SIGINT /  ECHELON Video History Presentation

"The Most Secret Spy System"

Slightly over 46 minutes in length.

Reportedly created to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its East Bloc allies during the Cold War in the early sixties, today ECHELON is believed to search also for hints of terrorist plots, drug-dealers' plans, and political and diplomatic intelligence. But some critics, including the European Union committee that commissioned the EU report, claim the system is being used also for large-scale commercial theft and invasion of privacy.