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Understanding Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes

Global Surveillance Alliances

Why This Matters for VPN Users

The Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes alliances are international surveillance agreements that can significantly impact your online privacy. These alliances represent formal agreements between member countries to collect and share intelligence data, including internet activity, communications, and metadata.

When choosing a VPN service, understanding these alliances is crucial because:

Legal Jurisdiction

VPN providers based in these countries may be legally required to hand over user data to authorities

Data Retention

Companies operating in these jurisdictions might be forced to maintain logs of user activity

Information Sharing

Data collected in one member country can be shared with other member countries without your knowledge

Server Locations

VPN servers located in these countries may be subject to surveillance and data collection requirements

Each expansion of the alliance (from Five to Nine to Fourteen Eyes) increases the network of surveillance and data sharing, potentially affecting your privacy in different ways. Understanding these alliances helps you make informed decisions about your VPN provider and server locations.

Five Eyes Alliance

The core intelligence-sharing agreement between five nations:

United States

Lead member - NSA

United Kingdom

GCHQ

Canada

CSEC

Australia

ASD

New Zealand

GCSB

Combined Population

464 Million

Data Collection Risk

High

Agreement Age

75+ Years

Privacy Impact Assessment

Data Collection

Extensive monitoring of online activities, communications, and metadata collection

Information Sharing

Comprehensive intelligence sharing between member nations

VPN Implications

VPN servers in these countries may be subject to surveillance

Nine Eyes Alliance

Includes Five Eyes plus:

Denmark

FE

France

DGSE

Netherlands

AIVD

Norway

NIS

Combined Population

590 Million

Data Collection Risk

Very High

Fourteen Eyes Alliance

Includes Nine Eyes plus:

Germany

BND

Belgium

VSSE

Italy

AISE

Spain

CNI

Sweden

FRA

Combined Population

850 Million

Data Collection Risk

Extremely High