The era of growing global insecurity and international instability brings new threats. Speaking about online privacy and the right tool to ensure it we should consider international 5/9/14 eyes alliances. There is no doubt that it’s hard to escape from ever-reaching surveillance but you can get a higher privacy level using a VPN. If you want to prevent any eyes on you use ClearVPN. It lets you browse the net without fear of third parties stealing your personal data. Your online traffic and activities will be hidden from any interested individuals willing to spy on you.
Five Eyes alliance
It is crucial to be aware of international 5/9/14 eyes, the way they can affect average VPN users like you. The history started from signing a bilateral agreement between the UK and the USA in the 1940s to let the parties monitor and share any communications worldwide. Later it expanded up to 5 eyes alliance. Nowadays these are among the most powerful countries in the world. So, what are the 5 eyes countries?
- The United Kingdom
- The USA
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
The alliance functions as one unit. Its aim is cooperation between the national intelligence agencies to ensure national security and protect the citizens from terrorists. Actually, the countries collect and share data including spying on their citizens. They used the most advanced surveillance technology ECHELON enabling global spying and listening/recording of any communications via telephone, fax, and later computer, and keeping those records.
VPN users’ fears
It was back in 2013 when Edward Snowden exposed US surveillance facts and people knew who are the Five Eyes and their activities. It was said that each country spies on each other's citizens mutually and swaps the data. They act so because it is prohibited by law to spy on their citizens. Its members believe privacy isn’t absolute and technological companies grant access to communications, including encrypted ones. To access people’s confidential data, intelligence agencies cooperate with telecommunication companies and ISPs. VPN providers based there can be forced to grant access to users’ data or to be at risk of such government’s actions as:
- Wiretapping.
- Hacking.
- Gag orders.
Remember! In the 5 eyes countries, users’ data even if encrypted can be monitored/stored/shared without users’ consent. That’s why we recommend you always check the VPN’s country of jurisdiction before you make a decision of having a VPN service.
Ways to get access to users’ data and control their privacy
Obviously, knowing about 5 eyes countries really matters for your privacy in the virtual environment. This alliance collects data from numerous sources as they control all aspects of modern communications networks (emails, documents, wiretaps) and:
- monitor directly a user’s connection
- get logs from ISP and VPN to be informed about users’ online activities
- get customers’ data using secret orders
- hack the networks to get direct access
- secretly tap fiber optic cables to get access to the data that is being processed
- sabotage encryption standards
- access sensitive financial data through the SWIFT payment system
These actions make it very hard for you to have personal information secured.
International signal intelligence-sharing alliance evolution and growth
The number of countries-members is constantly growing due to global changes and threats. So, cooperation in sharing intelligence between 5 eyes countries increased over decades and expanded to the Nine eyes alliance. Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway joined the alliance and participated there in different ways.
Why do they cooperate?
The reason for cooperation is that because of their national legal restrictions they can’t spy on their citizens but allow acting in other countries. SIGINT agencies worldwide cooperate with ISP and different telecommunication companies to get access to users’ confidential information for further analysis and storage.
What are fourteen eyes?
The interest in participation in the intelligence alliance grew because of the international threats. Alliance partnerships became even stronger and were focused on gathering intelligence, counterintelligence actions because of the terror worldwide. It resulted in the growth of up to 14 Eyes countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden joined the 9 eyes alliance) created to extend and share a huge mass of recorded data. The official name of the alliance is SIGINT Seniors Europe Now member countries monitor users’ actions online in 14 countries.
These three alliances are essential for those who are concerned about online privacy. All the spying agencies work as a single entity watching and keeping the records of users’ activities and sharing intelligence and a gigantic amount of information. All three alliances carried out mass surveillance globally through the Cold War and keep doing it today. Signals intelligence is specialized in communications interception made between people and electronic devices.
Does a VPN jurisdiction really matter for VPN users?
Considering that all surveillance alliance members abuse online privacy when they work and monitor users’ actions worldwide, it’s not easy to define the influence of a VPN on users’ privacy and personal data. If you choose a VPN in one of the 14 countries keep in mind a regular violation of privacy and data protection laws. To get protected from surveillance, use a VPN. But it is important to know if VPN is legal in your country and, of course, about online legal frameworks.
It is not enough for those VPN providers under the jurisdiction of one of the alliances to offer their users a no-logs service. So, it’s better to avoid a VPN based in any intelligence alliance country. Otherwise, the VPN service provider can be forced to give access to users’ data. Obviously, internet users will have no idea about their privacy being breached.
It’s highly recommended to choose the trusted VPN with a no-logs policy outside of 14 Eyes Alliance so that users’ sensitive data can be safer. Anyway, research and test VPNs thoroughly as security tools to make sure they meet your requirements, read users’ feedback before paying for a VPN service and think twice before making a decision in favor of a good VPN. Jurisdiction matters. The main point is to avoid 5 Eyes Countries.
Disadvantages of using VPN in the intelligence alliance countries:
- No real privacy is granted
users’ data is never kept private even if promised to. So, you can’t enjoy the advantages of privacy with a VPN service to the full
- Overall surveillance
any VPN service and consequently your online actions could be monitored if you have an account there. 14 countries share signals intelligence and spy on each other and you as a client of the company located there.
- Legal enforcement on tracing
VPN companies are forced to keep the logs to know exactly what users do online.
- Law disruption
privacy and data protection laws are often violated because VPN companies are forced to disclose users’ data
How can VPN help me against surveillance?
Privacy is the ultimate personal asset subject to protection. Due to the latest technical innovations, and developments internet users spend more time online in 2021 than ever before. As technological advancement is inevitable we should keep in mind that privacy is at risk. Safety is the same thing in the cyber environment as the door in your house you constantly lock. Intrusions in the virtual environment greatly affect our private/business life for many years.
Is it hard to stay totally safe online? Obviously, it’s not so easy. The best option to choose to increase the security level of your virtual environment is a VPN service. A reliable VPN is a means of your data encryption and protection. It puts your personal information in the virtual safe tunnel with a high confidentiality level and the history of your actions online is invisible. VPN tunnel lets you close the door to your virtual environment all the time you stay online and be safe.
ClearVPN is outstanding for geo-bypassing and online privacy. It has the advantages of saving your data on a safe remote server (you can choose one from the suggested list) and hiding your real geo-location.
Your ISP will think that your computer isn’t located in your real home/office but where the VPN server is geographically located. Take a few minutes to download ClearVPN, follow its shortcuts, and enjoy the advantages of an effortless user-friendly VPN service. It is simple to install and use even if you are not a tech-savvy person and have no idea about safe connections and other relevant technical information. Use a reliable VPN service for safe access to the internet.
Conclusion
All VPN users should be aware of 5/9/14 eyes alliances and use VPN services as protective measures. Strong encryption of users’ data is a great thing to be less targeted by surveillance. It is because strong encryption won’t let surveillance agencies intercept your communications and violate your privacy. A reliable VPN is a suitable tool as far as IP address change it makes tracing/surveillance very difficult or impossible.
Please note! You should avoid free VPNs as they can hardly give you a part of the advantages that a paid VPN does. Free VPN is limited, but it bombards you with annoying targeted ads and isn’t safe for your digital identity as it can sell your data to third parties without asking for your consent.
