Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance

 

In a world of technology and Social Networking, we as Americans have opened ourselves up to the world of surveillance and data mining. We expect to be watched by Facebook, Twitter, or Tik Tok, but what we often forget to look out for is the surveillance of our Government, and in some cases, other Governments.

The Five Eyes is an Intelligence Agency created by the dominant five English-speaking countries of the world. The United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand created the Five Eyes as an espionage effort in a loophole around domestic laws. 

The organization originated in 1943 when the United States and United Kingdom coupled due to allied goals following World War II. This alliance led to the two countries creating the start of an Intelligence Agreement called the BRUSA Agreement. A decade later, several countries joined as slightly involved third parties, which ultimately led to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia joining the Agreement and creating the Five Eyes. The alliance more recently has extended to the nine eyes (Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and France) and eventually the fourteen eyes (Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Germany). 

The purpose of the Five Eyes is to create constant surveillance in a way that does not go against domestic laws. The genius behind the alliance is that they can watch over every aspect of the world, and never break domestic laws, then they can report the intel back to the Five Eyes. 

For example, New Zealand's branch of the Five Eyes can listen in on phone calls, download and surveil text messages, and gather data on Canadian citizens via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. because they can operate outside Canadian privacy regulations. After they've collected the data on any citizen, they can transfer this information to the Canadian Government, which has several larger ramifications. 

The Five Eyes used their Intelligence for several International Wars, aiding their allies with digital information collected in their efforts. The organization had key roles in the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, The Gulf War, the overthrowing of Iran's Prime Minister, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Tiananmen Square protests, and the War on Terror. In an even bigger part, the Five Eyes played a large role in the Cold War, keeping a constant eye on Russia and the Soviet Union. 

Espionage efforts in International Wars stopped benefiting the organization, so they eventually turned to surveillance of their own citizens. In a world where technology becomes the dominant communication, surveillance is easier than ever. And when you give a Government a chance to spy on their people, they will take it unhesitantly. 

For several decades, this surveillance alliance went undetected by the public. These countries could infiltrate international data and exchange information in a constant surveillance circle without the average person ever even knowing. It wasn't until the late 1980s that people started being tipped off that something wasn't adding up.

In 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden released Five Eyes documents to the public. This leak sparked a global uproar, starting the conversation on privacy and the world of online surveillance. The United States Government then chose to charge Snowden with espionage via the Espionage Act, but luckily, Snowden escaped to Russia where he has remained since.  

 Regardless of the whistleblower's run-in with the Government, the leak created a controversy that was too large to halt. Before this scandal, the world was unaware of how to regulate International surveillance. Domestic privacy was handled worldwide, but as the world technologically advanced, there were no laws to stop the surveillance on an International level. 

The extent of these privacy violations was now clear to the world, and people demanded resolutions. While some countries and organizations stood with the Five Eyes, others began defying the mold. Canada for example, went on record after the leak and reaffirmed their commitment to the Intelligence Alliance, neither confirming nor denying the content of the leak. 

Flash forward to 2020, the major Chinese app, Tik Tok, began banning Five Eyes participants in the heat of tensions between China and many English-speaking Nations. Because of this controversy, many U.S and Australian entities have been banned on the app as well. Ultimately, this begins to bring into question the difference between Chinese and United States surveillance. 

China and the United States have been in an antagonist war for years, but the advances of the technological world only amplify that fight. Being the two major AI centers of the world, the two countries have the potential to dominate the surveillance world. Hence, the tension between the Five Eyes and the China-created app. 

Privacy is something that individuals often feel very passionate about. It is violating and degrading when our privacy is taken from us, especially by entities put in place to protect us. In this world of online surveillance, the world's youth are at a higher risk than ever to be monitored by the Government. They are placed on display and labeled "Influencers" to market to even younger audiences, and agencies such as the Five Eyes, profit and thrive off that attention. They learn how to cater to every need of citizens, and they are then able to target their vulnerabilities for domestic and International benefits. 

The violation of not only our individual selves, but our friends, families, and youth is why people are starting to fight for International regulations on surveillance and data collection. 

The world is starting to open its eyes to the lack of privacy Governments take from their citizens, but it begs the question, Is it too late to stop when International Agencies now have access to every component of our lives at their fingertips? We will never know unless we attempt to fix the decades of violation created by these "Watchers".