The release of information about a covert surveillance program
run by the US in co-operation with the UK, Australia and New
Zealand has added to privacy fears in the US. Known as the Echelon
program, it is used for surveillance of foreign communications.
However, some critics worry that it may be used internally to
monitor US citizens’ activities.
Conflicting views have been expressed over whether the current
US legislation dealing with US intelligence gathering methods
contained in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 1978 (FISA)
are substantial enough for new telecommunications media.
David Sobel, representing the Electronic Privacy Information
Centre (EPIC), commented that “the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act goes back to a different world than we are in
now”. EPIC is currently compiling a report on the activities of the
government body overseeing the Echelon program in the US, the
National Security Agency (NSA).
Despite EPIC’s concerns, the NSA apparently takes the view that
the FISA law adequately protects US citizens, although it has made
no official comment to that effect. The director of the NSA did,
however, make the following statement to the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence in April: “the privacy framework [of the
laws] is technology-neutral and does not require amendment to
accommodate new communications technology”.
