Surveillance

Surveillance

(A word not easily defined, in a world where we can no longer say that (anything) cannot happen in the United States)

Many people have the time and resources to attend rallies, post on social networking sites during the day and evening, and spend countless hours trying to persuade other people to support certain political candidates and/or positions on specific issues. All of the above are worthwhile pursuits, but if your liberties are being stripped and you do not even realize how, then all the things you might be doing now will eventually become useless unless you understand surveillance. Do not fall into the trap of believing surveillance in the United States will not be like what surveillance in China, Russia, N. Korea, or Iran is like. Surveillance in the United States is very close, or already at that point.

Be forewarned not to dismiss this author’s paper out of hand. He has testified all across the country before state legislatures. He has met with members of congress who sought out his expertise. He has also met with the counsel for different committees in congress. Finally, he is the person who disclosed that the French company given contracts by nearly every state and the federal government, failed to disclose that the company had made a secret deal with a Russian biometric company to use the Russian company’s algorithms. This was verified by mainstream media, and during a hearing held by a state legislator that was not made public. The IT Director of the state in question acknowledged what the author of this paper alleged was in fact true.

Surveillance has many different meanings depending on who you ask. For some people surveillance means watching a person or group. For others surveillance means watching and listening to someone or some groups of people. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines omnipresent as present in all places at all times. Christians and Jewish people will say God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Merriam-Webster define omnipotent as all powerful. Omniscient is defined as infinite awareness, understanding, and insight. Since neither the author nor reader is God, we will limit our understanding of surveillance to what man is capable of.

There are a few questions we must ask ourselves about surveillance. Is all surveillance bad? Should we know when we are the subject of surveillance? If we are the subject of surveillance should our consent be required? Please do not try and answer these questions until you have finished this relatively short document.

By now most people are aware there are cameras everywhere. There are red light cameras, CCTV cameras, drones with cameras, Amazon ring door bells with cameras, security cameras in retails stores, churches, restaurants, hospitals and on and on. There are satellites in space that can see the details on a car such as license plates. There are planes that are equipped just for the purpose of conducting surveillance. There are Automatic License Plate Reader cameras that can read tens of thousands of license plates in minutes. There are cameras and microphones in street lights called Intelligent Street Lights. Smart cities are being built that link all cameras including the ones in homes and businesses with law enforcement cameras and databases. There are cameras and microphones in our phones, smart televisions, and computers that can be activated without our knowledge or consent.

Is there anyone who does not realize that your smart phone allows for you to be tracked? As your phone connects with cell phone towers and/or WiFi hots spots, the phone is sending geolocation information to anyone who is interested in tracking you. Hopefully this is not something you are just now learning. Let’s try this for something many, if not most people do not know. PDF documents and/or Word documents can contain metadata information. Videos and pictures contain geolocation information.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips are already being implanted in people. In the United States a company offers the chips to employees. There are also RFID tags, RFID chips in passports, credit and debit cards, and also RFID chips in Enhanced Driver’s Licenses. We should know there is RFID dust that can be sprinkled on documents or people to track the documents and/or people.

Additionally, there is a RFID skin patch that is literally sewn onto a person’s skin. Did you know there are invisible RFID tattoos? We should also know that states want RFID chips put in license plates. It is not the purpose of this document to cover all the potential uses or types of RFID technology.

There are many different types of sensors that are being developed. One example is a sensor that a police officer can use that is able to determine if there is alcohol in a passing vehicle. There is infrared technology that allows anyone to determine how many people are in a building. There is keystroke technology that allows for a person to know what is being typed on a computer, and who is doing the typing.

We are not going to cover the capability of surveilling people using 5G technology because 5G deserves its own paper. We are also not going to get into the ability to use smart meters to invade the privacy of people in their own homes. Courts have ruled that smart meters can and/or do invade the privacy of people.

There is no sense in discussing quantum computing. A quantum computer will be able to accomplish tasks in a few minutes that would take the computers of today thousands of years to accomplish. There are excellent articles available that discuss the first person or country that develops a true quantum computer would be able to hack nearly every database in existence today. It is not going to take decades to develop a true quantum computer. Most experts think we are very close now to developing the first true quantum computer.

Surveillance has become such a derogatory term that manufacturers of surveillance tools such as Stingray devices insisted that their clients sign non-disclosure agreements. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies/departments were forbidden to discuss the use of, or the capabilities of Stingray devices. A Stingray device mimics a cell phone tower. The device intercepts what goes to a cell phone tower before sending whatever is intercepted to an actual cell phone tower.

We are only going to look at two other sources of information that are used to learn more about each of us, and in some cases more than we know about ourselves. This is not to say that there is not a lot more that can be said about surveillance, the many invasive technologies that are being used, and some that are in the developmental stage.

