Overview[1][2]#

ECHELON was originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the United States with the aid of other four signatory nations to the UKUSA Security Agreement—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, also known as the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance.

ECHELON was created in the late 1960s to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies during the Cold War, and was formally established in 1971.

By the end of the 20th century, the system referred to as "ECHELON" had allegedly evolved beyond its military and diplomatic origins, to also become "…a global system for the interception of private and commercial Telecommunications.

ECHELON is part of the growing tools used by the National Security Agency

Category#

Government Surveillance

More Information#

There might be more information for this subject on one of the following:

• SIGINT

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• [#1] - ECHELON - based on information obtained 2017-05-05-
• [#2] - PRIVACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS - based on information obtained 2016-03-08
• [#3] - the ECHELON report - based on information obtained 2018-08-03-