I Spy (with My Five Eyes)

It was going in this direction anyway, but 9/11 incredibly accelerated it. Once you got the terrorist attack here, we became very unforgiving in not grabbing communications, and so we accelerated our ability, our — for want of a better word — invasiveness, into communications networks, in which legitimate targets co-existed with legitimately protected communications.

– Former NSA and CIA director General Michael Hayden

In the spirit of respecting privacy while encouraging freedom of speech, our in-video commenting tool doesn’t require login. Instead, we elected to show national flags beside each comment ... We’ve seen some really candid discussions happening from all corners of the world as a result.”

– Adrian Belina from Canadian company Jam3, who designed the interactive elements of the original I SPY website, Creative Planet, 17 November 2016

I think it's an inevitable tension [in] all countries with major intelligence agencies. Most of what goes on doesn't seem to be known and that builds up a culture where the agencies start to believe that that's their right. They see political accountability as a risk.

– Author Nicky Hager

As a result of changes since September 11 2001, the five eyes alliance is now capable of capturing virtually every phone conversation, email, internet search or social media entry in the world.

– Narrator Lucy Lawless

I would love just once, to see some of the best hackers I know go up against a network that I believe if we were being safe in this country shouldn't probably be penetrated, and have them not get in. Just once, just for the event of seeing someone finally secured their network. It's never happened — there's always a way in.

– Former Anonymous hacker Gregg Housh

I wanted the documentary to form a conversation about how the age of surveillance is changing the way our world operates — and to consider where it might be heading.

– Director Justin Pemberton, in an October 2016 press release