Editing ECHELON (section)

== Reporting and disclosures ==

=== Public disclosures (1972–2000) ===
Former NSA analyst [[Perry Fellwock]], under the pseudonym Winslow Peck, first blew the whistle on ECHELON to ''[[Ramparts (magazine)|Ramparts]]'' in 1972,<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Ramparts |volume=11 |number=2 |date=August 1972 |pages=35–50 |title=U.S. Electronic Espionage: A Memoir |author=David Horowitz }}</ref> when he revealed the existence of a global network of listening posts and told of his experiences working there. He also revealed the existence of [[Nuclear weapons and Israel | nuclear weapons in Israel]] in 1972, the widespread involvement of [[CIA]] and NSA personnel in drugs and human smuggling, and CIA operatives leading Nationalist Chinese (Taiwan) commandos in burning villages inside [[PRC]] borders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cryptome.org/jya/nsa-elint.htm|title=Ramparts interview|date=1988|access-date=21 April 2017|publisher=Cryptome archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235626/http://www.cryptome.org/jya/nsa-elint.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1982, investigative journalist and author [[James Bamford]] wrote ''[[The Puzzle Palace]]'', an in-depth history of the NSA and its practices, which notably leaked the existence of the eavesdropping operation [[Project SHAMROCK]]. Project SHAMROCK ran from 1945 to 1975, after which it evolved into ECHELON.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bamford |first=James |title=The Puzzle Palace: A Report on America's Most Secret Agency |url=https://archive.org/details/puzzlepalacerepo00bamf |url-access=registration |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=978-0-14-006748-4 |date=1982}}</ref><ref name="Echelon reference timeline">{{cite web|url=http://cryptome.org/jya/echelon-dc.htm|title=Puzzle Palace excepts|access-date=21 April 2017|publisher=Cryptome archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419125834/https://cryptome.org/jya/echelon-dc.htm|archive-date=19 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1988, Margaret Newsham, a [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] employee under NSA contract, disclosed the ECHELON [[surveillance]] system to members of Congress. Newsham told a member of the [[US Congress]] that the telephone calls of [[Strom Thurmond]], a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] US senator, were being collected by the NSA. Congressional investigators determined that "targeting of US political figures would not occur by accident, but was designed into the system from the start."<ref name="duncan1" />

Also in 1988, an article titled "Somebody's Listening", written by investigative journalist [[Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1952)|Duncan Campbell]] in the ''[[New Statesman]]'', described the [[signals intelligence]] gathering activities of a program code-named "ECHELON".<ref name="duncan1">{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |author-link=Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1952) |title=Somebody's Listening |newspaper=[[New Statesman]] |date=12 August 1988 |url=http://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/journalism/newstatesman/newstatesman-1988/They%27ve%20got%20it%20taped.pdf |access-date=27 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614020755/http://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/journalism/newstatesman/newstatesman-1988/They%27ve%20got%20it%20taped.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bamford described the system as the software controlling the collection and distribution of civilian [[telecommunications]] traffic conveyed using communication satellites, with the collection being undertaken by ground stations located in the footprint of the downlink leg.<ref name="Bamford">{{cite book |last=Bamford |first=James |title=Body of Secrets |publisher=Anchor |isbn=978-0-385-49908-8 |date=2002 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bodyofsecretsana0000bamf }}</ref>

A detailed description of ECHELON was provided by the New Zealand journalist [[Nicky Hager]] in his 1996 book ''[[Nicky Hager#Secret Power|Secret Power: New Zealand's Role in the International Spy Network]]''.<ref name="heiseeche">{{cite web|first=Duncan|last=Campbell|title=Echelon Chronology|url=http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/7/7795/1.html|publisher=[[Heise Online]]|access-date=19 December 2013|date=1 June 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221183720/http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/7/7795/1.html|archive-date=21 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Two years later, Hager's book was cited by the [[European Parliament]] in a report titled "An Appraisal of the Technology of Political Control" (PE 168.184).<ref>{{cite web|last=Wright|first=Steve|title=An Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/jadis/2013_12/8.PE4_AP_PV!LIBE.1994_LIBE-199801260050EN.pdf|publisher=[[European Parliament]]|access-date=28 January 2014|date=6 January 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218220150/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/jadis/2013_12/8.PE4_AP_PV!LIBE.1994_LIBE-199801260050EN.pdf|archive-date=18 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 1999, for the first time in history, the [[Australian government]] admitted that news reports about the top secret [[UKUSA Agreement]] were true.<ref name="zdnetduncan" /> Martin Brady, the director of Australia's [[Defence Signals Directorate]] (DSD, now known as Australian Signals Directorate, or ASD) told the Australian broadcasting channel [[Nine Network]] that the DSD "does co-operate with counterpart [[signals intelligence]] organisations overseas under the [[UKUSA Agreement|UKUSA relationship]]."<ref>{{cite web|first1=Duncan|last1=Campbell|first2=Mark|last2=Honigsbaum|title=Britain and US spy on world|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/23/duncancampbell.markhonigsbaum|work=[[The Observer]]|access-date=19 December 2013|date=23 May 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219063144/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/23/duncancampbell.markhonigsbaum|archive-date=19 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2000, [[R. James Woolsey, Jr.|James Woolsey]], the former Director of the US [[Central Intelligence Agency]], confirmed that US intelligence uses interception systems and keyword searches to monitor [[Europe|European]] businesses.<ref>{{cite news|author=R. James Woolsey|title=Why We Spy on Our Allies|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB95326824311657269|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=17 March 2000|access-date=3 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709151210/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB95326824311657269|archive-date=9 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lawmakers in the United States feared that the ECHELON system could be used to monitor US citizens.<ref name="echenytimes" /> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the ECHELON system has been "shrouded in such secrecy that its very existence has been difficult to prove."<ref name="echenytimes">{{cite news|author=Niall McKay|title=Lawmakers Raise Questions About International Spy Network|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/05/cyber/articles/27network.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=19 December 2013|date=27 May 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130111338/http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/05/cyber/articles/27network.html|archive-date=30 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Critics said the ECHELON system emerged from the [[Cold War]] as a "Big Brother without a cause".<ref>{{cite news|author=Suzanne Daley|title=An Electronic Spy Scare Is Alarming Europe|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/24spy.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=19 December 2013|date=24 February 2000}}</ref>

