ECHELON - a highly secretive world-wide signals intelligence and analysis network

ECHELON is a name used to describe a highly secretive world-wide signals intelligence and analysis network run by the UKUSA Community (otherwise described as the "Anglo-Saxon alliance") that has been reported by a number of sources including, in 2001, a committee of the European Parliament (EP report^[1]). According to some sources ECHELON can capture radio and satellite communications, telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and other data streams nearly anywhere in the world and includes computer automated analysis and sorting of intercepts.

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/46776/
Echelon_The_Most_Secret_Spy_System_130M.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON