Is AT&T spying on me?

One hot issue you can read about in the papers is the ongoing controversy surrounding AT&T, one of the big phone companies in the world. The problem started when someone found out that AT&T, in collaboration with Homeland Security, was eavesdropping on phone conversations of clients they felt posed a threat to national security. Phone conversations were being tapped and a lot of people started getting pretty angry over the fact that their privacy had been violated. Apparently, the eavesdropping includes anyone AT&T/Uncle Sam feels is a threat, but how do we know the rest of us are safe from their prying ears?

At first, I didn't really take issue with it. I mean, I HAVE been following the story in the news, and I was outraged a judge refused to have AT&T cease and desist this type of infraction. According to the judge, ordering AT&T to stop eavesdropping on client phone calls they feel are threats to national security would only give terrorists more leeway, AND it would spread the word that AT&T is actually doing this. OK. So if a terrorist in a Kansas school decides to call his buddy up on the phone, he can take comfort in knowing which cell phone service to AVOID because NOW they know which company is not honoring the privacy of their clients. See, it's already in the news. People know about it. The terrorists know about it (now). So they'll just use a DIFFERENT provider. Meanwhile, AT&T still eavesdrops on phone conversations.

Lately, however, I have started to feel a little paranoid about it. AT&T is not my basic phone service provider nor do I use a cell phone. But I DO use an Internet relay service to make almost all of my phone calls with, owned by AT&T: http://www.relaycall.com/national/index.html I have always been nervous about giving out sensitive information over a relay call (like my bank account number and my SSN), but now I'm even more paranoid about which chunks of my information is being gathered by AT&T during the course of spying on my phone calls. Or even if they ARE spying on them. I don't think they'd have a reason to. It's not like I'm saying any "red flag words" or something.

All the same, I can't help but wonder. I KNOW a relay operator would very likely report me if I call someone up and say "let's blow up (name of bank)!!" That much I expect. But a TRUSTED phone company spying on its own clients? Never.