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The United Kingdom – United States of America Agreement (UKUSA, ) is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
between
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The alliance of intelligence operations is also known as the
Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are party to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperat ...
. In classification markings this is abbreviated as FVEY, with the individual countries being abbreviated as AUS, CAN, NZL, GBR, and USA, respectively. Emerging from an informal agreement related to the 1941
Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II, months before the US officially entered the war. The joint statement, later dubbed the Atlantic C ...
, the
secret treaty A secret treaty is a treaty (international agreement) in which the contracting state parties have agreed to conceal the treaty's existence or substance from other states and the public.Helmut Tichy and Philip Bittner, "Article 80" in Olivier D ...
was renewed with the passage of the
1943 BRUSA Agreement The 1943 BRUSA Agreement (Britain–United States of America agreement) was an agreement between the British and US governments to facilitate co-operation between the US War Department and the British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) ...
, before being officially enacted on 5 March 1946 by the United Kingdom and the United States. In the following years, it was extended to encompass Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Other countries, known as "third parties", such as
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, and several
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...
, also joined the UKUSA community in associate capacities, although they are not part of the mechanism for automatic sharing of intelligence that exists between the Five Eyes. Much of the sharing of information is performed via the ultra-sensitive
STONEGHOST STONEGHOST or "Stone Ghost", is a codename for a network operated by the United States' Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for information sharing and exchange between the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Some sources say t ...
network, which has been claimed to contain "some of the Western world's most closely guarded secrets". Besides laying down rules for intelligence sharing, the agreement formalized and cemented the "
Special Relationship The Special Relationship is an unofficial term for relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. Special Relationship also may refer to: * Special relationship (international relations), other exceptionally strong ties between nat ...
" between the UK and the US. Due to its status as a secret treaty, its existence was not known to the
prime minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
until 1973, and it was not disclosed to the public until 2005. On 25 June 2010, for the first time in history, the full text of the agreement was publicly released by the United Kingdom and the United States, and can now be viewed online. Shortly after its release, the seven-page UKUSA Agreement was recognized by ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine as one of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
's most important documents, with immense historical significance. The
global surveillance disclosure During the 2010s, international media reports revealed new operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly relate to top secret documents leaked ...
by
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
has shown that the intelligence-sharing activities between the
First World The concept of the First World was originally one of the " Three Worlds" formed by the global political landscape of the Cold War, as it grouped together those countries that were aligned with the Western Bloc of the United States. This groupin ...
allies of the Cold War are rapidly shifting into the digital realm of the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
.


History


Origins (1940s–1950s)

The agreement originated from a ten-page 1943 British–US Communication Intelligence Agreement, BRUSA. The UKUSA Agreement connected the signal intercept networks of the UK
Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primari ...
(GCHQ) and the US
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
(NSA) at the beginning of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. The document was signed on 5 March 1946 by Colonel Patrick Marr-Johnson for the UK's London Signals Intelligence Board and Lieutenant General
Hoyt Vandenberg Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954) was a United States Air Force general. He served as the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the second Director of Central Intelligence. During World War II, Vandenberg was t ...
for the US State–Army–Navy Communication Intelligence Board. Although the original agreement states that the exchange would not be "prejudicial to national interests", the United States often blocked information sharing from
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
countries. The full text of the agreement was released to the public on 25 June 2010. The "
Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are party to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperat ...
" term has its origins as a shorthand for a "AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US EYES ONLY" classification level.


Onset of the Cold War (1950s–1960s)

Under the agreement, the GCHQ and the NSA shared intelligence on the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, and several
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
countries (known as Exotics). The network was expanded in the 1960s into the
Echelon Echelon may refer to: * A level formation ** A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society ** A military sub-subunit smaller than a company but larger than a platoon ** Echelon formation, a step-like arrangement of units * ECHELO ...
collection and analysis network. The treaty was extended to include Canada (1948), Australia (1956) and New Zealand (1956). In 1955, the agreement was updated to designate Canada, Australia and New Zealand as "UKUSA-collaborating
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
countries". Other countries that joined as "third parties" were
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
(1952),
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
(1954) and West Germany (1955).


