The Growing Acceptance of Mass Surveillance and the Threat to Privacy

Surveillance for all...

The concept of a “surveillance state” was once reserved for talking about oppressive regimes such as North Korea, China, or Russia. However, these countries no longer hold a monopoly on mass surveillance. Mass government data collection is now becoming a topic of increasing concern in Western societies as well.

In fact, almost all of the countries in the top 10 for the most CCTV cameras are freely elected democracies. The United States is second, just after China. Russia and North Korea don't even make the top 10.

1. China – 200 Million CCTV Cameras
2. United States – 50 Million CCTV Cameras
3. Germany – 5.2 Million CCTV Cameras
4. United Kingdom – 5 Million CCTV Cameras
5. Japan – 5 Million CCTV Cameras
6. Vietnam – 2.6 Million CCTV Cameras
7. France – 1.65 Million CCTV Cameras
8. South Korea – 1 Million+ CCTV Cameras
9. Netherlands – 1 Million CCTV Cameras
10. Australia – 1 Million CCTV Cameras

The evolution of technology, changes in government policies, and shifts in public attitudes are all contributing to the expansion of mass surveillance practices. Even in “the lands of the free”.

This growing trend is sparking debates surrounding privacy, civil liberties, security, and the balance between individual rights and collective safety.

What does “mass surveillance” mean?

Mass surveillance refers to the widespread and systematic collection, monitoring, and analysis of data, often on a large scale, with the aim of tracking and gathering information about individuals or groups. It is often done without the subject's knowledge or consent.

Mass surveillance is usually carried out by government agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States, GCHQ in the United Kingdom, and the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Russia. They may do the dirty work themselves, or engage private security firms, telecommunication companies, or cybersecurity organizations to do it for them.

How is government data collection conducted?

A wide variety of technologies is used to carry out surveillance of the masses. CCTV cameras, sensors, internet monitoring, and data mining, are perhaps the most well-known.

However, some surveillance methods are more underground and involve exploiting vulnerabilities in software and hardware systems. They can involve the use of malware, viruses, or other hacking techniques to gain unauthorized access to data.

These technologies and methods are used to monitor and record the activities, behaviors, and communications of a large number of people. The data collected can be absolutely anything from personal information, online interactions, location data, financial transactions, and other aspects of individuals' lives.

But why? What's the point of mass surveillance?

Mass surveillance serves various purposes, often driven by national security, law enforcement, and intelligence-gathering needs.

Governments engage in mass surveillance to identify and counter potential threats to national security. This can include things like terrorism, espionage, and cyberattacks. Monitoring communications and activities can help uncover patterns that might indicate the planning of criminal or harmful activities.

Law enforcement agencies often use mass surveillance to prevent and investigate various crimes, including organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime. The surveillance data can also be used as evidence to support criminal cases.

Surveillance systems, such as CCTV cameras in public spaces are also said to enhance public safety by deterring criminal behavior and assisting in identifying and responding to incidents.

Mass surveillance is also often used to monitor and control dissent or political activism. The justification for this is also public safety.

The threat of mass surveillance on human rights

If history has taught us anything, it is that unchecked surveillance has the potential to be exploited for political and social control.

The means of surveillance and the sheer extent of it often infringe upon individuals' privacy rights, their civil liberties, and the ability to express themselves freely without fear of retaliation.

When those in power have the ability to monitor and analyze our communications, behaviors, and movements, they possess a potent tool to manipulate and suppress dissent and stifle the voices of those who would challenge the status quo.

It erodes our privacy — our right to be ourselves, to explore our thoughts, and to interact without fear of constant scrutiny.

When a person knows that they are under surveillance, it changes their behavior. Researchers at Oxford University in the UK found that knowledge of government surveillance resulted in self-censorship, and fostered fear and conformity.

The researchers found that since the Edward Snowdon NSA surveillance revelations, people were more inclined to refrain from “acting in ways or saying things that may arouse suspicion”.

Mass surveillance also undermines the right to be viewed as innocent until proven guilty.

Everyone is treated with suspicion, as though every person is a criminal with something to hide.

Examples of mass surveillance across the Western world

Let's not kid ourselves – this isn't just some paranoid “what-if” scenario. Government data collection on a massive scale is happening right now, right under our noses. And it has been ongoing for years.

It's been 10 years since one of the most famous whistleblower cases in history when Edward Snowden revealed the global surveillance programs operated by intelligence agencies in the United States. Despite the investigations that followed and the surveillance being classified as illegal, very little has changed.

The Snowden revelations weren't the first and they certainly won't be the last.

It's now very well known that the US is in cahoots with other countries in surveillance alliances, the so-called Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes.

Even if a country can't legally spy on its own people, it can rely on its allies to do it for them.

However, there are more recent developments and instances of mass surveillance, which are causing concern among privacy and freedom of speech advocates. Here are a handful of examples of government data collection in play or on the horizon.

Proposed laws to allow governments to read your private messages

Both the US and UK governments are in the process of trying to implement laws that would enable them to access everyone's private messages.

The UK's Online Safety Bill and the USA's EARN IT, STOP CSAM, and KOSA, are all presented as a means to protect children from sexual abuse or harmful material.

These proposed laws would hold big tech, social media, and messaging service providers responsible for the content displayed on their platforms.

To avoid fines or legal action, these companies would have to be able to scan private messages.

