Impact of Echelon Spy Network in Europe and Public Indifference

The European Parliament published its damning report on Echelon last summer, but public apathy and institutional bureaucracy are stifling further action Nearly seven months after the European Parliament adopted a report that recognised the existence of Echelon, an international spy . . . The European Parliament published its damning report on Echelon last summer, but public apathy and institutional bureaucracy are stifling further action Nearly seven months after the European Parliament adopted a report that recognised the existence of Echelon, an international spy system designed to listen in on private and commercial communications, experts say that little has been accomplished towards dealing with the issue.

Privacy experts would like to see limits placed on systems like Echelon, or at least for such spy networks to be made accountable -- a need which has only been strengthened by the terrorist attacks of 11 September and the advent of the international "war on terror". But taking action is made difficult partly by the public's acclimatisation to a world where everyone, including the government, can be assumed to be listening in, say observers.

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