known as the “Five Eyes” alliance. In 1946, the London Signals
Intelligence Board and its American counterpart at that time, the StateArmy-Navy Communication Intelligence Board, signed the United
Kingdom-United States of America (“UKUSA”) Agreement, a post-war
“communications intelligence” sharing agreement, which was later
extended to encompass the other three members of the Five Eyes
alliance.39
74.
Part 3 of the UKUSA Agreement states:
The parties agree to the exchange of the products of the following
operations relating to foreign communications:
(1) collection of traffic
(2) acquisition of communication documents and equipment
(3) traffic analysis
(4) cryptanalysis
(5) decryption and translation
(6)acquisition
of
information
regarding
communication
organizations, practices, procedures, and equipment.
75.
It further stipulates that “[s]uch exchange shall be unrestricted on all work
undertaken except when specifically excluded from the agreement at the
request of either party and with the agreement of the other” but that “[i]t is
the intention of each party to limit such exceptions to the absolute
minimum”.
76.
The UK Intelligence Services, and in particular GCHQ, are therefore
likely to have broad access to the fruits of US communications
surveillance, including pursuant to the bulk surveillance programmes
described above. This access can take a variety of forms, including direct
and unfettered access to raw initially intercepted material, which can then
The National Archives, Newly released GCHQ files: UKUSA Agreement, available at
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukusa/; see also Richard Norton Taylor, Not so secret; deal at
the
heart
of
UK-US
intelligence,
The
Guardian,
25
June
2010,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/25/intelligence-deal-uk-us-released.
39
34