21st Century Debates - Surveillance: The Impact on Our Lives 0739831747, 0739831720, 9780739831724

Citation preview

MCT

OIXI

O >?

;#

#

^»|*.^>':#\,.

11

m ^4

kAi^-'«^JVr

;?*

;-..^

LETT ^^S^g^SS^SS

i^

I

GEO 3 03905 8687^ \j^)'c^

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2011

http://www.archive.org/details/surveillanceOOscar

eisT

CEIMTURY

DEBATES

SURVEILLANCE THE

IIVIPACT DIM

OUR LIVES

SCARLETT IVIccGWIRE

^•^xi

RAINTREE

l^fl STECKAAUGHN

ES3 PUBLISHERS A Harcourt Company Austin

New York

www.steck-vaughn.com

21st Century Debates Series Climate Change

Energy

Genetics

Internet

Media

Rain Forests

Surveillance

Waste and Recycling

©

text, Steck- Vaughn

Copyright 2001,

All rights reserved.

No

part o{ this

Company

book may be reproduced

or utilized in any

form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without

permission in writing from the Publisher. Inquiries should be addressed

to:

Copyright Permissions, Steck- Vaughn Company, P.O. Box 26015, Austin,

TX

78755.

Published by Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers,

an imprint of Steck-Vaughn Company Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MccGwire,

Scarlett.

Surveillance: the impact

cm.

p.

—

on our

lives

Scarlett

/

MccGwire.

(21st century debates)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-7398-3174-7 Surveillance

1.

[1. I.

Title.

Printed in 1

2

3

—

^Juvenile literature.

Surveillance.]

Bound

Italy.

4 5 6

Series.

II.

7

8 9

in the

United

States.

04 03 02 01 00

Picture acknowledgments: AFP/Corbis 11; Barclays 46; Bettmann/Corbis 10, 19;

Boots

Company

(Digital Art), 15

33

pic 47; Cellnet 37; Corbis 5, 9

(The Purcell Team), 12

(Tim Wright), 27 (Steve Raymer), 28 (Roger Ressmeyer),

(Amos Nachoum), 36 (Kelly-Mooney Photography), 45

56 (Kit Kittle); Mary Evans Picture Library 13, 52, 53;

The Ronald Grant Archive

USMC/Reuters/Popperfoto

6;

News

4;

8, 34,

(Peter Tumley),

Genesis Space Photo Library 40; HO/Official

International Syndication/Times

Newspapers Ltd. 38 (Andy Watts); Norbain pic 30, 35; Panos Pictures 29 (Jeremy Homer); Popperfoto 18, 41; Popperfoto/Reuters 48; Quadrant Picture Library 58; Racal 44; Reuters

Newsmedia Inc/Corbis

42;

Reuters/Popperfoto 16; Science Photo Library 21 (James King-Holmes), 32 (Victor de Schwanberg), 51 (U.S. Geological Survey);

(Kevin R. Morris), 23 (David

Joel),

Tony Stone Images

31 (Alan Thornton), 49 (Bob Schatz), 54 (Doug Armand), 55

(Dan

Bosler),

59 (Don Spiro).

Cover: foreground picture shows a U.S. Airforce Lockheed spy plane

(Quadrant Picture Library); background picture shows a colored radar satellite

image of farmland used

(NASA/Science Photo

for

17

24 (Roger Tully), 26 (Jim Krantz),

mechanized agriculture

in the

Library).

ui Wlen County PutJ^c

7

Webster Street

900 PO Box 2270

^^^^^

FortWnvne,lN^^S^^"^^

'

Ukraine

CDIMTEIXITS The Development

of Surveillance

Government Surveillance

4

;

9

Police Surveillance

28

Corporate Surveillance

46

Protecting the Citizen

57

Glossary

60

Books to Read

61

Useful Addresses

62

Index

63

—

THE DEVELOPIVIEIMT OF SURVEILLAIMCE High-Tech Watching A Goad or Bad Thing? Surveillance

FACT until

German pnlice employed half a

the monitoring and documenting

of various aspects of people's lives to find out

the end of the Cold War, the East

Up

is

milllan

secret informers,

ia,DDD of whom were needed just to listen to and transcribe citizens' phone calls.

when

rules are being

obeyed or broken.

has been

It

with us for centuries. Governments have always

employed spies to keep an eye on their enemies and sometimes even on their allies. The police have had people tailed (followed), and they have paid informers to tip

them

off

about crimes that are

being planned. Today, surveillance

carried out in

is

person, or by using photographic, video, or audio

techniques.

New

technology makes the tracking of

far easier than computer technology

people

it

used to be. Businesses use

to gain useful information

about their customers, remote-control cameras An

American magazine from

shows a private eye

tailing

the

1

930s

a suspect.

watch

us as

we walk down

the street, and our

telephone conversations and e-mails can be monitored. In the United States, e-mails are subject to intelligence scanning for key words at a rate of

When

two million per hour.

emperors, kings and queens, czars, or

dictators

governed countries, these

rulers

had

when people began to elect own governments, they started to question authority of those who monitor the activities

absolute power. But their

the

of other citizens. In

modern

society, technological

surveillance serves a positive purpose:

It is

widely

used to apprehend criminals, for example. But surveillance technology

many people

are

now

is

also

open

to abuse,

and

asking questions about the

nature and uses of surveillance.

THE DEVELDPIVIENT OF SURVEILLANCE This book examines the effect that technology has

had on surveillance and

its

VIEWPOINTS

implications for our

How much

do the government, the police, and business corporations know, and how much do they have a right to know? What laws, if any, are needed to protect us? rights as citizens.

A slow process Until the 1960s, most surveillance was low-tech

and expensive. If you wanted to watch suspects, you had to tail them. To follow a person, at least six people, organized in teams of two, were required daily to

work three eight-hour

material and contacts gathered

shifts.

had

All the

to be typed

up

"The right of the individual to be protected against intrusion into his life or affairs, or those of his family, by direct physical means or by publication of information." A definition of privacLj by David Calcutt OO. from a 1990 Report of the Committee on Privacy and Related Matters

personal

away, which

meant that cross-checking man who had committed a robbery) took a long time. Even electronic surveillance, like phone tapping, was highly labor- intensive because the results had to be and

filed

(for

example, finding a red-headed

new forms of had emerged, many of

"What the East German secret police could only

dream of

is

rapidly realitg in

typed up. However, by the 1980s,

becoming a

electronic surveillance

the free world."

which were aimed at making phone taps and other interceptions of communications automatic. Today, the development of computer technology has made

David Danisan Privacy International [a surveillance

privacy monitoriny oryanizationj

cross-checking almost instantaneous.

Before the introduction of

new

technology, the checking of surveillance

data was a laborious process Federal Bureau staff

.

Here

of Investigation (FBI)

check fingerprint

files.

SURVEILLANCE Surveillance technology consists of devices and

systems that can monitor, track, and assess the

movements

of people

and

their property. In

western democracies, this technology

is

used to

track people suspected of being involved in

organized crime, such as terrorism and drug

running.

It is

also used

by employers to track the

behavior of their employees and by private investigators seeking evidence for their clients.

However,

it is

also

sometimes used to follow the

activities of political dissidents,

environmental

activists

Elsewhere surveillance

such

and animal

is

as

liberationists.

are perceived to be a threat to the state;

include

human

who these may

used to track people

rights activists, journalists, student

leaders, minorities,

union

leaders,

and

political

opponents. Businesses use surveillance extensively. In shopping malls, video

A soldier tests

out

his night-vision

(CCTV)

cameras or closed circuit television

cameras provide a record of customers'

technology can also be used for

movements. The random monitoring of customer phone calls helps businesses gain a profile of their clients so that they can target their products more

surveillance purposes.

effectively.

goggles prior to a

combat

exercise in

the dark in the Persian Gulf. This

A growth industry A huge range of surveillance technologies has evolved.

