UN Responds to AT&T and NSA Spy Reports
A report detailing the close collaboration between AT&T and NSA in spying on the United Nation’s headquarters has prompted a response from the world body. Reports that AT&T helped the NSA spy on the UN by allowing wiretapping and access to emails have emerged recently. In response to the reports, the UN has asked member states to respect its right to privacy and has said it is still considering any further action to take against the US.
According to the damning report, AT&T provided the NSA with technical help to spy on the UN in response to a court order. The court order asked the ISP to wiretap all Internet communication at the UN headquarters. The world has for some time been aware of the NSA spying on the correspondence of people and even governments, but the news of its spying on the UN comes as a surprise to many.
UN Confident of its Security Measures in Spite of NSA Spy Claims
The news comes from newly disclosed facts gleaned from NSA documents dated 2003-2013 released by whistleblower Edward Snowden. According to a spokesperson at the UN, the world body is confident of its security measures but is not pleased with the news and is considering how best to respond to it. The UN has stated that the US has in the past assured them that they were and are not monitoring UN communications. According to the UN spokesperson, the US pledged in 2013 that it would not spy on the world body’s communications. The US agreed to stop monitoring communications at the UN after damning reports emerged that it could access the video conferencing system of the UN. However, if the recent spying reports are accurate, the US could have reneged on its words.
AT&T does not come out smelling like roses in this fiasco even though the company claims it was only collaborating with the NSA under legal duress. The UN is likely to contact the ISP soon about the issue. AT&T provides internet connectivity to the UN in New York, and it granted the NSA access to UN correspondence through this line. There are claims that apart from giving the NSA access to UN emails, the ISP even provided the company with wiretap assistance. We can only wait and see how the UN deals with AT&T concerning this matter.
Related:
New Documents and Reports Confirm AT&T and NSA’s Longstanding Surveillance Partnership
AT&T helped NSA spy on United Nations, foreign emails and 1.1 billion US phone calls per day
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