Transparency Report

At AT&T, we take our responsibility to protect your information and privacy very seriously. You can learn more by reading our Privacy Issue Brief.

Download February 2023 Report

Overview

Like all companies, we are required by law to provide information to government and law enforcement entities, as well as parties to civil lawsuits, by complying with court orders, subpoenas, lawful discovery requests and other legal requirements. This AT&T Transparency Report provides (1) specific data regarding the number and types of legal demands to which we responded for the second half of 2022 that compelled AT&T to provide information about (a) communications or (b) our customers, as well as (2) information permitted by law to be disclosed about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act demands for the first half of 2022. The Transparency Report also provides information about legal demands that were partially or completely rejected, demands for location information, emergency requests and international legal demands.

In this report, “AT&T” includes all of AT&T’s operating units as of this reporting period:

• AT&T Communications¹ provides mobile, broadband, and other communications services to U.S.-based consumers and nearly 3 million companies globally — from the smallest business to nearly all the Fortune 1000.
• AT&T Mexico offers mobile services to people and businesses in Mexico.

National Security Demands

National Security Letters (NSLs) are administrative subpoenas issued by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to compel production of information regarding counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigations. NSLs are limited to non-content information, such as a list of phone numbers dialed or subscriber information. Legal demands issued pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) may direct us to provide content and non‑content data related to national security investigations, such as international terrorism or espionage.

Our reporting on NSLs and FISA orders (collectively referred to as “National Security Demands”) is governed by U.S. law.² By statute, we are permitted to report data of demands served on us and the “customer selectors targeted” by those respective demands in specifically defined numeric ranges and for only certain time periods.

National Security Letters	July - December 2022
Total Received	000 - 499
Customer Selectors Targeted	2,000 - 2,499

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act	January - June 2022
Total Content	0 - 499
Customer Selectors Targeted	15,000 - 15,999
Total Non-Content	0 - 499
Customer Selectors Targeted	0 - 499

Total U.S. Criminal and Civil Demands

This number includes demands to which we responded in connection with criminal and civil litigation matters. This category doesn’t include demands reported in our National Security Demands table.

Criminal proceedings include actions by government entities — whether at the federal, state or local level — against an individual arising from an alleged violation of criminal law. Because federal, state and local investigating authorities in the U.S. may each initiate criminal proceedings, we receive demands from thousands of different law enforcement entities.

Civil actions include lawsuits involving private parties (e.g., a personal liability case, divorce proceeding or disputes between private companies or individuals). In addition, civil proceedings include investigations by governmental regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

Our Process

We receive multiple types of legal demands, including subpoenas, court orders and search warrants. Before we respond to any legal demand, we determine that we have received the correct type of demand based on the applicable law for the type of information sought. For instance, in some states we must supply call detail records if we receive a subpoena. In other states, call detail records require a probable cause court order or search warrant. If the requesting agency has failed to send the correct type of demand, we reject the demand.

Types of Legal Demands

The reporting category “Total U.S. Criminal & Civil Demands” reflects the type of demand with the information requested, particularly relating to General Court Orders and search warrants.

• Subpoenas don’t usually require the approval of a judge and are issued by an officer of the court, e.g., an attorney. They are used in both criminal and civil cases, typically to demand (1) testimony or written business documents, such as calling records and client contracts, (2) basic subscriber information, such as the name and address listed on the billing account, and (3) data related to advertising transactions conducted using our advertising technology.
• General Court Orders are signed by a judge. We consider “general” court orders to be all orders except those that contain a probable cause finding. In a criminal case, for example, a judge may issue a court order on a lesser standard than probable cause, such as “relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.” In criminal cases, court orders are also used to demand real-time, pen register/“trap and trace” information, which provides phone numbers and other dialed information for all calls as they are made or received from the device identified in the order. In a civil case, a court order may be issued on a “relevant” or “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence” standard.
  In both the criminal and civil context, general court orders have been used to demand historic information, like billing records or records relating to usage of a wireless device.
• Search Warrants and Probable Cause Court Orders are signed by a judge, and they are issued only upon a finding of “probable cause.” To be issued, the warrant or order must be supported by sworn testimony and sufficient evidence to believe the information demanded is evidence of a crime. Probable cause is viewed as the highest standard to demand evidence. Except in emergency circumstances, a search warrant or probable cause court order is required for all real-time precise location information (like GPS) and real-time content (such as content obtained through wiretaps). Stored content (like stored text and voice messages) generally also requires a warrant.