Night-vision goggles allow spies to see in the dark.

Parabolic microphones detect

conversations over a mile away, and the laser version

can pick up a conversation through a closed window. The Danish Jai stroboscopic camera can take hundreds of pictures in a matter of seconds

and

is

capable of

THE DEVELOPMENT DP SURVEILLANCE photographing every single participant

in a

FACT

demonstration or march. Automatic vehicle recognition systems track cars around a city by way

New

of a system of maps.

technologies, originally

developed for the defense and intelligence sectors

War between what

during the Cold

used to be the

Soviet Bloc and the West, have, since the collapse of

communism,

become

rapidly

available to the

in the developed world is located, on average, on three hundred databases. IVIany people in the West are entangled in a web of

surveillance that

and private companies.

police

An adult

embraces everything from bank accounts

The West has

led the

way

surveillance technology.

development of

in the

It

to e-mail.

has provided, and

continues to provide, invaluable support to military

and

totalitarian regimes

British

throughout the world.

computer firm provided the technology

the South African automated Passbook, a

One for

means of

identification used by the apartheid regime in that

country to discriminate against nonwhite citizens. In the 1980s, an Israeli

company developed and

exported the technology for a computerized death list

used by the Guatemalan police. Surveillance

is

an important activity in the pursuit of intelligence

and

political control

regimes.

Many

by military and totalitarian

countries in transition to democracy

also rely heavily

on

surveillance to satisfy the

demands of the police and the

New

military.

technology makes possible the mass

surveillance of populations. In the past, regimes relied

on targeted

surveillance.

With new

technology, the financial transactions,

and geographic movements of millions of people can be tracked, analyzed, and transmitted cheaply and efficiently.

communications

activities,

In 1948, George Orwell's novel

was a

published.

It

which the

citizens

J

984 was

terrible vision of a society in

were constantly under the

surveillance of a dictator called Big Brother. course,

we do not have

televisions in our

Of

homes

SURVEILLANCE i

John Hurt as Winston Smith

tries to

evade the ever-watchful eye of Big

^^^^^^M^l^^^^^^H

^^^^B

Brother in the film version of George

^^P'^'i^B

Orvuells novel 1984-

g Ih ^^B Hh H Hj B m 1

Wm

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^RR[u^L

1

v^kB

nmm fi

VIEWPOINT "The telescreen received

and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston

made, above the

level of

a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was, of course, no way of I knowing whether you I were being watched at

^^j^^^^^^^^Bfl

I^^^^^^^H^^^^^s

^BBJ^II^y#t»7^^»^5^^

wtsS 1 JiffHI ;

'-^SSl^-a^HI

^^s^^^sP

recording our every move. However, the

information that

is

known ahout each

considerable. In Orwell's

J

^MHHB!

amount

of us

of

is

984, government power

was obvious and frightening. As reahlife

citizens at

dawn of a new millennium, we have no idea who is watching, listening, or keeping tabs on us. the

But

if

someone wants

to, it

is

only too easy.

In most democracies there are laws that control the

any given moment."

use of surveillance by state bodies.

Eeorge 1984

usually

Orwell,

f'

These laws

from his navel fall

into

two groups: those controlling the

act of surveillance, such as telephone tapping

(including e-mails) and bugging devices; and those regulating the personal information that

gained from surveillance. However, not

may be

all

surveillance techniques are covered and, as

we

shall discover during the course of this book,

serious questions

ipJEBATI^ ^iHfow ,

J,

do we balance our

right to privacy with

the government's need know what we are doing so that we do not cause harm?

\to

effectiveness of

much

Clearly there are surveillance.

of

many

It

still

arise

concerning the

surveillance legislation.

many good

reasons for

has not only resulted in the arrest

criminals, but also prevented crimes from

being committed. But, as

we

shall see,

it is

an

increasingly powerful tool that can be abused.

GOVERIMIVIEIXIT

SURVEILLAIMCE Security Strategies or 5tate Snooping?

What happens when

a

government abuses

its

power? In countries governed by totalitarian

know

regimes, such as China, citizens

that they are

under surveillance. But what happens when appear to contradict the meaning of

the word democracy? As citizens, how do we know whether the state is protecting us or defending its

own

FACT

Every year, about 15 to

democratic governments carry out surveillance strategies that

t 2D

billion dollars

spent on Comint, mostly by the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and is

New

Zealand.

interests?

Government

surveillance in the

West

uses

advanced technology to provide the most sophisticated are spent

methods

available. Billions of dollars

on developing

state-of-the-art techniques

that are later sold to commercial companies

developing countries.

intelligence about foreign countries as

citizens.

The

on

their

own

secret interception of

communications has been practiced by almost every advanced

foreign

nation since international

telecommunications were invented. This communications intelligence,

known

Comint, provides governments with information about foreign events. In the developed world, as

information

is

the key to maintaining

power and influence.

In China, citizens actions

may

authorities.

Governments concentrate on gathering well as keeping an eye

and

know

that their

he scrutinized by the

SURVEILLANCE The most

traditional

Comint

targets are

military messages and diplomatic communications between national capitals and missions abroad. This means that, for

example, the British intelligence

on communications between the Chinese Embassy in London service listens in

and

Beijing. Since the 1960s, following

the growth of world communications, the

gathering of information about economic, scientific,

become

and technical development has

increasingly important.

More

recent targets for intelligence gathering The

intelligence services use

surveillance techniques to monitor the activities

Here FBI agents

house of Mafia boss

m

stake out the

Sam Giancana

launderers,

At home,

the government uses the interception of

telecommunications to spy on people

dictatorships, political

some

FACT the United States

from the mid-IG^Os until 1974, the Red Squad, comprising members of the Michigan State police, kept files on people suspected of being

communists even though they had committed no crime. It was believed that such people posed a threat to the political system of the country.

it

believes are

a danger to the state. In democracies these tend to

be organized gangs of criminals or

1963.

In

money

and organized criminals.

of organized criminals. Until

recently these techniques were fairly basic.

include drug traffickers, terrorists,

human

terrorists.

In

rights groups, reporters,

opponents are the most

common

and

targets. In

Honduras and Paraguay, the state-owned telecommunications companies actively help the security services monitor those fighting for human rights. Also, intelligence gathered for one purpose can be used for another. Between 1967 and 1975, the United States and British intelligence services used information from Comint that had been collected primarily for other purposes to countries, such as

provide data about political opposition figures.

5py

satellites The United States has the most powerful network It can intercept communications signals anywhere on the planet. The United States is part of the USA/UK alliance, which includes the English-speaking countries of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain. This alliance uses the Echelon network of satellites.

of spy satellites in the world.

00 CO 00 in

o CO o cc cr oc

I

.1

EDVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE Other spy relays

satellites

include Russia's FAPSI, which

information via large collection

Lourdes in France, Cuba, and at

Vietnam; Germany's

The

latter

site at

two

BND; and

Cam Ranh France's

Bay,

DGSE.

are said to collaborate at a collection

Kourou, Guyana, and are targeted on North

and South American

satellite

communications.

