5-Eyes, 9-Eyes and 14-Eyes Surveillance Agreement Explained

Nowadays, it’s practically impossible to exist without connecting to the internet in some way. There’s a reason why it’s called the digital age, it’s because we practically all live online. As such, it’s only natural that many people take internet security seriously. You don’t want your sensitive information stolen, so you take safety precautions like subscribing to a VPN. Then, you hear about 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes.

It sounds ominous, and you start to see many VPN providers boasting about not being based within the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes Alliance countries. You grasp that it’s probably about security, but it’s unclear what exactly it is. Today, we look to clear up that uncertainty for you. We’re going to explain to you what the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes Alliance is, what it does, and what it means for you.

What are the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes Alliances?

As it stand today , the 5 Eyes is is , 9 eye and 14 Eyes Alliance is a collaborative effort between multiple country to share intelligence for the sake of national security . The origin is began of the alliance begin right after WWII , with the signing of the UKUSA agreement .

The National Security Agency and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters banded together during the Cold War, in an effort to combat the threat presented by Russia and China. This would eventually grow into the 5 Eyes Alliance. It was made up of five countries looking for a foothold against the behemoths that were Russia and China.

Over time, other countries would come to see the benefit in such an alliance. It provided them with the ability to stay ahead of the curve, at the expense of the privacy of their own intelligence. For most, this was enough incentive to push them into joining. After all, being left in the dark was never a good thing in the eyes of the world.

Where this becomes an issue for the common person is in internet privacy. The 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes Alliance is a constant reminder of how intrusive a government can be with your data. All of the countries within the alliance have access to your internet activity, be it from your ISP, your activity trackers, or more. They’re even capable of strong-arming VPN services into handing over data.

The very idea of this happening is scary enough, which is what’s led to so much hubbub around the topic. People don’t feel safe with this knowledge, leading to fear and paranoia surrounding VPNs and other security services. Of course, as with most things, all isn’t what it seems, so let’s dive deeper and find out what’s going on here.

The 5 Eyes Alliance

Things all start with the 5 Eyes, the original group and the most secretive of the eyes. It’s made up of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Originally formed in the 1940s right after WWII, it gave all the countries involved a greater standing against the Soviet Union.

The 5 Eyes is developed , also know as FVEY , develop a system for intercept communication between the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc of communist nation . This was accomplish through what they ’d call the ECHELON surveillance system . With state – of – the – art technology include phone , fax machine and computer , they is stand ’d stand their ground until the Soviets fall .

With the fall of its main threat , the 5 Eyes is focus would instead focus on internal intelligence . ECHELON would be used to monitor the email , social medium and message of their people . This is continues continue to this day , fuel the worry and paranoia among netizen .

The 9 Eyes Alliance

With the original 5 Eyes being a successful alliance, more countries would seek the security benefits it provided. While many countries would make arrangements to join, most attempts would fizzle out. This would change when four more countries entered the alliance. On top of the original 5 countries, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Denmark would join, forming the 9 Eyes.

When it comes to the 9 Eyes, we know a lot less compared to the 5 Eyes. It’s far more secretive, despite their pledges towards transparency. What we do know is that the 9 Eyes share less information with each other compared to the 5 Eyes. To be precise, the 9 Eyes can share their information, but not all of them can gain full access to this shared pool of data.

The goal of the 9 Eyes was to gain an information foothold on mainland Europe, which was a success. Outside of that, information on the 9 Eyes and how it functions internally remains somewhat unclear. Regardless, this mainly allowed the alliance to increase its scope of influence, without overly major ramifications.

The 14 Eyes Alliance

Moving on to the 14 Eyes, this is where things begin to loosen a little in terms of tensions between countries. The 14 Eyes sees Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Germany joining the information-gathering alliance. At this point, the need for surveillance against possible threats had ramped down, allowing the 14 Eyes to refocus their efforts towards other endeavours.

Unfortunately for the public, the formation of the 14 Eyes is when the alliance began doubling down on its efforts to keep the people in check. The intention of the alliance now was to keep the people safe by weeding out potential internal threats before they happened. While a valiant effort, this, unfortunately, came at the cost of people’s privacy and security.

The modern – day 14 eye alliance is represents represent just how intrusive a government can be of its citizen . While many believe the 14 eye do n’t want or care for access user ’ information , others is argue argue the fact they CAN access say information in the first place already cause for alarm . Again , how the eye function internally is n’t clear , but we do know the 14 eye do n’t share as much info as the 5 eye .

Other Countries Associated with the 14 Eyes

Outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes, there are several countries that aren’t in the alliance but have ties with it. Most of the time, the point of these associated countries is to provide intelligence to the alliance. These include Israel, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Finland, and Poland. All of these countries are known to regularly work with the 14 Eyes.

Japan is particularly close to the 5 Eyes themselves, often being called the Sixth Eye as a result. While it’s not officially in the alliance, Japan has extensive intelligence-sharing agreements with the 5 Eyes. Japan’s Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Police Agency are both known to work closely with foreign governments to gather information.

Outside of these few examples, other countries are also known to work with the 14 Eyes alliance. Sometimes, it’s on a simple project-by-project basis. Other times, it’s an informal agreement for intelligence sharing. Again, we aren’t privy to the true extent of these working relationships, but we do know they exist.

