After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, advocates of free speech and privacy loudly criticized the implementation of the Patriot Act. This act greatly increased law enforcement's ability to gather evidenceùcritics say "spy"ùon American citizens. But a large number of privacy advocates maintain that the American government has long had the abilityùand the propensityùto gather electronic data on its citizens, and that this ability predates the Patriot Act as well as the September 11 attacks. This research examines the views of critics and proponents of the Echelon Project and its ramifications for privacy and cyber rights in today's highly electronic and global market.
In 1999, Australia became the first country to admit that it was a participant in Echelon. The United States has not admitted participation in the project, although it is rumored that the project is run by the National Security Agency (NSA) along with Britain's Government Communications Headquarters. Echelon seeks to monitor electronic and other types of data exchange in order to conduct espionage on individuals throughout the world. Prior to the September 11 attacks, it was assumed that the emphasis was on corporate espionage, and numerous governments, including the German government, encouraged their citizens to take precautionsùsuch as data encryptionùin order to avoid being caught in Echelon's traffic ("Germany Endorses" 1).
Proponents of Echelon maintain that if the program existsùand its existence is still officially not confirmed by the American governmentùit offers considerable benefit in intercepting electronic data that could help prevent additional attacks on the United States. These supporters maintain that Echelon is able to pull together information from many different countries across a broad variety of sources. Financial transactions, travel arrangements and related information
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