Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping

by Patrick Radden Keefe

How does our government eavesdrop? Whom do they eavesdrop on? And is the interception of communication an effective means of predicting and preventing future attacks? These are some of the questions at the heart of Patrick Radden Keefe’s brilliant new book, Chatter.

In the late 1990s, when Keefe was a graduate student in England, he heard stories about an eavesdropping network led by the United States that spanned the planet. The system, known as Echelon, allowed America and its allies to intercept the private phone calls and e-mails of civilians and governments around the world. Taking the mystery of Echelon as his point of departure, Keefe explores the nature and context of communications interception, drawing together fascinating strands of history, fresh investigative reporting, and riveting, eye-opening anecdotes. The result is a bold and distinctive book, part detective story, part travel-writing, part essay on paranoia and secrecy in a digital age.

Chatter starts out at Menwith Hill, a secret eavesdropping station covered in mysterious, gargantuan golf balls, in England’s Yorkshire moors. From there, the narrative moves quickly to another American spy station hidden in the Australian outback; from the intelligence bureaucracy in Washington to the European Parliament in Brussels; from an abandoned National Security Agency base in the mountains of North Carolina to the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

As Keefe chases down the truth of contemporary surveillance by intelligence agencies, he unearths reams of little-known information and introduces us to a rogue’s gallery of unforgettable characters. We meet a former British eavesdropper who now listens in on the United States Air Force for sport; an intelligence translator who risked prison to reveal an American operation to spy on the United Nations Security Council; a former member of the Senate committee on intelligence who says that oversight is so bad, a lot of senators only sit on the committee for the travel.

Provocative, often funny, and alarming without being alarmist, Chatter is a journey through a bizarre and shadowy world with vast implications for our security as well as our privacy. It is also the debut of a major new voice in nonfiction.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Espionage, Audiobook, Technology, Crime

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of The Snakehead and Chatter. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Slate, New York, and The New York Review of Books. He received the 2014 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, for his story "A Loaded Gun," was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Reporting in 2015 and 2016, and is also the recipient of an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellowship at the New America Foundation and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Reviews

[Christopher Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a bunch of books on spying and intelligence agencies over the years.

Most of their authors allowed themselves the luxury of blurring the line between plainly observable / provable facts and wild flights of fanciful conjecture.

This book is a refreshing change in that and other regards.

Patrick Radden Keefe does an excellent job sketching in both broad and detailed strokes exactly what we do know about agencies like the NSA and their counterparts in the UK, AU and NZ and plainly states what we don't.

I'm also quite pleasantly surprised at how even handed this book is. He coolly presents and evaluates arguments from both the left and the right, and isn't afraid to say so when someone is coming off as self deluded or even a bit wacky.

There is a great deal of fascinating data in this book. If you're at all interested in the intelligence business or the very real effect it has on our right to privacy as a society, this is a must read.

[W.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book about "sigint" (signals intelligence). The first half is a chilling detailing of how telecommunications of all sorts are swept up by numerous listening stations around the world, a central part of a UK-USA agreement (including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand).

The second half begins to wonder if the enormous amount of money spent by the NSA (and others) is worth it, given the tremendous failures of sigint to help prevent terrorist acts (notably September 11th, for example.)

[Ryan Hannay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting aspect of this book is how much the world has changed since it was published 15 years ago. It's a quaint snapshot of a world beginning to really worry about technology and privacy issues right before smartphones and wi-fi connectivity blew up all around the world and caused us to become a million times more vulnerable.

[James Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well written. Insightful. A look into signal intelligence capturing by the Anglo alliance.

[Peter Short · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read and an interesting topic. The book is of course hindered by being written in the mid 2000s published before the iPhone existed. Still relevant despite being post 9/11 and pre Wikileaks.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems as though I'm working my way backwards through Patrick's bibliography. This is a stunning piece of work and knowing that it was his first book just impresses me even more. This was published in 2005, and many of the things that he discusses in regards to the NSA and its surveillance programs, turned out to be irrefutably confirmed through WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden almost a decade later. Reading this book nearly 20 years out and seeing that many of the predictions made by members of the intelligence community that he interviewed in the book has indeed come to pass, and the fact that we are still dealing with the same issues that we were two decades ago, is disheartening, to say the least.