Investigations (1970–90s)

In the aftermath of the
1973 Murphy raids The Murphy raids on the offices of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) occurred on 16 March 1973. The purpose of the raids, instigated by Attorney-General Lionel Murphy, was to obtain terrorism-related information that the ...
on the headquarters of the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...
(ASIO), the existence of the UKUSA Agreement was revealed to Australia's Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
. After learning about the agreement, Whitlam discovered that
Pine Gap Pine Gap is a joint Australian–United States satellite communications and signals intelligence surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs. It is jointly operated by Australia and ...
, a secret surveillance station close to
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
,
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
, had been operated by the US
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA). At the height of the
1975 Australian constitutional crisis The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...
, the use and control of Pine Gap by the CIA was strongly opposed by Whitlam, who fired the chief of the ASIO before being dismissed as prime minister. The existence of several intelligence agencies of the
Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are party to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperat ...
was not revealed until the following years: ; 1974: In Canada, an investigative television report on
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
's newsmagazine program '' The Fifth Estate'' revealed the existence of the
Communications Security Establishment Canada The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; , ''CST''), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national cryptologic agency. It is responsible for foreign signa ...
(CSEC). ; 1975: In the United States, the
Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...
of the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
revealed the existence of the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
(NSA). ; 1976: In Britain, an investigative article in '' Time Out'' magazine revealed the existence of the
Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primari ...
(GCHQ). ; 1977: In Australia, the Hope Commission revealed the existence of
Australian Secret Intelligence Service The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS ) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, responsible for gathering, processing, and analysing national security information from around the world, primarily throug ...
(ASIS) and the
Defence Signals Directorate The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), formerly the Defence Signals Directorate, is a Statutory body, statutory agency of the Australian Government, Government of Australia responsible for signals intelligence, providing intelligence support ...
(DSD). ;1980: In New Zealand, the existence of the
Government Communications Security Bureau The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) () is the public service, public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. Th ...
(GCSB) was officially disclosed on a "limited basis". In 1999, the Australian government acknowledged that it "does co-operate with counterpart signals intelligence organisations overseas under the UKUSA relationship." The existence of the UKUSA Agreement, however, was not publicly revealed until 2005. The contents of the agreement were officially disclosed to the public on 25 June 2010. Four days later, the agreement was described by ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine as one of the "most important documents in the history of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
."


Recent media leaks

In July 2013, as part of the 2013 Edward Snowden revelations, it emerged that the NSA is paying GCHQ for its services, with at least £100 million of payments made between 2010 and 2013. On 11 September 2013, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' released a leaked document provided by Edward Snowden which reveals a similar agreement between the NSA and Israel's
Unit 8200 Unit 8200 (, ''Yehida shmone matayim'' "Unit eight two-hundred") is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for clandestine operation, collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption, counteri ...
. According to ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'', Australia operates clandestine surveillance facilities at its embassies "without the knowledge of most Australian diplomats". These facilities are part of an international espionage program known as STATEROOM.


Security and intelligence agencies

Although the UKUSA alliance is often associated with the
ECHELON Echelon may refer to: * A level formation ** A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society ** A military sub-subunit smaller than a company but larger than a platoon ** Echelon formation, a step-like arrangement of units * ECHELO ...
system, processed intelligence is reliant on multiple sources of information and the intelligence shared is not restricted to
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
. The following table provides an overview of the government agencies involved and their respective responsibilities within the "Five Eyes" community:


Global coverage

Although precise assignments are classified, it is generally known that each member of the UKUSA alliance takes lead responsibility for intelligence collection and analysis in different parts of the globe.


Five Eyes

The ''Five Eyes'' (often abbreviated as ''FVEY'') are an
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
.


Australia

Australia monitors
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
and
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
.


Canada

Canada's geographical proximity to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
provided considerable eavesdropping advantages during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. Canada continues to monitor the Russian and Chinese interior while managing intelligence assets in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.


New Zealand

In addition to
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, New Zealand is responsible for the western
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
and maintains listening posts in the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
at Waihopai Valley just south-west of Blenheim, and on the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
at
Tangimoana Tangimoana is a community in the Manawatū-Whanganui Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It had a population of 303 permanent residents in 2018. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Bulls, and 30 kilometres west of Palmerston North. ...
.


United Kingdom

Europe,
European Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...
, Middle East, and Hong Kong.


United States

The US is focused on the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, Russia, and China, in addition to the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.


