This is a fascinating revelation, the European equivalent of the Five Eyes.
The author, by the way, is a Dutch professor of Security, Privacy and Identity at the Radboud University (Nijmegen). His website is here:
http://www.cs.ru.nl/~bart/
Echelon was only finally and definitively unmasked with the publication of the European Parliament report in 2001. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP/... (Prior to that, the general public would certainly consider you a nutjob for discussing it.)
This is effectively real world history, not the crap you garner from mass media or would-have-you-believe books. Another great classic: the conspicuously missing history of SWIFT, with its own EU parliament discussions.
PS. Aussies, Maximator is AUD$100/slab (12x500mL) @ https://www.purvisbeer.com.au/ + AUD$15 shipping (free pickup Melbourne)
The author, by the way, is a Dutch professor of Security, Privacy and Identity at the Radboud University (Nijmegen). His website is here: http://www.cs.ru.nl/~bart/