How does this affect your privacy and security?
Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes Countries Explained.
In the interconnected cyber world there are a growing number of platforms providing secure encrypted email, VPN, cloud storage, and other services. However, every time a new company appears eventually the following phrase will pop up: "Don't use this service! It is hosted in a Fourteen Eyes country!" But who are the Fourteen Eyes countries? And most importantly, what kind of privacy risks are taken when using services hosted in the 14 eyes?
Oh What Big Eyes You Have!
Fourteen Eyes countries
The Fourteen Eyes countries are the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain.
But before we can begin examining the structure and operation of the Fourteen Eyes countries, we need to step back and look at the start of the current global surveillance apparatus, which has its roots in WWII. This leviathan of espionage began informally at Bletchley Park during the British and American effort to break the German Enigma Machine. The formal beginning can be found in the UK-USA Agreement which was enacted in March of 1946. The alliance quickly grew with the addition of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
This core group of national intelligence agencies has since come to be known as the Five Eyes countries (or FVEY): USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Five Eyes spent the Cold War gathering intelligence on the Soviet Union, with different nations operating in specific global locations. Later on, other nations came to be involved in this intelligence gathering operation of the five eyes countries, and they are commonly referred to as third-parties.
It is the activity of these third-parties which later spawned groups like the Five Eyes Plus, Six Eyes, Nine Eyes, Fourteen Eyes, and other third-parties.
List of surveillance partner countries
Five Eyes Countries: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Five Eyes Plus Countries: Five Eyes Plus is an information sharing network between the Five Eyes, France, Germany, and Japan with the goal of countering threats from China and Russia.
Six Eyes Countries: Six Eyes was a failed agreement between the Five Eyes, France, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. However the agreement fell through due to rejection by the CIA director and US President Barack Obama.
Nine Eyes Countries: Nine Eyes is an intel sharing partnership between the Five Eyes nations, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Fourteen Eyes Countries: Fourteen Eyes is an extension of the Nine Eyes plus Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.
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