Timeline of Intelligence Surveillance Scandals
Together with my colleagues from the GUARDINT project, we are publishing a report on surveillance scandals involving the US, British, German, and French intelligence services.
Summary
This timeline lists and documents the main surveillance scandals that have come to light in recent decades, from the first revelations about the NSA in the 1960s to Edward Snowden’s disclosures and more recent scandals. It provides an empirical resource for analyzing changes in intelligence services’ surveillance practices in light of the challenges they face.
The document compiles factual information on each scandal: the context of the revelations, the actors involved, the technologies and programs concerned, institutional reactions, and legal or political consequences. This historical perspective allows us to understand the continuities in the violations of fundamental rights, but also the evolution of the methods used to control these practices.
This timeline is part of a broader research program on the mechanisms of transnational cooperation between intelligence services and the challenges they pose to traditional forms of democratic control.
Full reference: Ibrahimsadeh Shen et al., 2022, Timeline of Intelligence Surveillance Scandals, HAL SHS.