Most people have no idea of the number of government satellites orbiting the Earth, taking pictures of us and listening in on our telephone conversations. These are secret operations. We may be photographed and have all our electronic communications intercepted without even being aware that somewhere in space a satellite is

J

Most democracies have laws that limit the

powers of government surveillance. In the United States, for

example, the National Security Agency is prohibited from deliberately eavesdropping on U.S. citizens unless it can establish probable cause to suggest that they are agents of a foreign government,

committing espionage or other crimes.

passing overhead.

However, some of these

FACT

sites at

satellites are

tracked by

amateur w^atchers. The orbital paths and schedules

known U.S. spy satellites are posted on Armed with a personal computer and a basic understanding of astronomy, it is now possible to calculate when the satellites will pass

In recent years surveillance technology

of the five

has become ever more complex. Here

the Internet.

Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein,

over any point on Earth.

political

wing of

the

IRA,

holds a

bugging device he claims the British security services planted in his car.

the

SURVEILLANCE work by picking up radio signals that pass directly into space. These signals are used to provide global communication and to intercept such communications in space and on land. Long distance microwave radio relay links may require dozens of intermediate stations to receive and retransmit communications. Each subsequent receiving station picks up only a tiny fraction of Satellites

the original signal, while the remainder passes over the horizon and on into space. This

is

known

as

microwave spillage. The best position for satellites to pick up on microwave spillage is not above the chosen target, but up to 80 degrees of longitude, away. This technique was used during the 1960s to provide intelligence gathering from space. An

artist's

impression of a

relaying signals to

satellite

and from a

receiving station.

i FACT

Echelon an integrated global network of satellite and associated relays. It is the most powerful spy satellite network we know about. It is used to intercept ordinary e-mails, faxes, telexes, and Echelon

is

telephone conversations throughout most of the world.

It

targets

governments, organizations,

Echelon has existed since the 197Ds and was greatly enlarged

businesses,

between 1975 and

Echelon are the United States National Security Agency (NSA), the New Zealand Government

1995.

In

the mid-198as.

began to make heavy use of the American and British global communications It

network.

In 1991, a British television

and individuals, but

almost anyone.

The

could affect

five security agencies that

run

Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE), and the Defense

program reported that the system secretly

Signals Directorate

intercepts every single telex passing through London. It picks up thousands of diplomatic, business,

Echelon

and personal messages every day.

it

is

(DSD)

in Australia.

not designed to eavesdrop on a

particular individual's e-mail or fax link. Instead,

it

intercepts very large quantities of communications and uses computers to identify and extract messages of interest from the mass of unwanted ones. A chain of secret interception facilities has been established around the world: some monitor

.

GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE communications satellites, others monitor lanJbased communications netwc:)rks, and others monitor radio communications. Echek^n links all these facilities together, providing the United States

and

Its allies

with the

ability to intercept a large

proportion ot the communications on the planet.

An

important point about the

new system

before Echelon, different countries

knew what was being

stations

whom

it

was being

sent.

Now

and

is

that,

different

intercepted and to

FACT During the Cold War, the United States used spy satellites to record the activities of the Soviet Union and China. Scientists are now using some of these pictures to measure ecological changes such

as global warming.

a tiny proportion of

A

straight to the

The rest are sent National Security Agency in the

United

which means that the other

used for taking photographs and

the messages are read locally.

are

States,

no longer being kept

fully

allies

informed.

Russian spy

the

pyramids

satellite

photograph of

in Egypt. Satellites are

intercepting communications

v\\\

'€

'

*

%^'

\

i ..

^

/

/

f

J

SURVEILLANCE Until recently, Echelon was a closely guarded

VIEWPOINTS f we can no "We feel

longer remain silent regarding that which we regard to be gross malpractice and negligence within the

establishment

we

in

which

operate."

secret.

But some members of the

intelligence service

New

Zealand

became worried about the

powerfulness of the system and feared that

being abused by the countries running particular the

United

revealed the existence

of Echelon in an article in the

And

magazine.

in

States. In 1988, the British

Duncan Campbell

journalist

it,

was

it

in 1996, a

New

book

Statesman

called Secret

Power

IntElligencE aperitives at ECHO, the British militarLj

was published by

intelligence center

Hagar, also revealing details of the Echelon system.

New

Zealand author Nicky

In 1998 a British newspaper. The Sunday Times,

discovered that the United States was using

information from Echelon to help U.S. companies "1 can sag categoricallg that MSA is as careful as ang civil libertarian

would want

it

to be in

adhering to the rules. There is an ingrained discipline about that, right down to the lowest levels of tbe agencg." Stewart A Baker. N5A's former general counsel

bid for contracts against competitors in other

The paper

countries.

Menwith

reported that the U.S. -run

Hill interception station in

North

Yorkshire in Great Britain was monitoring

information about business deals.

Inside informatian have also shown

Journalists

that Echelon has

benefited U.S. companies involved in arms deals

because

it

has provided

them with

inside

information. In 1990, the U.S. intercepted secret negotiations between Indonesia and Japan and

persuaded Indonesia to include the huge U.S.

company

AT&T

in a multibillion-doUar

telecommunications deal that going solely to Japan's

at

one point was

NEC. And

in 1995,

when

the United States was in crucial World Trade

Organization talks with Europe over a dispute with

Japan over car part exports, Echelon provided information about the Japanese that strengthened the U.S. position.

It is

alleged that the

NSA has,

through Echelon,

intercepted conversations between the

German

company Volkswagen and General Motors. And the French have complained that their electronics

.

GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE company, Thompson CSF, lost a $1.4 million deal to supply Brazil with a radar system because the

NSA

intercepted details of the ne^H)tiations and

company Raytheon, which subsequently won the contract. The

passed

them on

to the U.S.

European company, Airbus Industrie, believes it lost a $1 billion contract to the U.S. companies Boeing and McDonnell Douglas because of information intercepted by United States surveillance systems.

Reaction to the news of Echelon and, in particular, to the

way

UK, was

it

on European countries from the

spied

swift

and

critical.

The

leading Italian

Mondo, featured the issue its cover story for two weeks in 1998. The following week, the French daily newspaper business magazine,

Liberation

devoted

11

its first

under the headline Planet." suit

the

US

NSA

Listens to the

Other European countries quickly followed

by questioning the right of the

to the

m^

"How

four pages to the

as

United States in

this way.

UK to play host

The American Sugar Grove

Electronic

Surveillance Center, photographed here in

1992, has become one of the NSA's

top listening posts

SLIRVEILLAMCE It is

VIEWPOINTS

understandable that countries spy on each

other to protect their citizens from outside threats.

InteUigence gathered from surveillance might alert

"MajDr governments are routinely utilizing

a country to the danger of falling

communications

potential

intelligence to provide

provide information that would allow a country to

commercial advantage to companies and trade." Duncan Campbell.

enemy

in the

behind a

arms race, or

it

could

take evasive action to avoid conflict. But

it is

not

commercial surveillance, as the European reaction to Echelon demonstrated. so easy to justify

Brltl5h

JaurnaliEt

-

..^-

So, does commercial surveillance provide any positive benefits to society, or does

it

simply benefit

"The nation^s spy

the nation that carries

satellites typically produce far too much information for

poker game, then

overworked and under-

control of the system at a distinct advantage.

trained intelligence analysts to handle."

Echelon system is set up to maintain the status quo, which means that the existing inequalities

U. 5. reCirBd

Jeremiah,

admiral Daniel

in

a classified

can see

all

it

out?

If

a secret spy system

the hands in the international business it

automatically places those in

The in

the global power struggle are reinforced.

report ta the CIA. IDQE It is

An

artist's

Helios spy

representation of the satellite.