9 Eyes, 14 Eyes, and other "third parties"

The "Five Eyes" community is part of an extensive alliance of
Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...
sharing
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
with each other. These allied countries include
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
members, other European countries such as Sweden, and allies in the Pacific, in particular
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. In the 1950s several Nordic countries joined the community as "third party" participants. They were soon followed by Denmark (1954) and
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
(1955). According to
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
, the NSA has a "massive body" called the Foreign Affairs Directorate that is responsible for partnering with other
Western allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...
such as
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Unlike the "second party" members (that is, the Five Eyes themselves), "third party" partners are not automatically exempt from intelligence targeting. According to an internal NSA document leaked by Snowden, "We (the NSA) can, and often do, target the signals of most 3rd party foreign partners." The Five Eyes are cooperating with various 3rd Party countries in at least two groups: * The "Nine Eyes", consisting of the Five Eyes plus Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway. * The "Fourteen Eyes", consisting of the same countries as the Nine Eyes plus Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. The actual name of this group is SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR) and its purpose is coordinating the exchange of military signals intelligence among its members. Germany is reportedly interested in moving closer to the inner circle: an internal GCHQ document from 2009 said that the "Germans were a little grumpy at not being invited to join the 9-Eyes group." Germany may even wish to join Five Eyes. Referring to Five Eyes, former French President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
has said that his country is "not within that framework and we don't intend to join." According to a former top US official, "Germany joining would be a possibility, but not France – France itself spies on the US far too aggressively for that."


Controversy

During the
2013 NSA leaks During the 2010s, international media reports revealed new operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly relate to top secret documents leaked ...
Internet spying scandal, the surveillance agencies of the "Five Eyes" have been accused of intentionally spying on one another's citizens and willingly sharing the collected information with each other, allegedly circumventing laws preventing each agency from spying on its own citizens. The 2013 NSA leaks are not entirely new, but rather, they are a confirmation of earlier disclosures about the UK-US espionage alliance. For example, the British newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' reported back in 1996 that the US
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
"taps UK phones" at the request of the British intelligence agency
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
, thus allowing British agents to evade restrictive limitations on domestic telephone tapping. The mutual surveillance and sharing of information between allies of the UK and US resurfaced again during the
2013 mass surveillance disclosures During the 2010s, international media reports revealed new operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly relate to top secret documents leake ...
. As described by the news magazine ''
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', this was done to circumvent domestic surveillance regulations:
Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency can spy on anyone but British nationals, the NSA can conduct surveillance on anyone but Americans, and Germany's BND (
Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (, ; BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Federal Chancellery of Germany, Chancellor's Office. The Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service, BND headquarters is ...
) foreign intelligence agency can spy on anyone but Germans. That's how a matrix is created of boundless surveillance in which each partner aids in a division of roles. They exchanged information. And they worked together extensively. That applies to the British and the Americans, but also to the BND, which assists the NSA in its Internet surveillance.
In 2013, Canadian federal judge
Richard Mosley Richard Mosley (born May 9, 1949) is a Canadian Federal Court trial judge, who has a background in National security interests, and has taken a role in hearing a number of Canadian anti-terrorism cases, including those relating to Abdullah and ...
strongly rebuked the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; , ''SCRS'') is a Intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service and security agency of the Government of Canada, federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, a ...
(CSIS) for outsourcing its surveillance of Canadians to overseas partner agencies. A 51-page ruling says that the CSIS and other Canadian federal agencies are illegally enlisting US and British allies in
global surveillance Global mass surveillance can be defined as the mass surveillance of entire populations across national borders. Its existence was not widely acknowledged by governments and the mainstream media until the global surveillance disclosures by Edw ...
dragnets, while keeping domestic federal courts in the dark.


Gallery


Officially released

The following documents were jointly released by the NSA and the GCHQ in 2010: Image:UKUSA1.jpg, Cover page of the 1946 UKUSA Agreement Image:UKUSA Agreement 1946.jpg, Signatures of the
Chiefs of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
of Britain and America (March 1946) Image:UKUSA top secret.jpg, Text under the
Top Secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...
heading: "''To be kept under lock and key: Never to be removed from office.''" (Appendix F) Image:UKUSA Washington.jpg, Photograph of British cryptoanalysts
Harry Hinsley Sir Francis Harry Hinsley, (26 November 1918 – 16 February 1998) was an English intelligence officer and historian. He worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and wrote widely on the history of international relations and Briti ...
, Sir
Edward Travis Sir Edward Wilfred Harry Travis (24 September 1888 – 23 April 1956) was a British cryptographer and intelligence officer, becoming the operational head of Bletchley Park during World War II, and later the head of GCHQ. Career Educated local ...
, and
John Tiltman Brigadier John Hessell Tiltman, (25 May 1894 – 10 August 1982) was a British Army officer who worked in intelligence, often at or with the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) starting in the 1920s. His intelligence work was largely co ...


