Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2014 /
  • November /
  • SURVEILLANCE: VODAFONE & GCHQ: Spy cable revealed: how telecoms firm worked with GCHQ

SURVEILLANCE: VODAFONE & GCHQ: Spy cable revealed: how telecoms firm worked with GCHQ

20 November 2014

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

"One of the UK's largest communications firms had a leading role in creating the surveillance system exposed by Edward Snowden, it can be revealed. Cable and Wireless even went as far as providing traffic from a rival foreign communications company, handing information sent by millions of internet users worldwide over to spies.

The firm, which was bought by Vodafone in July 2012, was part of a programme called Mastering the Internet, under which British spies used private companies to help them gather and store swathes of internet traffic; a quarter of which passes through the UK. Top secret documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and seen by Channel 4 News show that GCHQ developed what it called "partnerships" with private companies under codenames. Cable and Wireless was called Gerontic."

See: Spy cable revealed: how telecoms firm worked with GCHQ (Channel 4 News, link)

See also: USA-Vodaphone: Vodafone-Firma soll für Spähauftrag kassiert haben (sueddeutsche.de/digital, link) [New Snowden documents show how Vodafone aided spying mission] and: Vodafone – der lange Arm des britischen Geheimdienstes? (Vodafone - the long arm of British intelligence?) see video.

And: Snowden-Leaks: How Vodafone-Subsidiary Cable & Wireless Aided GCHQ’s Spying Efforts (SZ International, link)

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

UK: NUJ members under police surveillance mount collective legal challenge

Next article 

EP: EU-CANADA PNR AGREEMENT to be REFERRED TO COURT?

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy