7/29/2019 Spying - New Snowden Leak - Pine Gap Place in US Spy Web

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Published time: July 08, 2013 19:31

Edited time: July 09, 2013 17:19

Ex-NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward

Snowden has disclosed his first set of

documents outlining Australias role in NSA

surveillance programs, picking out four

facilities in the country that contribute heavilyto US spying.

The locations of dozens of the USs and associated countries signal

collection sites have been revealed by Snowden, who leaked classified

National Security Agency maps to US journalist Glenn Greenwald, which

were then published in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

The sites all play a role in the collection of data and interception of

internet traffic and telecommunications on a global level.

The Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS), South

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Image from maps.google.com)

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7/29/2019 Spying - New Snowden Leak - Pine Gap Place in US Spy Web

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Australian centers involved in the NSAs data collection program,

codenamed X-Keyscore, include Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap in central

Australia and three Australian Signals Directorate facilities: the Shoal Bay

Receiving Station in the countrys north, the Australian Defence Satellite

Communications Facility on the west coast, and the naval communications

station HMAS Harman outside the capital, Canberra.

New Zealand also plays a role, with the Government Security

Communications Bureau facility at Waihopai, on the northern point of

South Island, also contributing to the program.

X-Keyscore is described as a national Intelligence collection missionsystemby US intelligence expert William Arkin, according to Australian

newspaper The Age. It processes all signals prior to being delivered to

various production linesthat deal with more specific issues including the

exploration of different types of data for close scrutiny.

The different subdivisions are entitled Nucleon (voice), Pinwale (video),

Mainway (call records) and Marina (internet records).

A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declined to

comment on the revelatory map, saying that it was not governmentpractice to comment on intelligence matters, according to national

broadsheet The Australian.

Australia is one of the Five Eyes an alliance of intelligence-sharing

countries which include of the US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and

New Zealand.

Warning sign on the road to Pine Gap (Image from wikipedia.org)

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When documents were published pertaining to the British signal

intelligence agency, GCHQs Tempora program, Snowden reportedly

commented that the other partners in the Five Eyes intelligence

sometimes go even further than the [National Security Agency] people

themselves.

If you send a data packet and if it makes its way through the UK, we will

get it. If you download anything, and the server is in the UK, then we get it,

he said.

In an interview published online last weekend in advance of its printing in

German magazine Der Speigel this week, Snowden argued that the NSA

was in bed with the Germans commenting that the organization of

intelligence gathering in countries involved with the organization is such

that political leaders are insulated from the backlash, going on to

denounce how grievously they're violating global privacy.

Germany reacted to the report on Monday, with German chancellorAngela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, telling Reuters that the

Federal Intelligence Agencys (BND) cooperation with the NSA took place

within strict legal and judicial guidelines and is controlled by the competent

arliamentary committee.

The US and its affiliates have intelligence facilities distributed worldwide in

a variety of US embassies, consulates and military facilities. In an earlier

report by Der Spiegel, also based on revelations by Snowden, it was

revealed that the NSA bugged EU diplomatic offices and gained access to

EU internal computer networks.

Anonymous user 10.07.2013 13:56

KRudd says govt wont comment on intelligence issues?

funny they do so when it suits them for pR.

Anonymous user 10.07.2013 12:15

We badly need to utilize this info to permanently shut down this big

brother grid.