Do you have a feeling that NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ spied on you? Well, how to confirm this? Using a new tool released by the Privacy International, a British civil liberties group, you can find out.
Earlier this year, Privacy International won a legal battle. Now, if a person requests the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the organization is bound to search for your name through the GCHQ data obtained from the NSA. This request could be made by any person in the world and if the Tribunal finds something related to you, it will let you know for sure.
To make this process easy, Privacy International has devised an online tool named “Did GCHQ Illegally Spy on You?“. There’s just one thing to keep in mind- the request for the search is to be made before December 5, 2015.
All the requests are processed by UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal, that looks for your details like name, IP address, email etc. in GCHQ database. On its website, Privacy International writes: “Join our campaign by entering your details below to find out if GCHQ illegally spied on you, and confirm via the email we send you. We’ll then go to court demanding that they finally come clean on unlawful surveillance.”
It should be noted that the Tribunal will look for your records shared between GCHQ and the NSA prior to December 2014. Another factor that should be kept in mind- it only finds your name if your data has been shared by NASA with GCHQ. Knowing the fact that NSA and GCHQ work closely on surveillance programs and share tons of intelligence, this tool should be helpful to many.
But why are Privacy International doing this?
The organization states: “We think you have a right to know whether you have been caught up in GCHQ and NSA’s illegal intelligence sharing. If you have been, you have a right to demand that data be deleted. Privacy International wants to help you assert your rights.”
What if I don’t want to use the help of Privacy International?
Well, no problem. Don’t use the tool, you can download your own blank formsand follow the Tribunal’s guide on how to file a claim.
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