The spy in the ether

The EU must combat the threat to privacy
Special report: the European parliament

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 May 2001 23.31 BST

In a long-awaited report published yesterday, the European Parliament warned EU citizens of the threat to their privacy from Echelon, a global eavesdropping network run by the US National Security Agency in cooperation with Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As we reported on Saturday, it concluded that the primary purpose of the system is to "intercept private and commercial communications". It urged individuals and businesses to use codes to protect their communications. The committee found no evidence of a systematic use of Echelon for industrial espionage - contrary to the claims of some French MEPs.

Britain's security and intelligence agencies - Echelon's only EU customers - concede the system is designed to "counter" industrial espionage, including corruption. They also argue that counter measures must be taken against the growing use of electronic communications by terrorist groups and international criminal gangs. This is their de fence of the new Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which allows government agencies to intercept "communications data" - addresses of emails sent and received - without a warrant, and order individuals to hand over the keys to their encoded messages. Britain is at the forefront of plans by EU agencies, in cooperation with the FBI, to intercept and store personal communications.

The argument about industrial espionage, is a politically inspired red herring. The crucial issue, as James Bamford, a US authority on the NSA, says in his book, Body of Secrets, is individual privacy. Unchecked, he says, Echelon could become a "cyber secret police. without courts, juries, or the right to a defence". There is no redress against the use of intrusive technology by Anglo-Saxon and EU agencies. Whitehall says it is a matter of trust. But that is not enough. The EU must set up a transparent, independent, system to monitor the growing threats to personal privacy.

Useful links
Anti-Echelon links page
US National Security Agency
GCHQ