,a;K •4

w

not only commercial companies that have

their communications intercepted. In the 1970s and 1980s, the British military intelligence center, GCHQ, spied on charities including Amnesty

GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE Aid hy monitorini^

International and Christian all

their

communications. But

should he

it

remembered that most countries play dirty when they can. The French spy on the United States and on other western countries' telephone and cable traffic by way of the Helios J A spy satellite. However, western countries do not have a completely free hand in using their theory, all the countries using

satellites.

In

Echelon have laws

that govern the kind of interceptions that gather

communications intelligence under

this system.

Underwater cable interception Cables laid under the sea take an

enormous amount of international telecommunications for a

traffic

and,

long time, were believed to

be secure from interception. How^ever, in 1971, an

American

submarine successfully tapped a cable off the coast of the former

The when a

Soviet Union.

tap continued

until 1982,

NSA

employee sold information to the Soviets about the operation,

code-named "Ivy

Bells."

The

part

of the "Ivy Bells" that was used to

now on Moscow museum

make the recordings display in the

the former police).

KGB

is

of

(Russia's secret

The United

States

the only naval power

is still

known

to

have deployed

deep-sea technology for that purpose, and greatly

extended

its

last fifteen years. It

it

has

cable-tapping operations in the appears that the richer

countries of the world can buy the technology

necessary to break any code or infiltrate any

network. as a

What

whole?

impact might

this

have on society

A

U.S. Navy nuclear submarine

surfacing off the coast of ALiska.

United States

known

to

is

the only naval

have used deep-sea

technoloo;y for cable -tapping.

The

power

a

SURVEILLANCE

Telephone tapping

—

FACT

Telephone tapping the interception of spoken and electronic communications is extensively

During the mid-igSOs, French counter-

—

used by the state in surveillance. In the

intelligence agents tapped the telephones of prominent journalists and political leaders. They also monitored the phones in the bars and restaurants they

have been numerous cases

frequented.

tapping, the technology

in

which

it

UK there

was revealed

that the British intelligence services tapped the

phones of

social activists, labor unions,

liberties groups.

and

civil

However, while there are and other law

legitimate reasons for the police

enforcement agencies to be involved in telephone is

so easy to use that

organized criminals, ruthless businesses, or obsessive individuals can tap telephones as easily as the police or

It

government

intelligence.

does not require a high level of

skill

or technology to intercept a voice

communication. For example, the microphone in many older telephones may be replaced with one that can also transmit to a remote receiver. Taps

may

also be placed in telephone wiring

systems in the basements of buildings,

on the

on the

lines outside a house, or

telephone poles near the target of surveillance.

System X ^

UK during the

In the

1980s, British

Telecom introduced System digital

X—

technology designed to

revolutionize the telephone system.

has the capacity to activate a line the phone

is

in

its

cradle.

The

It

when

result

is

that most models of telephone start to It is relatively

easy to intercept a voice

communication. Back

in

1957, author

and journalist Bob Keston was eager demonstrate the threat

to

to

privacy posed

by a simple phone-tapping mechanism.

transmit surrounding sounds. System

X

was

designed as wiretap-friendly technology, allowing

any that

line to it is

be bugged from anywhere. This means

not

just

phone conversations that

tapped, but any conversation in the room.

are

How

.

BDVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE much

does

it

matter that the conversations of

people who have no invoK^ement in criminal or subversive activity are monitored?

Recent revelations indicate that a

in the

UK

magazine Statcwatch

new worldwide arrangement

been made

for the producers of

exchanges.

The arrangement

has

telecommunications

states that all

exchanges must enable the interception of telecommunications. But what violations might occur

if

human

rights

a tyrannical regime

suddenly has access to a national telephone tapping system?

New

cellular

more

difficult to intercept

phones use

a digital system,

which

is

than that of the old

mobile phones and provides clearer conversations. It is

also easier to secure these telephones

from

James McCord, one of

the

main

eavesdropping through scrambling. However,

figures in the Watergate scandal of

United States and other countries have attempted to restrict the use of improved scrambling technology. In Pakistan,

to

intelligence agencies in the

1972, with a wiretapping device used monitor

the calls of President

Richard Nixon's

political

opponents

P-

^^^i^l^ ^V-

'If

rinM

SURVEILLANCE the government shut

FACT

company

until

it

down

a cellular

provided equipment to allow easy

United

over-the-air interception. In the

President Lyndon B. Johnson had the phone of his vice president Hubert Humphrey tapped during the 19B8 presidential campaign.

He was concerned that Humphrey would not remain true to the official government line on the war in Vietnam.

phone States, the

cellular telephone industry agreed to adopt a

weakened scrambling standard after pressure from the NSA. Experts who have seen the standard say that it provides almost no protection against eavesdropping. Intelligence agencies in other countries have also lobbied to limit the security feature in digital cellular phones.

Intelligence agencies believe that telephone

tapping

is

on

essential to keeping tabs

subversives, foreign agents,

and the

terrorists,

like.

They

theretore monitor mobile phones as extensively as

they can with landlines. But civil liberties groups argue that individual citizens have the right to

There is also the question of whether private telephone companies should act as an arm of government by not allowing scrambling devices on their phones.

private telephone conversations.

Identity cards

Many

people

li\'ing

around the world have to carry

an identity (ID) card with them

all

the time.

Originally these cards were introduced to ensure

A Wisconsin drivers doubles as an

ID

license,

card

uhich

that enemies of the state would be forced either to register or exist

without documents; then

it

would

be easy for the police to pick them up. In

some

countries, like Spain,

and Singapore, becoming part of the

Portugal, Thailand,

ID cards are government administration. Magnetic strips and microprocessor technology

mean

that they will be

used to obtain welfare benefits and other services. This means that the

government will be able to keep a closer eye on people's movements and activities. While, from the

— GDVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE point of view of government, the security services

makes sense to use ID cards more widely, many individuals might feel that like George Orwell's Big Brother the state and the

police,

it

clearly

—

knows too much about them.

Biometrics Advances

in technology are

making another form

of mass surveillance possible. Biometrics

is

the

VIEWPOINT "Any discussion of biometrics and privacy has to be rooted firmly in the realities of the technology. The truth is biometrics cannot be used to find you/* James Wayman. Director U.S. National Biometric Test

process of collecting, processing, and storing details

Center

of a person's physical characteristics for the purposes of identification and authentication.

popular forms of biometric ID geometry,

thumb

The most

are retina scans,

scans, fingerprints, voice

hand

Biometric identification

—a view

fingerprint being scanned

of a

SURVEILLANCE recognition, and digitized (electronically stored)

FACT the whole papulation is being screened for a DNA database. In Iceland,

photographs. interest of

The technology

has aroused the

governments and companies because,

unlike other forms of ID such as cards or papers

(which can be forged),

it

has the capacity to

identify the target subject accurately

and

intimately.

Biometrics schemes are being implemented across the world. Spain has begun a national fingerprint

system for unemployment benefits and health care entitlement. Russia has announced plans for a

national electronic fingerprint system for banks.

Jamaicans are required to scan their thumbs into a database before qualifying to vote at elections. In

France and Germany,

equipment that onto credit shops,

tests are

underway with

transfers fingerprint information

cards.

The technology

is

being used in

government agencies, child-care

centers,

and automated-teller machines.

FACT In 1380, the United States Census Bureau claimed that it had never given out information about individuals. However, during World War II it produced

reports for war agencies,

which used them to round up Japanese Americans for internment.

