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http://interactive.wsj.com/archive
Wall Street Journal, 28 March 2000
Editorial page/letters
Electronic Snoopers Plunder Our Rights
James Woolsey concluded his remarkable piece on the controversy in Europe
about commercial espionage with an accurate rebuke: European politicians (and
some others) cannot attack the U.S. for commercial snooping and expect to
maintain straight faces ("Why We Spy on Our Allies," editorial page, March
17). He was right too to point out that comment on my report to the European
Parliament, which he cites heavily, has been selective and misleading. But
Mr. Woolsey has in turn been selective. My report cited three examples, not
the two he claimed. In the third case, alleged bribery was not the reason for
the U.S. targeting the communications of a European aerospace corporation.
A much more important point flows from Mr. Woolsey's forthright
acknowledgment of spying on U.S. allies. Whether or not detecting bribery is
the true motive, the occasions in which a foreign company behaves corruptly
can be uncovered only if its communications are routinely under surveillance,
including when it acts lawfully. These communications are tracked by means of
intercepting the world's communications arteries, which also carry the
private messages of U.S. business and those of the citizens of every nation.
Such surveillance is both highly secret and quite lawless. Yes, Mr. Woolsey,
the French do it too. And the Russians. And the Chinese. But whichever
government is doing the snooping, it amounts to a frontal attack on privacy
and constitutional rights.
That is why the same worries have recently filled congressional postbags, and
may lead Congress to investigate communications surveillance and
constitutional rights for the first time since Sen. Frank Church first
exposed such activity in 1976. On this matter at least, the interests of U.S.
and European citizens (if not our corporations) are easily aligned. It is
time for the electronic snoopers to cease plundering the privacy of
international communications.
Duncan Campbell
Senior Research Fellow
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Washington
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[Thanks to FR, Telepolis.]
http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/co/6696/1.html
Telepolis, March 29, 2000
European Parliament: Inquiry on Echelon
Jelle van Buuren 29.03.2000
The Green Group in the Parliament found sufficient support to demand a
parliamentary inquiry on Echelon
The Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament presented today a list of 172
signatures of Members of European Parliament of all political groups,
supporting the establishment of a Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Echelon.
This means there are enough signatures for an official demand on an inquiry
on Echelon, an espionage system operated by the US, the UK and other
countries. The existence of Echelon was revealed in the STOA-Reports.
According to parliamentary rules, a quarter of the total number of members of
parliament (which equals 157 members) is required for a demand on an inquiry.
The list of signatories is now sent to the president of the European
Parliament, Nicole Fontaine. According to the rules, it's now up to the
Parliaments Conference of Presidents (an organ consisting of the presidents
of all political groups) to make a recommendation for an inquiry, which will
then be voted upon in the plenary. Therefore, it is not sure the inquiry will
be actually held. A majority of the Parliament has to vote for it.
"Echelon poses a serious threat to democracy, citizens rights and business
interests," said Paul Lannoye, co-President of the Green/EFA Group at a press
conference in Brussel. "The Greens want to know if the EU Commission and the
Council have done enough to protect EU citizens from being spied on in their
professional and private lives."
According to Heidi Hautala (Greens), there is enough evidence that Echelon
exists and works: "Two tears ago, Commissionair Bangemann simply denied the
existence of Echelon, and his successor Frits Bokkestein is continuing to do
so. The EU Commission has to wake up to reality. We call upon the EU
Commission and Council to show more transparancy in this question and so help
to shed light on the legal grey zone in which telecommunication interception
is practised."
Tomorrow, The EU Commission and Council will be making statements on Echelon.
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[Thanks to anonymous.]
Associated Press, March 29, 2000
EU To Widen Echelon Spy Probe
Filed at 4:16 p.m. EST
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Many Europeans fear Big Brother has been watching
them for decades. Now, they are starting to find out whether a vast U.S.-led
espionage network has been snooping into their lives.
The European Parliament opens a probe Thursday into allegations of economic
espionage by the U.S.-led Echelon network, accused of snooping on European
business communications in a controversial report last month.
The report sent shivers up the spines of many Europeans, especially in
Brussels, where key economic and political decisions are made at European
Union headquarters.
It painted the picture of an elaborate spy network, masterminded in
Washington, eavesdropping on phone calls, faxes and e-mails in the pursuit of
commercial gain.
Echelon, a vast global network of electronic monitoring stations, was created
in the 1970s as part of an intelligence-gathering agreement between the
United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to monitor the
activities of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies.
After the demise of the Soviet threat, Echelon's extensive surveillance
operation did not evaporate but actually increased its monitoring
capabilities worldwide, the report said.
It said new threats to national security like terrorism and organized crime
continued to drive the thirst for information. But political, commercial and
diplomatic intelligence were also intercepted, frequently via new
communication technologies like the Internet and mobile phones.
"We have to ask ourselves what the security threats are,'' said Robert Evans,
vice chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Citizen's Freedoms
and Rights. "We are not in an era of massive secrecy any more,'' since the
Cold War is over.
The U.S. National Security Agency, which is believed to head Echelon, said
last month in a letter to the U.S. Congress that it could "neither confirm
nor deny the existence of specific operations.''
"However we can tell you that NSA operates in strict accordance with U.S.
laws and regulations,'' it said.
In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday, former CIA
director James Woolsey admitted the United States secretly collects
information on European companies, but denied giving it to their U.S.
competitors.
Woolsey said the operations were limited to companies that violate United
Nations sanctions or use bribery or other unethical practices to gain more
business.
However, even in the United States, some are not convinced. "More needs to be
done to establish the scope and impact of unlawful monitoring,'' said Marc
Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Yaman Akdeniz of the British Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties group likened
the Echelon spy network to "something out of George Orwell's '1984.'''
"This is happening in our democratic societies. The genie is now out of the
bottle,'' he said, warning that "we cannot rely on governments anymore for
protection.''
"If you want to do business you must take security seriously,'' especially in
the high-tech communications sector, Akdeniz said.
Heidi Hautala, a leader of the Green Party, which has spearheaded the
investigation, urged European businesses to "rapidly develop their own
technology and encryption systems to defend themselves against the attacks
which are conducted in the name of the universal security interests of the
United States.''
"The big challenge is to get governments to talk on this ... it is all veiled
in secrecy,'' Hautala said.
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