But that's something that services using end-to-end encryption can't do, at least not without creating a “backdoor” and weakening security. As Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation said in an interview, “There is no way to create a backdoor that only good guys can walk through.”

Privacy experts believe that if these laws are passed, they could lead to mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale.

COVID track and trace

The pandemic was known for its restrictions on populations around the world. But for governments, it was an opportunity to roll out mass surveillance measures with little resistance or scrutiny.

Many of these measures were supposed to be temporary as a means to track and control the spread of infections. But in many places, phone monitoring, contact tracing apps, and facial recognition have continued to be used, and for non-COVID purposes.

For example, the Israeli Security Agency reportedly re-purposed its COVID technology to track and trace people believed to have been involved in civil unrest. While in China, there was evidence that its PCR cell phone apps with traffic light system was used to stop the free movement of dissidents.

Facial recognition at music venues

In the United States, music venues have been using facial recognition to scan audiences as they enter and exit the buildings. Over 100 artists have joined a boycott of any venues using the technology, citing concerns that it is an invasion of privacy disguised as security.

The boycott was initiated by Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group. In an interview with Rolling Stones magazine, a spokesperson for the group stated:

“Surveillance tech companies are pitching biometric data tools as 'innovative' and helpful for increasing efficiency and security. Not only is this false, it's morally corrupt... For starters, this technology is so inaccurate that it actually creates more harm and problems than it solves, through misidentification and other technical faultiness. Even scarier, though, is a world in which all facial recognition technology works 100% perfectly – in other words, a world in which privacy is nonexistent, where we're identified, watched, and surveilled everywhere we go.”

Despite the claims that facial recognition technology is for security purposes, it has already been abused.

Madison Square Garden has reportedly used the technology to identify and remove lawyers whose law firms have ongoing lawsuits against the venues. Even if they aren't personally involved with the lawsuit. This is just one example of how quickly and how easily it is for mass surveillance to be misused.

Supermarket surveillance

In the UK, a popular supermarket chain has also implemented facial recognition to identify potential criminal shoppers. The technology creates biometric profiles of customers upon entry, and staff can add individuals to a "subjects of interest" list and ban them from the store.

This blacklist can be kept for up to two years and shared with other stores within up to a 46-mile radius. This is done via Facewatch, the company providing the surveillance system. Facewatch then adds these watchlists to police websites and to the website of Crimestoppers, a nationwide crime prevention charity.

Privacy rights campaigners, Big Brother Watch, have filed a complaint against the Southern Co-operative chain and Facewatch, citing that the Orwellian-style surveillance is excessive, breaches data rights, and is an invasion of privacy.

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch said:

“The supermarket is adding customers to secret watchlists with no due process, meaning shoppers can be spied on, blacklisted across multiple stores, and denied food shopping despite being entirely innocent.”

As well as the lack of transparency regarding data processing, BBW also raised concerns about racial bias, inaccuracies, and the potential for privatized policing by corporations.

But there is also the added concerns that this surveillance may have national security implications. The Co-op's system uses surveillance cameras from Hikvision, the Chinese state-owned firm, which has already been banned from operating in the US.

You can read more about the problems with facial recognition technology here.

Financial surveillance

In recent years there has been a rapid shift away from traditional forms of payment towards cashless transactions. On the surface, this seems like a good thing. Digital payments with cards or even crypto are more streamlined and convenient.

But as Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch explains, “The problem with cashless society is that it is a surveillance society.”

A cashless society is one that empowers governments and financial institutions to wield a level of control over our economic lives that should give us pause for thought.

Every purchase and every transaction becomes a part of your digital footprint that can be tracked, traced, analyzed, and potentially exploited.

Our daily routines, preferences, and even intimate choices are documented in ways we could not have imagined just a few years ago.

The data generated by our cashless activities can be harnessed to create intricate profiles that predict our behaviors, preferences, and vulnerabilities. Such profiles could then be used for targeted advertising, discrimination, or worse, manipulation.

Fighting back against mass surveillance

Where questioning the reach of government data collection should be seen as an affirmation of a just and accountable society, it has sadly become an act of defiance. Even for governments that claim to protect free speech.

In the UK, the right to peaceful protest is hugely under threat.

In May 2023, Graham Smith, head of an anti-monarchy group, Republic, was arrested just hours before an approved protest of King Charles' coronation.

Smith posted on Twitter after his release,

“Make no mistake. There is no longer a right to peaceful protest in the UK. I have been told many times the monarch is there to defend our freedoms. Now our freedoms are under attack in his name.”

His protest may not have been specifically about surveillance, but they are linked.

If the right to protest disappears, no matter what the government chooses to do with surveillance or anything else for that matter, it will be illegal to stand up and disagree with it.

Conclusion

Surveillance is expanding and our personal data is being sucked up like never before. The rules that were meant to keep our rights intact are constantly being eroded. In fact, governments are re-writing laws and introducing new ones that will give them even more access to our private lives.

If we shrug off these constant invasions into our privacy, our freedoms, and our ability to speak our minds, we're basically letting the very things that hold our societies together crumble bit by bit.

Unchecked mass surveillance and government data collection threaten our foundational democratic freedoms and our civil liberties. It can give excessive power to those using surveillance tools and take power away from individuals.

Of course, it's not just your government that has its eyes on you. Your boss might be too. Check out Is Your Employer Spying on You? The Truth About Bossware