Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are not just whistleblowers in the global war to protect data and information, they are catalysts which are forcing many nations to look at the United States differently as the undisputed nexus for communication command and control. And no longer is Washington considered a benefactor to global security as they were seen as during the tumultuous Cold War years, but instead with the revelations that the U.S. is data mining everyone’s global communications, including those of world leaders, the rush to isolate America and find new ways of direct data transit between nations is underway.
On Feb. 25, Brazil announced a new $250 million project to install communication lines directly to Europe which would bypass the U.S. and the world’s primary information super highway, and instead create their own channel that would act as a firewall against NSA and other agency spying mechanisms.
New European data-link would leave Washington out of the loop.
Brazilian Communications Minister Andre Figueirdo announced plans to develop a submarine cable linking Brazil directly with Europe, as part of the nation’s attempts to counter US electronic espionage. The project is estimated to cost some $250 million.
Google and Facebook, however, may be willing to help defray the expense. The two multinational giants are among dozens of companies who have expressed interest in using cable for secure transmission, signaling that the bulk data collection of Washington’s surveillance community is now too great a nuisance for global users to ignore.
The cable, expected to be operational in late 2017, “will be funded by the commercialization of its traffic,” declared Figueiredo in a Tuesday interview at the Mobile World Congress convention in Barcelona. He went on to say that the state-owned Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras, known colloquially as Telebras, “is already marketing the cable to the European Union and major multinational corporations.” - Sputnik News
Ironically, today’s announcement by Brazil is occurring at the same time U.S. law enforcement agencies attempt to force Apple into providing a back door into secured phones so that they can use this tool anytime they see fit to access people’s data and information.
As most of world rushes towards an environment of free trade and national sovereignty, and away from coalition hegemony like those found in the European Union and U.S. empire, respect over one’s own data and communications is a cornerstone to this movement. And the more that Washington continues to act upon the belief that they have the right to monitor and control everyone’s information, the more country’s like Brazil will seek the alternative of isolation, and attempt to simply bypass the U.S. as one would a leper or troll under a bridge.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Examiner.com, Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
