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"A request made by AT&amp;T\u2019s shareholders for increased transparency has been rejected by the company. Specifically, citing privacy concerns, the company denied requests for transparency reports, similar to those published regularly by Twitter and Google, and it said the issue should not be addressed at AT&amp;T\u2019s annual shareholder meeting next spring.\nExactly how often the company shares customer information with the government isn\u2019t anyone\u2019s business, according to AT&amp;T. That is an internal matter related to everyday business procedure, the company said \u2014 not the concern of shareholders or customers. \nAT&amp;T also claimed that publishing a transparency report might interfere with legal strategy, referring to \u201Cmultiple pending lawsuits that generally allege that AT&amp;T has violated customer privacy rights by providing information and assistance to government entities without proper legal authority, including allegedly providing information to the NSA.\u201D \nThe shareholders' efforts were in part organized by the ACLU\u2019s San Francisco office. They also started an online petition that, at time of writing, has collected 29,590 signatures. \n\u201CWe\u2019re working with our friends at SumOfUs to rally thousands of AT&amp;T and Verizon customers and potential customers and prove to these giant telcos that their silence is putting their public image and bottom line at risk,\u201D the petition reads. \nThe company said that even if transparency reports were to be issued, they would be limited to disclosing only instances in which it responded to government requests. Information that might reveal the extent of NSA surveillance is classified, they said.\nAT&amp;T\u2019s response was sent to New York comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who had authored the shareholder resolution. It\u2019s likely DiNapoli will respond with a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the New York Times.\nAfter receiving the company\u2019s response, a spokesman for DiNapoli reportedly told the press, \u201CAT&amp;T is trying to prevent the vital issue of customer privacy from coming before its shareholders.\u201D \nAT&amp;T also said that since their dealings with the NSA have not been met with \u201Csustained debate over the last several years,\u201D recent privacy concerns do not warrant attention at this time. \n\u201CPrivacy is fundamental to democracy and free expression,\u201D said Abdi Soltani, an executive director with the ACLU, who co-filed the shareholders' proposal. \u201CStaying silent as other industry leaders release transparency reports and take steps to reinforce a genuine commitment to privacy makes it appear that these companies have something to hide and presents serious financial and reputational risks.\u201D\nAT&amp;T declined to comment on the issue any further.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImage: Bill Bradford"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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