Hell, I might as well say it, I used to work for the NSA

[Piedras]

84. In the early 1970's I toured a phone company cable landing and briefly listened to an overseas call.

Last edited Fri Aug 2, 2013, 10:43 PM - Edit history (2)

In the early 70's, as a college student, I toured a phone company's underground cable landing building and very briefly listened in on an overseas call. So, it comes as no surprise to me that it is now all too easy to "listen in" on phone calls and internet communications. Disturbing, yes.

There was very little to see above ground of the mostly hidden cable landing building. Just a parking lot and a small building. As we were getting our orientation talk we were told it was one of the biggest buildings in the county. Up top there were curved air locks that could slice up a person's body if you were unfortunate to enter at the wrong time (maybe just a scare tactic by the phone guys, but it looked believable). I remember at least three underground levels once we were inside. They said it all was built to survive a nearby atomic blast. All the (mechanical) switches were attached to frames that hung from the ceilings in a way to absorb a shock. There were battery banks, generators and other supplies so the people who worked there could continue operating for weeks if cut off from the outside.

Phone company employees given us an hour or so long tour through much of the underground facility. Near the end they introduced us to other workers, hinted to be from the government, who let us listen to a couple of seconds of an overseas call. We saw with our own eyes and ears (government) people monitoring overseas calls. At the time, decades ago, it did not trouble me. It seemed prudent to protect an important communications facility.

More cables to and from overseas have since been added to the cable landing. It's a certainty that much smaller, more efficient, switches would now be used too. So the ability to monitor phone calls and the internet must have increased immensely.

I'm just a civilian remembering that experience from 40+ years ago. It has always stuck with me how easy it was for the government to listen to overseas phone calls.