GCHQ Bude, known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station Morwenstow, abbreviated to GCHQ CSO Morwenstow, is a UK Government satellite ground station and eavesdropping centre located on the north Cornwall coast at Cleave Camp, between the small villages of Morwenstow and Coombe.
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Site of GCHQ Bude is in Morwenstow, the northernmost parish of Cornwall.
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TAT-14 undersea cable landing at GCHQ Bude was identified as one of few assets of "Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources" of the US on foreign territory, in a diplomatic cable leaked to WikiLeaks.
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Grace Hopper is a private undersea cable funded by Google that connects New York with GCHQ Bude, with the location chosen as it was "an ideal, nicely protected beach and adjacent to a lot of the terrestrial infrastructure needed".
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Activities of GCHQ Bude usually remain classified, partly in response to concerns expressed by some European Union member states that Morwenstow is responsible for industrial espionage and the interception of civilian communications, a report by the European Parliament was made public in 2001 that provides some details about the station.
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On 1 June 2007, GCHQ Bude was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
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Up until early 2014, the GCHQ careers website had a page on GCHQ Bude, which said that it employs digital communications experts who play an important role in formulating the United Kingdom Government's response to issues involving national security, military operations and serious crime.
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In June 2013, The Guardian newspaper, using documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, revealed the existence of an operation codenamed Tempora, whereby GCHQ Bude is able to tap into data which flows along undersea cables and then store it for up to 30 days, to assess and analyse it.
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GCHQ Bude was featured extensively in the 3 September 2014 BBC Two Horizon television programme: 'Inside the Dark Web'.
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GCHQ Bude, it was claimed, then have three days to replay the data.
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GCHQ Bude arrived by helicopter and was greeted by the head of GCHQ Bude Station, along with the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Edward Bolitho.
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On 17 May 2016, the satellite dishes at GCHQ Bude Station were lit up in a display of rainbow colours.
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