Photo:
Steven Day
June 25 2018, 1:00 p.m.
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.
