-Caveat Lector-
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Tuesday, November 2, 1999 Published at 18:01 GMT
World Global spy network revealed
Listening in to your phone calls and reading your emails
By Andrew Bomford
BBC Radio 4's PM programme
Imagine a global spying network that can
eavesdrop on every single phone call, fax or
e-mail, anywhere on the planet.
It sounds like science fiction, but it's true.
Two of the chief protagonists - Britain and
America - officially deny its existence. But
the BBC has confirmation from the
Australian Government that such a network
really does exist and politicians on both sides
of the Atlantic are calling for an inquiry.
On the North Yorkshire moors above
Harrogate they can be seen for miles, but
still they are shrouded in secrecy. Around 30
giant golf balls, known as radomes, rise from
the US military base at Menwith Hill.
Linked to the NSA
Inside is the world's most sophisticated
eavesdropping technology, capable of
listening-in to satellites high above the earth.
The base is linked
directly to the
headquarters of the US
National Security
Agency (NSA) at Fort
Mead in Maryland, and
it is also linked to a
series of other listening
posts scattered across
the world, like Britain's
own GCHQ.
The power of the network, codenamed Echelon, is
astounding.
Every international telephone call, fax,
e-mail, or radio transmission can be listened
to by powerful computers capable of voice
recognition. They home in on a long list of
key words, or patterns of messages. They
are looking for evidence of international
crime, like terrorism.
Open Oz
The network is so secret that the British and
American Governments refuse to admit that
Echelon even exists. But another ally,
Australia, has decided not to be so coy.
The man who oversees Australia's security
services, Inspector General of Intelligence
and Security Bill Blick, has confirmed to the
BBC that their Defence Signals Directorate
(DSD) does form part of the network.
"As you would expect there are a large
amount of radio communications floating
around in the atmosphere, and agencies
such as DSD collect those communications
in the interests of their national security", he
said.
Asked if they are then passed on to
countries like Britain and America, he said:
"They might be in certain circumstances."
But the system is so widespread all sorts of
private communications, often of a sensitive
commercial nature, are hoovered up and
analysed.
Journalist Duncan Campbell has spent much
of his life investigating Echelon. In a report
commissioned by the European Parliament
he produced evidence that the NSA snooped
on phone calls from a French firm bidding
for a contract in Brazil. They passed the
information on to an American competitor,
which won the contract.
"There's no safeguards, no remedies, " he
said, "There's nowhere you can go to say
that they've been snooping on your
international communications. Its a totally
lawless world."
Breaking the silence
Both Britain and America deny allegations
like this, though they refuse to comment
further. But one former US army intelligence
officer has broken the code of silence.
Colonel Dan Smith told the BBC that while
this is feasible, it is not official policy:
"Technically they can scoop all this
information up, sort through it, and find what
it is that might be asked for," he said. "But
there is no policy to do this specifically in
response to a particular companies
interests."
Legislators on both sides of the Atlantic are
beginning to sit up and take notice.
Republican Congressman Bob Barr has
persuaded congress to open hearings into
these and other allegations.
In December he is coming to Britain to raise
awareness of the issue. In an interview with
the BBC he accused the NSA of conducting
a broad "dragnet" of communications, and
"invading the privacy of American citizens."
He is joined in his concerns by a small
number of politicians In Britain. Liberal
Democrat MP Norman Baker has tabled a
series of questions about Menwith Hill, but
has been met with a wall of silence.
"There's no doubt its being used as a
listening centre," he said, "There's no doubt
its beig used for US interests, and I'm not
convinced that Britain's interests are being
best served by this."
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