[Miki · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, Radden Keefe writes fantastic narrative nonfiction about Echelon spying on and listening to whomever they want. Unsurprisingly, Canada is involved in this network of spies. Radden Keefe is a master at writing investigative journalism pieces, but I admit that the subject matter isn't all that surprising. Spying on your own citizens to what end? Radden Keefe asks about the NSA's role and how poorly a job they do at the end of the day at the expense of the tax payer (and rightly so), but I just don't care enough about the US or UK to care about this topic overall. Surprise: You're being spied on all the time by the US (and it's allies at Echelon) all the time. But not really a surprise at this point.

I'm still interested in Radden Keefe's other writing though. I really want to read Rogues next!

[Allison]

I'm a PRK completionist, so of course I'm going to read his first book. It's VERY dated -- it's about global surveillance and it was published in 2005 -- but it's dated in ways that are interesting. Definitely not his best work, but still had a lot of fascinating stuff and several people I've interacted with in the last week have been forced to hear fun facts from it, always the mark of a good nonfiction book.

[Jill S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favourite by him but still amazing!

[Joelle Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Keefe's first book, and it's a fair look at the world of global eavesdropping. He doesn't descend into conspiracy theories; he actually writes with the raised eyebrows of skepticism and a hefty dose of irony. I appreciated the questions it provoked, even though it didn't provide answers. This book was written in 2005, and he definitely needs a second edition, updated after the advent of social media, smart phones, Alexa, and universal GPS (as in this book, gps remains mostly under military jurisdiction.)

[Mary Agnes Joens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting and also really frustrating. As Keefe acknowledges at the end of the book, he has mostly managed to identify where the gaps in public knowledge about global eavesdropping by government agencies begins and ends, rather than offering any real answers. He does, however, use this to very effectively make a case that the current hyper-secretive, change-resistant culture of intelligence agencies is ultimately to their own detriment.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The search for Echelon, a fabled system that supposedly sees all, hears all, by a young law student in the UK. This is a look at the NSA and its facilities across the globe, the interactions between NSA and the agencies of other nations. An excellent first book by a promising new investigator.

[Ailith Twinning · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll give this book every possible benefit of the doubt -- because I can't prove what I think might be going on.

Even in that scenario -- it's just a moderately shitty news article writ looong. And that's the best possible case. Just a shitty news article writ long.

This author is an ass.

[Zander · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but very general look at the world's security agencies in a pre-Snowden world. It's kinda an Intelligence1001 course, exploring the rise of technology and the transition away from in-person spying.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a bit lose and with the benefit of hindsight a little off at times.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keefe examines the NSA in approximately 2004/2005, reviewing many of the dilemmas and issues facing SIGINT collection. These issues have become more relevant to public debate since the Snowden leaks of 2013 and the issues concerning FISA collection surrounding the 2016 Presidential elections. Keefe's writing anticipates these events, as well as the public discussions that followed them.

Keefe's work suffers from the same faults as others who examine SIGINT and intelligence. Most importantly, what is the alternative to collecting SIGINT? Should countries, in protecting the privacy of their citizens, abandon SIGINT collection? Perhaps, but writers should confront the risks of reduced opportunities to collect information on threats and of giving adversaries that do not have the same values comparative advantages.

Keefe's work also suffers in highlighting comparisons between SIGINT, HUMINT, IMINT, and open-source research. The problem, which Keefe highlights, is not that one discipline is inherently weaker than the others, but more so that practitioners of different disciplines can become biased towards their own work. This problem is resolved by collection managers and analysts, with broader understandings of the intelligence disciplines, identifying collection requirements, tasking the appropriate discipline, and looking at all sources of information from an unbiased perspective.

Much of the information Keefe appears fascinated by is not, upon further consideration, that fascinating. That the United States and its allies, namely NATO, have SIGINT posts to collect Russian and Chinese signals is not particularly remarkable, nor the simple application of basic physics to collect that information. It is natural for the US to keep facilities, such as Menwith Hill, outside of public discussion in the hopes of giving adversaries, such as Russia, false confidence that they are communicating in secret. Even if Russia is not naive enough to think that its signals are secure, insight can be derived in other ways.

