Duncan Campbell
 Duncan Campbell    (journalist) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1952 |
| Exposed | ECHELON |
Celebrated investigative journalist. | |
Duncan Campbell is a British freelance investigative journalist, author and television producer. Since 1975 he has specialised in the subjects of intelligence and security services, defence, policing, civil liberties and, latterly, computer forensics. He was a staff writer at the New Statesman from 1978–91 and associate editor (Investigations) from 1988-91. He was prosecuted under the 1911 Official Secrets Act in the ABC trial in 1978 and made the series Secret Society for the BBC in 1987 (see the Zircon affair). In 1988, he revealed the existence of the ECHELON surveillance program.[1]
The Guardian
Duncan Campbell is a freelance writer who worked for The Guardian for more than 20 years, as crime correspondent and Los Angeles correspondent. He previously worked for City Limits, Time Out and LBC. He is the author of two novels, "If It Bleeds", published in 2009, and "The Paradise Trail", (2008) and five non-fiction books, including "The Underworld" and "That Was Business, This Is Personal".[2]
GCHQ
Duncan Campbell has exposed state snooping for nearly 40 years. In 1976, he revealed for the first time the existence of GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) in a piece for Time Out magazine called, "The Eavesdroppers". This led to his arrest in February 1977 with Crispin Aubrey and John Berry, and their being charged under Sections 1 and 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 (Berry was charged with "communicating classified information to unauthorised persons", and Campbell and Aubrey with "unauthorised receipt of classified information").
On 5 September 1978, the resulting ABC Trial opened at the Old Bailey in front of Mr Justice Willis but was stopped two weeks later after the jury foreman was exposed as a former SAS officer. Three weeks after the second trial opened in front of Mr Justice Mars-Jones on 3 October 1978, all Section 1 charges were dropped. On 17 November 1978, Crispin Aubrey, John Berry and Duncan Campbell were found guilty and received non-custodial sentences. The ABC Trial was described by defence witness Ewen Carmichael as "a farcical romp of political stupidity, as prosecution witnesses, testifying anonymously under letters of the alphabet – in particular witness B, Colonel Hugh Johnstone, head of Signals Intelligence – were identified to the public outside the courts, and later by NUJ members at their annual conference." To Crispin Aubrey, the prosecution's attempts at secrecy were "the security services trying to cloak their witnesses in anonymous letters and make the whole affair appear more sinister."
In 1989, Section 2 was amended to make it an offence to divulge information only in relation to six specific categories.
After the trial, Duncan Campbell joined the New Statesman magazine. During his 15 years, he investigated Britain’s secret phone-tapping centres, corruption in GCHQ, secret war time plans to suspend civil liberties, and the top secret global surveillance programme, Echelon. Recently, he has produced reports based on the Snowden files for the Independent, including how the British Embassy in Berlin was being used as a covert listening station.
CryptoFestival
Against a backdrop of surveillance by the NSA and GCHQ and tracking by companies such as Google and Facebook, the "CryptoFestival" explored surveillance culture, and looked at some platforms and projects that are being created with privacy as a principal aim, and offered practical advice on how to protect your data.
The format was a mixture of talks, workshops, and activities. The "CryptoFestival" was free and intended for everyone; no prior technical expertise or knowledge was assumed. Part of the day involved practical aspects, so many brought along their device of choice![3]
Documents by Duncan Campbell
| Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:GCHQ and Me: My Life Unmasking British Eavesdroppers | Article | 3 August 2015 | GCHQ UKUSA SIGINT Edward Snowden ECHELON Robert Hannigan ABC Trial Transparency International Menwith Hill Reiner Braun | No one at the May 2015 conference on intelligence, security and privacy argued against greater openness. Thanks to Edward Snowden and those who courageously came before, the need for public accountability and review has become unassailable. |
| Document:Memo To Prime Minister - Your Merchants of Death Are Cooking The Books | article | 17 October 1980 | Arms deal Margaret Thatcher Millbank Technical Services | |
| Document:Why the secret handshake between police and Freemasons should worry us | Article | 2 January 2018 | Metropolitan Police Freemasonry Brian Paddick | Successive Met Commissioners have tried to end the society’s influence. It is as clear as ever that membership of both bodies is incompatible with public service. |
