{
  "id": "RS20444",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS20444",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 100897,
      "date": "2000-03-02",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:38:31.444941",
      "title": "Project Echelon: U.S. Electronic Surveillance Efforts",
      "summary": "Last year Congress passed legislation ( P.L. 106-120 , Section 309) requiring that the Executive\nBranch report on the legal standards for electronic surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. This\naction followed press reports and European Parliament studies claiming that the National Security\nAgency (NSA) has established a world-wide signals collection effort, known as Project Echelon, that\njeopardizes the privacy rights of individuals and unfairly provides commercial advantage to U.S.\nFirms, There has been no official U.S. confirmation of the existence of Project Echelon, but the\nresponsibilities of the National Security Agency (NSA) for signals intelligence (sigint) are widely\nknown and reflected in statutory law and executive orders. Although there is no evidence that NSA\nhas undertaken illegal sigint operations, some observers, in the U.S. as well as abroad, argue that\nelectronic surveillance efforts, even if sanctioned by domestic laws, undercut universally guaranteed\nhuman rights. Others counter that a robust signals intelligence is essential to protect the Nation and\nits allies against hostile foreign governments, terrorists, and narcotics traffickers. This report will\nbe updated as additional information becomes available.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS20444",
          "sha1": "832b4dc164483129b09af6a5b676e70905849487",
          "filename": "files/20000302_RS20444_832b4dc164483129b09af6a5b676e70905849487.pdf",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20000302_RS20444_832b4dc164483129b09af6a5b676e70905849487.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}