An

automated immigration system, developed by

the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service,

hand geometry. In this project, frequent travelers have their hand geometry stored in uses

smart computer chip card.

The

a

traveler places a

hand on the scanner and the card

into a slot.

More

than 70,000 people have enrolled in the trial. The plan may ultimately result in a worldwide identification system for travelers.

DNA

identification The most controversial form of biometrics, identification,

is

benefiting from

DNA

new scanning

technology, which can automatically

match

DNA

samples against a large database in minutes. Police forces in several countries, such as the States,

United

Germany, and Canada, are creating national DNA. In the United Kingdom and the

databases of

United States, when a particularly violent crime committed, such as rape or murder, police may

is

i

GDVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE demand

that

all

individuals in a particular area

should voluntarily provide samples or face hein^ placed under scrutiny as a suspect.

Is

DNA

identification a marvelous invention or an

invasion of privacy?

The

police say that widespread

DNA testing would be a boon to crime-fighting. According to testimony before the U.S. National

Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, 30 percent of crime scenes have traces of semen, blood, or saliva, all of which contain human DNA. Do you agree with the argument that if we have nothing to hide, we should not have anything to be frightened of? Critics of extensive

DNA testing say that

it

reveal a predisposition to hereditary disease

information that hints at orientation.

What

traits like

can and

sexual

other uses could be

made

of

DNA samples? Certainly insurance companies would be wary of insuring a person whose DNA pointed to a history of genetic disease.

A researcher examines DNA sequencing data. information

unique

it is

From

this

possible to identify the

DNA code of any

individual.

SURVEILLANCE

Computers and the Internet It

computers are connected to any form of network

—

if

they are part of an office network or

the Internet

—they

if

they use

are likely to be subject to

surveillance. Businesspeople carrying laptops

have

when they enter the UK. may be checked and encrypted files decoded.

these routinely scanned

Disks

According to

we

are concerned, there

an encrvpted travelers

to

UK Customs

have

file

and

is

and Excise: "So far as no difference between

a locked suitcase. All

entermg the country should be prepared equipment scanned." The routine

their

scans are allegedly to locate illegal material, such as child pornography. People using computers at an Internet cafe in arui

Bonn, Germany. The

may be

Those who

fail

to cooperate

arrested.

police

governments interception of

Over the

past decade, the Internet has

become an

electronic mail messages for

important tool for communication and research.

suneillance purposes has alarmed

The technology

civil rights

groups.

is

growing phenomenally

millions of users going

on

line

each

year.

fast,

The

with

BDVERNIVIEIMT SURVEILLANCE Internet

also used increasingly as a tool for

is

buying and

selling.

reliability of

The

capability, speed,

the Internet are constantly improving,

resulting in the continued uses for the

and

development of new

medium.

and governments have moved to intercept anything on the Internet, often using the search for child pornography as an excuse. They argue that Police

VIEWPOINTS "In the past, technology has been the friend of the fMSA, but in the last four or five years technology has moved from being the friend to being the

enemg."

agreements between police and Internet Service

John Mills. ex-OA afficor and HEad of Staff of Che House of Representatives on the

Providers (the channels for Internet

growth of antisurveillance technology

the interception of e-mail traffic should be through

traffic).

This

move has caused alarm, and civil rights groups have demanded that e-mail interception should not be treated any differently than telephone

UK, legislation passed in 2000 now the case. In Singapore, all

interception. In the

means that

this

is

Internet Service Providers are operated by

government-controlled or related organizations.

However,

it

may

well be that any legislation

"[Encryption

will]

devastate our ability to fight crime and prevent terrorism." Attorney Eeneral Janet Reno

governing the interception of e-mails has been passed too

late.

Scrambling messages Encryption has become the most important tool to protect against surveillance.

message

is

With

encryption, a

scrambled so that only the intended

and subsequently read, the contents. The United States and UK governments have sought to limit encryption. Because terrorists and other criminals are likely to encode their communications, the UK government recipient

is

able to unscramble,

has argued that encryption

is

a national security

But the European Union was concerned that, member governments could unscramble any

risk. if

messages, this would limit an individual's right to

privacy and hinder plans to promote electronic

commerce

in Europe.

enforcement agencies

The police and other lawnow have to obtain a

warrant for decryption by the person concerned.

AC Anonymous

remailers

strip identifying

information from e-mails, and can stop traffic analysis. They are the Internet equivalent of P.D. Box addresses. The police and intelligence services are opposed to them. In Finland, a popular

anongmous remailer had to be shut down because of legal challenges that forced the remailer to reveal the name of one of its users.

5LRVEILLAIMCE

Future develapments

VIEWPOINTS cryptography can protect the trade secrets and proprietary information of business and thereby reduce economic espionage

During the twenty-first century, telecommunications will shift to high-capacity fiber-optic networks.

"If

(which

it

can],

it

also

supports in a most important manner the job of law enforcement. If cryptography can help protect nationally critical information systems and networks against unauthorized penetration (which it can] it also supports the national security of the United States." National Research Council's CammlttEE to 5tudLj National CrLjptograpfiLj Policy. U. 5.

"There is always a temptation to invqke security 'necessities* ^^ to justify an ..^p^encroachment upon v ^ ctvil liberties. For that reason, the militarysecurity argument rnust be approached with a healthy skepticism." The late Supreme Court Justice WiUiam Brennan

Encrypted computer information for protection against hackers

These networks cannot be intercepted from a distance but require physical access; this will

more

difficult for foreign

make

it

powers to tap them. For

example, the United States will not be able to tap into such lines in Russia unless they can physically

attach a bugging device. There will

no longer be

radio waves to intercept.

The United

government used to have a substantial lead in computers and information technology, but now their computers are the same standard as those used by leading industrial and academic organizations. The academic and industrial communities are using cryptography, which is a way of coding messages to keep them secure. States

GDVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE

Some

countries have freedom of information laws

can find out much of what goes name, but government surveillance is often specifically excluded from the list of things that people have a right to know. The problem with government surveillance is that we are told it must be confidential or else other countries will know all our secrets. But the big question for citizens of western democracies is can we really trust our own governments?

Surveillance technology

so that the citizens

the operation of

on

forces. In

in their

Swedish

this

is

important

a nations armed

1996 photograph,

sailors use surveillance

equipment on

the

HMS

Stromstad a ,

high-speed missile attack boat designed to

thwart Russian amphibious attack

ships in the Baltic.

—

The other question international

power

is is

The

United States has the resources to keep tabs on everybody else. The countries of Western Europe cannot match its resources and therefore lag behind in access to information. And developing countries are not even players in this international

game.

If

knowledge

is

DEBATE

the extent to which linked to money.

power,

it

seems that the

countries with the most effective surveillance

operations will win every time.

to

Government surveillance carried out in the of the people and with public money. But is

name

the people do not know

what

is being monitored, or why, or how it is being monitored. Is it right that this should be the case?

—

POLICE SURVEILLAIMCE Catching Criminals or Manitaring Minariti

The police use a variety of surveillance methods both to catch criminals and to prevent crimes from being committed. Police surveillance needs to be covert, or hidden, so that criminals are not

aware that they are being watched. The object of covert surveillance

is

to obtain information

either evidence or intelligence The

police are hard-pressed to keep

track of white-collar criminals,

are involved in

an ever-increasing

range of activities suspects

.

These Japanese

worked for

Corporation spying on

,

who

the Hitachi

which was accused of

IBM.

