O tempora o mores!
Reading the articles which came out last night on yet another governmental spying scandal, I could not but think of one of Cicero's orations' most famous phrases: "O tempora, o mores!". The exclamation, which roughly translates to "Oh what times, oh what customs!", is intended by Cicero to deplore the viciousness, corruption and lack of justice of his age, and his frustration that despite a huge body of evidence compiled against his rival (Catiline) to overthrow the Roman government and assassinate Cicero, Catiline is yet to be executed. It also seemed appropriate as it directly alludes to the name of this newly leaked scandal: "Tempora".
I think that the vast majority of conscious, rational, and well educated people have, in recent times, felt the same frustration as Cicero's when confronted with the blatant abuses by individuals, governments, and corporations which, because of their power and influence, go unpunished on a daily and regular basis. I have no doubt that Tempora, whose existence would not be possible in any sane world, will turn out to be another example in which nobody will be held accountable and responsible for the infringements of the rights of citizens by governments and corporations.
What is Tempora?
So, what exactly is Tempora? Tempora is described as an "internet buffer zone" in which the data would pass through and be stored before continuing to its destination. The Guardian newspaper makes the analogy of a digital TV box which you can use to record video transmissions and data prior to it reaching your television screen. Since its creation by the British government, Tempora has been used (just as PRISM has) to spy not only on the population at large, but on diplomatic gatherings as well, and to gather all sorts of information from metadata as well as content, from telephone calls to facebook posts and e-mails. It seems that the United States is not the only government to have covertly spied on high-level government officials or diplomats at international gatherings.
Akin to the PRISM programme (on which I have written recently) Tempora was initiated by the British Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) and was intended to massively monitor internet communication as well as the creation of a huge database to collect, analyze and store this data. It is divided in two sections which reflect the agency's ambition and ability: "Mastering the Internet" and "Global Telecoms Exploitation". The former may have originated as far back as 2007 while the latter seems to have more recent roots dating to 2010.
The GCHQ is home to over 4,000 employees, housed in the agency's office complexes in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, known as "The Doughnut", which also is the site of the large data-collection system of Tempora. The website describes the agency as "one of the three UK Intelligence Agencies and forms a crucial part of the UK’s National Intelligence and Security machinery... [it] provides intelligence, protects information and informs relevant UK policy to keep our society safe and successful in the Internet age". Recently, Richard J. Aldrich, a British Author, has published a book called "GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency" in which he catalogs in detail the shady and questionable activities of this agency since the inter-war years. We will, however, only focus on this most recent scandal.
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| "The Doughnut" - Offices of the GCHQ |
The rationale utilized for the justification for the existence of such a surveillance system is, as all other oppressive and highly questionable surveillance programs of the recent years, the fear of terrorism - a fear which the American and British and European public have been force-fed since 2001 by complementing political rhetoric, low-grade corporate journalism, and which has been reinforced in a myriad of ways, from the most trivial to the most essential, through societal relations and media propaganda dissemination. Despite its irrationality, this manufactured fear has been almost completely internalized as legitimate and justified by the population at large and, as such, is likely to be used as an explanation to cover the severity of this scandal, as has already been attempted.
The real rationale, however, was that early in 2009 the officials of the GCHQ found themselves at a disadvantage relative to the emerging new communication technologies, especially pertaining to the internet, nd their loss of surveillance control as a result. This is exemplified in an internal e-mail recently leaked by Snowden to the British newspaper The Guardian stating:
How does it work
The GCHQ is able to access nearly all the information that originates from/to, as well as transits through, the United Kingdom, especially through the underwater fiber-optic cables that connect then to the island of Great Britain from neighbouring nations. These nations are Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Denmark. This was achieved with the installation of monitoring stations on each of these cables, "each with a capacity of 10 gigabits per second. In theory, that gave GCHQ access to a flow of 21.6 petabytes in a day, equivalent to 192 times the British Library's entire book collection."
Through the documents leaked by now world-famous whistle-blower and former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, it is possible to assert that the programme was able to survey nearly all (1,500 of 1,600) high-capacity internet cables in and out of the United Kingdom, and could harvest information from at least 400 of them simultaneously. The information was intended to be shared with the British government, as well as MI5 and MI6 intelligence agencies. Although conceptually established two years prior, the operation did not commence until May of 2012. Since then, for 18 months, roughly three-hundred GCHQ analysts and over 250 NSA employees dug through the data daily, examining the communication records of over 600 million people.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the NSA was also involved in the project, that the data collected by the Tempora project was shared with them, and that that the GCHQ and the American NSA collaborated in the analysis of the data? In addition, from the published leaked slides, it appears that the Canadian Communication Security Establishment, the Canadian government's national cryptologic agency, was also involved as part of a greater project amongst the "Five Eyes" electronic eavesdropping alliance nations of Canada, United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia as the leaked report itself states. Information within that report also clearly states that the United Kingdom and the GCHQ had the "biggest internet access" among the "Five Eyes" nations, and that the Tempora program even outmatched its American counterpart (PRISM) - "We are in the golden age," the report states.
