I Knew The Government Was Watching Us, But I Had No Idea It Was This Bad…

Rapid technological innovations during recent years have empowered governments around the world in their efforts to conduct surveillance. Frequently, technology users today fail to appreciate that their use of some high-tech gadgets sometimes trigger monitoring activities by the NSA and foreign governments.

Some areas of enhanced organizational surveillance capabilities now include: smart phones, personal computers, Internet use, instant messaging and social media activities, telephone communications, innovative automotive technologies, public surveillance cameras, credit cards, license plate readers and even photographic identifications. Although often not conducted in real time, the increased surveillance potentially invades zones of personal privacy. For instance, government agencies currently possess the ability to conduct accurate geographic tracking when smart phone users carry their phones with them. These portable smart devices do not even require active use in order to permit GPS tracking.

The scope of the potential invasion of privacy approaches surreal levels in some instances. For example, the FBI reportedly will soon possess the ability to identify faces in a crowd accurately based on advances in facial recognition technology. Programs will retrieve personal data about individuals of interest. The technology does not necessarily discriminate in obtaining inputs, so activities as varied as posing for a police mug shot or a passport identification photo could furnish facial recognition data in the future. Today, in fact, government entities possess the ability to monitor Internet activity in invasive ways. For example, a hacker may turn on a PC camera without an online user’s consent. These technologies contribute to privacy concerns.

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