The Five Eyes Intelligence is a group that includes five countries – Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. These nations have a partnership where they share different types of intelligence. They do this through a formal arrangement that involves all of them.
Understanding The Five Eyes Alliance
The Five Eyes Intelligence is a collaboration between five countries – Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They share various types of intelligence through a formal agreement.
The UK and the USA were concerned about Soviet Russia’s rise after World War II. They formed the UK-US Agreement (UKUSA) to monitor Soviet activities. This pact allowed them to share signals intelligence (SIGINT) about Russia and other enemies.
The UKUSA agreement expanded over time. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand later joined. They were in strategic alignment with the UK and the USA, leading to the formation of the 5 Eyes.
The 5 Eyes member nations collect SIGINT about individuals in enemy countries and exchange it. The main surveillance and intelligence agencies in these countries are mentioned in the table below.
| Country | Surveillance Agency | Surveillance Law/Policy |
| USA | National Security Agency (NSA) | Under the PATRIOT Act, agencies are granted the authority to gather an extensive range of data, encompassing call records and emails. |
| UK | Government Communications Headquarters (GHQC) | The Investigatory Powers Act allows for the bulk collection of internet records and requires internet service providers (ISPs) to keep user logs of websites. |
| Canada | Communications Security Establishment (CSE) | The Anti-Terrorism Act establishes the CSE’s mandate, which includes acquiring and using information from the global information infrastructure for intelligence and surveillance activities. |
| Australia | Australia Signal Directorate (ASD) | The Telecommunications Interception and Access Act allows intelligence agencies to intercept and access stored communications with a proper warrant. |
| New Zealand | Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) | The Intelligence and Security Act 2017 empowers surveillance agencies to collect and analyze data in keeping with government priorities. |
Five, Nine And 14 Eyes Alliances
Initially, five nations collaborated to gather intelligence against the Soviet Union. The majority of their efforts were focused on signals intelligence (SIGINT), which is the collection of signals. This can be divided into two broad categories:
- Communication Intelligence (COMINT): This involves capturing communications between individuals, such as texts, telegraphs, and emails.
- Electronic Intelligence (ELINT): This relates to picking up electronic signals that can give clues about activities or locations, like radar signals.
Over time, the original 5 Eyes Alliance expanded, including more nations. Today, there are three key alliances that share varying degrees of information.
The Nine Eyes alliance is a group of nine countries. These include the original Five Eyes countries and Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway. The Fourteen Eyes is an even bigger group. It adds Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Sweden to the Nine Eyes alliance. These groups are designed to boost worldwide surveillance. However, they also lead to discussions about privacy and national security limits.
Surveillance Tools From The Five Eyes Alliances
The Five Eyes Alliances, which include the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and 14 Eyes, use multiple methods to collect and share information. Here are some key systems they use:
- ECHELON: This system was created by the Five Eyes during the Cold War. Its main goal was to track and intercept messages from Soviet Russia and China.
- STONEGHOST: A secure network for the Five Eyes. It shares data about military and intelligence. In 2012, a Canadian Marine was found guilty of stealing and selling STONEGHOST data. He was sentenced to 20 years.
- PRISM: A famous system used by the Eyes Alliances. Operated by the NSA, GCHQ, and ASD, PRISM collects information from U.S. internet companies. Edward Snowden’s leaks in 2013 exposed the extent of PRISM’s online surveillance.
- XKeyscore: A tool designed by the NSA to analyse metadata. It helps intelligence agencies to search emails and other online communication metadata. They can do this search without any prior permission.
Allies During The Cold War
The Cold War era, a tense standoff between the United States and Soviet Union along with their allies, led to the formation of the Five Eyes alliance. This time was marked by numerous secret intelligence operations, prompting alliances to share critical adversary information.
The members of the Five Eyes alliance spearheaded various operations, from ocean surveillance and secret missions to human intelligence collection and counterintelligence. They also initiated the ECHELON surveillance program in the 1960s.
Often, the Five Eyes shared intelligence with other countries in Europe and Asia, referred to as “third parties”. An example of this is when Japan shared military signals with the United States during the 1969 Sino-Soviet conflict and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as documented by Japanese historian Ken Kotani in the East Asia Forum.
Expansion Proposals For Intelligence Sharing
The strategic aims of the Five Eyes alliance changed after the Cold War and Soviet Union’s downfall. With a focus shifting towards counter-terrorism and potential threats from China and Russia, conversation around broadening its membership has increased. In 2013, some US lawmakers asked President Barack Obama to consider Germany as a new member.
Later, in 2019, a committee in the US Congress, led by Representative Adam Schiff, advocated for adding India, Japan, and South Korea. This proposed expansion aimed to improve intelligence communication and uphold peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
More recently, in 2020, India and Japan sided with the Five Eyes countries in asking tech firms to allow “backdoor access” to encrypted apps on smartphones.