AT&T; Files Suit Against Data Brokers

AT&T; Inc. filed suit Wednesday to identify 25 data brokers who it claimed fraudulently obtained phone calling records for about 2,500 customers without their approval.

AT&T; said the data brokers posed as customers to get the records, which are often used in legal or domestic disputes.

The lawsuit, filed in San Antonio’s federal court by the services unit of AT&T;, does not name the defendants. The phone company said the lawsuit would give it legal standing to identify the data brokers through e-mail and Internet addresses.

Once the names are known, AT&T; said it would seek an injunction to bar them from further tapping phone records. It also said it would seek damages, including the return of any profit from selling customer information.

San Antonio-based AT&T; said the data brokers did not obtain Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers or financial or credit information on the phone customers.

AT&T; alleged that the data brokers posed as customers to get confidential information that they then used to set up unauthorized online accounts, which gives them access to recent calling records and other information.