>From Dave Farber's "Interesting People" list.
--- Start of forwarded message ---
Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 14:39:27 -0500
From: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: IP: ECHELON Watch
>Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:59:41 -0500
>To: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: Barry Steinhardt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>Dave,
>
>ACLU today launched a new web site www.echelonwatch.org, which is designed
>to focus public attention on the threats to civil liberties which are
>posed by the massive international communications surveillance program
>sometimes known by the code name ECHELON. The attached release gives more
>details on the site.
>
>I believe this issue will be of interest to the IP list.
>
>Regards,
>
>Barry Steinhardt
>
>
>ACLU Launches Web Site On Global Surveillance System
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
>Jennifer Helburn
>Tuesday, November 16, 1999
>(202) 675-2312
>WASHINGTON-The American Civil Liberties Union today launched a web site
>designed to shed light on a global electronic surveillance system known by
>the code name "Echelon" that reportedly allows the United States and other
>governments to eavesdrop on private citizens.
>"Echelon is perhaps the most powerful intelligence gathering network in the
>world," said Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director of the ACLU. "But it is
>still very much a black box, which apparently operates without the oversight
>of Congress or the courts."
>The website - www.echelonwatch.org - encourages public discussion of the
>potential threat that Echelon poses to civil liberties, and allows visitors
>to fax free letters to Congress, urging their support for a congressional
>inquiry into the Echelon project. It also provides a collection of research
>documents on Echelon.
>After many years of reports by investigative journalists, the existence of
>Echelon became an international issue when the European Parliament received
>two reports detailing its operations and after the Australian government
>confirmed its participation in the operation. According to those reports,
>Echelon is led by the U.S. National Security Agency in conjunction with its
>counterpart agencies in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
>Echelon reportedly attempts to capture all satellite, microwave, cellular
>and fiber-optic communications worldwide, including communications to and
>from North America. Computers then use sophisticated filtering technology to
>sort through conversations, faxes and emails searching for keywords or other
>flags. Communications that include the flags are then forwarded to the
>intelligence agency that requested them. The report to the European
>Parliament charged that Echelon had been used in the United Kingdom to spy
>on charities such as Amnesty International and Christian Aid.
>"Echelon can no longer be dismissed as an X-Files fantasy," Steinhardt said.
>"The reports to the European Parliament make it quite clear that Echelon
>exists and that its operation raises profound civil liberties issues."
>The NSA has refused to share with Congress and the public the legal
>guidelines for the project. This refusal prompted passage of a bill, now in
>the final stages before becoming law, requiring the intelligence agencies to
>prepare a report on the legal standards they use for monitoring
>communications. Within the next few months, the U.S. House Government Reform
>and Oversight Committee will hold hearings on Echelon.
>"It appears that the U.S. government is once again spying on Americans'
>private communications," said Gregory T. Nojeim, a legislative counsel in
>the ACLU's Washington National Office. "Congress must determine if Echelon
>is as sweeping and intrusive as has been reported, and most importantly, it
>must ensure that Americans' conversations are not intercepted without a
>court order."
>The ACLU created and administers the site in conjunction with the
>Washington, DC based Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Omega
>Foundation of Great Britain, which prepared the first report to the European
>Parliament.
>###
>
>
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