Surveillance

Some people watch what others do.

They use cameras to see. They also use computers to watch. This helps find information.

Many people use cameras to stay safe. There are millions of cameras in the world.

Some people use computers to watch the internet. They look for things that seem odd.

Watching people can be a problem. It can take away privacy.

Some people work hard to make rules for watching.

Surveillance means watching people or places to get information.

Governments use it for safety and law. Businesses also use it to watch competitors. Some groups use it to find people who break rules.

There are many ways to watch. People use cameras to see what is happening.

There are about 350 million cameras in the world. Many are in Asia. Some use facial recognition to see faces.

Computers also do a lot of watching. They can look at data on the internet. Computers can sift through huge amounts of data very fast. They look for certain words or odd behavior.

Phones can be watched too. Some tools can track where a phone is. They can even listen to calls. This can happen without the user knowing.

Some people worry about surveillance. They feel it takes away privacy. They want laws to limit how much people are watched. Companies like Apple now use codes to hide data. This makes it harder for others to read private files.

Surveillance is the act of watching people or places to gather information.

Governments often use these methods for national security or law enforcement. Businesses also use surveillance to learn about their customers or competitors. Even religious groups have used it to find people with different ideas. Some people use it to plan crimes, while others use it to stop them. This constant monitoring can be helpful for safety. However, it can also violate a person's privacy.

There are many different ways to perform surveillance. People can watch others through human interaction or by intercepting mail. Closed-circuit television, or CCTV, uses cameras to record video of an area.

Experts can also use wiretapping to listen to phone calls. In the digital world, data mining helps find patterns in huge amounts of information. Some people even use special software to access data on a computer remotely. There is also a method called van Eck phreaking. This involves reading signals from a device from hundreds of meters away.

Technology has changed how surveillance works over time. In the past, people had to watch cameras or listen to calls by hand. Today, computers do most of the work because there is too much data for humans.

In the United States, the Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act helps agencies monitor digital traffic. Agencies like the FBI and the NSA spend billions of dollars each year on these systems. They use tools like Carnivore and ECHELON to find useful information. Some programs, like PRISM, give the government direct access to data from technology companies. This includes emails, live chats, and search histories.

Mobile phones are also major targets for modern surveillance.

Tools like the StingRay tracker can mimic cell towers to find a phone's location. This can happen without the person ever knowing they are being tracked. In the U.S., a company called Sprint once showed that law enforcement requested location data 8 million times in one year. Even the UK's GCHQ can access data collected by the American NSA.

This shows how information can move between different countries. Many people worry about how much of their private life is being recorded.

Video cameras are one of the most common ways to watch the world.

As of 2016, there were about 350 million surveillance cameras in use globally. About 65% of these cameras are located in Asia. In 2018, China was reported to have over 170 million CCTV cameras. Some cities use huge amounts of money to build these networks. For example, New York City used a $350 million grant for its Domain Awareness System. This system uses 18,000 cameras and artificial intelligence to watch the city. These tools help keep order, but they also change how we live in public spaces.

Surveillance is the systematic monitoring of people, populations, or locations. Its primary goal is to gather information, manage groups, or direct activities. Governments use these methods for national security and law enforcement. Businesses also use surveillance to gather intelligence on competitors, suppliers, or customers. Even criminal organizations use it to plan and commit crimes. Religious organizations have used it to detect heterodoxy, which means holding beliefs that differ from official doctrine.

Modern surveillance relies on many different technical methods. These include human interaction, postal interception, and wiretapping. Closed-circuit television, or CCTV, uses cameras to observe specific areas. Data mining is a process used to find patterns in large datasets. Computer surveillance is especially common today because of internet traffic. Automated computers sift through intercepted data to find specific "trigger" words or phrases. This helps human investigators find suspicious activity without searching everything manually.

Digital surveillance involves monitoring massive amounts of internet data. In the United States, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) requires that phone calls and broadband traffic be available for real-time monitoring. Federal agencies like the NSA and FBI spend billions of dollars each year on these systems. They use tools such as Carnivore, NarusInsight, and ECHELON to analyze data. The NSA also runs a program called PRISM. This data mining system gives the government direct access to information from technology companies. This includes search histories, emails, live chats, and file transfers.

Computers and mobile phones are major targets for monitoring. Software like the FBI's Magic Lantern can gain unauthorized access to personal data on a computer. There is also a technique called van Eck phreaking. This involves reading electromagnetic signals from a device from hundreds of meters away. Mobile phones are monitored through various methods as well. The StingRay tracker is a tool used in the United States and the United Kingdom. It broadcasts signals that cause nearby phones to connect to it. This allows operators to extract location data, calls, and text messages.

Location tracking is another widespread method of surveillance. Technicians use a process called multilateration to find a phone's geographical position. This calculates the time it takes for a signal to travel to several cell towers. Records from the carrier Sprint showed that law enforcement requested location data 8 million times in one year. In response to privacy concerns, some companies have changed how they operate. For example, Apple's iPhone 6 uses encryption to protect emails and photos. This encryption uses a mathematical algorithm that is unique to the phone. Even if Apple is asked for the data, they can only provide "gibberish" that is unreadable without the code.

Video surveillance is one of the most visible forms of monitoring. As of 2016, there were approximately 350 million surveillance cameras worldwide. About 65% of these cameras are located in Asia. In 2018, China reported having a network of over 170 million CCTV cameras. Many of these new cameras use facial recognition technology. In the United States, cities receive large grants to build these networks. Chicago used a $5.1 million grant for its Operation Virtual Shield program. New York City used a $350 million grant for its Domain Awareness System. This system uses 18,000 cameras and artificial intelligence to monitor the city.

Surveillance creates significant tension between security and privacy. Civil liberties activists often criticize these methods for violating personal privacy. In democracies, laws may exist to restrict how governments use surveillance. However, authoritarian governments often have very few domestic restrictions. The Snowden leaks revealed that the NSA collects metadata on hundreds of millions of targets. These leaks also showed that the British GCHQ can access data collected by the NSA. This demonstrates how information can be shared between different countries. As technology improves, the scale of global surveillance continues to grow.