The release of information about a covert surveillance program run by the US in co-operation with the UK, Australia and New Zealand has added to privacy fears in the US. Known as the Echelon program, it is used for surveillance of foreign communications. However, some critics worry that it may be used internally to monitor US citizens’ activities.

Conflicting views have been expressed over whether the current US legislation dealing with US intelligence gathering methods contained in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 1978 (FISA) are substantial enough for new telecommunications media.

David Sobel, representing the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC), commented that “the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act goes back to a different world than we are in now”. EPIC is currently compiling a report on the activities of the government body overseeing the Echelon program in the US, the National Security Agency (NSA).

Despite EPIC’s concerns, the NSA apparently takes the view that the FISA law adequately protects US citizens, although it has made no official comment to that effect. The director of the NSA did, however, make the following statement to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in April: “the privacy framework [of the laws] is technology-neutral and does not require amendment to accommodate new communications technology”.

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