Echelon is an all-too-real worldwide network of monitoring devices whose task is to monitor ALL electronically transmitted information, worldwide, for "suspicious" information, which is then collected and sent to the intelligence agencies of the United States and United Kingdom...and oui, that's right, France is suing the US and UK over this most evil and serious threat to security and privacy on the internet (and all other communications networks).
There's a story and discussion over at Slashdot, and the original story is with our British friends at The Times.
If you don't know what Echelon is, well, you really need to read this stuff. If you already do, well, this is just one of the most troubling and difficult issues I can imagine when it comes to future technology. What can we do? Wow...I don't really know. Try and elect officials who are crusaders against evil? Well, good luck with that one. What I'm afraid of is that the info on Echelon only became declassified because it's no longer relevant, and there's probably a much more devious successor system in place as we speak (and write, and fax).
As if you didn't know, it is a VERY DANGEROUS WORLD INTO WHICH WE TREAD. Please post your thoughts and comments.
-El Cosmico
Mail me at:elcosmico@austin.rr.com