Overall, Chatter lacks an underlying thesis or narrative. Many of the problems Keefe identifies with SIGINT collection are not only inherent in SIGINT, but in any form of research. Analysts and researchers can be overwhelmed with data, be biased towards information they have personally collected, abuse their authorities to collect information, fail to consider other sources of information, etc. Some of these issues, notably the sheer volume of information collected, are magnified with SIGINT collection, but are not insurmountable with discipline and focus.

[SY NA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been going through all of Patrick Radden Keefe's books as I found that I really jive with his writing style. This is one of his earlier works about Chatter, or surveillance, and its mostly about the NSA and its partners, which makes up the 5 eyes: USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada. It goes into a very good history of where SigInt began (during WW2, and by the UK because they're in the midst of the action), and what it has done, and where its headed towards. Given that the book is 15 years old, a lot of the news that was groundbreaking is old by now, and in the post-snowden world, doubtless a lot of the information is out of date.

Its still a good history to the SigInt world, and it asks many questions that those in data science no doubt have as top of mind. When you capture more and more information, what becomes important is "production", or being able to use the data you capture. We see this a lot in the tech world, where the ease of monitoring everything and anything leads to a deluge of data that we drown from, and the real work is being able to tease acitonable useful information from that deluge. Well, the SigInt world is even worse because unlike a controlled set of machines that we log from, they log...the whole world. You're now trying to find the haystack where the proverbial needle is, and then after you find the haystack, you still have to find that needle...

All in all, a very well researched and balanced book. Highly recommended.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Radden Keefe's work. I read Say Nothing and i was blown away by it. It made my best of the year list, i have never ever read something that gripping. After that a mix of his articles with Rogues( Patrick Radden Keefe is a reporter aswell), it has some fantastic stories. Then i listened to his podcast The Wind of Change, HIGHLY recommended! A crazy story about the famous Scorpions song that might be made by the CIA to stop the Cold War. I know it sound ludicrous, but this was such a great podcast. A while back i found Chatter, and i think Noirvember is a perfect time to check it out. I listened to this on audio as i think that is pretty fitting. Chatter is about eavesdropping by agencies. Mostly the Uk and the US and how they help each other finding loopholes. After 9/11 intelligence and its laws changed drastically and i think it has only gotten worse. I get that sometimes they needed to break a few laws, but at what cost in the end? And it looks like these agencies can do what they want, when they want with no serious consequentions. As most is still done is secrecy. Anyway, this is another winner from Keefe.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) and COMINT (Communication Intelligence). On one hand, I see the need and on the other, I have a real concern about privacy and the legality of some of the operations that take place within the intelligence community. It has taken me several years to finish this book, mainly because I would lose interest or get distracted by something in the book and go off on a tangent. I fully expected this to be another "intelligence is evil" type book, but was pleasantly surprised by the author's attempt to keep his own personal bias out and show both sides.

Given the Snowden leaks, this book is somewhat outdated but gives a good background to what is/was called the Echelon Network. I remember when the network first became public and there were some, myself included, who would put suspected keywords into the signature lines of their emails and forum posts in an attempt to overload the system. Looking back that all seems pretty naive now.

[Mboconnor31 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important topic but read like a PHD thesis which made it boring and slow to read. It relays a lot of data about global eavesdropping done by governments, in particular the USA and UK, who often work in tandem as opposed to working with other nations.

However, the structure of the book was lacking, in that you were not sure what would follow or why, which made it hard to absorb and retain, leaving you with a sense of rambling facts without coherent nexus—other than the general topic.

Ultimately, the author ends on an ambiguous note, which made it even less illuminating. He sums it up by asserting what we all know, i.e., that there is a line between privacy and government need to know to protect its citizens; Yet, concludes “I [he] do not know where that line is...do you?”if that doesn’t not beg the question of what is the point of writing a treatise on the topic what does! Oh my!

Nonetheless, I like Patrick Radden Keefe and his overall sensibilities and forgive him as this was his very first book. It gets better from here.

