AT&T's New Privacy Policy: Full Disclosure

As of Friday, AT&T's 'privacy policy' will seek to avoid the inconvenience inherent in claiming to provide any actual privacy in this tap-happy world. Instead, Ma Bell promises Pavlovian ass-kissing disclosure the second the NSA comes knocking. The SF Chronicle reports:

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

Moreover, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is requiring customers to agree to its updated privacy policy as a condition for service -- a new move that legal experts say will reduce customers' recourse for any future data sharing with government authorities or others….

The new policy states that AT&T "may also use your information in order to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud (or) situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person" -- conditions that would appear to embrace any terror-related circumstance.

A rep explains that the change has nothing to do with awkward recent events and everything to do with half-literate customers:

"We don't see this as anything new," [spokesman John Britton] said. "Our goal was to make the policy easier to read and easier for customers to understand."

Reason staff gave the NSA something to listen to back in May.