Surveillance techniques.pdf

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Surveillance has been around for ages, though never quite as rampant, nor nearly as

potent. Humanity has had it as a major play in most political games, be it in order to

identify betrayals among friendly ranks, or perform blackmail. Surveillance should

therefore not be deemed a novelty by any means. That being said, it's become

exceptionally powerful with the 21st century's technological progress storming in.

Computer science has advanced to the point where storage capacity is no longer

slowing anybody down, thus allowing for ever so comprehensive databases on a

multitude of subjects. In combination with complex infrastructure, government

agencies possess every means necessary to perform effective analyses, whatever the

needs may be. It is both a blessing and a curse, in that counter terrorism and crime

fighting are on par with contemporary threats, but all at the expense of our privacy.

Police work has experienced a major boost to their efficiency with archives now

transferred to digital storage. The process of finding bank records or birth certificates

has become simplified and they can reliably trace criminals based on their phone or

credit card activity. Phone taps have been a source of some pretty compelling

evidence, whereas easily accessible CCTV footage has ended up being the final nail in

the coffin for many criminals, who otherwise might have squeezed past the jury

unharmed. Nowadays, the prosecution needs a bulletproof case and the technological

improvement provides them with enough firepower to see them through.

Police does not usually have to resort to the more invasive methods, which are

inevitably the domain of the more sophisticated government agencies operating on a

higher threat level. The bigger the risk, the bigger the investment. Counter-espionage

would have been helpless, had it not been for the latest surveillance techniques, not to

mention the terrorists, who are stronger and more determined than ever.

With the number of CCTV blind spots dwindling rapidly, it has become a major

surveillance medium. It's possible to reliably discern faces or license plates from the

footage and cross-reference them with the information on hand.

The internet is likewise under surveillance. The process of tracing and analyzing web

activity is as of this moment very in-depth and thorough, which is to be expected,

considering cybercrime's growing popularity.