sad, it is terrifying that the government then used warrantless wiretapping to specifically target our journalists:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/25/tice_nsa_revelations...

...at least according to the same source that was responsible for leaking the existence of the black-rooms in the first place.

Sigh. Maybe I'll pick up my old copy of 1984. It's getting ironic now.

Considering other ISPs peer with AT&T this is really everyone's problem.

Try doing a trace route to several different sites on the internet, you'll find that -- so long as your traffic is hitting the US at some point -- your information is crossing AT&T's networks.

Not to nitpick but the article says that the sniffing is on "traffic to and from AT&T customers".

So it is not clear whether this applies to all traffic through AT&T routers, or only traffic to and from AT&T customers.

This applies to a large majority of traffic in and to, and even through, the United States. Because of the way traffic 'finds the quickest (or best) route possible' you're almost guaranteed to pass through one of their points of presence.

Since this article was published it's likely that other providers were pushed into doing the same thing. If I'm not mistaken, there was even an exec. shake-up at Verizon as a result of them not wanting to concede to the NSA's demands.

Verizon has claimed that their disclosure of customer's private data is protected by the first amendment.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2007/05/verizon-says...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=...

This is probably related to AT&T's role as a backbone provider, which probably predates their purchase of McCaw Cellular.

Tweedledum vs. Tweedledee

worse than that- AT&T is buying T-mobile apparently.

T-Mobile was the only telco that has avoided logging the goods that the feds want: http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/03/negative-impact-of-at-pu...

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