Duncan Campbell (journalist, 1952)

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Campbell gives the opening lecture at the independent security conference DeepSec, Vienna 2015

Duncan Campbell (* 1952 in Glasgow ) is a British investigative journalist . He became known in Great Britain for his revelations of intelligence surveillance systems such as the Echelon program.

Life

New headquarters of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham (since 2003)
Echelon - radome of the former Bad Aibling station in Bavaria

Campbell grew up in Dundee, Scotland and attended the private high school of Dundee . Of science interested, he taught already in his school programming and programmed even in scientific computer languages. After graduating from school, he received a scholarship to Brasenose College in Oxford , where he graduated with a top grade in physics in 1973 . He received his Masters Degree in Operations Research from the University of Sussex .

journalism

After graduating, Campbell became a journalist for the anarcho-socialist newspaper Brighton Voice . He also wrote articles for the New Scientist and Time Out Magazine in London . In 1976 Campbell revealed in a groundbreaking time-out story the existence of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a British telecommunications intelligence agency that was still secret at the time . His co-author, the American Mark Hosenball, was expelled from Great Britain in 1977; his residence permit had expired and was not renewed for national security reasons.

Campbell, however, was now under surveillance by the British domestic intelligence service MI5 . After an interview with John Berry, a former secret service worker, Campbell and his colleague Crispin Aubrey and the interviewee were arrested on February 20, 1977 on the basis of the British secrecy law. However, in the trial, named after the ABC Trials' last names , all three received only minor sentences.

In 1982, Campbell published War Plan UK - the Truth about Civil Defense in Britain , which made the British government's lack of preparation for the possibility of nuclear war a public issue. In a 1988 article in the New Statesman , Campbell exposed the existence of the Echelon surveillance program . In 1999 he wrote a report on Communications Intelligence for the European Parliament .

Between 2005 and 2007 Campbell published criticisms of the government's Operation Ore against child pornography . He uncovered how the strain of data traces on the network against 7,272 British citizens accused of pedophilia was based on falsehood. Campbell's publication relieved those affected, such as Pete Townshend from The Who and Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack, of all allegations.

Prizes and awards

  • 1989: Magazine Publishing Awards: Best Business Feature
  • 1987: What The Papers Say Investigative Journalist of the Year
  • 1987: Freedom of Information Campaign: Media Award
  • 1983: Periodical Publishers' Association: Specialist Writer of the Year
  • 1980: Cobden Trust Award

Others

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Independent , Aug. 7, 1997
  2. ↑ at least that's what it says in the appeal judgment, if this version is authentic here .
  3. ↑ Duncan Campbell: Somebody's Listening. In: New Statesman . August 12, 1988, archived from the original on April 20, 2013 ; Retrieved September 6, 2013 .
  4. ^ Duncan Campbell: Interception Capabilities 2000. In: European Parliament, Directorate General for Research, Directorate A, The STOA Program. April 1999, accessed June 19, 2007 .
  5. ↑ founding document
  6. ↑ Quote from the Stonewall website
personal data
SURNAME Campbell, Duncan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British investigative journalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Glasgow