As you know, AT&T joined Verizon and BellSouth in voluntarily handing over their customers' private phone records to the Bush administration so they can spy on you.
Well, I'm now getting reports that AT&T customer service is lying to their customers about their complicity in this scandal. To wit, the following email I just got from a reader:
Hi John,Uh, gee, lie much AT&T?
I finally got through to AT&T to tell them that I will be switching and they will not have my business, as soon as I figure out what company to go with. The representative first gave the line that they must comply with the law, which I shot down with some quotes from your wonderful postings. She then basically said we are screwed here because in DC there are no carriers who didn't turn records over.
I'm confused, but anxious to leave AT&T.
1. AT&T had a choice. They could have said no. Qwest said no when the spies approached them, and guess what, nothing happened to Qwest. Qwest didn't turn over a single record and simply went on its merry way. There was no legal requirement for any of these companies to comply, and Qwest proves it. It's an outright lie for AT&T to be telling their customers that they had no choice but to violate their customers' privacy.
2. AT&T says there are no other companies in DC to handle your landline communications that haven't also colluded with the NSA?
We know Verizon also violated its customers' privacy, but is AT&T saying that Vonage and RCN cable also violated their customers' privacy? Because we have both of those services in DC for local and long distance phone service. And AT&T is clearly saying that every service turned our private phone records over to the feds.
So, Vonage and RCN/Starpower, is AT&T right? Did you turn our private phone records over to the feds too?