===European Parliament investigation (2000–2001)===
[[File:Nicky Hager at European Parliament April 2001b.jpg|thumb|The New Zealand journalist [[Nicky Hager]], who testified before the [[European Parliament]] and provided specific details about the ECHELON [[surveillance]] system<ref>{{cite web|first=Kieren|last=McCarthy|title=This is how we know Echelon exists|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/14/this_is_how_we_know/|work=[[The Register]]|access-date=19 December 2013|date=14 September 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209042652/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/14/this_is_how_we_know/|archive-date=9 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The program's capabilities and political implications were investigated by a committee of the European Parliament during 2000 and 2001 with a report published in 2001.<ref name="EP"/> In July 2000, the Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System was established by the European parliament to investigate the [[surveillance]] network.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rudner|first=Martin|title=Britain betwixt and between: UK SIGINT alliance strategy's transatlantic and European connections|journal=Intelligence & National Security}}</ref> It was chaired by the Portuguese politician [[Carlos Coelho (politician)|Carlos Coelho]], who was in charge of supervising investigations throughout 2000 and 2001.

In May 2001, as the committee finalised its report on the ECHELON system, a delegation travelled to [[Washington, D.C.]] to attend meetings with US officials from the following agencies and departments:
* US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)<ref name="bbcusech"/>
* US [[United States Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]] (DOC)<ref name="bbcusech"/>
* US National Security Agency (NSA)<ref name="bbcusech"/>

All meetings were cancelled by the US government and the committee was forced to end its trip prematurely.<ref name="bbcusech">{{cite news|last=Roxburgh|first=Angus|title=EU investigators 'snubbed' in US|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1325186.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=28 January 2014|date=11 May 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203035200/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1325186.stm|archive-date=3 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a [[BBC]] correspondent in May 2001, "The US Government still refuses to admit that Echelon even exists."<ref name="bbcechelon1"/>

In July 2001, the Committee released its final report.<ref name="EUechelon">{{cite web|title=Report on the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ECHELON interception system) (2001/2098(INI))|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A5-2001-0264&format=XML&language=EN|publisher=[[European Parliament]]|date=11 July 2001|access-date=10 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921163352/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A5-2001-0264&format=XML&language=EN|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The EP report concluded that it seemed likely that ECHELON is a method of sorting captured signal traffic, rather than a comprehensive analysis tool.<ref name="EP" /> On 5 September 2001, the European parliament voted to accept the report.<ref name="apechelonusa">{{cite news|title=Report: Echelon exists, should be guarded against|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-09-05-echelon.htm|access-date=7 February 2014|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=5 September 2001|agency=[[Associated Press]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221065509/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-09-05-echelon.htm|archive-date=21 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The European Parliament stated in its report that the term ECHELON is used in a number of contexts, but that the evidence presented indicates that it was the name for a signals intelligence collection system.<ref name="EP" /> The report concludes that, on the basis of information presented, ECHELON was capable of interception and content inspection of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other data traffic globally through the interception of communication bearers including satellite transmission, [[public switched telephone network]]s (which once carried most Internet traffic), and [[microwave]] links.<ref name=EP/> 