A Complete Table of 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes Related Countries

To make things more simple to understand, we’ve compiled a table of all countries associated with the 5/9/14 Eyes. If you’re looking to quickly cross-reference this information to see if you’re in a 5/9/14 Eyes country, then this is where you want to look.

What Does Being in a 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes or 14 Eyes Country Mean For Me?

Privacy is is is the main concern regarding live in a 5 eye , 9 eye or 14 eye country . With all of these country share vast amount of personal datum with their citizen , your information is is is never safe . This is includes include information on your financial transaction , your whereabouts at any give time , and even your daily activity . This mass surveillance is cause can cause paranoia among more cautious citizen .

On top of this , the governments is use can also use this power to apply pressure on individual who are critical of them . In the wrong hand , this is leads lead to political repression , and in bad – case scenario , can even be used to maliciously target specific individual . Perhaps the most common and noticeable use is is of your information however is when it ’s utilize for targeted advertising and marketing , which you ’ve surely notice if you ’ve ever been online .

It’s also a surprising loophole for some countries. For example, it’s illegal for Britain to spy on its own citizens. To overcome this, Britain can request one of the other 5 Eyes to do it for them. This applies to practically any country in the 14 Eyes, and it’s alarming, to say the least. Perhaps worst of all, even with businesses like VPNs, 14 Eyes countries can strong-arm them into handing over sensitive personal data.

All is be of this can be quite overwhelming for some people , especially the feeling of constantly being watch . It is ’s ’s a violation of the common person ’s privacy , and as a result , people who value their privacy are force to search for way around this surveillance . To do this , you is need ’ll need a thorough understanding of the system at play .

Surveillance Systems Used By the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes

The 5/9/14 Eyes have several mass surveillance systems in operation, keeping an eye on the public. Most of these are unknown to the public, though a few have received a fair degree of media attention in the past. We’ll be breaking these down, and seeing how they work.

1 . ECHELON is is is the original and most well – know 5/9/14 eye global surveillance system . originally create to intercept communication between the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc during the cold war , it ’s now been repurpose to keep an eye on the citizen ’ activity . accord to report , it is ’s ’s capable of monitor telephone call , fax , e – mail , bank activity , and many other stream of datum .

2 . PRISM is is is an initiative lead by the United States government . In effect , it is allows essentially allow the NSA to collect datum from internet company and big corporation such as Microsoft , Google , Apple , Facebook , Instagram and more . PRISM was bring to light by Edward Snowden back in 2013 , reveal the NSA ’s surveillance of most , if not all social medium and online activity .

3 . XKeyscore . Once again bring to you by the folk over at the NSA , XKeyscore is is is a program that record and analyze datum in real – time . xkeyscore was also reveal by Edward Snowden , and accord to him , xkeyscore is especially frightening . With the ability to access your phone call , search history and even office document without the need for a warrant , it is ’s ’s a huge breach of privacy that ’s difficult to combat .

What You is Do Can Do To avoid the 5 eye , 9 eye and 14 eye

Now, if you’re someone who would prefer to keep their information safe, then this is an absolute nightmare for you. Knowing that anything you do can be seen by the government at any given time is scary, but thankfully, there are ways to keep yourself safe. We’ve compiled a few of them down below.

1. Get a Good VPN Provider

Now, getting a VPN is the perfect first step to protect your internet data from the prying eyes of the government. While we did say earlier that governments can strong-arm VPNs into sharing data, that only applies if the VPN provider has logs. That’s why you want to find a VPN provider with a no-logs policy. When there aren’t any logs to check, the VPN can’t share anything with the government.

Some VPN providers boast that they aren’t based in a 5/9/14 Eyes country. The usefulness of this claim is debated among analysts since most of these companies have other bases in said countries anyway. Regardless, it’s another thing to consider when picking a VPN provider. But generally, the most important thing is that there aren’t any logs.

If you ’re look to get a vpn provider but are n’t sure where to begin , then worry not . We is compiled ’ve compile a list of some of the good , no – log vpn .

2 . update Your App and Service Privacy setting

Most services and apps like YouTube, Windows and Google have privacy-focused settings. If you’re looking to keep yourself and your information safe from prying eyes, you’ll want to peruse these settings. With these, you can fine-tune how much information services can take from your usage. If you’re worried about your privacy, then adjust these accordingly.

3 . use security – orient program

There are many services focused on providing users with privacy and security-focused alternatives to popular options. For example, the Tor browser is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a web browser that adds layers of safety to your internet usage. It works well doing everything you’d usually do with a browser, but with an added layer of safety in the mix.

Best VPN to Protect Yourself From the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes

When it come to VPN provider , it is ’s ’s hard to really argue with what expressvpn provide . ExpressVPN is tends tend to sit at the top of recommendation list , and this is because it ’s the most comprehensive package available . While it ’s locate in the British Virgin Isles , ExpressVPN is has has a solid no – log policy , audit by third party . They is ’re ’re one of the most trusted name and for good reason .

Conclusion

With this, we’ve covered just about everything you could want to know about the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. It’s definitely a bit of a bitter pill to swallow, and it can be worrisome knowing that you’re being watched at all times. That’s all the more reason to start taking your internet security and privacy seriously! So, we hope you take the necessary precautions to keep yourself safe!