Dictionary tower

Overview

The term "Dictionary Tower" is used to describe a building containing sophisticated equipment specifically designed to analyse or 'listen into' various forms of communication media such as telephone calls, emails and possibly even internet activity.

An example of the kind of function a dictionary tower is designed to perform is to analyse millions of phone calls simultaneously. It essentially listens for certain key words during a telephone conversation such as "bomb" or "kill" for example. If a keyword is detected it immediately triggers a process of recording that particular phone call and then attempts to trace the origin of where the call was made.

It is thought that most first world countries utilise Dictionary Towers and other sophisticted monitoring facilties.


The Infamous British Capenhurst Tower Incident

The British Government suffered huge embarrassment when the Republic of Ireland discovered it was using a dictionary tower to illegally spy on phone calls originating from Ireland into the UK. For more information follow this link ---> Capenhurst which refers to the infamous Capenhurst Tower!

Use of Dictionary Towers and Eaves Dropping Equipment

The use and legality of Dictionary Towers continues to cause great controversy and many civil liberties organisations feel that they are an unacceptable infringement on human rights and privacy.

But many governments argue that dictionary towers are essential in the fight against terrorism and that by covertly analysing communication networks a great deal of intelligence can be gained about any potential attacks or plots targeted at a certain country or group of people.
Links
* http://www.lamont.me.uk/capenhurst/
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret4.htm
 
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