=== Confirmation of ECHELON (2015) ===
Two internal NSA newsletters from January 2011 and July 2012, published as part of [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|Edward Snowden's leaks]] by the website ''[[The Intercept]]'' on 3 August 2015, for the first time confirmed that NSA used the code word ECHELON and provided some details about the scope of the program: ECHELON was part of an umbrella program with the code name FROSTING, which was established by the NSA in 1966 to collect and process data from [[communications satellites]]. FROSTING had two sub-programs:<ref name="yrs">The Northwest Passage, Yakima Research Station (YRS) newsletter: [http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2189960-nwp-nsa.html Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922172422/http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2189960-nwp-nsa.html |date=22 September 2015 }} & [http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2189961-nwp2-nsa.html Volume 3, Issue 7, July 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922172422/http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2189961-nwp2-nsa.html |date=22 September 2015 }}.</ref>
* TRANSIENT: for intercepting [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] satellite transmissions
* ECHELON: for intercepting [[Intelsat]] satellite transmissions 
The [[European Parliament]]'s [[Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System]] stated, "It seems likely, in view of the evidence and the consistent pattern of statements from a very wide range of individuals and organisations, including American sources, that its name is in fact '''ECHELON''', although this is a relatively minor detail".<ref name="EP" /> The US intelligence community uses many code names (''see'', for example, [[CIA cryptonym]]).

Former NSA employee [[Margaret Newsham]] said that she worked on the configuration and installation of software that makes up the ECHELON system while employed at [[Lockheed Martin]], from 1974 to 1984 in [[Sunnyvale, California]], in the [[United States]], and in [[Menwith Hill]], [[England]], in the [[UK]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Elkjær |first1=Bo |first2=Kenan |last2=Seeberg |date=17 November 1999 |title=ECHELON Was My Baby |work=Ekstra Bladet |url=http://cryptome.org/echelon-baby.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=17 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615202141/http://cryptome.org/echelon-baby.htm |archive-date=15 June 2006}} "Unfortunately, I can't tell you all my duties. I am still bound by professional secrecy, and I would hate to go to prison or get involved in any trouble, if you know what I mean. In general, I can tell you that I was responsible for compiling the various systems and programs, configuring the whole thing and making it operational on mainframes"; "[[Margaret Newsham]] worked for the [[NSA]] through her employment at Ford and Lockheed from 1974 to 1984. In 1977 and 1978 Newsham was stationed at the largest listening post in the world at [[Menwith Hill]], [[England]] ... Ekstra Bladet has Margaret Newsham's stationing orders from the US Department of Defense. She possessed the high security classification TOP SECRET CRYPTO."</ref> At that time, according to Newsham, the code name ECHELON was NSA's term for the computer network itself. Lockheed called it ''P415''. The software programs were called ''SILKWORTH'' and ''SIRE''. A [[satellite]] named ''[[Vortex (satellite)|VORTEX]]'' intercepted communications. An image available on the internet of a fragment apparently torn from a job description shows Echelon listed along with several other code names.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodwins |first=Rupert |date=29 June 2000 |title=Echelon: How it works |work=[[ZDNet]] |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/echelon-how-it-works/ |url-status=live |access-date=28 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202120330/http://www.zdnet.com/echelon-how-it-works-3002079849/ |archive-date=2 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="insideechelon">{{cite web |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |date=25 July 2000 |title=Inside Echelon |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/echelon-how-it-works/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202120330/http://www.zdnet.com/echelon-how-it-works-3002079849/ |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=28 January 2014 |publisher=[[Heise Online]]}}</ref>

Britain's ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper summarized the capabilities of the ECHELON system as follows:

{{Blockquote|A global network of electronic spy stations that can eavesdrop on telephones, faxes and computers. It can even track bank accounts. This information is stored in Echelon computers, which can keep millions of records on individuals.

Officially, however, Echelon doesn't exist.<ref>{{cite web|last=Perrone|first=Jane|title=The Echelon spy network|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/29/qanda.janeperrone|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=28 January 2014|date=29 May 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203163847/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/29/qanda.janeperrone|archive-date=3 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Documents leaked by the former NSA contractor [[Edward Snowden]] revealed that the ECHELON system's collection of satellite data is also referred to as '''FORNSAT''' - an abbreviation for "Foreign Satellite Collection".<ref>{{cite news |first1=Laura|last1=Poitras|first2=Marcel|last2=Rosenbach|first3=Holger|last3=Stark |date=20 December 2013 |title=Friendly Fire: How GCHQ Monitors Germany, Israel and the EU |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/snowden-documents-show-gchq-targeted-european-and-german-politicians-a-940135-2.html |url-status=live |access-date=30 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125102046/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/snowden-documents-show-gchq-targeted-european-and-german-politicians-a-940135-2.html |archive-date=25 January 2014 |quote=A map from the wealth of classified documents obtained by Snowden on the so-called "Fornsat" activities of the technical intelligence cooperation program -- informally known as the Five Eyes -- shows that the system of global satellite surveillance remained in operation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Ambinder |first=Marc |date=31 July 2013 |title=What's XKEYSCORE? |url=http://theweek.com/article/index/247684/whats-xkeyscore |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130064739/http://theweek.com/article/index/247684/whats-xkeyscore |archive-date=30 January 2014 |access-date=30 January 2014 |work=[[The Week]] |quote=FORNSAT simply means "foreign satellite collection," which refers to NSA tapping into satellites that process data used by other countries.}}</ref>