Re: Dutch defense minister warns other countries have Echelon-type spy networks

[Wouter Slegers]

On Mon, Feb 05, 2001 at 11:39:01PM -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> I couldn't find the document, but Ulf was kind enough to
> forward me the PDF file, which I've placed online:
> http://www.politechbot.com/docs/echelon-nl.0101.pdf
This document describes the technical aspects of communication systems
and their vulnerability to eavesdropping in general. It then goes on to
describe the current and proposed laws regarding eavesdropping by the
law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies. The question whether
"Echelon" exists, is _not_ officially answered by the Dutch minister of
defense. He just notes that according to Duncan Campbell's "Interception
Capabilities 2000" report and other open sources, a large scale
interception system exists. He explicitly denies that the Dutch
government has insider knowledge of the existance of Echelon, but does
note that the Dutch government operates under the assumption that these
kind of systems exist.

So in short, claiming the Dutch government warns others about the
existance of Echelon or equivelent systems is not correct.

> -Declan
Wouter Slegers

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