ECHELON bought "Raw Data" in Scandinavia -- Sigint/Surveillance/Denmark

[Lorax Agrivane <lorax@tao.ca>]

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This came off of the Cypherpunks list.  
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 14:10:08 +0100 (CET)
From: Bo Elkjaer <boo@datashopper.dk>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ECHELON BOUGHT "RAW DATA" IN SCANDINAVIA --
    Sigint/Surveillance/Denmark

New information on project Echelon. More articles and interviews at
http://www1.ekstrabladet.dk/netdetect/echelon.iasp

By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
We can be reached at boo@datashopper.dk, bo.elkjaer@eb.dk and
kenan.seeberg@eb.dk

- - - - - - - - - 

CANADIAN ECHELON SPY: I MET WITH DANISH AGENTS IN COPENHAGEN
Echelon bought "raw interceptions" from Norway and possibly Denmark for
dollars says former Echelon spy Mike Frost


Scandinavian countries sold intercepted data to Echelon, retired Echelon
spy Mike Frost tells Ekstra Bladet today. 
"We bought raw intercepted data from the Scandinavian countries," states
former spy Mike Frost. 

Printed in Ekstra Bladet mar. 5. 2000.

"When I was working for Canada's intelligence agency CSE (Communications
Security Establishment), we bought mounds of raw material from some of the
Scandinavian countries. That's something I clearly remember. I remember
Norway in particular."
What about Denmark?
"I am quite sure we also bought material from Denmark. But remember that
when I was an agent, I didn't try to remember things like that. I was
supposed to forget them as soon as possible. I don’t remember anything
about Sweden, so I can't confirm it offhand."
You say you "bought" data. What do you mean by that?
"Well, we paid dollars for data, and it wasn't unusual for us to do so.
The data sold by Norway, and in all probability Denmark too, to the
Echelon system are "raw data", i.e. unsorted surveillance data intercepted
from the airwaves, recorded on tape and sold to Canadian spies from the
CSE - and thus to the entire Echelon system."

Mike Frost is the third Echelon spy who chooses to come forward in Ekstra
Bladet. He describes in detail how the spies have been listening in far
and wide. Mike Frost is a little more guarded when asked about
Scandinavia's role in the espionage apparatus, since he does not intend to
reveal everything. He chose to come forward because he believes that the
surveillance performed by the clandestine services is way out of line. On
the other hand, he does not want to run the risk of compromising Western
military interests. 
There are some things he can divulge however. 

I MET WITH DANISH AGENTS
Have you ever met Danish intelligence agents when buying raw data?
"Yes. I have even been to a meeting in Copenhagen as a representative for
Canada's intelligence service. I remember being very disappointed by the
Little Mermaid."
Can you remember anything besides the Little Mermaid, like what the
meeting was about?
"Yes, but I would rather not say anything about it."
Did you meet with Danish military spies?
"I met with Danish agents who work with signals intelligence (Aflandshage
on the island of Amager south of Copenhagen is a signals intelligence
station - ed.)."
Did your meeting involve any intelligence swapping?
"I wouldn't tell you if it did. That would make it secret NATO
information. You will have to be content in knowing that we met."

RAW UNSORTED MATERIAL
But will you confirm that Echelon is used to circumvent national laws
which stipulate that spying on private individuals cannot be performed
without a court order?
"Yes, I can, because we bought unsorted raw material taken down right from
the air waves."
Did you get it on-line? 
"I have no idea how your guys collected it. I can only say that it
included ALL kinds of information and that we had lots of it."
Was it more than just military communication?
"The very fact that it was unsorted material meant it also included a lot
of other miscellaneous information."
Frost goes on to say that almost all the material intercepted at the Alert
and Leitrim surveillance bases where he spied was forwarded to NSA
headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, USA.
"The Americans were the ones who trained us and ran the entire operation,"
he says. 
Last year, the Danish Minister of Defense Hans Hækkerup stated that
Denmark's intelligence service had intercepted all communication that had
been possible to intercept after World War II. Hard pressed, he also
admitted that Denmark cooperates with foreign services in this context.
For the time being, we can only guess who we are cooperating with. The
Minister refused to say anything about it - back then.
Today, Ekstra Bladet can safely assert that Denmark's clandestine
signals-intelligence agents are at any rate cooperating with both Canada’s
Echelon service, CSE, and the USA's backer of the entire project, the
National Security Agency (NSA).

MY SON BOMBED
Do you have any examples of surveillance of ordinary people?
"Yes, I do. One of the examples involved an episode with a woman who told
her friend that her son had failed at school. She described how he had
"bombed out" on the admissions test. Naturally the word "bomb" was the
interesting feature of their conversation. Since the conversation was
somewhat unclear, the analyst included her name on a list of possible
terrorists. Later we found out what it was actually about."
Will similar events occur in the future?
"In light of the staggering amount of information that is being
intercepted, there is no doubt that episodes like this will be common
occurrences in the Echelon system."
What would be the consequences for ordinary people of being blacklisted
along with criminals and terrorists? Could they risk being denied entry
into the USA and other places?
"Your imagination is the only limit for what is possible."

>>Bevar naturen: Sylt et egern.<<
>>URL: http://www.datashopper.dk/~boo/index.html<<
>>PGP-encrypted mail welcomed and preferred.<<

-Lorax-


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