Introduction: Many of us believe that we live in a country that allows us our right to privacy.

A. 5 nations are involved in intercepting communications around the globe.

1. The 5 nations are Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and chiefly the United States, (U.S.).

2. Echelon is top secret and its existence has never been admitted by the U.S

1. E-Mails, Phone calls and faxes are intercepted and scanned by super computers and sifted for specific intelligence.

2. Echelon can also hack into computers and the files of any computer linked to a communication device such as the internet

3. The U.S. can use this system to target organizations and individuals for political or economical gain.

A. There are networks of satellite that are stealing information and sending it down to information scanning stations spread over the 5 nations.

1. The Supercomputers scan through the data looking for key words that raise security flags in the system.

2. The computers then distribute the pertinent intelligence

B. Other nations alleging they have been victims of spying for economic reasons.

In a sense, Echelon works by using networks of satellites to suck information out of the air just like a giant vacuum cleaner. These satellites steal the information and send them down to information scanning stations spread throughout the 5 nations. These stations are staffed by top professionals and equipped with computers that operate using next generation technology. Millions of communications are scanned by these supercomputers looking for key words and terms that raise security flags in the system. These flagged communications are then sorted and sent to the appropriate agency concerned with this jurisdiction. The main agency in charge of Echelon is the National Security Administration, (N.S.A). The N.S.A is supposed to use stolen information to guard the nation against threats whether foreign or domestic. However since Echelon is still top secret, it operates without any over by Congress or the courts. This enables them to do whatever they want to do.

A. Former employees associated with the system have now come forward and cited that it was used for purposes not connected with national security.

2. The C.I.A. claims it has no interest in economic spying

1. An officer with the joint intelligence committee resigned his position after claiming he was put in charge of monitoring foreign companies for economic gain

Echelon is a network of electronic surveillance between 5 nations. The 5 nations involved are Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and chiefly the United States. These nations were joined together in the 1941 UK-USA Communications Intelligence Pact. This pact involved using old technology to monitor the soviets and their allies during the Cold War. After a series of technological leaps, this scattered network used for comm

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Approximate Word count = 1247
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)