HOC Library on US Sigint in Europe

[Brian Gladman]

The part of this that should get the media interested is the possibility
that an 'agreement' exists between NSA and GCHQ to avoid the legal
constraints within their own jurisdictions by each getting the other to do
their dirty work for them.  It is interesting to speculate how such an
agreement could be concluded and in whose name(s) it would be made. In
practice I think that this would have to operate through ambiguities and
loopholes in a legal framework for co-operation.

Of course if such activities are undertaken it would demonstrate a complete
contempt on the part of NSA and GCHQ for democratic processes in the US and
the UK.  Why do I doubt that the senior parties to such actions would ever
openly admit to their conduct?   And, since the last government changed the
Official Secrets Act to specifically exclude a public interest defence,
those who know the truth and might be prepared in the interests of democracy
to come forward, are denied the ultimate defence that would have protected
them in such circumstances.  And we are led to believe that the UK is a
democracy!

Irrespective of the truth or otherwise of these allegations, I do believe
that this well illustrates the extreme dangers of allowing powerful forces
in society to operate in extreme secrecy and with very little in the way of
accountability for (or publicly accountable scrutiny of) what they do.

Closer to home, GCHQ's policies on cryptography have consistently favoured
their information exploitation role at the expense of protective information
security for the UK.  Given that we are now seeing some evidence of just how
strong US/UK intelligence links really are, our partners in Europe might
well ask themselves why the UK in particular has been in the forefront of
efforts in Europe to prevent effective pan-European R&D in the cryptography
field.

     Brian Gladman

-----Original Message-----
From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk <ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk>
Date: 12 March 1998 01:10
Subject: HOC Library on US Sigint in Europe


>Simon Hossack has sent us a copy of a letter to Oliver Heald
>MP (UK) from the House of Commons Library on US signals
>intelligence in Europe, with focus on Menwith Hill. It is an answer
>to Mr. Heald's request for information on the charge of US
>spying in the EP-STOA report as described by Duncan Campbell
>and Nicky Hager.
>
>The letter documents successive parlimentary and journalistic
>inquiries about the USA/UK 50-years-long arrangement for joint
>intelligence and HMG's answers.
>
>   http://jya.com/hoc-ussigint.htm
>
>
>