In Europe this agreement is famously known since at least Echelon and Carnivore times, maybe even before that. Has been reported in the newspapers and proven by Snowden documents. Along with the NSA unilaterally breaking the no spying agreement with the UK.
NSA cannot request GCHQ to (illegally) spy on you. If the NSA acquires legal grounds to surveil you, such as through the FISC, they may. Although, given that a US citizen is much more likely to use US based service providers, they would likely work with the FBI to obtain your communications than go overseas. http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/524001r.pdf
> C1.1.4. DoD intelligence components shall not request any person or entity to undertake any activity forbidden by Executive Order 12333 (reference (a)).
Similarly, GCHQ cannot ask NSA to illegally spy on you. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/section/1
> it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to secure that no request for assistance in accordance with the agreement is made on behalf of a person in the United Kingdom to the competent authorities of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom except with lawful authority.
And of course you may assume that such agencies violate these governances, but that would show a lack of understanding of the bureaucratic nature of such agencies.
As of this past year, GCHQ are allowed to spy on whomever they want, wherever they want, however they want (including hacking and the use of malware). This includes British citizens and MPs.
They don't need the NSA for this anymore.
Absolutely, and this is highly problematic. If it was British intelligence hoovering up my info and using it for their own government use I wouldn't see a problem with it. Or rather, I wouldn't see it nearly as much of a problem as an American agency doing it to me.
Them sharing that data with the US is where I have an extreme problem with it. It's an obvious end-around the constitution. This is where US agencies can now use that data to put US citizens under their jurisdiction into prison. That is unacceptable.
I think a lot of my posts last night come off as me defending the NSA/CIA but that support is limited to a very narrow mission. Intelligence gathering on foreign powers.
> Along with the NSA unilaterally breaking the no spying agreement with the UK.
Meh. Those agreements are political grandstanding and nothing else, all participants understand that fact. No one actually believes the US and UK will not spy on each other as much as possible.