Snowden leaks confirm existence of ECHELON
NSA documents obtained by whistleblower Edward Snowden confirm the
existence of ECHELON, a secret surveillance network spying on satellite
communications. Set up by the US and the UK in the 1960s, ECHELON was
the precursor of today’s global dragnet.
The revelations vindicated the work of British investigative journalistexistence of ECHELON, a secret surveillance network spying on satellite
communications. Set up by the US and the UK in the 1960s, ECHELON was
the precursor of today’s global dragnet.
Duncan Campbell, who first wrote about ECHELON’s existence in 1988 and
continued writing about the program for the next 27 years.
NSA newsletters cited by The Intercept confirm
that the program was set up in 1966, just a year after the first
communication satellites were launched into Earth orbit. The dragnet was
codenamed FROSTING, and consisted of two sub-programs. While TRANSIENT
was targeting Soviet Union’s satellite communications, Western satellite
signals were to be harvested by ECHELON. Eventually, all satellite
surveillance was merged into FORNSAT, a global program exposed by the
Snowden revelations.