Many, if not most people are not aware of what is called the Third Party Doctrine. Without getting into a prolonged description of this doctrine, suffice it to say that the Third Party Doctrine is used by companies to share the information you provide with other companies. Share is not always the best word to use when describing this doctrine. It is far more precise to use the word sell your information to other companies.

In almost all cases your PII (Personal Identifiable Information) is sold to data mining companies. These data mining companies become the holder of everyone’s PII. The data mining companies pay next to nothing for your PII information. The data mining companies then monetize your PII by selling your PII to other companies and government entities. What do you get out of your PII being monetized? You get zip, nada, nothing.

By now, I can only imagine you believe you have read enough about surveillance to last a long time. The problem is we have not covered the linchpin of a surveillance state which is your biometrics. Biometrics is simply defined as measurements of the body. These measurements we are told are unique to each individual. When you breakdown the word biometrics you have bio meaning body, and metrics meaning measurements. Biometrics could be defined to literally mean the number of man.

There are both physical and behavioral biometrics. Examples of behavioral biometrics is your gait – the manner in which, or the way you walk, your signature and voice recognition. There are many examples of physical biometrics that you are probably aware of. For instance, there are fingerprints, iris scans, facial recognition (measures the distances between key characteristics if your face), and DNA. Some of the biometrics you may not be aware of include palm vein recognition, ear lobe recognition, retina recognition, brainwave pattern recognition, and footprint recognition.

It would take hours, or perhaps days to cover all the different biometric recognitions and their uses. Before going on it is strongly suggested that you consider the three “T”s before taking a position on the use of biometrics. The three T’s are as follows: 1) must be able to Trust the technology works as well as advertised 2) must be able to Trust the company that provides the biometric software and hardware 3) must be able to Trust the end user of the use of the biometric software and hardware. In each of the three points made the T is the word Trust. Never forget you cannot just go out and get new biometrics the way you can replace a credit card, debit card, or even get a name change or new social security number.

We will start by saying there is irrefutable evidence that there have been cases of each of the three T’s being violated by some of the largest biometric companies in the world. The technology did not work as advertised by the biometric companies. The companies could not be trusted to make sure your biometrics were safeguarded. The end users of the biometric technology used the technology on people not committing any crimes, and without the knowledge or consent of the people being surveilled.

Before going into why biometrics is the linchpin of a surveillance state there are a few things you need to know. 1) NSPD – 59/ HSPD -24 purpose is as follows: “This directive establishes a framework to ensure that Federal executive departments and agencies (agencies) use mutually compatible methods and procedures in the collection, storage, use, analysis, and sharing of biometric and associated biographic and contextual information of individuals in a lawful and appropriate manner, while respecting their information privacy and other legal rights under United States law.” A) What this means is your biometrics can be shared within agencies and departments of the federal government 2) The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 specifically allows for states to share information in their respective Department of Motor Vehicles databases with the federal government. 3) The Real ID Act 2005 was nothing short of an attempt to collect the facial biometrics of all driver’s in the United States. The high resolution digital facial images/photographs required by the Real ID Act are in accordance with international standards for the purpose of global interoperability. There are currently telecommunication networks in place for your biometrics to be shared with other countries around the world. Our government has entered into agreements that allow for global biometric information sharing.

Biometrics are so important to some in law enforcement and others that between $10 billion and $15 billion has been spent on the Real ID Act by the federal government, and states are spending millions every year to stay Real ID compliant, but not one state is verifying birth certificates of driver’s license applicants as required by Public Law 109-13. Foreign nationals who apply for driver’s licenses are supposed to be vetted by our State Department. The fact is Department of Motor Vehicles databases are being used as biometric repositories. We have Departments of Motor Vehicles and driver’s licenses for two primary reasons. 1) To make sure people know the laws of the road, and are physically capable of being able to drive a vehicle. 2) To establish people that do drive have insurance so if they are at fault in an accident, the passengers of other cars have a way to recoup money for medical expenses, and damage to their vehicles or other property.

If there is one point the 9/11 Commission made after 9/11 it was that the terrorists used fraudulent breeder documents such as counterfeit birth certificates and/or other fraudulent documents to obtain authentic driver’s licenses. The Commission was clear that state government must know a person is who they say they are, and does not have more than one driver’s license in their real name or other names, at any given point in time. Ask yourself why so much is spent on biometrics and so little on verifying birth certificates? The answer is biometrics enhance surveillance, and verifying birth certificates does not enhance surveillance.

It is important to know that biometrics in and of themselves do not identify people. It is only when a person’s biometrics are linked to that person’s biographical information such as a birth certificate that any biometric will actually identify a person. Since we are not verifying birth certificates, you are essentially being reduced to a sequence of numbers/measurements. Once I again, I will reiterate biometrics is the number of man.

