Yes, Virginia, There Is an Echelon

Sep 06 2001

It's old news, circa 1999, that Europeans think the U.S. uses an electronic surveillance system called Echelon. The European Parliament put the issue to an official vote on Wednesday, adopting recommendations of anti-Echelon measures and approving a report that says Echelon exists and can snoop on foreign businesses. As if Dubya hasn't given the Euro zone enough reasons to pout.

The U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand are believed to be behind Echelon, so it's no great shock that coverage of the EU's disapproval was scarce in English-language outlets. Or perhaps the European Parliament's rubber stamp isn't as sexy as continued bashing of the HP-Compaq deal. Most importantly, the just-approved report was originally released in May . Still, a few outlets weighed in.

The Associated Press led with the proposed counter-measures: "European nations should set up an encryption system to guard against Echelon, the European Parliament said." The piece mentioned other recommendations, such as strengthening international privacy laws, banning industrial espionage within EU nations, and setting up a European encryption and intelligence-gathering system.

Yes, that last one basically means "fight fire with fire." German EP official Gerhard Schmid "said most industrialized nations ... have comparable, if inferior, spying systems and that it is basically a case of spy-versus-spy," paraphrased the Agence France Presse. Plus, there's too much telecommunications traffic for anyone to really screen it all - we doubt the CIA is reading Media Grok right now, for instance - and no European companies have complained about being spied on by the U.S., Schmid told the AFP.

Wired News hasn't reported on the September affirmation yet, but it did tie things up nicely in an article back in July, after the EU finished its Echelon "inquiry" . "Echelon exists and the Europeans don't like it," summarized Wired's Steve Kettmann, "but there isn't much they can do except wring their hands in impotent fury." And keep voting on it.

European Parliament: Echelon Lives!
TheStandard.com

European Parliament OKs Spy Plan
USA Today

US Echelon spy network a fact, European Parliament told
EU Business

Echelon Spying Network Exists, EU Committee Says
Newsbytes

Echelon Furor Ends in a Whimper
Wired.com