White Outer Space Satellite – by SpaceX on Pexels. Image used under CC BY 2.0
Five Eyes (FVEY) Intelligence Alliance is a multi-national agreement for signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom [1]. This group emerged as a result of the 1943 Britain-United States of America Agreement (1943 BRUSA Agreement)[2]. Although the treaty was signed and enacted in 1943, the public was only made aware of the existence of this alliance in 2005. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, and West Germany joined the treaty from 1948 – 1955.
During the Cold War, FVEY developed a surveillance program known as ECHELON in 1971 [3] for use in data interception, espionage, and surveillance. In 1988, Duncan Campbell revealed that the ECHELON program was intercepting and viewing telephone, fax, and e-mail data [4] [5] [6].
Here is a list of individuals surveyed by FVEY. Notable names include Kim Dotcom, Angela Merkel, and Nelson Mandela.
In a recent press release titled ‘Statement of Principles on Access to Evidence and Encryption’, the Five Country Ministerial (the government “forum for collaboration among the five countries on domestic security issues”) [7] for Five Eyes stated [8] :
Privacy laws must prevent arbitrary or unlawful interference, but privacy is not absolute. It is an established principle that appropriate government authorities should be able to seek access to otherwise private information when a court or independent authority has authorized such access based on established legal standards. The same principles have long permitted government authorities to search homes, vehicles, and personal effects with valid legal authority.
The increasing gap between the ability of law enforcement to lawfully access data and their ability to acquire and use the content of that data is a pressing international concern that requires urgent, sustained attention and informed discussion on the complexity of the issues and interests at stake. Otherwise, court decisions about legitimate access to data are increasingly rendered meaningless, threatening to undermine the systems of justice established in our democratic nations.
Within the statement, the Five Country Ministerial referred to ‘information and communications technology service providers’ within the FVEY countries to ‘voluntarily establish lawful access solutions to their products and services that they create or operate in our countries’. The Five Country Ministerial concludes the statement with a warning to companies that decline to comply with establishing ‘voluntary lawful access solutions’ for FVEY:
Should governments continue to encounter impediments to lawful access to information necessary to aid the protection of the citizens of our countries, we may pursue technological, enforcement, legislative or other measures to achieve lawful access solutions.
- Have you heard of Five Eyes or ECHELON before?
- What do you think of this initiative of the Five Eyes countries to exchange signal information with one another?
- Do you feel comfortable with companies and communications service providers complying with the Five Country Ministerial’s request for providing access solutions to their products and services?
Tell us what you think about this article in the comments below!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not constitute legal or financial advice.
Always do your own research to make informed decisions.
Image Credits
White Outer Space Satellite – by SpaceX on Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-outer-space-satellite-586056/
Sources / Articles You May Find Useful
Statement of Principles on Access to Evidence and Encryption (Australian Government Department of Home Affairs) –
Five Country Ministerial 2018 (Australian Government Department of Home Affairs) –
https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/national-security/five-country-ministerial-2018
Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance Argues ‘Privacy is Not Absolute’ in Push For Encryption Backdoors (Slashdot) –
Five Eyes threatens to force encryption backdoors, says ‘privacy is not absolute’ (CSO) –
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