---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 06:52:45 -0700 (MST)
From: mea culpa
To: InfoSec News
Subject: [ISN] Privacy Group Pushes For Hearings on ECHELON
Push for hearings on Echelon:
Global spy system needs scrutiny, says rights group
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19981112_xex_push_hearing.shtml
Stephan Archer
In an effort to create some accountability between the country's citizens
and the National Security Agency's top-secret global surveillance system
known as Echelon, the Free Congress Foundation is urging that
congressional hearings be held concerning the NSA's use of the system.
Originally, Echelon was designed to spy on the Communist Bloc during the
Cold War. However, since the end of the Cold War, the NSA has used it for
other questionable purposes that include spying on the citizens of U.S.
allies as well as the citizens of other countries, commercial spying, and
even domestic spying.
In essence, Echelon works through a series of high-tech spy facilities
located primarily in five countries: the United States, Canada, England,
New Zealand, and Australia. These countries, which are sworn to secrecy
about the project in a secret agreement known as UKUSA, all actively take
part in this encroachment of privacy into the lives of the people of the
world by collecting virtually all fax transmissions, e-mails, and phone
calls. Not even cellular phone calls escape the grasp of the Echelon
system.
"Obviously, we need to have these capabilities," said Wayne Madsen, who
worked in the National COMSEC Assessment Center at the NSA's Fort Meade,
Maryland, facility back in the 1980s and is currently a senior fellow at
the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
As an example of our country's need for the system, Madsen said, "No one
can argue about using the system to counter terrorism. Where people will
have a problem is where Echelon is used for political and business
interests."
The Echelon system gets most of its data by collecting all transmissions
handled by the Intelsat and Inmarsat satellites, which are responsible for
much of the electronic communication that takes place between countries.
Earth-bound communication is sucked up and absorbed by other spy
satellites that the NSA has launched into space.
"It's a huge vacuum cleaner," said Madsen.
Once these spy facilities collect the phone calls, e-mails, and faxes, of
virtually everyone on earth, the Echelon system sorts them through a kind
of filter system known as the Echelon dictionary. This dictionary looks
for "flag" words in all of the transmitted communication. While it lets a
majority of all collected material pass through its filter, it tags those
that may pose a threat and tracks all subsequent communication coming from
the source of the original "flagged" message.
Concerning Echelon's inherent intrusion on people's privacy, Patrick
Poole, the deputy director for the Center of Technology Policy at the Free
Congress Foundation, said, "While we understand the need for the
intelligence power embodied by Echelon, the indiscriminate use of Echelon
presents major threats to liberty not only to U.S. citizens but to
citizens around the world."
And this threat is real. The foundation's report states that U.S. leaders
have, in fact, already abused this awesome technology. For example, the
report states the following: "In September 1993, President Clinton asked
the CIA to spy on Japanese auto manufacturers that were designing
zero-emission cars and to forward that information to the Big Three U.S.
car manufacturers: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler."
"You can assume that all major U.S. corporations are fed items of interest
(via Echelon) from time to time to give them a leg up on international
competitors," said Madsen.
Although this may be seen as a strategic corporate weapon for American
businesses, in reality, it's an example of technology that can get out of
hand. For example, former Canadian spy Mike Frost stated in his book,
"Spyworld," that in 1981, there was an "accidental" cell phone intercept
of the American ambassador to Canada that resulted in the U.S. getting
outbid by the Canadians in a grain deal with China. The deal brought in
$2.5 billion for the Canadian Wheat Board.
With this kind of abuse of Echelon's power, the question as to whether or
not the U.S. government has been using this power for political purposes
can be easily raised. This question is seemingly answered in the
foundation's report.
"The discovery of domestic surveillance targeted at American civilians for
reasons of 'unpopular' political affiliation -- or for no probable cause
at all -- in violation of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the
Constitution is regularly impeded by very elaborate and complex legal
arguments and privilege claims by the intelligence agencies and the U.S.
government," the report says.
When asked if the system has been used by the U.S. government to spy on
its citizens, Madsen told WorldNetDaily that he was sure it has been.
"I don't believe that the NSA or the current Administration would hesitate
to use this system on American citizens for their own agendas," he said.
Outraged by this flagrant abuse of power illustrated by our country's
elected officials, Poole said, "While the U.S. is the prime mover behind
the Echelon system, it's shameful that the European Parliament is the body
holding the constitutional debate in regards to Echelon today."
A September 1998 report for the European Parliament by the Omega
Foundation said, "Within Europe, all e-mail, telephone, and fax
communications are routinely intercepted by the United States National
Security Agency.
According to the Omega Foundation report, it is this ability of the NSA
that brings major concern to the European Parliament. In an effort to
bring the issues surrounding Echelon to the forefront of American
politics, the Free Congress Foundation plans to send out a report about
Echelon to all of the 500 policy organizations in the U.S. as well as to
select members of Congress. These select individuals include members from
both the House and Senate intelligence committees as well as House and
Senate Constitution subcommittees. Copies of the report will also be sent
to the congressional leadership of both parties.
Although the foundation is hoping to get some action out of these members
of Congress, Poole said that support at the grassroots level of our
nation's political structure will be a must if this issue isn't to end up
buried by the intelligence committees.
"For there to be any account and oversight to the Echelon system, the
American people are going to have to contact their elected representatives
in order to investigate the abuses that we know have occurred in regards
to the Echelon system," Poole said.
See Free Congress Foundation's report on Echelon at:
http://www.freecongress.org/ctp/echelon.html
-o-
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