Washington - The CIA
is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to provide phone records for
overseas counter-terrorism investigations, the New York Times reported, quoting
government officials.
The No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider is cooperating under
a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the
company to participate, the paper said.
AT&T did not confirm or deny the report but said
payments from governments were routine for lawful data.
The report comes amid widespread political uproar after
former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents
describing how the U.S. government collects far more internet and telephone
data than previously known.
Under the AT&T arrangement, the CIA supplies phone
numbers of overseas terrorism suspects and AT&T searches its database to
provide call records that may help identify foreign associates, the paper said.
Most of the call logs provided by AT&T involve
foreign-to-foreign calls, the paper said.
AT&T does not disclose the identity of the Americans
calling from the United States, and masks their phone numbers when it produces
the records, the paper said, quoting the officials.
AT&T said all government data requests were handled in a
lawful and proper manner.
“We ensure that we maintain customer information in
compliance with the laws of the United States and other countries where
information may be maintained,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said in an
emailed statement.
“Like all telecom providers, we routinely charge governments
for producing the information provided.”
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