Mass Surveillance

Mass surveillance is a term used to describe the bulk collection of metadata on a population by a government. Recently, the United State’s use of mass surveillance has been a popular topic among debate, especially since leaks by whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden, and WikiLeaks that accused government agencies such as the NSA for domestic spying beyond levels permitted by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. The exposure of the mass collection of data by the government introduced a new level of paranoia regarding the extent of an individual’s privacy, and the possibility of living in a “Big Brother” type setting, where every person is being watched at all times. Mass surveillance is not only an issue regarding the United State’s government, but also instances where private messages, phone calls, and other forms of communication can be owned and sold by private companies.

In History
Mass surveillance was often used to control communications and aid the enemy. Communist countries and dictatorships often used domestic surveillance to stifle criticism and suppress opposition to the government. These are called surveillance states.

Examples of surveillance states include the former Soviet Union and East Germany, where there was a wide network of spies and informants to relay information about the public to the government. As technology advanced, new ways to gather mass data adapted such as recording telephone traffic, using spy cameras, and analyzing daily communication items such as mail. Usually all of this information was collected secretly.

On the other hand, the United States also used domestic mass surveillance during wartime, and would justify it by expressing the help it has on fighting spies and terrorism. Examples of this would be during both world wars, where every international telegram to or from the United States would be reviewed by the US Military. Along with that, the United States had programs such as Black Chamber and Project SHAMROCK to conduct domestic spying.

Modern Surveillance
Mass Surveillance has drastically changed in the modern era, with new technologies and laws that have made many question the role of mass data collection and how it effects the normal citizen’s privacy. After the September 11th attacks of 2001, the capabilities of mass data collection reached beyond levels ever seen or permitted by the US Constitution. In the United States, national security acts such as the PATRIOT act and PRISM surveillance program have been passed which allow the mass data collection of US Citizens, and have been heavily criticized by the public. Many believe these acts infringe on their rights and breach citizens privacy and anonymity on the internet.

Private information stored on cell phones, the internet, and mass databases have all created a new ease and normality of mass data collection. Modern technology such as database and pattern recognition softwares have made it possible to comb through large data bases to find specific information of interest. This includes monitoring financial transactions, tracking the location of cellphones, telecommunication traffic analysis and other types of data recognitions.