Foreign-Originated Demands for Information about a U.S. Consumer or Business

If we receive an international demand for information about a U.S. customer, whether an individual or business, we refer the requester to that country’s Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) process. We did not receive any international demands for information about a U.S. customer from a country that does not have an MLAT process. The FBI ensures that we receive the proper form of U.S. process (e.g., subpoena, court order or search warrant), subject to the limitations placed on discovery in the U.S., and that cross-border data flows are handled appropriately. All international originated demands that follow an MLAT procedure are reported in our Total Demands category.

Total Demands	July - December 2022
Federal, State and Local; Criminal and Civil	128,018

Total Subpoenas	July - December 2022
Criminal Subpoenas	85,547
Civil Subpoenas	7,841
Total	93,388

Court Orders (General)	July - December 2022
Historic	7,197
Real-Time (Pen Registers)	4,062
Total	11,259

Historic Search Warrants/Probable Cause Court Orders	July - December 2022
Stored Content	7,126
Other	7,692
Total	14,818

Real-Time Search Warrants/Probable Cause Court Orders	July - December 2022
Wiretaps	912
Mobile Locate Demands	7,641
Total	8,553

Demands Rejected/Partial or No Data Provided

(Breakout detail of data included in Total U.S. Criminal & Civil Demands)

In this category, we include the number of times we rejected a demand or provided only partial information or no information in response to a demand. Here are a few reasons why certain demands fall into this category:

• The wrong type of demand is submitted by law enforcement. For instance, we will reject a subpoena demanding a wiretap, because either a probable cause court order or search warrant is required.
• The demand has errors, such as missing pages or signatures.
• The demand was not correctly addressed to AT&T.
• The demand did not contain all the elements necessary for a response.
• We had no information that matched the customer, equipment or other information provided in the demand.

Type	July - December 2022
Rejected/Challenged	3,822
Partial or No Information	40,499
Total	44,321

Location Demands

(Breakout detail of data included in Total U.S. Criminal & Civil Demands)

Our “Location Demands” category breaks out the number of civil and criminal legal demands we received by the type of location information (historic or real-time) demanded. Demands for location information seek precise GPS coordinates of the device or call detail records that reflect the location of any cell site processing a call. We also get demands for cell tower searches, which ask us to provide all telephone numbers registered on a particular cell tower for a certain period of time. We do not keep track of the number of telephone numbers provided to law enforcement in connection with cell tower searches.

A single cell tower demand may cover multiple towers. We disclose both the total number of demands and the total number of cell tower searches. For instance, if we received one court order that included two cell towers, we count that as one demand for two searches. For the 2,051 cell tower demands during this reporting period, we performed 5,028 searches. The average time period that law enforcement demanded for a cell tower search was 1 hours and 46 minutes for this reporting period.

Like all companies, we are required by law to provide information to law enforcement and other government entities by complying with court orders, subpoenas and lawful discovery requests. In all cases, we review requests to determine whether they are valid. We require a search warrant based on the probable cause standard for all demands for real-time or historical location information, except in emergency situations.

Type	July - December 2022
Historic	45,836
Real-Time	10,996
Cell Tower	2,051
Total	58,883

Emergency Requests

The numbers provided in this category are the total of 911-originated inquiries and exigent requests that we processed during this reporting period. 911-originated inquiries are those that help locate or identify a person in need of emergency assistance. “Exigent requests” are emergency requests from law enforcement working on kidnappings, missing person cases, attempted suicides and other emergencies. In order to protect your privacy, we require a certification from a law enforcement agency confirming they are dealing with a case involving risk of death or serious injury before we will share information sought by an exigent request.

Type	July - December 2022
911	35,694
Exigent	20,496
Total	56,190

International Demands³

The “International Demands” category represents the number of civil and criminal legal demands originating outside the U.S. and related to AT&T’s operations in foreign countries. These demands are for (i) historic subscriber information about consumers who reside in other countries and businesses that operate in other countries; and (ii) URL/IP (website/internet address) blocking demands from foreign governments⁴. Legal demands related to our operations in Mexico are addressed in a separate section later in the Report.

The Diverse Services AT&T Provides Internationally Affect the Types and Volume of Demands We Receive

• Business Services: AT&T provides telecommunications and IT services to the foreign offices of large multi-national business customers. In all foreign countries where AT&T supports these customers, AT&T primarily receives demands for historic subscriber information. In those countries where AT&T also provides internet access service, it may also have received demands for IP or URL blocking.
• Consumer Mobility Services: Mexico is the only country outside of the U.S. where AT&T provides a consumer mobility network. Accordingly, AT&T received legal demands similar to those it receives in the U.S., including demands for subscriber information, location information, real-time content and wiretaps.

