As the internet and the amount of data available to intercept grew exponentially, the agreement began to focus more on domestic surveillance. Over the years, the treaty grew in both members and scope. The agreement was originally conceived as a post-WWII pact between the UK and the US in 1946 to spy on foreign governments, specifically the USSR.

Five Eyes intelligence-sharing agreementįive Eyes (also 5 Eyes or FVEY) is the name of the multilateral intelligence-sharing alliance created by the UKUSA Agreement. This data is then analyzed using deep packet inspection and stored at different data centers. By installing fiber-optic splitters at ISP junction points, the SIGINT agency can make an exact copy of the data being processed at that point. How do these governments get your private data?Īll SIGINT agencies rely on telecommunication companies and internet service providers to gain access to individuals’ private data. For more information about each of these agreements, jump ahead to: The below table shows the countries that participate in the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing agreements. This means there are few places in the world where your personal data is safe from snooping, so you should use extra measures, such as strong encryption, to keep it from prying eyes. In addition to the Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes agreements, there are also similar non-Western intelligence-sharing agreements. The Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes are the largest and most important agreements that create the legal framework for such coordinated intelligence gathering across borders. This creates a strong incentive for them to cooperate and trade information with each other. Typically, one of the few legal restrictions set upon these agencies is that they cannot spy on their own citizens. SIGINT covers a wide range of activities, from tapping phones to accessing a user’s email database with XKEYSCORE. From the UK’s GCHQ to Germany’s BND, these organizations focus on intelligence gathering, counterintelligence operations, and law enforcement by intercepting communications and other electronic signals. When people think of mass surveillance, they rightly think of the NSA, but nearly every country in the world has its own signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency. The Snowden revelations revealed that the NSA is carrying out electronic surveillance on a global scale and unveiled the shadowy networks of intelligence agencies that act as accomplices.

Electronic spy network