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To: Jim Bishop who wrote (1164)	6/19/1999 3:24:00 AM
From: SSP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 150070

Be careful - you're being spied on LOL, Friday, June 18, 1999 Feds spying on Canadians? By TERRY PEDWELL -- The Canadian Press OTTAWA (CP) -- The federal government is using a secret international computer surveillance network to collect personal information about Canadians, says a former Canadian spy. Canada is part of a Cold War-era electronic interception network, known as Echelon. Until recently the existence of the network, which monitors almost all electronic communications, was almost impossible to prove. But a report by the European Parliament, published May 10, detailed how Echelon works and how Canada is involved. The report, Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information, describes Echelon as "part of the post-Cold War developments based on an agreement signed by the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand." The federal government denies that it snoops on Canadian citizens or companies through surveillance techniques. Kevin Mills, a spokesman for the Communications Security Establishment, the umbrella organization for agencies collecting security information in Canada, says his agency doesn't gather or keep information on Canadians. "Any capability that CSE might have is not targeted against Canadians," Mills said. Mike Frost, a former employee of the CSE, calls that statement "garbage." Frost says the five countries in the network get around the law by asking each other to spy on their own citizens. "They circumvent their own legislation by asking the other countries to do it for them," he says. "We do it for them, they do it for us and then they can stand up in the House and say we do not target the communications of Canadian citizens." The director of Australia's Defence Signals Directorate backed the claim in a statement last month for the Australian television broadcast Sunday Program. "DSD does co-operate with counterpart signals intelligence organizations overseas under what is known as the UK-USA relationship," the statement said. Mills would not say whether Canada is involved in using the Echelon network. "We don't talk about capabilities," he said. "If you ask me about Echelon, I neither confirm nor deny that." Echelon is a computer system which monitors millions of e-mail, fax, telex and phone messages sent over satellite-based communications systems as well as land-based data communications. The European report warns that Echelon could be dangerous if not properly controlled. The system "presents a truly global threat over which there are no legal or democratic controls," the report stated. Reform defence critic Art Hanger suggests the network may be a necessary evil to combat organized crime and terrorism. But he adds that it needs to be monitored to ensure it's not being abused. "If it goes beyond those that threaten our national security, I think there is a need for concern." That concern is echoed in the United States. Georgia Republican congressman Bob Barr said he's worried that the network could be, or is already being used to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens. "I am concerned there are not sufficient legal mechanisms in place to protect private information from unauthorized government eavesdropping through mechanisms such as Project Echelon," said Barr. Late last month, the U.S. House committee on intelligence requested that the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency provide a detailed report to Congress explaining what legal standards they use to monitor conversations, transmissions and activities of Americans.