Monday, December 2, 2019

Government Surveillance by Chloe Yates

             The government has control over most things in America. It regulates almost everything in order to make sure its citizens are safe and properly supported. But what if they are attempting to control too much? Unbeknownst to most, the US government has been trying their hand at internet surveillance since as early as 1998, and it appears as if they have not stopped (Staff). From internet history tracking, to FBI agents monitoring your every move, where should the line be drawn? The government may have access to all civilian computer files, smart gadget cameras, and even home security systems with the people being none the wiser. The NSA (National Security Association) is said to have access to the members of Congress’ personal information, so what is stopping them from tapping the average citizen’s laptop or smartphone (“Conspiracy...”)? The FBI may be monitoring every place you go, question you type into a search engine, or every move you make, right under your nose.
The U.S. government is sometimes accused of partaking in the underhanded. Sometimes the men and women that voters put into positions of power are not always who they claim to be and do not have the peoples’ best interests at heart. This is the reality of almost any government organization and most of the world is forced to deal with this fact. For decades, the inhabitants of America have had to endure the consequences of many political mistakes made by misguided presidents, selfish representatives, and biased judges. With each passing election, the layers of the republican foundation are being peeled back to reveal the underlying corruption and struggle for power that is taking place in Washington D.C. Although the government can seem like an unforgiving force that does not care about the individual needs or desires of the people, it looks as if they might care more than one would think. For years, with the United States’ constant innovations in commerce, economics, and technology, there have been major changes to the scale of which the national government is involved in a normal citizen’s life.
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The FBI, NSA, and CIA are all in charge of the safety, domestic surveillance, and international surveillance of the United States of America (“What is the FBI?”). They conduct investigations appointed specifically to them, while also having the power to weigh in on any case in any jurisdiction of the country (1). Along with this, foreign affairs and threats also fall under their area of expertise (2). All three branches of national security are involved in highly classified intelligence operations and have more recently chosen to share even less about their affairs with the public (3).  With this much authority, it is not too far-fetched to assume that they are overly involved in the lives of the country’s citizens as well. Each organization has its own form of unethical “spying”, but the government as a whole is to be blamed for this atrocious act.
Unfortunately, the secret gathering of private information is not a new development. The NSA first introduced the concept of mass data collection under the presidency of George W. Bush (“How”…). In the midst of the 9/11 tragedy, President Bush issued a top-secret surveillance program, now known as the “Terrorist Surveillance Program,” to intercept any communications between around five to ten thousand suspicious U.S. citizens and Al Qaeda (1). The details of this were kept extremely private until incriminating evidence started being released by unnamed government employees (2). Although the government later reassured the nation’s people that it was all done under the guise of national security, the privacy of millions of unknowing citizens had been violated (3). With this incident, the government’s surveillance of the private lives of Americans officially began.
Since then, the NSA has implemented even more “foreign information collection” programs that incidentally drag almost every American with an electronic device into the crossfire (Adler-Bell et al). The official function of these programs is to target any communication involving the subject of their choice (1). This means that any mention of said subject made by an unsuspecting citizen, whether deliberate or accidental, will be obtained by national security to use for whatever they wish (2). These programs, formally known as PRISM and Upstream, give the government even more control over everyday life than they already possess (3). The NSA has been recently accused of having used this technological advantage to tap into the information shared and intercepted by major companies such as YouTube, Google, and Apple, and many more (4). This could only mean that with all of the data gathered from those service providers, goes the records of the customers as well (5). The concern from the people did not go unheard, as several lawsuits followed the implementation of these programs (6). This is what provided the citizens with the 2015 USA Freedom Act, which was intended to put an end to all outright data mining done by the NSA (7). Although it did diminish any overt collection of information, there is still much unrestricted territory the government has taken advantage of without public knowledge (8). Without the eyes of the nation upon them, they are allowed even more room for deceit and invasiveness. Even government officials have become suspicious of their electronics but refuse to admit why. For example, the former director of the FBI, James Comey, was constantly berated with questions about why he kept all of the cameras on his personal devices covered, to which he responded, “It’s not crazy that the FBI director cares about personal security as well, so I think people ought to take responsibility for their own safety and security” (Hattem). This response seems to be an attempt to divert the attention away from the real question at hand: Has the government lost its seemingly unrelenting grip over its own organizations? With each security scandal that makes its way to the press, it seems as if this might be the case.
In the end, the government holds the upper hand when it comes to unauthorized data collection. Not only do they have infinite resources at their disposal, but they also have secrecy on their side. It is much easier for the people in power to hide their corrupt behavior, despite almost constant public scrutiny. The issue with this is clear, as the people should not have to sit back and watch as the government takes over their lives one tapped camera at a time. The support of the unauthorized surveillance theory has grown in passing years. According to a survey done about America’s distrust in its leadership in 2003, only one-third of all the respondents considered themselves to be “government skeptics” (An Abiding Suspicion…). When the survey was redone in 2015, the proportion had increased to 49% (1). The national security branches continuously try to stamp this suspicion out with rushed privacy propositions and empty promises. At what lengths will they go to put an end to this spreading wildfire of doubt in the national government?


