# Conspiracy theory about phones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014 "2008-07-19T01:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/1 "2008-07-19T01:58:07Z")
There’s a CT concerning The Government using a program to monitor all of the phones in the country. When it detects certain words it… does something. Records it, alters someone to listen in… something like that. This project had a Name, but I can’t remember what it is. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/2 "2008-07-19T02:02:12Z")
Echelon ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/3 "2008-07-19T02:02:47Z")
[QUOTE=Fubaya] Echelon [/QUOTE] That’s it. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/4 "2008-07-19T02:20:34Z")
Also known as Project Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/5 "2008-07-19T02:30:25Z")
Conspiracy theory is too strong a term IMO. ECHELON DOES exist, and it DOES eavesdrop on telecommunications, and it is an incredibly well kept secret. It is just not as powerful as it was assumed by many (or at least it didn’t used to be, with a few years of Moore’sl Law, and technical advances under its belt who knows ?). From the [EU report](http://www.fas.org/irp/program/process/rapport_echelon_en.pdf) on it: - That a global system for intercepting communications exists, operating by means of cooperation proportionate to their capabilities among the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand under the UKUSA Agreement, is no longer in doubt. It may be assumed, in view of the evidence and the consistent pattern of statements from a very wide range of individuals and organisations, including American sources, that the system or parts of it were, at least for some time, code-named ECHELON. What is important is that its purpose is to intercept private and commercial communications, and not military communications. Analysis has revealed that the technical capabilities of the system are probably not nearly as extensive as some sections of the media had assumed. Nevertheless, it is worrying that many senior Community figures, in particular European Commissioners, who gave evidence to the Temporary Committee, claimed to be unaware of this phenomenon.\* ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/6 "2008-07-19T02:46:20Z")
[QUOTE=griffin1977] Conspiracy theory is too strong a term IMO. ECHELON DOES exist, and it DOES eavesdrop on telecommunications, and it is an incredibly well kept secret. [/QUOTE] Not a very well-kept secret if some schmo can ask its name on a message board and get an answer! 😉 Maybe ‘CT’ was too strong, if it exists. It’s just a handle I used because I read about it in _Everything Is Under Control_. Whether or not it’s real isn’t important to me. It just popped into my head and I couldn’t remember the name. ---
**Author:** ![Ganryu\_Kojiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ganryu\_Kojiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ganryu_Kojiro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/7 "2008-07-19T03:21:05Z")
Just popping in to bring up Cecil’s [article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010720.html) on this very topic. So, yeah, there is an Echelon, evidently, but chances are good that it is overwhelmed by the quantity of communication, if its even being used in that manner. So there is a little more to this than most conspiracy theories, albeit not much to get worked up over. After all, the core of the theory involves phones and the system isn’t likely to have the capabilities to make that attractive. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/8 "2008-07-19T04:05:28Z")
[QUOTE=Ganryu Kojiro] albeit not much to get worked up over. [/QUOTE] Other than violating basic Constitutional rights, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ganryu\_Kojiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ganryu\_Kojiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ganryu_Kojiro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/9 "2008-07-19T04:55:04Z")
[QUOTE=IAmNotSpartacus] Other than violating basic Constitutional rights, anyway. [/QUOTE] Well, yes, there’s that 😉 . What I meant is that the governments actual ability to do the things it wants are limited by the state of the tech (granted, the article was written in 2001, so that could have changed) and manpower. By all means though, be concerned about the presence of the desire. Lord knows I am. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/10 "2008-07-19T05:36:08Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] That’s it. Thank you. [/QUOTE] Actually I think its Carnivore. Echelon was designed to monitor foreign conversations , while Carnivore was for domestic, been a while since I looked at what they wanted to do. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/11 "2008-07-19T05:39:38Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] Actually I think its Carnivore. Echelon was designed to monitor foreign conversations , while Carnivore was for domestic, been a while since I looked at what they wanted to do. [/QUOTE] Echelon was the word I was trying to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/12 "2008-07-19T05:41:57Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Echelon was the word I was trying to remember. [/QUOTE] I was wrong anyways about carnivore, it was retired by the FBI in 05 supposedly. Echelon it is. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/13 "2008-07-19T09:26:17Z")
I’ve used the overwhelming evidence for the existence of Echelon in debates against CT nuts – it’s something for which there’s a real interest to keep it secret, which seems comparatively easy to keep quiet (in contrast to, say, aliens abducting NASA actors and placing them on the moon) and yet, we know basically all about it, and have for quite some time. Naturally, it didn’t work. Also, I’ll sometimes include keywords – bomb, terrorist attack, bin Laden, stuff like that – in my phone calls, and then leave a greeting, on the off chance someone actually has to sift through all that crap; I figure people who have to listen to other people’s private conversations need a smile every now and then, it’s gotta be a damn depressing job. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/14 "2008-07-19T11:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=Half Man Half Wit] Also, I’ll sometimes include keywords – bomb, terrorist attack, bin Laden, stuff like that – in my phone calls, and then leave a greeting, on the off chance someone actually has to sift through all that crap; I figure people who have to listen to other people’s private conversations need a smile every now and then, it’s gotta be a damn depressing job. [/QUOTE] That was **YOU**??? Good to know 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/15 "2008-07-19T12:37:19Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] There’s a CT concerning The Government using a program to monitor all of the phones in the country. When it detects certain words it… does something. Records it, alters someone to listen in… something like that. [/quote] That would be pretty easy to defeat, wouldn’t it? Instead of the word “bomb”, use “orange”; instead of “Bin Laden”, use “Bush”… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/16 "2008-07-20T01:29:00Z")
“Did you know even the stock holders of ‘The Phone Company’ hate the phone company?” – _The President’s Analyst_ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-about-phones/457014/17 "2008-07-21T17:40:45Z")
For a while, the greeting on my answering machine ended with, “and if the Attorney General is listening, your wife wants you to pick up a quart of tequila and a dozen limes on your way home.”