Everyone now wants top security when it comes to their privacy. You may not be a political figure or a celebrity, but that does not mean you will never become the victim of constant government surveillance.
Many people are curious about the ‘eyes‘ continuously watching over us. The most well-known eyes are within ‘5, 9, and 14 Eyes.’ You may be wondering who the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes are. They are the world’s most well-known countries forming dedicated surveillance alliances.
When choosing the type of security, you must watch out for the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes, especially while purchasing VPNs and other privacy enhancement tools.
Your internet service provider (ISP) may be linked to this surveillance alliance. They may even be handing your personal data to them. Your IP address is the simplest thing to track down by anyone, but it can be trouble for you in the hands of the wrong people.
These alliances formally started after World War II. An international surveillance alliance was created among a few countries, and they have been building networks to spy on people for years now.
This article will teach you all you need to know about the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes. That includes every country involved, what they do, and how you can stop them from getting your personal data.
What is 5 Eyes alliance?
The Five Eyes (abbreviated as FVEY) refers to the countries constituting the surveillance alliance, which are:
- The United States of America (USA)
- The United Kingdom (UK)
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Australia
Understanding 5 Eyes concept
The Five Eyes share all the information and activities of their citizens. So it does not matter how big of a figure you may be in the public’s eye; your data is theirs in the Five Eyes.
There are other organizations within the Five Eyes of each country. For example, in the USA, the CIA, FBI, NSA, and DIA collect and share information among the governments.
The history of the Five Eyes dates back to World War II and the USA-UK agreement (explained below). In short, it was an agreement that ensured all the countries would share every bit of information they received.
The power of the Five Eyes government can be noted by the United Kingdom’s Investigatory Powers Act of 2016. This Act allowed the government to record every text message and browsing history of people. This data would be stored and kept available for the government for two years and can be used without a warrant.
There have been other large agencies that have helped the five eyes claim people’s data. These agencies are a part of what is known as the PRISM program. In 2017, some ISPs were allowed to record every user’s activities and were given legal permission to sell them to other third parties. No one could reject this program legally.
The Five Eyes can force different large-scale companies into handing over customer data. Many people have tried to reveal the activities of the Five Eyes. However, the public remains blind and unaware of what is being done with their private online information and how government agencies can exploit it.
Your favorite social media platform may very well be on this game of selling your private data to the government. Facebook and Google are well-known platforms in this case. However, the Five Eyes have global surveillance almost everywhere.