Government Surveillance in the Digital Age Essay - 2365 Words

Government Surveillance in the Digital Age Imagine walking along a busy street in the middle of a sunny day. Also imagine that someone is following you around, videotaping everything you do. Disturbing thought? Even more disturbing is the fact that the United States government is already doing this, and its perfectly legal. According to Robert Trigaux, a reporter for the St. Petersburg times, until August of 2014, in Ybor City, Florida, the Tampa Police Department used fourty-six surveillance cameras that scanned faces of all people walking around the entertainment district. These surveillance cameras captured facial images and then compared them to a police database of known felons. This same surveillance system was also†¦show more content†¦As technology allows for faster forms of communication, the Untied States government is quick to ensure that it can monitor the most popular forms of communication. Telephone calls and Internet communications are the standard medium of expression today, and the methods that may be used to monitor communication through these mediums are very developed. The telephone is a relatively simple technology, so monitoring someones telephone calls is a rather simple task. Mostly, only very large service providers maintain large networks, and so in order to monitor s omeone, the government can easily determine the specifics by contacting only a few companies. However, Internet communication is far more technologically advanced, and it is much more difficult to monitor peoples Internet communications than it is to monitor their telephone conversations. As the Internet is a relatively new creation, there is little centralization, and even finding someone online can be difficult enough. Still, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has software, nicknamed Carnivore, that it can use to monitor all of the Internet activity of a suspected felon, and the suspected felons Internet Service Provider is required to provide the FBI with a physical location through whichShow MoreRelatedSurveillance : The Act Of Surveillance1526 Words   |  7 Pages The act of Surveillance refers to continuous monitoring of activities of a particular area or a person. Mass Surveillance refers to monitoring activities of a sample population or target group. The video monitori ng at malls or stores and the installed CCTV at traffic signals is also an act of mass surveillance. However, such surveillance has become important part of business operation or road safety management due to video recorded proof in case of any crime. 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