Optimism for Institutionalized Surveillance
An addendum to my prior post regarding Civilian Information Networks as Weapons and Intelligence should duly include a reference to additional evidence of Iran’s leverage of information networks against its citizens. In commenting upon the potentially-positive aspects of mass surveillance, Sherri Davidoff, an independent security consultant, has this to say:
Here’s an e-affirmative action proposal: For every intelligence agent that has access to mass surveillance data, one academic researcher should have access to the same information. And report on it.
- Thinking Positive about Mass Surveillance
at PhiloSecurity.org
On the right track, though I have an alternate proposal:
Access to all information obtained by surveillance of citizens should be made available to all citizens.
Arguably the most necessary aspect of this proposal would lie in constant 24/7/365 surveillance of government personnel (particularly leadership) being made available – free of charge – through as many mediums as possible.
While services like the Federal Register make the proceedings of agency meetings publicly available, there is no reason that the leaders of the free world should have any occasion to speak “off the record”.
Every citizen in this country is (or has recently been) subject to illegal wiretapping at the hands of its government, video surveillance conducted by private corporations in public places, and Internet traffic monitoring or filtering instituted by both government and private enterprise. If the privacy of ordinary citizens must “necessarily” (and opportunistically) be invaded at every opportunity, so too must the privacy of the nation’s leaders.
There are many undeniable bulwarks which must be overcome to cajole a society into accepting the notion of eliminating privacy and being monitored by anyone at any time, however, the potential for asymmetric leverage which exists insofar as citizens are unaware of intrusions, leaders are unafraid of reproach, and corporations may freely trade in secrets represents the greatest bulwark to our progress as a society and as a species.
In other news, the NSA is building a new datacenter in Utah – guess what that will be used for…