Introduction
The Government Communications Headquarters give signals intelligence and information assurance to the British government and military. They have missions and it been around since 1919. There are several locations for this spy agency. They have different departments and units. They have partners in crime. Sum of the staff are criminal.
Definition
It's a organization that collects intelligence on actors (nations, intelligence agencies, organizations, terrorists, etc) and counterintelligence. By doing so, they help keep Great Britain safe. They share the information they gather with the government, MI6 and MI5. It has a director and a corporate board. There's a 4 part structure, which you can read about in the department section.
Departments
Signet Mission: They analysis secret messages, IT, translation, and get signal intelligence.
Enterprise: This is the technology division, biometrics, and they mange supplier relationships.
Corporate Management: This is the bizzness side. They do human resources, audits, etc.
National Cyber Security Center: Help keep computers safe from hacking.
Mission Areas
Counter Terrorism: Protect Great Britain from terrorist attacks and it's allies.
Strategic Advantage: Spying on unfriendly countries.
Cyber Security: Keeping computers safe from hacking.
Support Defense: Protecting and supporting the military.
Serious Crime: Spying on criminals, so police can take them down.
Locations
Doughnut: This is the main building of GCHQ. It was built in 2003 and it costed ova $300 million to build. There are 16 million artifacts located in that building. It has fire and terrorism protection built in it.
London: This is where the National Cyber Security Center is located.
Manchester: Heron House was open in 2019 and it is a very nice looking building. It comes from a collaboration of GCHQ and several universities.
There are more locations but this will suffice.
History
It started out as naval and army intelligence units. They were good @ intercepting German radio transmissions. They intercepted a telegram from Germany to Mexico during WWI. Germany wanted Mexico 2 join their side in war; that was one the the U.S. got involved in the war. In 1919 these units were combined; their job was to to protect British government communication and spy on other countries. They spied on the Soviets during the Cold War. GCHQ helped Britain defeat Argentina during the Falklands War. Most people didn't know they exist until 1982. A politician mentioned them in the parliament. Kathrine Gun exposed that GCHQ was spying on UN delegates to get intel the U.S. could use to bolster support for Gulf War II.
ECHELON
It's a spy operation of the 5 eyes: U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. It was started in the 1960's to spy on the Soviet Union. Then it expanded in 2000. It intercepts phone calls, e-mails, faxes, fiber optics, and satellite communication. It can listen to different electromagnetic waves: radio and microwave. There are various listening stations throughout the world. NSA and CIA were heavily involved in human and drug trafficking in the 1970's. ECHELON was used to spy on members of U.S. congress. A New Zealand journalist wrote a book about this spy program. European bizznesses are also spied on too. U.S. citizens maybe monitored by this system. 2 journalists said this spy operation was used for industrial espionage by the NSA or CIA.
Crimes
Sum of the staff there spied on innocent people. 2 human right organizations were also spied on. Those organizations were in Egypt and South Africa. The GCHQ may have participated in abducting a Libyan couple that was anti-Gaddafi in 2004. They spy on journalists, which is illegal. A former worker tried to kill a U.S. spy that was working there. He also tried 2 kill the man that protected her too. The former worker stabbed agent 99230, because she was working @ GCHQ. He don't like the fact they spy on people and he's mentally ill.
Conclusion
GCHQ does signit and counterintelligence. It has 4 departments and several key missions. It also has various locations. This organization been around a long time. They spy on the world with the help of the NSA, Communications Security Establishment, Australian Signals Directorate, and Government Communications Security Bureau. They have committed several crimes as well.
References
duckduckgo.com
wikipedia.org
https://www.gchq.gov.uk/
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/