14 DAY TRIAL // When the string of revelations about NSA spying started pouring out, there wasn't much outcry internationally. Some grandstanding politicians, with a bone to pick with the US, made all sorts of speeches, but nothing really happened.
Nothing happened when more and more revelations about the NSA spying on its allies in Europe were revealed either.
One of the suggestions for why this was happening was that Europeans were engaging in the same type of spying that the NSA was, though at a much smaller scale. So they couldn't make too much of a fuss about it, fearing that it may come back to bite them later.
It turns out that the suspicion was dead on, European spy agencies have been benefiting from a partnership with the British GCHQ, which works very closely and shares a lot of data and techniques with the NSA.
According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and revealed by the Guardian, the GCHQ provided the knowhow on how to spy on internet communications, in return of cooperation from the other spy agencies. The spies grew closer and closer united by a common goal, to get as much data on their citizens as possible.
The documents show that the GCHQ was aware and sometimes even in awe of the spying capabilities of some of its European counterparts. The German spy apparatus was particularly well put together it seems.
The French weren't far behind either, in fact, the GCHQ developed a great collaboration with the French General Directorate for External Security (DGSE). The British spies were most keep on benefiting from a great relationship the DGSE had with an unnamed telecommunications company, which voluntarily handed out data to the spies.
It doesn't stop there, the GCHQ has been developing ties with the Spanish spies, along with the Swedish and the Dutch.