10 Ways We Are Being Tracked, Traced, and Databased
Are technological
advances infringing on our right to privacy?
The war on
terror is a worldwide endeavor that has spurred massive investment
into the global surveillance industry – which now seems to be becoming
a war on "liberty and privacy." Given all of the new monitoring
technology being implemented, the uproar over warrantless wiretaps
now seems moot. High-tech, first-world countries are being tracked,
traced, and databased, literally around every corner. Governments,
aided by private companies, are gathering a mountain of information
on average citizens who so far seem willing to trade liberty for
supposed security. Here are just some of the ways the matrix of
data is being collected:
- GPS
– Global positioning chips are now appearing in everything
from U.S.
passports, cell phones, to cars. More common uses include
tracking
employees, and for all forms of private
investigation. Apple recently announced they are collecting
the precise
location of iPhone users via GPS for public viewing in addition
to spying
on users in other ways.
- Internet
– Internet browsers are recording your every move forming
detailed cookies
on your activities. The NSA has
been exposed as having cookies on their site that don't expire
until 2035. Major search engines know where
you surfed last summer, and online purchases are databased,
supposedly for advertising and customer service uses. IP addresses
are collected and even made
public. Controversial websites can be flagged internally
by government sites, as well as re-routing all traffic to
block sites the government wants to censor. It has now been
fully admitted that social networks provide NO privacy to users
while technologies advance for real-time
social network monitoring is already being used. The Cybersecurity
Act attempts to legalize the collection and exploitation of
your personal information. Apple's iPhone
also has browsing data recorded and stored. All of this despite
the overwhelming
opposition to cybersurveillance by citizens.
- RFID
– Forget your credit cards which are meticulously tracked,
or the membership cards for things so insignificant as movie rentals
which require your SSN. Everyone has Costco, CVS, grocery-chain
cards, and a wallet or purse full of many more. RFID "proximity
cards" take tracking to a new level in uses ranging from loyalty
cards, student ID, physical access, and computer network access.
Latest developments include an RFID
powder developed by Hitachi, for which the multitude of uses
are endless – perhaps including tracking hard currency so
we can't even keep cash undetected. (Also see microchips below).
- Traffic
cameras – License plate recognition has been used to
remotely automate duties
of the traffic police in the United States, but have been
proven to have dual use in England such as to
mark activists under the Terrorism Act. Perhaps the most common
use will be to
raise money and shore up budget deficits via traffic violations,
but uses may descend to such "Big Brother" tactics as monitors
telling pedestrians not to litter as talking
cameras already do in the UK.
- Computer
cameras and microphones – The fact that laptops
– contributed by taxpayers – spied
on public school children (at home) is outrageous. Years ago
Google began officially to use computer "audio
fingerprinting" for advertising uses. They have admitted to
working
with the NSA, the premier surveillance network in the world.
Private communications
companies already have been exposed routing communications
to the NSA. Now, keyword tools – typed and spoken –
link to the global security matrix.
- Public
sound surveillance – This technology has come a long
way from only being able to detect gunshots
in public areas, to now listening in to whispers for dangerous
"keywords." This technology has been launched in Europe to "monitor
conversations" to detect "verbal
aggression" in public places. Sound Intelligence is the manufacturer
of technology to analyze speech, and their website touts how it
can
easily be integrated into other systems.
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the rest of the article
July
12, 2010
Copyright
© 2010 Activist Post
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