Things are not looking pretty for the land of the free.
The year 2014 has made it very clear that privacy is under threat, and the situation is not likely to improve. Mass surveillance – which became a national issue via the Edward Snowden leaks – is not subsiding or under reform; instead, is becoming more bold and complex with each passing day.
It would take several books to catalog the myriad ways in which the rights of The People have been casually infringed by various levels of government just in years since 9/11 and the introduction of the PATRIOT Act.
And it’s not only are federal agencies like the NSA, Homeland Security and the FBI that are taking liberties with our… umm… liberties; it is local police, too. The rise of technology is rapidly fueling these agencies with data and ‘intelligence’ with very little oversight and even less pause for reflection to use these powerful abilities wisely and yes, judiciously.
Here are just a few major areas where privacy is losing badly to surveillance technology in 2014. Not that anyone is paying attention, but they are worth reflecting upon soon – hopefully before it is too late to turn thing back around:
‘ 1. Militarized Police and Weapons of War on American Streets: True, this technology has been in use for several years now and has been demonstrated at protests such as the those held outside of the G20 in Pittsburgh and, Toronto and other locales.
But the events in Ferguson really allowed this brand of crowd control to come of age. This and other key protests have seemingly justified a massive police response for just about anything now… but… you know, the first amendment is still respected and all.
This post was published at shtfplan on December 31st, 2014.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments