None of this should be surprising, should it? It's a reasonable assumption that all intelligence agencies share their data on a pretty regular basis - certainly with 'friendly' nations, and almost certainly with others, on a quid pro quo basis. It's always been that way.
On 29 Jun 2013, at 21:42, "Jurre andmore" <[email protected]> wrote: > There was a hearing last week in Dutch parliament about PRISM. There > was another interesting point being discussed a rumor that the TAT-14 > cable in Katwijk was being eavesdropped. Not only is it eavesdropped, > but data is shared with the US! > > Article below: > > Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America > > Germany 'among countries offering intelligence' according to new > claims by former US defence analyst > > > At least six European Union countries in addition to Britain have been > colluding with the US over the mass harvesting of personal > communications data, according to a former contractor to America's > National Security Agency, who said the public should not be "kept in > the dark". > > Wayne Madsen, a former US navy lieutenant who first worked for theNSA > in 1985 and over the next 12 years held several sensitive positions > within the agency, names Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Germany, > Spain and Italy as having secret deals with the US. > > Madsen said the countries had "formal second and third party status" > under signal intelligence (Sigint) agreements that compels them to > hand over data, including mobile phone and internet information to the > NSA if requested. > > Under international intelligence agreements, confirmed by declassified > documents, nations are categorised by the US according to their trust > level. The US is first party while the UK, Canada, Australia and New > Zealand enjoy second party relationships. Germany and France have > third party relationships. > > In an interview published last night on the PrivacySurgeon.org blog, > Madsen, who has been attacked for holding controversial views on > espionage issues, said he had decided to speak out after becoming > concerned about the "half story" told by EU politicians regarding the > extent of the NSA's activities in Europe. > > He said that under the agreements, which were drawn up after the > second world war, the "NSA gets the lion's share" of the Sigint > "take". In return, the third parties to the NSA agreements received > "highly sanitised intelligence". > > Madsen said he was alarmed at the "sanctimonious outcry" of political > leaders who were "feigning shock" about the spying operations while > staying silent about their own arrangements with the US, and was > particularly concerned that senior German politicians had accused the > UK of spying when their country had a similar third party deal with > the NSA. > > Although the level of co-operation provided by other European > countries to the NSA is not on the same scale as that provided by the > UK, the allegations are potentially embarrassing. > > "I can't understand how Angela Merkel can keep a straight face, > demanding assurances from Obama and the UK while Germany has entered > into those exact relationships," Madsen said. > > The Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Ludford, a senior member of the > European parliament's civil liberties, justice and home affairs > committee, said Madsen's allegations confirmed that the entire system > for monitoring data interception was a mess, because the EU was unable > to intervene in intelligence matters that remained the exclusive > concern of national governments. > > "The intelligence agencies are exploiting these contradictions and no > one is really holding them to account," Ludford said. "It's terribly > undermining to liberal democracy." > > Madsen's disclosures have prompted calls for European governments to > come clean on their arrangements with the NSA. "There needs to be > transparency as to whether or not it is legal for the US or any other > security service to interrogate private material," said John Cooper > QC, a leading international human rights lawyer. "The problem here is > that none of these arrangements has been debated in any democratic > arena. I agree with William Hague that sometimes things have to be > done in secret, but you don't break the law in secret." > > Madsen said all seven European countries and the US have access to the > Tat 14 fibre-optic cable network running between Denmark and Germany, > the Netherlands, France, the UK and the US, allowing them to intercept > vast amounts of data, including phone calls, emails and records of > users' access to websites. > > He said the public needed to be made aware of the full scale of the > communication-sharing arrangements between European countries and the > US, which pre-date the internet and became of strategic importance > during the cold war. > > The covert relationship between the countries was first outlined in a > 2001 report by the European parliament, but their explicit connection > with the NSA was not publicised until Madsen decided to speak out last > night. > > The European parliament's report followed revelations that the NSA was > conducting a global intelligence-gathering operation, known as > Echelon, which appears to have established the framework for European > member states to collaborate with the US. > > "A lot of this information isn't secret, nor is it new," Madsen said. > "It's just that governments have chosen to keep the public in the dark > about it. The days when they could get away with a conspiracy of > silence are over." > > This month another former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, revealed to > the Guardian previously undisclosed US programmes to monitor telephone > and internet traffic. The NSA is alleged to have shared some of its > data, gathered using a specialist tool called Prism, with Britain's > GCHQ, although the British government denies any suggestion that it > was obtained illegally. In return, GCHQ has allegedly provided huge > amounts of data to the NSA. > > "The European parliament must intervene," said Simon Davies, who runs > the Privacy Surgeon blog. "MEPs should put the interests of citizens > above party politics and create meaningful reforms." > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/29/european-private-data-america?CMP=twt_fd > > -- > With kind regards, > > Jurre van Bergen > -- > Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by > emailing moderator at [email protected] or changing your settings at > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech -- Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at [email protected] or changing your settings at https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
