Editing ECHELON (section)

=== 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>