Politicians in Europe are warning computer users to encrypt their e-mails to avoid being spied on by a secret American electronic spy network.

A committee of the European Parliament says the Echelon network reads millions of e-mails and faxes every day.

Members of the committee say Echelon is limited to satellite communications. However, it is used to intercept private and commercial communications, not military information.

Echelon reported to have its own fleet of satellites

• LINK: European Parliament report on Echelon

Echelon is the name given to an international electronic eavesdropping network. It was set up after the Second World War to keep a check on the Soviet Bloc. It was run by the U.S. and its allies.

Since the end of the Cold War, the network is thought to be run by an intelligence organization in the American government with help from the British government.

It also uses many listening posts around the world that tap into communications conducted via wires.

Critics now charge the Americans and British with using the network to glean industrial secrets from other countries.

A report by the parliamentary committee says the U.K. may have contravened the European Human Rights Convention, which guarantees privacy to all individuals.

U.S. government officials have consistently denied Echelon exists.