Surveillance abuse

Surveillance abuse is the use of surveillance methods or technology to monitor the activity of an individual or group of individuals in a way which violates the social norms or laws of a society. Mass surveillance by the state may constitute surveillance abuse if not appropriately regulated. Surveillance abuse often falls outside the scope of lawful interception. It is illegal because it violates peoples' right to privacy.

Covert surveillance by police and the use of informants to conduct surveillance was introduced in the 16th century in Europe. In the mid-19th century in the United States, most large cities had police forces which covertly surveilled suspected criminals and others deemed "radical" or otherwise undesirable. Allegations of surveillance abuse increased as this practice became more common (Marx & Fijnaut).

In modern times, surveillance abuse has become more widespread through corporate and industrial use of private security firms which may be used to conduct industrial espionage, monitor competitors, and target trade union leaders.

During the FBI's COINTELPRO operations, there was widespread surveillance abuse which targeted political dissidents, primarily people from the political left and civil rights movement. Many opponents of the Real ID Act of 2005, including the 511 campaign, cite the RFID-embedded Real ID as a mass surveillance tool to be used by the state against dissidents.

Other abuses include "LOVEINT" which refers to the practice of secret service employees using their extensive monitoring capabilities to spy on their love interest or spouse.^[1]

The availability of surveillance cameras is more common and affordable for everyday citizens to own and this had led to an increase of purchases. CCTV cameras can be found at most home improvement stores and, therefore, people are installing it for their own purposes such as securing their house or private business. Problems arise when citizens misuse the surveillance and breech other’s right to privacy. The Daily Mail (2008) stated that “every one of 60 schools picked at random was found to be ignoring strict guidelines over the use of CCTV cameras - with one school even aiming cameras into a neighbor's back garden.” It is difficult to track down and put a stop to this misuse as it has become very common to own one.

Technology itself has become so advanced where “faces can be tracked half a mile away” (Kampfner, 2012) and since CCTV cameras are so readily available, many take advantage and use it for their own amusement. There is no prevention in the amount of unauthorized data collected on individuals and this leads to cases where cameras are installed inappropriately. “For instance, according to the BBC, four council workers in Liverpool used a street CCTV pan-tilt-zoom camera to spy on a woman in her apartment.” (Cavallaro,2007). This is just one case where culprits have been caught; however, there are still many common acts such as this. Another incident of inappropriate installation now has “Pennsylvania parents suing their son's school, alleging it watched him through his laptop's webcam while he was at home and unaware he was being observed.” (Surveillance Camera Players, 2010). This leads to the misconception of surveillance, as it once was a tool to monitor and make sure citizens abide by the law, it has now created even more problems. With cameras only becoming more advanced and more common, it is difficult to determine whether these surveillance cameras are helping to ensure a safe society or leading to bigger issues altogether.

See also

• Mass surveillance
• Police misconduct
• Police state
• Political repression
• Religious Police
• Stalking
• Category:Surveillance scandals

References

• Davis, James Kirkpatrick. (1997). Assault on the Left: The FBI and the Sixties Antiwar Movement. Westport, CT: Praeger.
• Donner, Frank J. (1980). The Age of Surveillance: The Aims and Methods of America’s Political Intelligence System. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
• Donner, Frank J. (1990). Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Fijnaut, Cyrille and Gary T. Marx. (1995). Under Cover: Police Surveillance in Comparative Perspective. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
• Marx, Gary T. (1988).Under Cover: Police Surveillance in America. Berkeley: Twentieth Century Fund/University of California Press.
• Ney York Civil Liberties Union. (2006). Who's Watching
• O'Reilly, Kenneth. (1988). "Racial Matters:" The FBI's Secret File on Black America, 1960—1972. New York: Free Press.
• Staples, William G. (2000). Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility in Postmodern Life. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Cavallaro, Andrea. (March 2007). Privacy in Video Surveillance. IEEE Xplore - Signal Processing Magazine. Retrieved from http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/courses/ee299/hws/hw4_files/privacy.pd. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
• Kampfner, John. (2012, October 3). Big Brother is watching you more closely than ever: CCTV cameras, the spies in our midst. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212536/CCTV-cameras-The-spies-midst.html#ixzz2OPdQPUjk. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
• Schools are gathering CCTV evidence illegally as every one breaks strict guidelines (2008, May 14). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566338/Schools-gathering-CCTV-evidence-illegally-breaks-strict-guidelines.html#ixzz2PTaqXytd. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
• Surveillance Camera Players (2010, April 12). Abuse of Surveillance Cameras. Retrieved from http://www.notbored.org/camera-abuses.html. Retrieved May 3, 2013.