AT&T has announced an anti-piracy initiative that has raised concerns among privacy advocates, reports The Globe & Mail.

The telecom giant announced it would work with movie studios and record labels to identify when, where and how pirated files are transferred along its networks.

While it remains to be seen whether or not such a monitoring system is even feasible, privacy watchdogs are concerned. They say if such a filter is put in place it would infringe on the privacy of customers, with AT&T tracking their site visits, file sharing and other online behavior.

Verizon, an AT&T competitor, is watching how this progresses. In the past it has fought requests by media companies to turn over the names of customers suspected to be engaged in sharing pirated material. But both telecoms have TV service divisions that compete against traditional cable operators for which they need the cooperation of media companies in order to operate.

AT&T and Verizon admit that while they don't want to infringe on the privacy of customers, their business interests run along the same path as those of media companies, something that complicates internal discussions.