—

that

is

impossible

to obtain in any other way. Covert surveillance

is

often used alongside other policing methods, such as the use of informers officers.

Most forms of

and undercover police legal surveillance are

justified as anticrime measures.

asked whether, in

many

But

it

needs to be

countries, the considerable

powers afforded the police are sometimes abused.

The to

police are under constant pressure

keep up with the technological

advances employed by criminals. White-collar criminals, so called

because they are well educated and middle-class, are involved in

an ever-

increasing range of activities. These

include information warfare, breaking copyright, international financial crime,

national security threats, and Internet

crime (such as charging

for,

but never

supplying, products ordered over the Internet).

With

their

advanced

understanding of digital technology, these criminals are

way ahead of the

average police officer in these

fields.

1

POLICE SURVEILLANCE Because they have no criminal record, they are x'irtually invisible to

and governments, moving huge amounts of money each day throughout hundreds of

is this conflict of interest between,

entities.

on the one hand, the reasonable expectation of individuals to engage private activities, including telephone in

running. For these crimes, the police often use

which there would undoubtedly be more organized and serious crime. The risk is that the same surveillance methods will increasingly be used on common offenses without public debate. The European Charter for Human surveillance, without

Rights ensures that, in Europe, police forces are

under scrutiny to comply with a recognized

set of

conversations, without being overheard or recorded, and, on the other hand, the need to use sophisticated techniques to combat serious crime." MadelBine Colvin of the UK organization Justice. 1393

rights standards. Bugging, using informers,

and undercover legal

"At the core of the

debate

However, most police activity is focused on the more traditional crimes: from burglary to drug

human

VIEWPOINTS

conventional law enforcement;

yet they control the fortunes of banks, corporations,

officers are all

accepted

as part of a

framework.

"Undercover work offers a means of activeig pursuing crime through direct involvement and

Criminal intelligence information has been described as the lifeblood of the

Information about

service.

modern

known

police

criminals,

and their associates ways, but mainly through technical surveillance suspects,

is

gathered in various

(CCTV) much policing

intelligence, skill

is

aimed at gathering intelligence information rather than evidence. But the reliability and relevance of this intelligence

information

may

vary.

' *

1

1

^

1

JMmL

'

""W" jKk:.M..,

fits

and

finesse, rather than brute force and coercion." Earij Marx, author of Undercaver Work: A Necessary Evil

JIn dru^'running cases, the police

'

V *^.'>/dtijtMT^^^''-

^^^^^^^^Tl

It

the notion of the *

modern police officer prevailing via

operations, closed-circuit television

cameras, and informers. Indeed,

police initiative. vyith

^^

..^^B^B*

J^^ 'IS'

army

and

often use surveillance methods

ichen working closely together. Here

members of

the Bolivian

illegally

grown coca

used to

make

army hwi\

leaves.

cocaine.

Coca

is

.

SURVEILLANCE ^X^ereas criminal record information

hard Today, CCTV systems are capable of reading a cigarette packet from 33D feet [IDD m) away.

Many CCTV cameras can work

in pitch-dark, bringing images up to daylight level.

and

facts,

criminal intelligence

difficult to verify.

know where

is

based on

is

often speculative

Even with CCTV, one might

people are at a certain time, but not

where they came from or where they are going. Certainly this sort of information has led to successful convictions.

many

However, during the course of

surveillance, irrelevant information of a noncriminal

nature will be collected about individuals and events.

There has been a

political shift in targeting in recent

years. Instead of investigating a

crime

after

it

happens, police forces are increasingly tracking the sort of

people they think are most likely to commit a

crime: certain social classes and races of people living in specific areas. This type of preemptive policing

called data-veillance

which the

and

is

military gather

is

based on the way in

huge quantities of low-

grade intelligence for tactical purposes.

CCTV In most industrial countries, just a cities.

normal part of modern

Few people worry

on; they are In

many

like the

part of

countries

CCTV cameras

,

more

CCTV cameras life

in

are

towns and

that they are being spied

cameras

likely to regard the

way of preventing crime.

as a

CCTV cameras operate

one helow, are an accepted

by filming everything that appears in front of them.

modern

The images

life

they record are normally displayed on a television screen or

monitor.

The

be watched like

when

uses

CCTV

screen can

all

the time,

a security guard

to

check what

happening outside a Sometimes the film is saved so that it can is

building.

be looked at

later, if

necessary; for instance, to

help identify the suspects in the case of a robbery.

POLICE SURVEILLANCE

CCTV

technology has become increasingly

sophisticated. Features include night vision,

computer- assisted operation, and motion detection

which allow the operator to instruct the system to switch on only when something moves in tront of the camera. Some camera systems have bulletproof casing and automated self-defense mechanisms, so that it is very difficult to put them tacilities,

out of action.

Recent years have witnessed an explosion use of CCTV cameras. In some towns and

CCTV

is

This

cities,

mug^ng a woman

seen to be as essential as the electricity

supply or telephone network.

commonplace

now

has become quite

and even phone booths. Some

expect to be filmed from the

they leave their front door. installed in

It

to find cameras placed in buses,

trains, elevators,

people

in the

movie

moment

Hidden cameras

are

theaters, red-light districts,

on housing estates. Some considering fitting Minicams into

locker rooms, and

police

forces are

police

helmets and clothing.

CCT\^ footage

shows a

man

in the street.

I- "Ma

SURVEILLANCE

A security guard with a bank of security monitors

.

Each screen shows

a view of a shopping center taken from a different

CCTV camera.

The

UK leads the world

surveillance cameras per

Up

in CCTV. There are more head than anywhere else.

$500 million a year is spent on CCTV, with about 95 percent of towns and cities installing CCTV equipment in town centers, shopping malls, parking garages, and on public transportation. About half a million low-budget CCTV kits have been sold, mostly to smaller store owners. In North America and Australia, cameras are increasingly being used to monitor public squares. In Singapore to

they are widely used to limits

and other

rules

make

and

drivers stick to speed

to prevent people

from

littering.

Many

public buildings use

United

States, Utah's Salt

CCTV cameras. Lake City

In the

district

spent

over $200,000 installing video surveillance cameras

and recorders. The cameras scan parking lots and, in some cases, school hallways. They are not, however, used in bathrooms, showers, or other private areas. lots to

Many

schools use

curb intrusions or fights

them in parking among rival gangs.

POLICE SURVEILLANCE With

all this

use of visual surveillance, there are

in the

wrong place

at the

wrong time.

If

you are

a

CCTV can only protect you. once strongly opposed to CCTV in

law-abiding citizen,

Even Sweden, public places, laws. In

is

considering relaxing

Norway, filming by

there are restrictions used. In the

UK,

CCTV

is

its

in Denmark, CCTV camerci^ are banned

in

public places.

privacy

legal,

but

on how the information

is

data protection laws cover the

film records obtained by

CCTV,

no placed and

but there

regulation about where the cameras are

how

FACT

The

remarkably few laws to protect the individual.

general attitude seems to be that you should not be

is

they are operated.

CCTV cameras

are supposed to prevent crime

help people feel safer in public places. After

and

all,

theory goes, not only will the

cameras catch the

criminals in the act, but also,

if

the criminals

the

know

that the cameras are there, they will be less likely to

commit

crimes. Therefore, the general public

will feel safer

when

they see the

CCTV cameras.

Unfortunately, the research does not entirely support this theory.

While

a recent study claimed

CCTV was successful, two out of three studies into the effects of CCTV show that both crime and

that

fear of

crime have increased.

A

traffic sigit

wanis

will he inonitored

measuring

drivers that they

hy cameras

their speed.

