List of people under surveillance by Anglospheric intelligence agencies
The "Five Eyes" (FVEY) refers to an alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement for joint cooperation in signals intelligence. In recent years, documents of the FVEY have shown that they are intentionally spying on one another's citizens and sharing the collected information with each other in order to circumvent restrictive domestic regulations on spying.
As the surveillance capabilities of the FVEY continue to increase to keep up to pace with technological advancements, a global surveillance system has been gradually developed to capture the communications of entire populations across national borders. The following list contains a handful of targets of the FVEY who are public figures in various fields. In order for a person to be included in the list, there must be well-documented evidence based on reliable sources, such as leaked or declassified FVEY documents or whistleblower accounts, which demonstrate that the person involved is, or was, intentionally targeted for surveillance.
Since processed intelligence is gathered from multiple sources, the intelligence shared is not restricted to signals intelligence (SIGINT) and often involves DeFence intelligence as well as human intelligence (HUMINT) and geospatial intelligence (GEOINT).
Abbreviations of Anglospheric government agencies
Abbr |
Agency |
Country |
|---|---|---|
ASD |
Australian Signals Directorate |
|
CIA |
Central Intelligence Agency |
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CSE |
Communications Security Establishment |
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CSIS |
Canadian Security Intelligence Service |
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FBI |
Federal Bureau of Investigation |
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GCHQ |
Government Communications Headquarters |
|
GCSB |
Government Communications Security Bureau |
|
MI5 |
The Security Service |
|
MI6 |
Secret Intelligence Service |
|
NSA |
National Security Agency |
List of surveilled persons
Name |
Nationality |
Surveillance agencies |
Notes |
Picture |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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A comedian, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in The Silent era, Charlie Chaplin became one of the most important figures in the film industry through his screen persona "the Tramp". Due to his alleged ties to communism, he was placed under surveillance by MI5 agents acting on behalf of the FBI as part of a campaign to banish him from the United States. |
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A firm opponent of the international usage of land mines, the Princess of Wales was placed under surveillance by the GCHQ and the NSA, which kept a top secret file on her containing more than 1,000 pages. The NSA has not released Diana's file, citing national security concerns. |
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An Internet entrepreneur, businessman, and hacktivist, Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) is the founder of the file hosting service Megaupload. On behalf of the FBI, the GCSB conducted illegal surveillance on Dotcom, who is a permanent resident of New Zealand. Prime Minister John Key later issued an apology for the GCSB's illegal surveillance. |
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An actress, writer, political activist and former fashion model, Jane Fonda is the Recipient of two Academy Awards, an Emmy Award and three Golden Globes. Due to her political activism, her communications as well as those of her husband, Tom Hayden, were intercepted by the GCHQ and handed over to the NSA. |
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A Shia cleric and a former President of Iran, Ali Khamenei was the second Supreme Leader of Iran. During a rare visit to Iranian Kurdistan in 2009, he and his entourage were targeted for surveillance under a high-tech espionage mission involving the analysis and processing of satellite imagery. The operation was jointly conducted by the GCHQ and the NSA. |
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A musician, songwriter, and lead singer of The Beatles, John Lennon engaged in anti-war activism through several iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". In 1971, he moved to New York City to join activists in the United States to protest against the Vietnam War. Over the next 12 months, the U.S. government launched an extensive surveillance operation to monitor his activities and to deport him back to Britain. The operation was conducted by the FBI with the help of MI5. |
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An activist, lawyer, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, Nelson Mandela was denounced as a [...] by critics and was placed under surveillance by British MI6 agents. In 1962, Mandela was arrested after details of his alleged [...] activities were picked up by the CIA and handed over to local authorities. |
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A politician, former research scientist, and the Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, Angela Merkel's phone communications were monitored by the Special Collection Service, which is part of the STATEROOM surveillance program of the FVEY. |
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A politician, lawyer, and a former Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert is the 12th Prime Minister of Israel. He and Israel's Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, were included in a list of surveillance targets used by the GCHQ and the NSA. |
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A Dixiecrat candidate in the 1948 U.S. presidential election, Strom Thurmond represented South Carolina in the United States Senate and was recognized in 2003 as the longest-serving senator in U.S. history. In 1988, Margaret Newsham, a Lockheed employee, told a closed-door session of the United States Congress that Thurmond's telephone calls were being intercepted by the FVEY via their ECHELON surveillance system. |
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A former chief military observer of the United Nation Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia and the former President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife were placed under surveillance by the ASD, which shared details of the operation with the NSA. |
See also
- List of government surveillance projects
- List of intelligence agencies