GCHQ
[10][11] In 1919, the Cabinet's Secret Service Committee, chaired by Lord Curzon, recommended that a peacetime codebreaking agency should be created, a task which was given to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Hugh Sinclair.However, in May 1927, during a row over clandestine Soviet support for the General Strike and the distribution of subversive propaganda, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin made details from the decrypts public.[20] During the Second World War, GC&CS was based largely at Bletchley Park, in present-day Milton Keynes, working on understanding the German Enigma machine and Lorenz ciphers.[22] Senior staff included Alastair Denniston, Oliver Strachey, Dilly Knox, John Tiltman, Edward Travis, Ernst Fetterlein, Josh Cooper, Donald Michie, Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Joan Clarke, Max Newman, William Tutte, I. J.[23] The 1943 British–US Communication Intelligence Agreement, BRUSA, connected the signal intercept networks of the GC&CS and the US National Security Agency (NSA).One of the major reasons for selecting Cheltenham was that the town had been the location of the headquarters of the United States Army Services of Supply for the European Theater during the War, which built up a telecommunications infrastructure in the region to carry out its logistics tasks.During the early Cold War, the remnants of the British Empire provided a global network of ground stations which were a major contribution to the UKUSA Agreement; the US regarded RAF Little Sai Wan in Hong Kong as the most valuable of these.The monitoring stations were largely run by inexpensive National Service recruits, but when this ended in the early 1960s, the increased cost of civilian employees caused budgetary problems.A copy of the report was sent directly to the White House Situation Room, providing initial indications of Soviet intentions with regards the US naval blockade of Cuba.Following the breakdown of talks and the failure to negotiate a no-strike agreement, a number of mass national one-day strikes were held to protest against this decision, believed by some to be the first step to wider bans on trade unions.An appeal to the International Labour Organization resulted in a decision that the government's actions were in violation of Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention.[49] Hurn's report recommended a cut of £100 million in GCHQ's budget; such a large reduction had not been suffered by any British intelligence agency since the end of World War II.[49] The cuts had been mostly reversed by 2000 in the wake of threats from violent non-state actors, and risks from increased terrorism, organised crime and illegal access to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.[64] PRISM is said to give the National Security Agency and FBI easy access to the systems of nine of the world's top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, and Skype.The growing use of the Internet, together with its inherent insecurities, meant that the communications traffic of private citizens were becoming inextricably mixed with those of their targets and openness in the handling of this issue was becoming essential to their credibility as an organisation.[66] In February 2014, The Guardian, based on documents provided by Snowden, revealed that GCHQ had indiscriminately collected 1.8 million private Yahoo webcam images from users across the world.[67] In the same month NBC and The Intercept, based on documents released by Snowden, revealed the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group and the Computer Network Exploitation units within GCHQ.[69] Soon after becoming Director of GCHQ in 2014, Robert Hannigan wrote an article in the Financial Times on the topic of internet surveillance, stating that "however much [large US technology companies] may dislike it, they have become the command and control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals" and that GCHQ and its sister agencies "cannot tackle these challenges at scale without greater support from the private sector", arguing that most internet users "would be comfortable with a better and more sustainable relationship between the [intelligence] agencies and the tech companies".Since the 2013 global surveillance disclosures, large US technology companies have improved security and become less co-operative with foreign intelligence agencies, including those of the UK, generally requiring a US court order before disclosing data.[72] In 2015, documents obtained by The Intercept from US National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that GCHQ had carried out a mass-surveillance operation, codenamed KARMA POLICE, since about 2008.The JTLS also produces and publishes foreign language working aids under crown copyright and conducts research into machine translation and on-line dictionaries and glossaries.[98] However, the Tribunal stated in February 2015 that one particular aspect, the data-sharing arrangement that allowed UK Intelligence services to request data from the US surveillance programmes Prism and Upstream, had been in contravention of human rights law prior to this until two paragraphs of additional information, providing details about the procedures and safeguards, were disclosed to the public in December 2014.[109] Despite the inherent secrecy around much of GCHQ's work, investigations carried out by the UK government after the Snowden disclosures have admitted various abuses by the security services.The closed hearing found the government in breach of its internal surveillance policies in accessing and retaining the communications of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa.The couple accused British ministers and officials of participating in their unlawful abduction, kidnapping and removal to Libya in March 2004, while Gaddafi was still in power.[114] In 2015 there was a complaint by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas that British intelligence services, including GCHQ, had been spying on MPs allegedly "in defiance of laws prohibiting it.[116]The Investigatory Powers Tribunal investigated the complaint, and ruled that contrary to the allegation, there was no law that gave the communications of Parliament any special protection.[130] In October 2020, intelligence and security expert John Ferris published Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency.
HM Government Communications CentreConservative Campaign HeadquartersThe DoughnutHis Majesty's GovernmentCheltenhamSingle Intelligence AccountDavid LammySecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth AffairsAnne Keast-ButlerDirector of GCHQNational Cyber Security Centreintelligencesecuritysignals intelligenceinformation assurancegovernmentarmed forcesUnited KingdomForeign OfficePermanent SecretaryFirst World WarSecond World WarBletchley ParkEnigma codesNational Security AgencyEdward SnowdenTemporadisclosures of global surveillanceThe GuardianThe RegisterCable & Wirelesscryptanalysisbiometricshuman resourcesSecond World War activities of GC&CS referred to as 'Ultra'British ArmyRoyal NavyLord CurzonDirector of Naval IntelligenceHugh SinclairAlastair DennistonAdmiraltySt. James's ParkGeneral StrikeStanley BaldwinMilton KeynesEnigma machineLorenz ciphersOliver StracheyDilly KnoxJohn TiltmanEdward TravisErnst FetterleinJosh CooperDonald MichieAlan TuringGordon WelchmanJoan ClarkeMax NewmanWilliam TutteI. J. (Jack) GoodPeter CalvocoressiHugh FossColossus computerFar East Combined BureauWireless Experimental CentreColomboKilindiniMombasaEastcoteOakleyBenhallUnited States Army Services of SupplyUKUSA AgreementCold WarBritish EmpireRAF Little Sai WanHong KongDiplomatic ServiceSuez WarPerkar, Ceylon siteRAF HabbaniyaSovereign Base AreaCuban Missile CrisisGCHQ ScarboroughDuncan CampbellMark HosenballTime OutGeoffrey PrimeCouncil of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil ServiceGCHQ trade union banConservativeMargaret Thatchernational securityEuropean Commission of Human RightsInternational Labour OrganizationFreedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise ConventionLabourPublic and Commercial Services Unionroyal prerogativejudicial reviewIntelligence Services Act 1994Intelligence and Security CommitteeJim CallaghanMichael QuinlanChief Secretary to the TreasuryJonathan AitkenJohn Adyeviolent non-state actorsDavid OmandChung Hom Koktransfer of Hong Kong to the Chinese governmentAustralian Defence Satellite Communications StationGeraldtonWestern AustraliaGulf Wardissident republicanReal IRAYugoslav WarsKenneth NoyecybercrimeGlobal surveillanceGlobal surveillance disclosures (2013–present)GenslerCarillionKatharine Gun