SURVEILLANCE There have undoubtedly been cases in which CCTV cameras have led to the arrest of criminals. In a famous British case, two boys abducted James Bulger, a two-year-old, from a Liverpool shopping mall and later killed him. The abduction was recorded on video by the CCTV cameras in the mall, and the boys were identified from their images on tape.

However,

CCTV surveillance

While cameras

are

is also open to abuse. sometimes installed in changing

rooms and public toilets for security purposes, they are clearly an intrusion into an individual's privacy. In one case, a store owner had installed a video in his changing room and used it mainly to spy on female customers The character

Bond how

Q shows James

to operate

a miniaturized

surveillance device hidden in a cigarette lighter in the

Tomorrow Never

movie

W

than two

hundred obscenity charges after using cameras to spy on women and then making obscene calls to them from the control room.

Dies.

5ecret visual surveillance The art of visual surveillance has changed dramatically over recent years. Police and intelligence officers still photograph demonstrations and individuals of interest, but

^^^B

'^^^^^^^^1

1 1 ^O^^H K^il1 KXh ^ "^

^^^k

M

i ^HQI 1 ^^yv^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^'

they undressed. In Wales, a

CCTV operator was convicted of more

^^^B I BHI

m^^

as

-'

'

^^^1

(

^^^^1

increasingly such images can be stored and searched. In Denmark, the police want to ban the use of masks by

demonstrators so that

it

will

be

possible to identify every participant.

One

of the major technological

advances has been miniaturization, or

making things much, much

smaller.

This means that cameras can be made so small that they are virtually

undetectable.

A technological

development such

as this

opens up

.

POLICE SURVEILLANCE

new

possibilities of

companies, and

abuse by individuals,

official agencies.

Surveillance

cameras for covert, or undercover, operations have been modified to the point where they are little

more than a microchip and a pinhead lens. Cameras the size of a matchbox are commonplace.

Tiny cameras can be hidden

common clocks

The future New technology means able to do far in front of

them

that

more than

them.

It is

CCTV cameras are

what goes on now possible to program just record

to recognize certain individuals, turning

CCTV from passive

to active surveillance

and

movement of certain people in a particular area. This is known as algorithmic surveillance data analysis. Already a U.S. company targeting the

and Systems has piloted a system in London that can scan crowds and match faces against a database of images held in a remote computer. New algorithmic CCTV cameras can pick up the behavioral quirks of petty criminals and car thieves. Criminals approach the scene of a potential crime differently than noncriminal, and the camera can identify them and alert security staff that an offense is about to be committed. called Software

in

household objects such as

and smoke alarms

;

SURVEILLANCE The

VIEWPOINTS "it

is

linking ot

CCTV

systems using facial

recognition technology to databases holding

photographs of individuals makes for a highly

the right of our

powerful surveillance tool. This technology has

citizens to live in

fMewham without fear

already been used at an English soccer stadium to

of crime."

help spot

known

Germany

to restrict areas to authorized personnel

Robin Wales, leader of

Newham

council.

UK

M^ "I'm not sure want to live in a society in I

which, when walk down the road, my face Is compared with a couple of hundred local criminals." Uz Parrat. /Jberty B^eat Bitjain's I

DOLMial for cKil liberties

In places where

lots

only. In the

troublemakers and at the Bank of

London borough

of

Newham,

CCTV

cameras are programmed to recognize know^n criminals

who

visit

the town center. So what kind

on the register? How -erious do their crimes need to be? How long ago have these crimes been committed? The police will not say who is on the database or how many offenders are included. All this is being done m the name of law and order, but individuals are being watched without any public debate about the -extent to which they should be watched.

of people are gathered,

oi criminals are included

CCT\'

has been used with facial recognition technology to spot trouhlems.ke

jC'^-r-L^^-^-

:-^4Sj^^S^s^r'y.7^^^,

e*

-.

POLICE SURVEILLANCE

5tatG-as5istGd telephone tapping Pt^lice

telephone tapping, or wiretapping,

(

is

conducted in nearly every country in the world. Although it has undoubtedly led to the arrest of

In the United States, wiretaps led to the

many criminals, it has also been frequently abused. The U.S. State Department, in its annual Country Reports on

Human

FACT 1

conviction of EE.ODO serious criminals

between 1984 and

Rights Practices for 1994,

1994.

reported widespread illegal or uncontrolled use of wiretaps by governments and private groups in

Are any of our calls Do we ever know that we are being,

more than 70 private?

countries.

have been, bugged

—

who is bugging know? Can we trust or

we have a right to or do we need a system

that

is

less

us?

or

Should

the police,

open

to abuse?

Cordless telephones are becoming more and more

popular in the West. In the United States alone,

more than 40 million

cordless

phones

well as millions of cellular phones. In

are in use as Italy,

there

more mobile phones than landline telephones. In developing countries, wireless communications such as cellular and satellite-based telephones are also popular as a means to avoid laying new are

telephone lines in areas that were previously

The

undeveloped.

intercepted using inexpensive scanners.

signals

from mobile phones can be

Signals from each of these

devices

— —

cordless telephones in

particular

Many

0^

are easy to intercept.

N

of the older models

transmit just above the top range of the

AM radio band, and

conversations can easily be

overheard with any

Newer models

49MHz

di

AM radio.

operate in the

range and can be

intercepted with an inexpensive radio scanner available from stores.

The range

can be up to

1

many

of interception

mile (1.6 km).

1

HKT^IftiM 1

SURVEILLANCE Cellular, or mobile,

FACT

)

Seventy percent of United States citizens think tliat all wiretaps should be banned.

phones are

also

open

to

interception. They, too, broadcast over the airwaves like a radio.

Inexpensive scanners are available to

intercept conversations.

More

mobile phone gives away a tracking device. it

its

importantly, just using a

position and turns

When a mobile phone

regularly broadcasts

its

is

it

into

turned on,

location to the local

transmitters so that they can direct calls to the correct place. In

an incident in Denmark, a murder

reopened against a member of the because

new evidence was

Hell's

trial

was

Angels

found: Records from the

telephone company proved that he had been near the scene of the crime

when

proximity to London's Houses of

Modem snoopers

can buy specially adapted laptop

Parliament means that the user can

computers and simply tune in to

This laptop computer intercept mobile

listen in

is

phone

being used to

the murder took place.

calls. Its

on MPs' phone conversations.

all

the mobile

phones active in the area by moving the cursor

POLICE SURVEILLANCE down will

phone numher. The machine numbers to see if they are active.

to the relevant

even search

for

British poliLE^ (rjinliiLt

Pagers

A pager,

around 2,100 bugging or beeper,

another electronic device

is

that can be intercepted easily. Pagers receive signals over the airwaves

Computer programs

with no scrambling.

are available that

can monitor

upon which pagers Such programs can automatically retain

the entire frequency spectrum operate.

every message that

is

sent.

wiretaps. Before this law,

each wiretap had to be

approved by a judge, but

now

think might be used

suspect. This

means

that

if

police can tap into any by, or

is

close to, a

the police see someone

they think might be a criminal entering your house or place of business, they can tap your

phone without

a warrant.

The

police say that roving wiretaps will allow

on criminals who are phone to avoid interception.

investigators to eavesdrop

moving from phone

to

But the law already permits through a court.

this,

provided

Many Americans

it

goes

believe that

requiring the police to get the permission of a judge is

essential to protect the privacy of the individual.

