CSE still operating embassy collection sites

An excerpt from an NSA document published as part of Der Spiegel's coverage of NSA spying on Germany confirms that CSE is still operating covert SIGINT collection sites in Canadian diplomatic facilities ("Der unheimliche Freund," Der Spiegel, 44/2013).

According to the document, such sites are codenamed STATEROOM by the Five Eyes agencies.

The document states that

SIGINT agencies hosting such sites include SCS (at U.S. Diplomatic facilities), Government Communications headquarters or GCHQ (at British diplomatic facilities), Communication [sic] Security Establishments [sic] or CSE (at Canadian diplomatic facilities), and Defense Signals Directorate or DSD (at Australian diplomatic facilities). These sites are small in size and in number of personnel staffing them. They are covert, and their true mission is not known by the majority of the diplomatic staff at the facility where they are assigned.

As I noted here, according to Mike Frost, Canada established a number of permanent embassy collection sites beginning in the early 1980s. (Frost's book also reported that an earlier collection site was operated briefly in the Canadian embassy in Moscow during the early 1970s.)

[Update 29 October 2013: Colin Freeze, "Canada involved in U.S. spying efforts abroad, leaked document says," Globe and Mail, 29 October 2013]

[Second update 29 October 2013: Jim Bronskill, "Canada Using Embassies For Spying Purposes Abroad: Der Spiegel," Canadian Press, 29 October 2013]

[Third update 29 October 2013: Pour mes lecteurs français : Jim Bronskill, « Le CSTC se sert des ambassades pour espionner, selon Der Spiegel », La Presse, 29 octobre 2013]

[Update 30 October 2013:
Lauren Strapagiel, "Canadian embassies in U.S.-led spying efforts: Der Spiegel documents," Canada.com, 29 October 2013
Nicolas Bérubé, « Des espions cloîtrés dans les ambassades canadiennes », La Presse, 30 octobre 2013]

[Update 31 October 2013: Sun News joins the party with more nonsense from a retired CSIS officer. Daniel Proussalidis, "Canada's embassies use special communications equipment," Toronto Sun, 30 October 2013. I hope CSIS is suitably embarrassed, because if people get the idea that the government pays for this kind of analysis? I mean, damn.]