As a result of the recent acts
of terrorism in the U.S., the Senate on Thursday, Spetember 13, adopted
legislation giving government agencies somewhat broader authority to conduct
certain kinds of electronic surveilance. There is concern that serious
erosions of liberty could follow. The
Center
For Democracy & Technology has created a special page with legislative
proposals, analyses and other information about the response to the September
11 attacks.
On the other hand, on September 5, the
European
Parliament approved
a
repport that says Echelon exists, adopting recommendations of anti-Echelon
measures. Echelon is an electronic surveillance system that has been used
by the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Foto © BalearWeb: New York, 1982.