More than 80 percent

of calls intercepted by wiretap

are innocent; roving wiretaps intercept

higher percentage of

who

While roving wiretaps United

an even

placed by innocent parties

calls

are not suspected of

any crime.

commonplace in the no roving wiretaps in the

are

States, there are

UK, although one warrant (which

gives permission'

phone numbers of the person targeted. A Canadian report on wiretapping estimated that a single phone tap can affect up to

can include

200 people.

all

the

aperatians a gear. Mo^tlg, officers enter

premises and plant small, camouflaged transmitters. These pick up the conversations in a room and broadcast them to a listening station

In 1988, Congress passed a law allowing roving

line they

FACT

about 1.8 mi. [3 km] awag. Since 1999 the police have had to appig for permission from a High Court Judge to conduct most bugging operations.

.

SURVEILLANCE

New

VIEWPOINT

technology means that phone

less likely to

"[The EU-FBI Surveillance System] is a sniper's bullet to the heart of privacy." /an Brown. Pn'vaoLj International

be tapped. But in Europe and the

been introduced that the telephone companies to build in a

United forces

now

calls are

States, legislation has

facility for police

bugging.

The 1994 Communications Enforcement Act

(GALEA)

Law

Assistance in

gave the Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) extraordinary powers to

demand

that telephone companies restructure

their networks to

make wiretapping

Until

easier.

1994 the police had had to find the correct copper Now telephone exchanges have

wire to tap into.

can be tapped. Manufacturers must work with industry and lawto be designed so that lines

enforcement

officials to

ensure that their

equipment meets federal standards. A court can company $10,000 a day for each product

fine a

that does not comply.

The EU-FBI Surveillance System The

1

998 movie Enemy of the State

involves a lawyer (Will Smith,

who

is

hunted by the

NSA

left)

using

all

the surveillance technology at their

disposal.

An

the film read:

they

're

advertising ''It's

campaign for

not paranoia

really out to get you..

" .

if

European police forces have for a massive

intercepting

foundations

laid the

eavesdropping system capable of all

mobile phone

communications,

calls,

Internet

and pager messages. This

fax,

part of a strategy to create a seamless

web

is

of

telecommunications surveillance across national boundaries.

The move

to establish the system

follows a five-year lobbying exercise by agencies like the

FBI.

The

plans for this

surveillance program, as the

known

EU'FBI Surveillance

System, were laid in secret. All Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will have to provide agencies with

complete access to

communications, regardless of country of origin.

POLICE SURVEILLANCE

This system will be capable of tracking suspects

Anyone

wherever they travel by means of subject tagging.

Known

as the International

User Requirements

using a cash card

that his or her transaction

may is

find

tracked.

for

Interception (lUR), the tagging system will create a

data processing and transmission network. This

network

will

have

details of the

phone numbers of targets and

names, addresses, and

associates;

have their e-mail addresses, credit card

it

will also

details,

PINs

(personal identification numbers), and passwords.

It is

In the United States, courts show that

reasonable to expect police forces from

different countries to Terrorists

work together

and organized criminals

one country to another, especially its lax'

to stop crime.

travel easily in

from

Europe with

border controls, so a global interception

system must be a positive development. But some people are concerned that the EU-FBI

System was conceived democratic scrutiny.

in secret, with

Surveillance

no

federal electronic intercepts have increased by up to 40 percent since President Bill Clinton took office in 1992. No federal

magistrate has turned a federal request for an intercept order since 1988.

down

SURVEILLANCE Call

analysis

In 1992, a group of senior law-enforcement officers

met

FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., to devise a strategy for dealing with environmental at

activists.

The group

hit

on

a plan that has

among police forces world. The FBI subpenaed

become

increasingly popular

throughout the official

(gave

written orders to supply documentation)

600 leading environmental

activists regarding their

telephone billing information. To most people, the information on a telephone

bill is relatively

unimportant: a few numbers, times, and dates. But to the FBI,

it

was a goldmine. By combining the

calling information of all The

security services are able to

compile "friendship networks" of

groups they suspect; environmentalists, like these

come

people demonstrating helovu,

into this cateogory.

known

activists,

the

authorities were able to build a vast tree involving

They could who worked with whom. They knew how the

tens of thousands of environmentalists. tell

networks were formed and

how

they communicated.

In a nutshell, the FBI was able to expose the

POLICE SURVEILLANCE intimate details of

all

the interrelationships

The

within the environmental mcn'ement.

environmental strategy was not unique. the

phone records of more than

in the

That

year,

a million people

United States were subpenaed by law-

United Kingdom this is called metering, and the police do not even need a warrant for it. The European Court of Human Rights ruled more than a decade ago that the practice, unless it w^as In the

properly regulated, violated the European

Human

Rights, but the

operations has grow^n steadily. In 1997, fifteen times

FACT

number it

of

was

more prevalent than phone tapping.

confidential business information to the Wal/ Street Journal. The authorities secured 35 million records

Most police analysis

forces in the

UK are

now

using call

failed to pinpoint the

programs that are many times more

source of the leaks.

The WatCall and Watson systems, produced by Cambridge company Harlequin Intelligence

the

Systems, can collect, collate, and analyze

information on any fax or telephone call

made

UK. Called numbers are identified by name and address, and this mass

subscriber is

in

of data

then merged with information from powerful

police intelligence systems such as

HOLMES.

WatCall system to secure details of your network of friends, which they then combine with intelligence data in HOLMES and finally build a comprehensive profile of your friends Police can use the

and family via the Watson intelligence system.

Once

again, the question surrounding this issue

mainly about safeguards. Is

Who

is

who

has no respect for the law and a concerned

environmentalist

who

organizes demonstrations

changed? Should the activities of both be monitored in the same way? to get the law^

is

being targeted?

there a difference between an ecoterrorist

from

850,000 homes, but

powerful than those used by the U.S. authorities.

the

,

1993, tfip multinatianal giant Procter & Gamble persuaded a judge to order the seizure of the telephone records of the long-distance calls of virtuallg the entire population of Cincinnati. Dhio. The aim? To trace the person who had been leaking In

enforcement agencies.

Convention on

L

SURVEILLANCE

The

talon system, above, recognizes

vehicle license plates to track

and can he used

a car around a

city.

Traffic Vehicle recognition systems have been developed

and then

that can identify a car's license plate

track the car around a city using a computerized

geographic information system. Systems such Racal, are is

now commercially

as the

UK company

talon system, introduced in 1994 by

available. This system

designed to recognize license plates and works

during the day and at night. Initially traffic

monitoring, but

its

it

was used

for

function has been

adapted in recent years to cover security surveillance.

It

has been incorporated in the "ring

of steel," a series of roadblocks set up around the financial district of

Republican record district

all

London

Army bomb

after

attack.

an

Irish

The system can

the vehicles that entered or

on any

left

the

particular day.

Surveillance systems such as this raise significant issues of accountability, particularly

when

they are

used by authoritarian regimes.

The cameras

Tiananmen Square

China, were sold

advanced

in Beijing,

traffic systems.

used in

Yet they recorded the

as

POLICE SURVEILLANCE demonstrations by students in 1989. After the

Chinese miUtary had crushed the demonstrations, images of suspected subversives were repeatedly broadcast on Chinese television with the offer of a

reward for information about them. Foreign companies are exporting

traffic

control

systems to Lhasa in Tibet, but Lhasa does not as yet

have any

traffic

New

is

DEBATE

J

Dti Irivv-fihirliiirj riti/f>ns

need to fear telephone tapping and CCTV if the technologies used target criminals and help to make the world a safer place?

: