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Spies Like US? Flap Over Echelon Heats Up
It's a tale of a shady global spy network, Big Brother and a little old fashioned, Cold War eavesdropping. But what sounds like a script from "The X-Files" has prompted Europe to open an investigation into allegations of economic espionage by a U.S.-led Echelon network, possibly sparking congressional hearings on Capitol Hill this spring.
Last week, the European Parliament launched an inquiry into Echelon, which was highlighted in a controversial report released in February that sent shockwaves throughout the European community. The report alleged that Echelon snooped into telephone conversations, faxes, e-mails and suggested that U.S. corporations benefited from the spying.
European Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen testified last Thursday before the European Parliament that he had received letters from the United States government and Britain, denying wrongdoing. Liikanen told members of Parliament that the letter from the U.S. State Department said the U.S. government and intelligence community are not engaged in industrial espionage. Further, the letter from the United Kingdom said that British intelligence agencies "work within a legal framework laid down by the United Kingdom Parliament…"
But Liikanen also told members of Parliament that by their nature, it's unlikely intelligence agencies would confirm or deny the existence of a network such as Echelon.
"However, it is clear that technological possibilities to intercept electronic communications exist. And there is no evidence to say that the available technologies are not used," he said.
Separately, Green/EFA Group sent a letter last week to government leaders, urging the creation of a formal parliamentary inquiry committee on Echelon.
Heidi Hautala, a leader of the Green Party, has urged European businesses to develop strong encryption, or data scrambling systems, to fortify themselves against Echelon eavesdropping. A vote on a wider probe into Echelon is expected sometime this month. Helmut Weixler, a Green Party spokesman, said he anticipates opposition in parliament over a deeper probe because other European governments might be involved in shady intelligence gathering.
"They are afraid of what could come to light if they investigate," he said.
Fueling the flap was an interview in last week's French daily newspaper Le Figaro from former CIA Director James Woolsey. The newspaper reported that Woolsey said the United States collects information on European companies but did not give the information to competitors. He is reported to have said the intelligence gathering was limited to companies violating United Nations sanctions or using bribery to gain business.
Willy Helin, a spokesman with the European Commission's Washington, DC, delegation, said while some of the claims about Echelon seem far-fetched, comments such as Woolsey's could exacerbate the situation.
"It (the comments) certainly hasn't helped," he said.
The Truth Is Out There
Woolsey is not the first official to give credence to Echelon, which has been shrouded in mystery. The BBC reported in November that Bill Blick, the Australian government's inspector general of intelligence and security, confirmed Echelon's existence.
In late February, the European Parliament released a report by independent journalist Duncan Campbell, which detailed Echelon and said the network could be violating European citizen's privacy.
Campbell's 18-page report, commissioned by the European Parliament, alleges that a U.S.-led intelligence-gathering network is operated by the National Security Agency in cohorts with intelligence agencies in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
While Echelon reportedly was created as a shadowy network of surveillance stations monitoring the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the 1970s, Campbell's paper maintained that the spy system was being used to help US firms win commercial contracts.
The reactions were swift on both sides of the Atlantic. British Prime Minister Tony Blair flatly dismissed the allegations and U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said U.S. intelligence agencies were not involved with industrial espionage. But French Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou encouraged French companies to encrypt information to avoid snooping by Echelon. Lawyers in France are preparing to bring a class action suit against the British and U.S. governments for allegedly spying on French companies.
Now You See It, Now You Won't?
While some Europeans have long believed in Echelon's existence, it's taken recent developments in Europe and statements by the intelligence community to bring the network out of the stuff of conspiracy theories and into the public eye, said Berry Steinhardt, associate director with the American Civil Liberties Union. Steinhardt predicted that debates in Europe about Echelon could force the U.S. government's hand on the issue.
"The developments in Europe are important. They have forced a debate in the United States," he said. "The actions of the European Parliament have moved us dramatically forward."
In conjunction with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Free Congress Foundation, Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties (United Kingdom) and the Omega Foundation, the ACLU launched a Web site dedicated to monitoring Echelon in November 1999.
Campbell, the author of the controversial report on Echelon, said he was optimistic that the attention recently devoted to the spy network would change intelligence agencies' practices.
"Intelligence agencies are the last great lawless arena," he said.
Rep. Bob Barr, R-GA, who has been a watchdog on the issues of government surveillance, privacy and Echelon, said he anticipates a congressional hearing on Echelon this spring. A spokesman for Rep. Dan Burton, R-IN, who chairs the House Government Reform Committee, said other pressing issues, such as the recent case of the missing White House e-mails, could push back hearings on Echelon.
"I think we are really at a watershed right now. There is an opportunity to get a handle on this whole issue of privacy in the Internet age," said Barr, who predicted that government collection of information would remain a big issue in years to come.
While congressional hearings would not focus on the European Union's concern with Echelon, Barr said Europe's spotlight on the surveillance system could help raise awareness in the United States.
"This whole issue of Echelon and governments gathering electronic data is so fundamental that it effects everything we do," he said.
- by Caroline Broder
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