The war on terrorism has been going on in the U.S for decades now and what do we have to show for it? We are up to our necks in surveillance while our soldiers die by the thousands. One would think that it will always be, seeing as though we are always finding new ways to keep watch, create more limitations, and maintain a controlled yet subtle grip on civilian life.Its all for our protection of course...Am I the only one who is beginning to feel like the war on terrorism is really a war on us! High tech chips and devices are created today that years ago were only seen in sci-fi movies. Did you know that an individual could actually spend an entire day without interacting with another human being simply because human services are being replaced now by machines??? Is this healthy? What is the purpose of eradicating human physical interaction? Most importantly what's up with all the surveillance???
Some would argue at www.vigilantcitizen.com, "High-tech, first-world countries are being tracked, traced, and databased, literally around every corner". who are we to be studied so closely like lab rats...test subjects. Are we really trying to go as far as too create our own world where we, humanity, will emulate God? It sure seems like a clear cut path to the prophecies of the book A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Hmmm....lets look at some of the ways we are being tracked, traced and databased by a potentially future police state according to www.activepost.com :
GPS — Global positioning chips are now appearing in everything from U.S. passports and 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 National Security Administration 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 Social Security number. 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.
Biometrics — The most popular biometric authentication scheme employed for the last few years has been Iris Recognition. The main applications are entry control, ATMs and government programs. Recently, network companies and governments have utilized biometric authentication including fingerprint analysis, iris recognition, voice recognition, or combinations of these for use in national identification cards.
DNA — Blood from babies has been taken for all people under the age of 38. In England, DNA was sent to secret databases from routine heel prick tests. Several reports have revealed covert Pentagon databases of DNA for “terrorists” and now DNA from all American citizens is databased. Digital DNA is now being used as well to combat hackers.
Microchips — Microsoft’s HealthVault and VeriMed partnership is to create RFID implantable microchips. Microchips for tracking our precious pets is becoming commonplace and serves to condition us to accept putting them in our children in the future. The FDA has already approved this technology for humans and is marketing it as a medical miracle, again for our safety.
Facial recognition — Anonymity in public is over. Admittedly used at President Obama’s campaign events, sporting events, and most recently at the G8/G20 protests in Canada. This technology is also harvesting data from Facebook images and surely will be tied into the street “traffic” cameras.
Well this is all a bit freaky seeing as though some of the devices and networks listed here are things we have made apart of our daily lives I mean our cell phones???? How are we suppose to live without those??? The purpose of this article is not make one fearful but to make one informed which is very contrary to the popular cliche that 'ignorance is bliss'. Ignorance is ignorance! Being informed always gives you the edge in a world that is constantly changing and is an advantage for any citizen. One could choose to be afraid or one could choose to be smart! The latter is obviously a better choice!
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