Surveillance Detection Unit Surveillance Detection Units ( SDU ) are organizations belonging to the US Government that have conducted secret surveillance that potentially broke national laws in various European countries . The Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 first publicly reported the existence of the network of SDUs , on 3 November 2010 . Description . In the year 2000 , at least 22 United States ( US ) embassies and consulates around the world operated the US Department of State ' s " worldwide surveillance detection program " , which " [ emphasised ] quasi - covert operations and information gathering . " The SDU operates under the authority of the RSO ( Regional Security Officer ) and stores the collected data in a system called Security Incident Management Analysis System ( SIMAS ) . Norway . Since 2000 , former leaders of the police force of Oslo , the Norwegian Police Security Service , and the National Criminal Investigation Service have been recruited to conduct secret surveillance of Norwegians in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the U . S . Embassy and the residence of the U . S . Ambassador . The unit consists of 15 - 20 people that were based on the sixth floor of the building " Handelsbygningen " at Solli Plass , several hundred metres from the embassy at Henrik Ibsens Gate , until the November 2010 controversy . Its leader , Olaf Johansen , was a former anti - terrorism chief before being recruited for the American unit . Knut Storberget , Norway ' s Minister of Justice , initially claimed the government was unaware of the program and that there would be an investigation , but later presented updated information to the Norwegian parliament after the U . S . Embassy stated that notification had been made . Norway television channel TV 2 claimed that the SDU ' s surveillance of Norwegian citizens was illegal . The head of the Norwegian surveillance agency , " Datatilsynet " , Bjørn Erik Thon , said that the operation was unprecedented , stating " I think it ' s very serious that something like this can be conducted on Norwegian territory and that it ' s Norwegian citizens carrying out the work . " Thon stated that the SDU violated the Norwegian privacy law " Personopplysningsloven " . He said that he was disturbed " that the Norwegians employed by the embassy to , for example , take photos of persons engaging in political demonstrations , apparently have felt they can avoid the law because they were working for a foreign employer . " Parliamentary reactions ranged from " To the degree [ it ' s ] true , it ' s frightening information " from Conservative Party parliamentarian André Oktay Dahl to a " scandal " for Socialist Left Party parliamentarians . Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre took up the surveillance issue with State Secretary Hillary Clinton in a meeting on 7 December . Finland . In late 2010 , the Finnish Security Police ( Supo ) initially stated that it was unaware of an SDU at the US Embassy in Helsinki , Finland . The following week , SUPO stated that it was aware of US Embassy surveillance work , that the surveillance was legal and that it had consulted with the embassy . The US Embassy stated that it does have an SDU unit in operation and that the unit does not carry out espionage . Germany . The German government initially said that it was unaware of the SDU program , but in December confirmed that the groups were providing security for U . S . installations and that some German security experts were part of them . A statement signed by Ole Schröder , Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior , said that such measures were understandable in view of the security threat . Iceland . A US Embassy SDU in Reykjavík , Iceland has been " broadening security surveillance beyond the embassy building and into the immediate surrounding area . " The Icelandic Foreign Office stated that it had found no records of the SDU operations having been discussed with Icelandic authorities . The Vice - Chairperson of the Left - Green Movement parliamentary group , asked for the SDU to be investigated . Sweden . Shortly after the initial report in Norway , the Swedish government confirmed that similar secret surveillance of residents of Stockholm had been sponsored by the U . S . Embassy there , and Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said that the authorities had yet to be adequately informed . She described the situation as " very serious " . The Finnish newspaper " Helsingin Sanomat " referred to 2000 Swedes under surveillance by the US Embassy ' s SDU in Stockholm .