A very special club for spooks who can’t follow their own rules
The UKUSA Agreement alias the Five Eyes (FVEY), because nothing says “trustworthy global surveillance” like a name ripped from a bad spy thriller. Born in 1946 as a cosy little signals intelligence pact between Britain and America, it soon expanded like an overeager book club, roping in Canada (1948), Australia, and New Zealand (1956) for good measure. Of course, it was all top secret until 1999, when Australia—bless its honest little heart—accidentally let slip that, oops, the Anglosphere had been running the world’s most invasive eavesdropping operation for half a century. ...