AT&T To Release Transparency Report

AT&T on Friday announced it would become the latest wireless carrier to begin releasing transparency reports on government surveillance requests. The company’s move came hours after rival Verizon made a similar announcement and was likely a calculated maneuver to avoid criticism against AT&T.

Engadget reports that AT&T’s decision to publish a transparency report is a sharp departure from the company’s position only days earlier when a shareholder request for greater accountability was met with open hostility.

Frankly, the text of AT&T’s announcement is hardly encouraging. The company notes that it only provides wireless customer location data by court order, or in “rare cases” where law enforcement agencies provide “assurance that a real emergency affecting human life exists.”

“The debate about government surveillance programs and striking the right balance between protecting personal privacy and providing national security is a healthy one,” said Wayne Watts, AT&T senior executive vice president and general counsel in a press statement. “It’s important that policymakers worldwide get it right so that people can continue to enjoy the benefits of technology and communications with confidence.”

Like Verizon, AT&T will issue its first transparency report sometime in early 2014 dealing with requests made in the previous year. The report will be published semi-annually.

“To further our efforts to be as transparent as possible within the government guidelines in which we operate, like Verizon recently announced, we intend to publish a semi-annual online report that will provide information on the number of law enforcement requests for customer information that our company receives in the countries in which we do business. AT&T expects to publish the first report, covering information received in 2013, in early 2014,” Watts said. 

Unfortunately, AT&T’s transparency reports will not address issues like warrantless wiretapping and the company has already stated that any decision to release classified information must be made by the government.