Educate-Yourself -

by Steve Kettmann
10:20 a.m. 25.Feb.2000 PST
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34575,00.html

Americans may be used to speculation on high-tech international spy networks, but this week's report to the European Parliament on the so-called Echelon system has kicked up genuine outrage and concern around Europe that is unlikely to die down anytime soon.

This is especially true in France, where ever-present frictions with Great Britain threaten to be exacerbated by the fresh focus on the UK's role in an international surveillance network that can allegedly intercept email, faxes, and phone conversations.

Everybody's got issues in Politics Former French interior minister Charles Pasqua told the European Parliament: "A good part of this surveillance network is based in Britain, and Britain benefits from priority information."

Paul Quiles, a leader of the French national assembly's defense committee, said: "Because this is about espionage, we're going to start an investigation, from the companies to foreign (governments)."

The French are known for being quick to take offense when they perceive that others are angling for unfair advantage, and the media storm that erupted in France this week guarantees ustained attention.

An editorial in the influential Le Monde with the headline "Echelon Is Listening to Us" summoned the old John LeCarre world of CIA spying, and noted that until recently it was not widely known in France even that the National Security Agency existed.

"From Washington to London, where lessons are given about liberalism and loyal concurrence, we would like, at least, some clarifications. By telephone, fax, or email," the editorial said. The heightened European interest in the shadowy Echelon system seems likely to put added pressure on Washington to explain in greater detail just what Echelon is and is not.

Rene Galy-Dejean, a member of the French National Assembly, called on the French government to ask for an official explanation. The French justice minister, Elisabeth Guigou, said that despite U.S. denials, she believes the Echelon system is indeed used for industrial espionage "and for keeping a watch on competitors."

Duncan Campbell, the author of the report to the European Parliament, told Wired News that what he believes to be the gigantic scale of the Echelon system is so mind-boggling, people have at times disbelieved its existence.

"It's a very difficult area for people to understand and believe," he said. "Awareness is now growing exponentially, first in Europe and also in the United States."

German European Parliament representative Christian von Boetticher, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, called on the European Union to take a joint approach to investigating the charges of industrial espionage. "The new approach should include a unified security system for data transfer, which is independent of the USA," he said.

Have a comment on this article? Send it Email this to a friend.
Fax this from your computer for free