https://www.eff.org/cases/hemisphere
Hemisphere: Law Enforcement's Secret Call Records Deal With AT&T
For almost 10 years, federal and local law enforcement agencies across the country have engaged in a massive and secretive telephone surveillance program known as “Hemisphere.” Publicly disclosed for the first time in September 2013 by the New York Times, the Hemisphere program provides police access to a database containing call records going back decades, combined with a sophisticated analytical system. The program involves a private-public partnership with AT&T.
“Hemisphere” came to light amidst the public uproar over revelations that the NSA had been collecting phone records on millions of innocent people. However, Hemisphere wasn’t a program revealed by Edward Snowden’s leaks, but rather its exposure was pure serendipity: a citizen activist in Seattle discovered the program when shocking presentations outlining the program were provided to him in response to regular old public records requests.
But these documents only painted a partial portrait of the program, and since the New York Times’ initial reporting in 2013, EFF has filed its own Freedom of Information Act and state-level public records requests to learn more. The results have been frustrating, with various agencies providing highly and inconsistently redacted documents in what seems to be an attempt to further hide information from the public.
In July 2015, EFF had enough with the secrecy. We filed two separate lawsuits to force law enforcement agencies to release important information that would contribute to the public debate about the efficacy and legitimacy of the program. One lawsuit is against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while the other is against the California State Attorney General.
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