Brussels, 30/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Despite American denials, the Echelon system quite simply does exist. Its impact is limited, but nevertheless necessitates strengthening of the provisions in relation to the protection of confidential information. These are fundamentally the conclusions of the draft final report on this file which the reporter of the temporary committee of the European Parliament presented to the press on 30. May.
The draft report which is over 100 pages long, prepared by Gerhard Schmid (PSE, Germany), leaves no doubt regarding the existence of a global Anglo-American communication interception system (vocal, fax, electronic mail) operating with the aid of Canadian, Australian and New Zealand satellites. There is additionally no doubt about its name: Echelon. This system is not, or at least is no longer used for military purposes, says the report, but it is directed towards the interception of private and commercial communications. The report believes however that limits of a technical nature (the system is basically centred on the interception of international telecommunications by satellite) and the lack of staff capable of analysing the vast volume of communications collected reduce its scope. Nevertheless a great deal of data, especially economic data, is gleaned by Echelon, which may constitute a serious threat to the protection of confidential information of the public and companies acknowledges the report, which states however that the inquiry conducted did not highlight any abuse in this context. The temporary committee believes that European and international regulations are inadequate to ensure proper protection of individuals and companies from the consequences of the phenomenon of global interception and that, up to now, the efforts employed to protect this confidential information, in particular via cryptology, are also inadequate. Especially since other countries, including several EU member states, also intercept some international telecommunications. France and Russia are technically and geographically capable of ensuring the operation of interception systems comparable to Echelon, emphasises the report.