ECHELON is a code word for an automated global interception system operated by the intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and led by the National Security Agency (NSA). I’ve seen estimates that ECHELON intercepts as 3 billion communications every day, including phone calls, e-mail messages, Internet downloads, satellite transmissions, and so on. The system gathers all of these transmissions indiscriminately, then sorts and distills the information through artificial intelligence programs.
Bruce Schneier, Secrets and Lies,2004, 2nd ed.
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Massive Electronic Surveillance
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