Hepting v. AT&T
Hepting v. AT&T, 439 F.Supp.2d 974 (N.D. Cal., 2006), was a class action lawsuit argued before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of customers of the telecommunications company AT&T. The plaintiffs alleged that AT&T permitted and assisted the National Security Agency (NSA) in unlawfully monitoring the personal communications of American citizens, including AT&T customers, whose communications were routed through AT&T's network.
| Hepting v. AT&T | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States District Court for the Northern District of California |
| Full case name | Hepting v. AT&T Corporation |
| Decided | July 20, 2006 |
| Citation(s) | 439 F.Supp.2d 974 |
| Holding | |
| Private telecommunications firms that conduct surveillance of customers under government orders are granted retroactive immunity from prosecution by the FISA Amendments Act; and the U.S. government cannot claim state secrets privilege when ordering such surveillance. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Vaughn Walker |
| Keywords | |
| Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, state secrets privilege | |
National Security Agency surveillance |
|---|
The District Court initially ruled that private telecommunications firms that conduct surveillance of customers under government orders can be sued by customers, while the U.S. government cannot claim state secrets privilege to avoid explaining its justifications for such surveillance. However, by the time the case had finished its journey through the courts, the question had become moot because telecommunications firms had received retroactive immunity from such lawsuits via the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.