Surfrat,
Echelon was funded by the NSA and has been in existence for 20 yrs. How little we know what Big Brother is doing. Courtesy of the Dems and and Pugs. I was watching a Buzzardite Jr Show, over the weekend. It was a repeat but the last show George Massie did before his death in 1993. He was dead on then. He said it then during the Cigar soakers reign, "Our government has become tyranny by minorities (ie special interests) .. "
Echelon has had decades to mature, It scares me to think a satellite can take infrared pics of my house with out my knowledge. I could be having fun with momma, and having an unknown voyeur somewhere in the bowels of the earth.
I unfortunately work in information services and know that once your "in a database" your never "out" of the database. While most databases are disparate in the private world, more and more are becoming intertwined in the public arena.
Privacy was a place in history that existed prior to the advent of computers and high resolution space satellites.
I've often said to people I know, that I was born 100 yrs too late.
Echelon was designed as a way to "snoop" on the enemy.. According to what I've read many in the Echelon project have declared war on many law biding US citizens. Echelon and the NSA has no accountability courtesy of Patriot I & II.. They can gather information on anyone they deem as a "threat" to National Security..
Check out the EFF.org website.. Lot of good information about it. EFF is a non-profit watchdog group that is at the forefront of electronic privacy issues.