Spy: the CIA would pay 10 million per year to AT & T

Beyond the transmission of information on judicial order to the NSA, AT & T have entered into a voluntary agreement with the CIA that has access to phone records of suspected terrorists.

The CIA pays more than $ 10 million annually to the telephone operator AT & T to provide it for phone records of people suspected of terrorist ties, reported Thursday the New York Times .

If the NSA , the U.S. agency responsible for intercepting communications, ensures the forced cooperation of American operators through court injunctions, the collaboration between the CIA and AT & T settled on the basis of a voluntary contract and paid says the daily. The agency provides information to the operator of the telephone numbers of suspected terrorists overseas. AT & T then searches its huge database with which these people were in phone contact, including the United States, and provides metadata (number called, length of call) to the CIA.

The agency is responsible for foreign intelligence and law prohibiting him from conducting business in the U.S., where phone numbers are in the United States, AT & T does not disclose the identity of the owner of the number , she hides many figures, says the daily.

"When a government entity requests information from us, we ensure that the request and our response is appropriate and completely legal," he told AFP Mark Siegel, a spokesman for the operator who does not " comment on matters of national security. "

Without confirming the existence of this program, Todd Ebitz, a spokesman for the CIA, assured that it was not engaged in surveillance of American citizens. "The CIA protects the country and respects the rights to privacy of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence gathering activities are focused on foreign intelligence and espionage against", has he told AFP .

This program seems to duplicate that of the NSA to collect phone metadata with operators in the fight against terrorism. Since the revelations of his old Edward Snowden consultant, she faced strong criticism and is accused of violating the privacy of Americans.

Conducting a similar program by the CIA could be explained by the need for an agency with agents in the field of rapid information, according to the Times , citing a senior intelligence official. "The CIA often meets this need for immediate action by developing its own capacity," the official said.