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TheUKUSACommunity:Australia,Canada,NewZealand,theUnitedKingdom,andtheUnitedStates
TheUnitedKingdom–UnitedStatesofAmericaAgreement(UKUSA,/juːkuːˈsɑː/yoo-koo-SAH)[1][2]isamultilateralagreementforcooperationinsignalsintelligencebetweenAustralia,Canada,NewZealand,theUnitedKingdom,andtheUnitedStates.TheallianceofintelligenceoperationsisalsoknownastheFiveEyes.[3][4][5][6][7]InclassificationmarkingsthisisabbreviatedasFVEY,withtheindividualcountriesbeingabbreviatedasAUS,CAN,NZL,GBR,andUSA,respectively.[8]
Emergingfromaninformalagreementrelatedtothe1941AtlanticCharter,thesecrettreatywasrenewedwiththepassageofthe1943BRUSAAgreement,beforebeingofficiallyenactedon5March1946bytheUnitedKingdomandtheUnitedStates.Inthefollowingyears,itwasextendedtoencompassCanada,Australia,andNewZealand.Othercountries,knownas"thirdparties",suchasWestGermany,thePhilippines,andseveralNordiccountriesalsojoinedtheUKUSAcommunityinassociatecapacities,althoughtheyarenotpartofmechanismforautomaticsharingofintelligencethatexistsbetweentheFiveEyes.[9][10]
Muchofthesharingofinformationisperformedviatheultra-sensitiveSTONEGHOSTnetwork,whichhasbeenclaimedtocontain"someoftheWesternworld'smostcloselyguardedsecrets".[11]Besideslayingdownrulesforintelligencesharing,theagreementformalizedandcementedthe"SpecialRelationship"betweentheUKandtheUS.[12][13]
Duetoitsstatusasasecrettreaty,itsexistencewasnotknowntothePrimeMinisterofAustraliauntil1973,[14]anditwasnotdisclosedtothepublicuntil2005.[13]On25June2010,forthefirsttimeinhistory,thefulltextoftheagreementwaspubliclyreleasedbytheUnitedKingdomandtheUnitedStates,andcannowbeviewedonline.[9][15]Shortlyafteritsrelease,theseven-pageUKUSAAgreementwasrecognizedbyTimemagazineasoneoftheColdWar'smostimportantdocuments,withimmensehistoricalsignificance.[13]
TheglobalsurveillancedisclosurebyEdwardSnowdenhasshownthattheintelligence-sharingactivitiesbetweentheFirstWorldalliesoftheColdWararerapidlyshiftingintothedigitalrealmoftheInternet.[16][17][18] |
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