The company's original policy stated that it could share private customer information to "respond to subpoenas, court orders or other legal process, to the extent required and/or permitted by law," and "to establish or exercise" its legal rights.
Under the new policy, AT&T makes clear to their customers that AT&T owns their data, claiming that customer data are considered "business records that are owned by AT&T. As such, AT&T may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."
Another change made by the phone giant, formed when AT&T merged with SBC Communications in November, is that customers now have to agree to the policy in order to use AT&T services.
Spokesman Michael Coe clarified that the company would not be changing the way it treats customer information, but the new policy was simply updated to "make the language clearer and easier for our customers to understand."
###