Context:

  • The recent allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linking the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil to the Indian government have put the spotlight on the intelligence­sharing alliance ‘Five Eyes’.

Who are the ‘Five Eyes’?

  • The ‘Five Eyes’ is a multilateral intelligence­sharing network of five countries, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.
  • It is both surveillance­based and tracks signals intelligence (SIGINT).
  • Intelligence documents shared between the member countries are classified ‘Secret—AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US Eyes Only,’ which gave the group its title ‘Five Eyes.’
  • The alliance between the U.S. and the U.K. evolved around the Second World War to counter the Cold War Soviet threat.
  • In 1946, the alliance was formalised through an agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence.
  • The treaty called the British­U.S. Communication Intelligence Agreement, or BRUSA (now known as the UKUSA Agreement).
  • It was signed between the State­Army­Navy Communication Intelligence Board (STANCIB) of the U.S. and the London Signal Intelligence Board (SIGINT) of Britain.

How does the network work?

  • Initially, the partners are assigned respective SIGINT mandates.
  • The goalpost of the Five Eyes, however, has shifted following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of new global challenges like terrorism and the growing influence of China.
  • The Five Eyes have become involved in ocean and maritime surveillance, scientific and defence intelligence analysis, medical intelligence, geospatial intelligence, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and the continuous sharing of intelligence products via a secret collective database known as ‘Stone Ghost’.

What are the concerns?

  • There have been several concerns regarding the privacy, security and methods of working of the intelligence alliance, which remained shrouded in mystery for long.
  • The alliance was embroiled in a major controversy in 2013 following the disclosure of classified documents by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor.
  • Snowden described the network as a “supranational intelligence organisation that doesn’t answer to the laws of its own countries.”
Syllabus: Prelims