There are a number of ways that the FBI could be tracking your every move, but only a few have solid evidence behind them. Vehicle tracking is one of these few. Almost everyone knows that the government has technology for tracking run-away felons, suspicious characters, or those trying to escape the country, but it seems they might have decided to use those devices on the general public, instead. This concern has never been very prevalent or talked about amongst American media until a recent incident concerning Arab-American college student, Yasir Afifi, came to light (Zetter). After finding a secret GPS tracking device attached to his car, Afifi immediately took to the internet in his confusion (1). Initially he was not sure of the actual owner or purpose of this device, but his curiosity quickly dissipated when FBI agents and police officers arrived at his doorstep and ordered him return it to them (1). The agents became forceful with him when he questioned their visit, saying, “We’re going to make this much more difficult for you if you don’t cooperate” (1).  The U.S.-born student complied but also mentioned that he had done nothing to warrant government surveillance (1). Naturally, speculation around the reason for the unauthorized tracking arose, the most popular guess being that Yasir Afifi was being investigated for terrorism (1). The situation died out fairly quickly though, as it was never formally acknowledged by the FBI (1). The second conspiracy around government surveillance involves the monitoring of something more personal: internet search history. This issue was also fairly small until the integration of the ‘PRISM’ program in 2013 (Strickland and Kiger). The program was kept under wraps by the NSA until a former employee of the organization, Edward Snowden, revealed the true extent of the government’s surveilling power (1). He went to the press with information about ‘PRISM’, the program made to intercept online communications (2). When asked about his reasoning for blowing the whistle on these secret operations despite facing severe consequences, he replied, “I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building” (Greenwald). Snowden went on to release several top-secret materials about ‘PRISM’, including the extensive reach of its oversight (1). This program gives the NSA direct access to numerous influential internet service providers, and by extension, the information of their costumers (Strickland and Kiger). Further investigation into the reaches of this program also revealed a secret collection of over 180 million records from communication links between data centers done by the government (1). Although it is technically legal for the government to obtain information shared internationally, civilian information is caught in the crossfire (2). Most government organizations, such as the FBI, NSA, and CIA, collect and monitor internet search history under the guise of investigating suspicious activity, but the public can never know for sure (3). 


The final and possibly most controversial theory is the alleged web camera tapping done by the FBI and NSA. Along with the information about the ‘PRISM’ program, Edward Snowden also revealed the existence of another NSA program called ‘Optic Nerves’ (Curran). This operation collected all webcam images taken every five minutes from the video chats of Yahoo users (1). The NSA had the ability to store these for later use or use them for any other purpose that they wanted (2).  On many other occasions, the FBI has also been suspected of phone and laptop camera surveillance. James Atkins, a government consultant specializes in surveillance, released a statement on the rumors of FBI device tapping: "They can be remotely accessed and made to transmit room audio all the time," he said, "You can do that without having physical access to the phone” (McCullagh). It has also been revealed that the government organization has found ways to discreetly tap into a computer’s camera without turning on the user’s camera light that indicates recording (“Should You...”). Though this method is usually used in terrorism cases or other major criminal investigations, it is still very unsettling to the average citizen to know that the government wields that kind of power (1). Along with the access to major internet service providers, the NSA can also tap into the apps that they provide (“Are Your...”). When a phone user allows an application to access their camera, photos, live-streams, and uploading function, that is basically giving them the ability to do this at any time, even when the app is not being utilized (1). This indirectly provides the government with a door right into the private lives of the American public.
These three conspiracy theories pose a convincing argument against the government in cases of unauthorized surveillance. With actual proof of government organizations tracking vehicles with no warning given to the citizen, this is just confirmation of the undercover monitoring that the government partakes in. In fact, 81% of those polled on Instagram agree with this theory. Along with this, there is condemning evidence coming straight from former government officials regarding internet search and web camera tracking. It seems that many Internet users agree with this conspiracy as well. 98% of those polled on Instagram believe that the government can monitor their search history, and 77% believe that their webcams can be or have been tapped. These survey numbers indicate a rise in support of the conspiracy on whether or not the U.S. government can access information without the knowledge of its citizens.
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             The government has been suspected on several occasions of tracking the cars, internet histories, and web cameras of millions of American citizens. It seems that the more technologically advanced the country becomes, the less privacy the general public has. All three conspiracies made in favor of government surveillance have been proven true in the years since 1998, the supposed beginning of government agency spying (Staff). The FBI vehicle tracking theory, though fairly sparse in evidence, is still a very relevant concern amongst individuals in the United States. The second theory, internet search history tracking, has also been revealed as a common practice in government institutions, specifically the FBI, CIA, and the NSA. As for government webcam tapping, all owners of electronic devices should use caution while downloading applications and using their cameras, as you will never know who may be watching. All the slowly building evidence against the government in the case of this electronic surveillance epidemic provides a need for concern in the general public of America.












  
Works Cited
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What Is the FBI?” FBI, FBI, 7 May 2016, https://www.fbi.gov/about/faqs/what-is-the-fbi.
Zetter, Kim. “Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back.” Wired, Conde Nast,
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