Disclosed by Edward Snowden

The following documents were leaked by
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
during the course of the
2013 Global surveillance disclosure During the 2010s, international media reports revealed new operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly relate to top secret documents leaked ...
: File:NSA Norway.jpg, NSA's relationship with Norway's NIS (April 2013) File:Nsa-internal-pm-on-fra-and-sweden-relations.pdf, NSA's relationship with Sweden's
FRA Fra is a title of a friar. Fra or FRA may also refer to: Codes * fra, the ISO 639-2 code for the French language * FRA, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for France * FRA, the IOC country code for France at the Olympics * Framingham station, Amtra ...
under the UKUSA Agreement (April 2013) File:Israel Memorandum of Understanding SIGINT.pdf, Details of NSA's agreement to share personal data of US citizens with Israel's ISNU File:BND XKeyscore.jpg, NSA document reveals the German BND's usage of the NSA's
XKeyscore XKeyscore (XKEYSCORE or XKS) is a secret computer system used by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) for searching and analyzing global Internet data, which it collects in real time. The NSA has shared XKeyscore with other intelligen ...
to provide "unique contributions". File:NSA Canada G8 G20.pdf, NSA document on a joint espionage operation with Canada's CSEC agency during the G8 and
G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...
summits in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
in 2010 File:NSA Canada relationship.pdf, NSA's relationship with Canada's CSEC File:Notes for Dutch SIGINT-Cyber Analytic Exchange.jpg, Summary of a meeting held in February 2013 between the NSA and the Dutch intelligence services Algemene Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD and Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service, MIVD


See also

* ABCA Armies * Air and Space Interoperability Council (air forces) * Allied technological cooperation during World War II * Anglosphere * AUKUS * AUSCANNZUKUS (navies) * British intelligence agencies * CANZUK * Collective intelligence * Combined Communications Electronics Board (communication-electronics) *
Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an Anglosphere intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are party to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperat ...
(intelligence) * Five Nations Passport Group * Signals intelligence by alliances, nations and industries *
Special Relationship The Special Relationship is an unofficial term for relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. Special Relationship also may refer to: * Special relationship (international relations), other exceptionally strong ties between nat ...
* The Technical Cooperation Program (technology and science) * Tizard Mission * United States Intelligence Community


Notes


References


Further reading

* Bryden, John. ''Best Kept Secret: Canadian Secret Intelligence in the Second World War.'' Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1993, . * * Frost, Mike and Michel Gratton. ''Spyworld: Inside the Canadian and American Intelligence Establishments.'' Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1994. * Hamilton, Dwight. ''Inside Canadian Intelligence: Exposing the New Realities of Espionage and International Terrorism''. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006. * * Nicky Hager, Hager, Nicky (1996) ''Secret Power, New Zealand's Role in the International Spy Network''; Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, NZ; ;
ONLINE EDITION
) * Richelson, Jeffrey T.; Ball, Desmond (1985). ''The Ties That Bind: Intelligence Cooperation Between the UKUSA Countries''. London: Allen & Unwin. . * Richelson, Jeffrey T. ''The United States Intelligence Community'', fifth ed. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo.; ; 2008. * Rosen, Philip. ''The Communications Security Establishment: Canada's Most Secret Intelligence Agency''. Ottawa: Library of Parliament Research Branch, 1993. * Rudner, Martin. "Canada's Communications Security Establishment: From the Cold War to Globalization", ''Intelligence and National Security''. Volume 16 Number 1 (Spring 2001). 97–128. * Whitaker, Reginald. "Cold War Alchemy: How America, Britain, and Canada Transformed Espionage into Subversion", ''Intelligence and National Security''.


External links


UKUSA Agreement
at The National Archives (United Kingdom), The National Archives
UKUSA Agreement Release 1940-1956
at the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

Top Level Telecommunications: Five Eyes, 9-Eyes and many more
* Kurt Opsahl, Electronic Frontier Foundation
It Always Feels Like the Five Eyes Are Watching You
35C3, 2018-28-12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ukusa Agreement Anglosphere Espionage National Security Agency GCHQ Government databases in the United States Signals intelligence agencies Privacy of telecommunications United States national security policy Australia–United Kingdom relations Australia–United States relations Australia–New Zealand relations Australia–Canada relations Canada–United Kingdom relations Canada–United States relations Canada–New Zealand relations New Zealand–United Kingdom relations New Zealand–United States relations United Kingdom–United States treaties Treaties of Australia Treaties of Canada Secret treaties Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom 1946 establishments in the United States Treaties entered into force in 1946 1946 establishments in Canada Cold War history of Australia