A Few Additional Points

Historic Subscriber Information is information such as the name and address listed on the billing account or the types of services purchased from AT&T.

The IP or URL blocking demands come from countries that require us to block access to websites that they deem offensive, illegal, unauthorized or otherwise inappropriate. These demands are listed separately from the demands for historic subscriber information.

While AT&T may provide internet access in some foreign countries, we do not have the ability to control the content of any websites other than AT&T’s own sites. Accordingly, while we did receive and comply with demands from foreign governments to block access to websites in their countries during this reporting period, we did not receive demands to remove content from websites (nor would we be able to do so). During this reporting period, we did not receive any demands from any foreign governments to produce any stored content.

Finally, the laws governing the international demands that we receive differ by country. We respond to these demands based on each country’s laws.⁵

Australia	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Austria	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Belgium	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Brazil	July - December 2021
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	14

Bulgaria	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Canada	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1

Colombia	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	2

Czech Republic	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Denmark	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Estonia	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1

Finland	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	1

France	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	8

Germany	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	1

Greece	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Hungary	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Ireland	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Israel	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	2

Italy	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	1

Latvia	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Lithuania	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Luxembourg	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Netherlands	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	1
IP/URL Blocking	1

Poland	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Portugal	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Romania	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Slovakia	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	3

Slovenia	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Spain	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

Sweden	July - December 2022
IP/URL Blocking	1

UK	July - December 2022
Historic: Subscriber Information	3

Mexico

The laws applicable to demands received in Mexico are listed below.

General Information Requirements

• Legal framework
• Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, articles 189 and 190
• National Criminal Procedure Code, article 303

Wiretaps

• Legal framework
• Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, article 16, paragraph 13
• National Criminal Procedure Code, articles 291 and 292
• Federal Law against Organized Crime, article 16

Types of Legal Demands

In Mexico, there is no distinction between Subpoenas and General Court Orders as in the U.S., because the law provides that all demands for customer data must be reviewed and authorized by a judge. The legal demands are classified as follows:

• Historic Information: In a criminal case, court orders are used to demand subscriber information, call detail records, cell site location information, and identification data of mobile devices. In a civil case, court orders may only be used to demand subscriber information.
• Location Information in Real-Time: Legal demands for this information must be reviewed and authorized by a judge, whose ruling must be premised on certain criminal investigations defined by Mexican law and national security matters. Demands for location information seek precise GPS coordinates of the device or call detail records that reflect the location of any device processing communications. We also get demands for cell tower searches, which ask us to provide all telephone numbers registered on a particular cell tower for a certain period.
  
  We do not keep track of the number of telephone numbers provided to law enforcement in connection with cell tower searches.
• Court Order for Wiretaps: In Mexico, there is a special procedure for these types of legal demands, and a judge may authorize the wiretap order, if certain legal standards are met and the matter is related to certain criminal investigations defined by Mexican law or national security matters.

Historic Information: Subscriber Information/Call Detail Records	July - December 2022
Location Information (Cell Site)	12,800
Total (Includes judicial authorities and national security)	15,673

Real-Time	July - December 2022
Wiretaps	1,054
Location Information (Precise)	1,955
Total	3,009

Demands Rejected/Partial or No Data Provided	July - December 2022
Rejected/Challenged	373
Partial or No Information	463
Total (Breakout detail of data included in Total Mexico Demands)	836

1. On August 2, 2021, we completed our transaction with TPG Capital establishing a new, independent company named “DIRECTV.” This new company owns and operates the DIRECTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services previously owned and operated by AT&T, which is now a non-controlling shareholder. AT&T continues to process legal demands on behalf of DIRECTV under a commercial agreement, and this Report includes data from DIRECTV for the entire reporting period.
2. See 50 U.S.C. § 1874, as added by the USA Freedom Act (Public Law 114-23 of June 2, 2015).
3. Countries where “0” has been reported have been removed from this chart. We will add countries back in future reports should we receive new requests in any of those countries.
4. In response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the EU issued a Regulation in March 2022, by which member states’ operators, including in-country Internet Service Providers, were directed to block Russian sites including Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik. AT&T complied with the Regulation in the EU member states listed in this chart.
5. India, for example, does not permit publication of demands.