Spy and security experts yawned at reported comments by an Australian intelligence official that Project Echelon -- the name of a purported international surveillance network -- exists.
But the statements by Australia's inspector general of intelligence, Bill Blick, did fuel one US congressman's call for his government to investigate the possible existence of the secret project.
"If these reports are accurate, the sheer power and potential for abuse created by Project Echelon demands congressional attention," Representative Bob Barr (R-Georgia) said in a statement released by his office early Wednesday.
Blick was quoted in a story published Tuesday by the British Broadcasting Corporation and headlined "Global Spy Network Revealed" as confirming the existence of a coordinated spy network.
The Americans and British have consistently denied that anything called Echelon exists.
"As you would expect there are a large amount of radio communications floating around in the atmosphere, and agencies such as the [Defense Signals Directorate] collect those communications in the interests of their national security," Blick told the BBC.
Blick said the DSD forms part of the Echelon network. Asked if information is then passed on to the United States or Britain, Blick said that "in certain circumstances" it was.
Others were not so impressed with the implications of Blick's quotes.
"That doesn't tell me anything I didn't know five years ago," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy. "What he is saying is that intelligence agencies do 'signals intelligence' -- they intercept and analyze communications and other signals. And secondly, [Blick said that] Australia cooperates with its allies in intelligence matters.
"Neither of those points is either new or shocking," Aftergood said.
Ditto for Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Gilmore.
"In this article, what's being quoted is already known -- that the Australians have a Defense Signals Directorate that listens to signals and that they might be passed onto other countries," Gilmore said.
Similar reports came out of Australia a year ago that also suggested such a network exists, he said.
"It doesn't look to me like news. The news is that the BBC is talking about it."
Those who have maintained Echelon exists say that its reach into the lives of private citizens is especially sinister. The network, believed to have close ties to the US National Security Agency, can reputedly eavesdrop on any phone call, fax, or email, anywhere on earth.
Proving Echelon's existence has become something of a Holy Grail for an assortment of privacy advocates, hackers, and journalists. A widely publicized effort to jam Echelon's signals by including highly charged keywords in emails was conducted two weeks ago.
To probe Echelon, Barr earlier this year amended intelligence legislation in the House of Representatives to require US intelligence agencies to report on legal standards used in surveillance activities. The legislation -- which targets the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Justice -- remains in a House-Senate conference committee awaiting action.
Barr, a former CIA official and United States attorney, serves on the House Judiciary and Government Reform committees.
Barr has accused the NSA of conducting a "dragnet" of communication and "invading the privacy of American citizens."
Blick's comments "underscores the need for open public hearings on the legal standards [that] intelligence agencies use when they intercept the communications of American citizens," Barr said Tuesday.
While skeptical of Blick's remarks, Aftergood welcomed any progress toward a congressional investigation into the issue of surveillance in general, if not Echelon in particular.
"What we don't know is the scope of actual collection activities and the extent and intimacy of our intelligence liaison relationships," Aftergood said.
"I'd hope that efforts in Congress do lead to that increased clarity -- and to an affirmation of the privacy rights of American citizens."
Wired News reporter Lindsey Arent contributed to this report.
