ECHELON was an open secret, with EU parliament reports. We knew how the 5 members avoided the legal problems of spying on their own citizens - A just hands B, C, D and E a list of names to spy on.

Here's a report from 2000 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/820758.stm)

Here's a report from 2001 (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/29/qanda.janeperro...)

Risk assessment has always been part of cryptography.