| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | A European Parliament committee is worried about Britain's involvement in "Echelon", a global spy network. The BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent, Barnaby Mason reports. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to the report in full |
 |  | 30th May 2001 Echelon spy network |
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first part of the report |
| | | The intimate co-operation on intelligence gathering between the United States and Britain goes back to the Second World War. Official information is hard to come by, but the Echelon network of spy satellites and listening stations on the ground, at sea and in the air is operated by the American National Security Agency. Its partners are the British electronic eavesdropping organisation GCHQ and equivalent bodies in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Together they intercept millions of telephone calls, emails and faxes, and with special software, searching for key words and numbers, attempt to identify threats from terrorists, arms proliferators and so on. Clearly business communications are among those overheard, but the European Parliament committee cannot prove the suspicion that the commercial secrets of European companies are improperly passed on, for example, to their American or British rivals. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
WORDS | | intelligence gathering - the collecting of information about enemies or rivals by an organisation or government
is hard to come by - is difficult to get or find
listeningstation - a place where communications (telephone calls or conversations) can be monitored in secret
eavesdrop - If you eavesdrop on someone you listen secretly to what they are saying
to intercept - if you intercept something you stop it before it reaches its destination
arms proliferators - people who deal in the sale of weapons and arms. If things proliferate they increase in number |
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second part of the report |
| | | The powers of the Echelon network are probably exaggerated in some media reports. Satellite communications can be intercepted but not those travelling along fibre-optic and other cables. The explosion of digital communications and the development of encryption or encoding software have made the job of the eavesdroppers much more difficult. One recommendation of the parliamentary committee is that businesses should routinely encrypt their emails. But the political issues are awkward, especially for Britain. Britain alone among European Union member states has privileged access to American intelligence information. Echelon focuses attention on whether Britain will eventually have to choose between Europe and America. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
| WORDS | | fibre optic cables - fibreoptic cables use long thin threads of glass to carry information in the form of light
the explosion of - the large and rapid increase of something
encryption or encoding software - computer programmes which prevent communications (email, telephone calls) from being accessed by unauthorised people
awkward - an awkward situation is embarrassing and difficult to deal with |
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| | | Read about the background in BBC News Online |
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