Now let’s address exactly why biometrics is so important to surveillance. You can know who owns a car, a house, or a cell phone, but that does not mean the person driving a car, entering a home, or using a phone is the owner of the car, home, or the cell phone account. To know who is driving the car, entering a home, or using a call phone biometrics is needed. You may have several people that you allow to drive your car. Any number of people can be entering your home including family members and close neighbors that you trust, such as when you are in vacation. I have allowed people to use my phone. At times I have given my cell phone to my children when they go out and their phone is not working. I have been out and allowed a stranger to use my phone when it is obvious they are in the middle of an emergency, such as a traffic accident. The examples being provided are by no means all encompassing. There are many other examples that can be provided of why biometrics is the linchpin to a surveillance state.

Another major fairly new aspect of surveillance is artificial intelligence/AI. AI enhances the capability of biometrics. An example is there are companies that are now able to use facial recognition even when a person is wearing a mask.

One last component of surveillance that should concern each of us is predictive analytics. Some refer to predictive analytics as the thought police. Going back over a decade in the United States there was a program named PHI (Project Hostile Intent). The concept was to be able to identify who was a threat before a bad act took place. This program was not well received by advocacy groups and others. Our government had an answer to the objections. A new program was developed that really was a horse of a different color but still a horse – FAST (Future Attribute Screening Technology). This is how our government explained FAST – “Future Attribute Screening Technology Fact Sheet FAST combines cutting-edge behavioral and physiological science with deception detection theory and state-of-the-art sensor technologies. It is designed to be used at checkpoints to help security officers identify individuals for secondary screening.” We are treading on dangerous ground when we believe we know in advance what people are going to do.

One area not covered specifically in this paper is Mobile/Digital ID. Yes, smart phones were mentioned earlier on, but Mobile/Digital ID goes one step further than just having a smart phone. Mobile/Digital ID requires a person to download an application from a government entity. The idea is your identification can become your smart phone rather than a physical identification document such as a driver’s license. Your biometrics, facial recognition is used to tell the government entity you are the person you say you are. The United Nations wants all people to have a Digital ID by 2030 (read U.N. Agenda 2030). As farfetched of a goal as that may seem to be the U.N. is ahead of schedule to meet that goal.

The author of this paper has had the opportunity to speak with both Bill Binney and Kirk Wiebe, formerly with the NSA and both whistleblowers. Our government was so angry with Mr. Binney that they went after him and charged him with crimes for divulging information. The charges were eventually dropped. Binney and Wiebe are patriots who should be respected and appreciated for coming forward and saying our government was committing unconstitutional acts when surveilling U.S. citizens. Both Bill Binney and Kirk Wiebe wrote out statements saying that Mobile/Digital ID is not secure and further commented about their objections to the Real ID Act 2005.

Conclusion – You cannot reconcile a free society and a surveillance state. You may be a Republican, Democrat, or Independent and feel as long as the party or elected official you support is in power then surveillance is alright, because you believe the cameras will be aimed at those of a different political ideology then you have. The problem with this line of thinking is the camera does not know which politicians or what political party you support. The cameras are pointed at everyone.

The Constitutional Alliance is not opposed to biometrics being used at all. What we are opposed to is mandatory biometric enrollment into a global system of identification and financial control. There are times when there is a legitimate reason for using biometrics. There should be probable cause and warrants used to surveil people in public.

One government official said “Privacy no longer means anonymity.” This statement is nonsense. Anonymity is important, especially when in public. You may or may not have supported Ron Paul when he was running for president. It is a fact that Ron Paul supporters at the 2012 Republican National Convention were subjected to Facial Recognition Technology. Whether you supported Ron Paul or not, you should understand the unconstitutionality of using facial recognition to find out who Ron Paul’s supporters were. Facial recognition has been used at protests, concerts and other venues were nobody was breaking any laws.

Not all surveillance is bad. I want to know who is rioting and/or looting. I want to know if a bad actor is entering our country illegally.

One very harmful consequence of mass domestic surveillance is The Chilling Effect. The Chilling Effect in simple terms is the influence surveillance has on what we say, do, and even think knowing we are being watched at all times. Most people will say they would never succumb to the Chilling Effect of mass domestic surveillance. Consciously people may not think they are succumbing, but the fact is studies prove people do succumb to the Chilling Effect subconsciously. Those that control the surveillance will become the people that decide what the norms of society should be as a result of the Chilling Effect.

We ask that you share this paper with everyone you are in contact with, and ask those people to do the same. Sign up for our email updates and newsletter that will start the end of December or the start of the New Year because we will be leaving social networking sites such as FaceBook.

If you are reading this paper, all you need to do is click on the button at the top of this article to sign up for our emails and newsletter. We have already started to speak to people in many states about working with their state leaders to end mass surveillance without a warrant. The Constitutional Alliance has removed the bindings of a non-profit structure to become a business structure that can do what is needed. We have done this because we will be helping state legislators all across the country with legislation that is badly needed. The Constitutional Alliance is comprised of state legislators, state and national groups/organizations, ministries, and private citizens.