[Marloes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik ben dit boek gaan lezen na het lezen van Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Dit is het eerste boek van Patrick Radden Keefe en ook dit zit erg knap in elkaar, om niet te zeggen briljant. Omdat het uit 2005 stamt, dus ruim vóór de onthullingen van Edward Snowden, is het op bepaalde vlakken natuurlijk niet up to date, maar het is beslist niet gedateerd. De grote lijnen die de auteur schetst zijn erg verhelderend en de conclusies die hij trekt (hoe functioneel is het eigenlijk, het verzamelen van al die signal intelligence? En moeten we het niet eens hebben waar de grens precies ligt tussen veiligheid en privacy?) zijn nog steeds actueel.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written 20 years ago and a LOT has changed with what we know about the Internet and surveillance. It is still hella scary to read about whether or not we should have been worried about privacy considering what's happening in our government today. While a lot of the commentary about the current state of surveillance is out-dated, this is also a history of intelligence operations, and very fascinating to see how things have developed. There's a lot of focus on pre and post 9/11 which makes sense.

After discussing all the ways we use the Internet (in 2005), PRK says " We have an intuitive sense that this medium, which we have internalized to the point where it is almost an organic extension of our thoughts and words, is vulnerable to interception - that someone might be listening." Little did he know the future of the algorithm.

[Erin Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially the stories from history. I think parts of it don't necessarily hold up that well reading it now. The "modern" world of it is over 15 years in the past, and the revelations in the book are kind of common knowledge now. Patrick Radden Keefe is an excellent author, and I find all of his books fascinating, including this one, but there were a few things about the NSA spying that since they predate the Edward Snowden leak are kind of just accepted as normal. I loved all the historical stories and how the countries spying systems are intertwined. Those were really interesting and not usually covered in the media. Probably because we're not supposed to know about them.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Researched beginning in the late 90s and published in 2005, this book primarily suffers from being way outdated. His other older book The Snake Head is also dated, but it's still a great read as it's grounded in an amazing story and has characters. This feels more like a pop-politics book meant to pose questions about surveillance relevant to a now long ago post-9/11 world, and is written by a less confident writer with a more strait laced style than he uses in his later books. I liked the part where he travelled to the old NSA base and some of the history about the US/UK alliance, but the book is kind of boring and he relies heavily on the scholarship of others rather than revelations from his own sources.

[Mandi Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get Smart
Written by Mandi Chestler on January 10th, 2008
Book Rating: 4/5
An eye opening expose on the world of governmental spying, Keefe's writing is well researched and riviting. I particularly liked that he stayed objective and fact-based all the way through the book, and avoided the temptation to succumb to conspiracy theories or breathless speculation--the great temptation when dealing with the topic of espionage and eavesdropping. I feel so much better informed about the warrantless wiretapping issue after "listening in" on this audio book. It's time for us all to get smart about this important issue.

[Siobhan Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize how old this book was when I grabbed it from the library, but as I listened it became very obvious. The book was interesting, but so much has changed since it was published that it is now very dated. I think in 2025, we are all much more familiar with the idea of constant surveillance, and it plays a different role in our lives. Radden Keefe kept talking about the NSA being "little-known" as if now there aren't hundreds of memes about the NSA agents living in our phones. As a historical document and a glimpse into how we looked at surveillance twenty years ago, this was interesting, but as an informative document, it's well past its prime.

[Bruin Mccon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying rehash on how little we learned from 9/11, at least in the years following it. This book is more than a decade past its publish so maybe some things have gotten better. Although not for our privacy, which we’ve given up only to allow intelligence agencies to collect reams of our info making it impossible to find anything of note. I was in DC on 9/11 and this really brought back some of the worst discoveries like ham-fisted attempts to fight terrorism by spying on Americans and encouraging people to narc on their neighbors.

[Dorothy Piper]

This book was written about twenty years ago, at a period when many were questioning the value of having a bloated intelligence surveillance network that never seemed to warrant its existence, its most famous failure being its inability to detect the September 11 attack. Nowadays, even more investigators pry into our lives for, what seems to me, the flimsiest reasons, and the question "Who is watching the watchers?" still begs an answer.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my first introduction to real spy and listening posts and their history. I read it when it was first published and I recommend it highly. The author has done his homework and his writing style is clear and moves along without bogging down in inessentials. This is a history that more Americans (and others) need to know. It's been going on since 1945, at least.