EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 1999 2004 Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System PROVISIONAL 18 May 2001 DRAFT REPORT on the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ECHELON interception system) Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System Rapporteur: Gerhard Schmid PR\439868EN.doc 1/113 PE 305.391 EN EN PE 305.391 2/113 PR\439868EN.doc EN CONTENTS Page PROCEDURAL PAGE .............................................................................................................. 8 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION .............................................................................................. 9 EXPLANATORY STATEMENT ............................................................................................ 16 1. Introduction: .......................................................................................................16 1.1. The reasons for setting up the committee .................................................................16 1.2. The claims made in the two STOA studies on a global interception system codenamed ECHELON .............................................................................................16 1.2.1. The first STOA report of 1997 ..................................................................................16 1.2.2. The 1999 STOA reports.............................................................................................16 1.3. The mandate of the committee ..................................................................................17 1.4. Why not a committee of inquiry? ..............................................................................17 1.5. Working method and schedule ..................................................................................17 1.6. Characteristics ascribed to the ECHELON system ...................................................18 2. The operations of foreign intelligence services…………….....................20 2.1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................20 2.2. What is espionage? ....................................................................................................20 2.3. Espionage targets .......................................................................................................20 2.4. Espionage methods ....................................................................................................20 2.4.1. Human intelligence....................................................................................................21 2.4.2. Processing of electromagnetic signals .......................................................................21 2.5. The operations of certain intelligence services..........................................................22 3. Technical conditions governing the interception of telecommunications............................................................................................25 3.1. The interceptibility of various communication media...............................................25 3.2. The scope for interception on the spot ......................................................................25 3.3. The scope for a worldwide interception system ........................................................26 3.3.1. Access to communication media ...............................................................................26 3.3.2. Scope for the automatic analysis of intercepted communications: the use of filters .........................................................................................................30 3.3.3. The example of the German Federal Intelligence Service.........................................30 PR\439868EN.doc 3/113 PE 305.391 EN 4. Satellite communications technology ..........................................................32 4.1. The significance of telecommunications satellites ...................................................32 4.2. How a satellite link operates......................................................................................33 4.2.1. Geostationary satellites..............................................................................................33 4.2.2. The route followed by signals sent via a satellite communication link.....................33 4.2.3. The most important satellite communication systems...............................................33 4.2.4. The allocation of frequencies.....................................................................................37 4.2.5. Satellite footprints......................................................................................................37 4.2.6. The size of antennae required by an earth station......................................................39 5. Clues to the existence of at least one global interception system..... 40 5.1. Why is it necessary to work on the basis of clues? ...................................................40 5.1.1. Evidence of interception activity on the part of foreign intelligence services...........40 5.1.2. Evidence for the existence of stations in the necessary geographical areas .............40 5.1.3. Evidence of a close intelligence association .............................................................41 5.2. How can a satellite communications interception station be recognised? ................41 5.2.1. Criterion 1: accessibility of the installation ..............................................................41 5.2.2. Criterion 2: type of antenna ......................................................................................41 5.2.3. Criterion 3: size of antenna .......................................................................................42 5.2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................42 5.3. Publicly accessible data about known interception stations ....................................42 5.3.1. Method.......................................................................................................................42 5.3.2. Detailed analysis........................................................................................................43 5.3.3. Summary of the findings ...........................................................................................50 5.4. The UKUSA Agreement............................................................................................51 5.4.1. The historical development of the UKUSA Agreement............................................51 5.4.2. Evidence for the existence of the agreement .............................................................52 5.5. Evaluation of declassified American documents.......................................................53 5.5.1. Nature of documents..................................................................................................53 5.5.2. Content of documents................................................................................................54 5.5.3. Summary....................................................................................................................56 5.6. Information from authors and journalists specialised in this field ............................56 5.6.1. Nicky Hager's book....................................................................................................56 5.6.2. Duncan Campbell ......................................................................................................57 5.6.3. Jeff Richelson ............................................................................................................57 5.6.4. James Bamford ..........................................................................................................57 5.6.5. Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg..................................................................................57 5.7. Statements by former intelligence service employees...............................................57 5.7.1. Margaret Newsham (former NSA employee)............................................................57 5.7.2. Wayne Madsen (former NSA employee) ..................................................................58 5.7.3. Mike Frost (former NSA employee)..........................................................................58 5.7.4. Fred Stock (former Canadian secret service employee)............................................58 5.8. Information from government sources ......................................................................59 5.8.1. USA ...........................................................................................................................59 5.8.2. UK..............................................................................................................................59 PE 305.391 4/113 PR\439868EN.doc EN 5.8.3. Australia.....................................................................................................................60 5.8.4. Netherlands ................................................................................................................60 5.8.5. Italy............................................................................................................................60 5.9. Parliamentary reports.................................................................................................61 5.9.1. Reports by the Comité Permanent R, Belgium's