ECHELON, established during the Cold War by the Five Eyes alliance (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), grew into a global surveillance network capable of intercepting satellite communications, phone calls, faxes, and emails worldwide. Ground stations at Menwith Hill (UK), Pine Gap (Australia), and other facilities used keyword filters to process intercepted data. The European Parliament concluded in 2001 that ECHELON's existence was 'no longer in doubt' after years of government denials.