Echelon (signals intelligence) ECHELON[needs IPA], originally a code-name, is now used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory nations to the UKUSA Security Agreement[1] — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Referred to by a number of other abbreviations, including AUSCANNZUKUS[1] and Five Eyes,[2][3][4] it has also been described as the only software system which controls the download and dissemination of the intercept of commercial satellite trunk communications.[5] It was created in the early 1960s to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies during the Cold War, and was formally established in the year of 1971.[6][7] §Name[edit]
(pdf) REPORTon the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercialcommunications (ECHELON intercepti. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Is a Latin phrase traditionally attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–8), which is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves? " Also sometimes rendered as "Who watches the watchmen? ", the phrase has other idiomatic translations and adaptations such as "Who will watch the watch-guards? " In modern usage, it is frequently associated with the political philosophy of Plato and the problem of political corruption.