We shouldn't fall from the clouds. Documents from the Edward Snowden archive, which Der Spiegel has at its disposal and which were also obtained by the newspaper TA NEA , reveal that PRISM , the surveillance scandal that has come to light since last June, has also spread its tentacles to Greece . According to these documents, a monitoring station has also been set up at the American Embassy here in Athens , while the embassy also has equipment that allows remote monitoring, without the need for "operators", equipment that has been placed high in the building.
The intelligence collection units located in 19 European capitals (including Athens) are called SCS (Special Collection Service), and are staffed by agents from the NSA, CIA and other secret services. The agents of these units work in armored rooms in embassies, enjoy diplomatic immunity and are engaged in the interception of communications via mobile phones, wireless networks and satellite communications.
The "special construction" that the US Embassy has for this purpose in Athens is visible in the old embassy building, from Petrou Kokkali.
The only comment we can make so many months after the first revelation of the communications monitoring system by the US National Security Agency is that perhapsthe revelation by the newspaper TA NEA is finally an occasion to realize here in Greece that PRISM is not only an "American" affair, as most had perceived it. From the very first moment of the revelations, here at digitallife.gr we had pointed out the seriousness, but also how much the things leaked by Edward Snowden concern us all.
The second thought we have is to see if the Greek Government decides to deal with the revelations of the newspaper TA NEA with elementary seriousness . It may be a commonplace that everyone is monitoring everyone, the incidents and descriptions of surveillance in the Greek area may be repeated, but the privacy of communications is something that is still protected in this country. At least formally . We hope that in the case of Greece, the treatment of the violation of the privacy of its citizens , especially by agents of another country, will be more serious and not limited to the humorous approach that Mr. Pangalos had in his radio interview earlier this morning.
Source: digitallife.gr