Should this not be enough, the leaked documents also point to the fact that the United Kingdom's government used resources associated to the MTI programme to spy on high government officials during the Commonwealth Leader's meeting in 2009. Revelations of the sort cast some serious doubts upon the official explanation that these would be measures utilized solely to ensure national security and spy on terrorist threats.
Collusion of Companies
It is yet uncertain whether the companies involved in this scheme were subjugated, threatened and/or forcibly pressured in some sort by intelligence officials into complying with this initiative or colluded with it voluntarily. The Guardian, however, has claimed to be unable to disclose the names of those companies citing the fact that "the exact identities of the companies that have signed up, are regarded as extremely sensitive, and classified as top secret. Staff are instructed to be very careful about sharing information that could reveal which companies are 'special source' providers, for fear of 'high-level political fallout'. In one document, the companies are described as 'intercept partners'"
Given the language describing the companies as "intercept partners" it could be likely, although far from certain, that these entities were at least complicit by inaction and that were considered as partners by the officials within the GCHQ. Although the blurring line between the corporate and governmental worlds continues to fade dimmer every day, and the vast majority of Europeans such as myself are deluded into thinking that "we are too smart for that, it won't happen here...", perfect example of this is at the doorstep of the European mainland. One fact is clear, given the precautions taken relating to the corporate involvement in this matter (apparently more precautions than in hiding the existence of the programme itself), the repercussion of such knowledge could be politically and economically disastrous for those involved.
Many actually ask and wonder how this differs from previous government sanctioned methods of surveillance and espionage. Well, the differences are mainly three-fold. Firstly, in the vast majority of past (known) cases espionage attempts have taken place in legitimate circumstances while the rationale of the the war on terror is, if not engineered, at least insufficient to warrant this type of surveillance. The second main difference lies in the magnitude and scope of the project - while most previous espionage attempts have been targeted, focused and based on acquiring precise information and following through, new technologies have forces, as well as allowed, intelligence agencies to rely on a "dragnet" approach. Lastly, this "dragnet" methodology means that unlike in the past, the recipients of such invasive intrusions of privacy are innocent, domestic, (perhaps too) loyal citizens of the state rather than real domestic threats or foreign enemies.
Far from being intended to benefit corporations, this programme is instead geared towards a function of social and societal control, to maintain the control of the potentially dissident population, and as such to prevent the breakdown of government functions that indeed serve such enormous private interests.
Germany next?
So, which country or agency will be next to be exposed in this falling line of dominoes initiated by Edward Snowden's leak? Nobody can be quite certain, but some strong indications are pointing at the next financial and communication European superpower: Germany. The link between German, British, and United States foreign affairs and communication policies since the end of world war two has been tightening at an increasing and documents leaked earlier this month show, through an analysis software called "Boudless Informant", that Germany is indeed one of the main sources of intelligence for the NSA. In addition, scrutiny has already begun into the operations of the German "Bundesnachrichtendienst" (Federal Intelligence Service) and EUR 100 mln. project of internet monitoring which would give it access, like PRISM and Tempora, to a large portion of domestic and inter-border internet traffic (about 20% of Germany's total).
The real rationale, however, was that early in 2009 the officials of the GCHQ found themselves at a disadvantage relative to the emerging new communication technologies, especially pertaining to the internet, nd their loss of surveillance control as a result. This is exemplified in an internal e-mail recently leaked by Snowden to the British newspaper The Guardian stating:
"The rapid development of different technologies, types of traffic, service providers and networks, and the growth in sheer volumes that accompany particularly the expansion and use of the internet, present an unprecedented challenge to the success of GCHQ's mission. Critically we are not currently able to prioritise and task the increasing range and scale of our accesses at the pace, or with the coherence demanded of the internet age: potentially available data is not accessed, potential benefit for HMG is not delivered."
How does it work
The GCHQ is able to access nearly all the information that originates from/to, as well as transits through, the United Kingdom, especially through the underwater fiber-optic cables that connect then to the island of Great Britain from neighbouring nations. These nations are Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Denmark. This was achieved with the installation of monitoring stations on each of these cables, "each with a capacity of 10 gigabits per second. In theory, that gave GCHQ access to a flow of 21.6 petabytes in a day, equivalent to 192 times the British Library's entire book collection."
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| A map of the major internet and phone communication cables into and out of the United Kingdom. |
Oh yeah, did I mention that the NSA was also involved in the project, that the data collected by the Tempora project was shared with them, and that that the GCHQ and the American NSA collaborated in the analysis of the data? In addition, from the published leaked slides, it appears that the Canadian Communication Security Establishment, the Canadian government's national cryptologic agency, was also involved as part of a greater project amongst the "Five Eyes" electronic eavesdropping alliance nations of Canada, United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia as the leaked report itself states. Information within that report also clearly states that the United Kingdom and the GCHQ had the "biggest internet access" among the "Five Eyes" nations, and that the Tempora program even outmatched its American counterpart (PRISM) - "We are in the golden age," the report states.
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| Detail of a published slide of the leaked presentation showing the logos of the Canadian Communication Security Establishment and the NSA. |
G20 and Commonwealth Meetings
As previously mentioned, the programme was not only utilized to spy on average citizens as well as suspects of terrorist activities, but were intentionally and explicitly utilized to gather information from the GPRS networks of representatives at the G20 summit meetings held in London on April 4th, 2009. For this, the United Kingdom is currently experiencing a series of diplomatic incidents with countries such as Turkey, Ireland and Russia.
Proof of this are two of the slides of the aforementioned leaked presentation, which boast accomplishments in this regard and cite the fact that since "diplomatic targets from all nations have an MO of using smartphones" they were able to exploit "this use at the G20 meetings last year [2009]...deliver[ing] messages to analysts during the G20 in near real time" as well as providing "timely information to UK ministers".
As previously mentioned, the programme was not only utilized to spy on average citizens as well as suspects of terrorist activities, but were intentionally and explicitly utilized to gather information from the GPRS networks of representatives at the G20 summit meetings held in London on April 4th, 2009. For this, the United Kingdom is currently experiencing a series of diplomatic incidents with countries such as Turkey, Ireland and Russia.
Proof of this are two of the slides of the aforementioned leaked presentation, which boast accomplishments in this regard and cite the fact that since "diplomatic targets from all nations have an MO of using smartphones" they were able to exploit "this use at the G20 meetings last year [2009]...deliver[ing] messages to analysts during the G20 in near real time" as well as providing "timely information to UK ministers".
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| Published slide of the leaked presentation on the Tempora operation. |
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Collusion of Companies
It is yet uncertain whether the companies involved in this scheme were subjugated, threatened and/or forcibly pressured in some sort by intelligence officials into complying with this initiative or colluded with it voluntarily. The Guardian, however, has claimed to be unable to disclose the names of those companies citing the fact that "the exact identities of the companies that have signed up, are regarded as extremely sensitive, and classified as top secret. Staff are instructed to be very careful about sharing information that could reveal which companies are 'special source' providers, for fear of 'high-level political fallout'. In one document, the companies are described as 'intercept partners'"
Given the language describing the companies as "intercept partners" it could be likely, although far from certain, that these entities were at least complicit by inaction and that were considered as partners by the officials within the GCHQ. Although the blurring line between the corporate and governmental worlds continues to fade dimmer every day, and the vast majority of Europeans such as myself are deluded into thinking that "we are too smart for that, it won't happen here...", perfect example of this is at the doorstep of the European mainland. One fact is clear, given the precautions taken relating to the corporate involvement in this matter (apparently more precautions than in hiding the existence of the programme itself), the repercussion of such knowledge could be politically and economically disastrous for those involved.
Many actually ask and wonder how this differs from previous government sanctioned methods of surveillance and espionage. Well, the differences are mainly three-fold. Firstly, in the vast majority of past (known) cases espionage attempts have taken place in legitimate circumstances while the rationale of the the war on terror is, if not engineered, at least insufficient to warrant this type of surveillance. The second main difference lies in the magnitude and scope of the project - while most previous espionage attempts have been targeted, focused and based on acquiring precise information and following through, new technologies have forces, as well as allowed, intelligence agencies to rely on a "dragnet" approach. Lastly, this "dragnet" methodology means that unlike in the past, the recipients of such invasive intrusions of privacy are innocent, domestic, (perhaps too) loyal citizens of the state rather than real domestic threats or foreign enemies.
Far from being intended to benefit corporations, this programme is instead geared towards a function of social and societal control, to maintain the control of the potentially dissident population, and as such to prevent the breakdown of government functions that indeed serve such enormous private interests.
Germany next?
So, which country or agency will be next to be exposed in this falling line of dominoes initiated by Edward Snowden's leak? Nobody can be quite certain, but some strong indications are pointing at the next financial and communication European superpower: Germany. The link between German, British, and United States foreign affairs and communication policies since the end of world war two has been tightening at an increasing and documents leaked earlier this month show, through an analysis software called "Boudless Informant", that Germany is indeed one of the main sources of intelligence for the NSA. In addition, scrutiny has already begun into the operations of the German "Bundesnachrichtendienst" (Federal Intelligence Service) and EUR 100 mln. project of internet monitoring which would give it access, like PRISM and Tempora, to a large portion of domestic and inter-border internet traffic (about 20% of Germany's total).
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