The Five Eyes?
The Five Eyes is an Intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UK-USA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence, but what does that actually mean? Let's start by breaking it down bit by bit.
"An intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UK-USA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence."
Breaking it down piece by piece, I'll start from the beginning:
- Intelligence Alliance: An alliance where the participating members engage in intelligence gathering and security.
- Multilateral: "Agreed upon or participated in by three or more parties, especially the governments of different countries."
- UK-USA Agreement: Multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between AU, CA, NZ, UK, & US. The 7 page agreement that is recognized as one of the most important documents from the Cold War.
- Signals Intelligence: Intelligence gathering by interception of signals, whether communications through people or from electronic signals not directly used in communication.
Often referred to as the world’s most significant intelligence alliance. The original group of 5 English speaking countries and their security agencies (Australian Signals Directorate, Canada's Communications Security Establishment, New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau, Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, and the National Security Agency of the USA) was formed in the year that followed WW2 in an “effort to share intelligence in the interest of National Security.” After WW2 the UK-USA Agreement was signed between what would become the NSA and the GCHQ (National Security Agency and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters). Eventually as it grew, specifically during the Cold War, British and U.S. intelligence agencies banded together to share signals intelligence.
The agreement initially confined to the UK and the US, but expanded to include Canada, Australia, and New Zealand by 1956. The agreement did not become public knowledge until 2005, and then it took another 5 years until the full text of the UK-USA Agreement was released by the British and American governments, this is also when it was first recognized. The Five Eyes collaborates with Third Party countries like Denmark, France, Norway, and the Netherlands, becoming known as the Nine Eyes, and then later on the Fourteen Eyes, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. All information was available to the Five Eyes from the Nine and Fourteen Eyes and partners. The Nine eyes had access to all information from the Fourteen eyes and partners, but not vice versa. There was a lot of gatekeeping of information that happened.
The Five Eyes alliance is a powerful intelligence network that upholds national security and tackles global threats, contributing to public safety. However, this power comes with a price: the blurred line between surveillance for safety and invasion of privacy. Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations highlighted the precarious balance between security and individual privacy rights. Our digital footprints, such as emails, phone calls, online shopping, and social media activity, could be open books, potentially read without our knowledge or consent. This reality fuels ongoing debates about privacy, state power, and civil liberties. The Five Eyes alliance's activities highlight the need for a delicate balance between security and individual rights, as privacy forms a cornerstone of democratic societies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Five-Eyes-Alliance
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-five-eyes/#:~:text=Five%2C%20Nine%20and%2014%20Eyes%20Alliances&text=The%20Nine%20Eyes%20alliance%20includes,%2C%20Italy%2C%20Spain%20and%20Sweden
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