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Is the U.S. Turning Into a Surveillance Society?

Big Brother is now a realistic possibility

The United States has now reached the point where a total "surveillance society" has become a realistic possibility, the American Civil Liberties Union warns in a new report.

"Many people still do not grasp that Big Brother surveillance is no longer the stuff of books and movies," said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program and a co-author of the report.

"Given the capabilities of today's technology, the only thing protecting us from a full-fledged surveillance society are the legal and political institutions we have inherited as Americans," he added. "Unfortunately, the September 11 attacks have led some to embrace the fallacy that weakening the Constitution will strengthen America."

The ACLU said that its report, Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society, is an attempt to step back from the daily march of stories about new surveillance programs and technologies and survey the bigger picture. The report argues that even as surveillance capacity grows like a "monster" in our midst, the legal "chains" needed to restrain that monster are being weakened. The report cites not only new technology but also erosions in protections against government spying, the increasing amount of tracking being carried out by the private sector, and the growing intersection between the two.

"From government watch lists to secret wiretaps -- Americans are unknowingly becoming targets of government surveillance," said Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California. "It is dangerous for a democracy that government power goes unchecked and for this reason it is imperative that our government be made accountable."

A recent illustration of the danger, according to the ACLU report, is the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, which seeks to sift through a vast array of databases full of personal information in the hunt for terrorism. "Even if TIA never materializes in its current form," Steinhardt said, "what this report shows is that the underlying trends are much bigger than any one program or any one controversial figure like John Poindexter."

Steinhardt said that Americans haven't yet felt the full potential of the new technology for invading privacy because of latent inefficiencies in how government and businesses handle information. "Database inefficiencies can't be expected to protect our privacy forever," said Steinhardt. "Eventually businesses and government agencies will settle on standards for tying together information, and gain the ability to monitor many of our activities -- either directly through surveillance cameras, or indirectly by analyzing the information trails we leave behind us as we go through life."

The report was authored by Steinhardt and Jay Stanley, Public Education Director of the Technology and Liberty Program.

DHS Privacy Office Echoes ACLU’s Concerns With Fusion Centers (12/22/2008)
WASHINGTON – A privacy impact assessment issued by the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office today officially validates concerns the ACLU raised last year about the dangers a network of intelligence “fusion centers” pose to privacy and civil liberties. An ACLU report entitled “What’s Wrong With Fusion Centers?” was published in November 2007 and updated earlier this year. The DHS privacy impact assessment released today echoes, sometimes word for word, the privacy concerns identified by the ACLU in these reports. The ACLU welcomes the findings of the assessment and hopes to assist the DHS privacy office improve privacy protections within these new institutions, which amount to nothing less than a full-fledged domestic intelligence system.

Inspector General's Findings on 'Joe the Plumber' Case Show State Needs Immediate Reform (11/19/2008)
CLEVELAND- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio pointed to findings released today by Ohio's inspector general as evidence that Governor Ted Strickland must take immediate action to mandate state agencies implement privacy protections. The inspector general found that Ohio Department of Job & Family Services Director Helen Jones-Kelly had no reason to search the records of Joseph Wurzelbacher, also known as "Joe the Plumber. Ms. Jones Kelly also stated that such searches of those in news headlines were common protocol for the office. News reports indicated that nearly a half dozen other state agencies conducted searches on Mr. Wurzelbacher's information without due cause.

Secure Flight Re-Engineering Welcomed but Watchlist Problems Remain Unaddressed (10/22/2008)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) improvements of the privacy protections in its Secure Flight program; however, the ACLU detailed significant problems that remain in the passenger prescreening program.

Expanding Border Powers Creating ‘Constitution-Free Zone’ That Covers Two-Thirds of Americans (10/22/2008)
WASHINGTON – The extraordinary powers of customs and border agents to invade the privacy of individuals at the U.S. border are spreading inland and creating what amounts to a “Constitution-free Zone” that covers fully two-thirds of the American population, the American Civil Liberties Union said today in a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

ACLU Event Puts Spotlight on Emerging “Constitution-Free Zone” in United States (10/20/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union will host an event this Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at the National Press Club, to spotlight the fact that government is turning vast swaths of our country into a “Constitution-Free Zone” in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can exercise extraordinary authority that would not normally be permitted under the Constitution.

Update - What's Wrong With Fusion Centers? (07/29/2008)

Report - What's Wrong With Fusion Centers? (12/12/2007)

What's Wrong With Fusion Centers - Executive Summary (12/05/2007)
A new institution is emerging in American life: Fusion Centers. Originally created to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence among different agencies, the scope of their mission has quickly expanded to cover "all crimes and all hazards." The types of information they seek for analysis has also broadened over time to include not just criminal intelligence, but public and private sector data.

AT&T Shareholder Resolution on NSA Spying (01/17/2007)

ACLU Backgrounder on ATS (01/10/2007)

ACLU FOIA Request on ATS (12/13/2006)

Comments on Export Controls (06/28/2005)

ACLU of Rhode Island Complaint (05/25/2005)

NIST FOIA on RFID chips in passports (04/26/2005)

State Department FOIA on RFID chips in passports (04/26/2005)

Sign On Letter to House Homeland Security, Intelligence and Judiciary Committees Opposing Funding for Domestic Spy Satellites (06/04/2008)

ACLU Letter to House Appropriations Committee, Intelligence Committee and Leadership Urging Against Funding for Spy Satellites (05/22/2008)

ACLU Comments to the Justice Department Regarding the Collection of DNA Under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 and Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (05/19/2008)

Testimony of Caroline Fredrickson, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia (04/29/2008)

ACLU Letter to the Senate Urging Support of S. 358, the “Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007” (04/23/2008)

Fuzzy Math, Fuzzier List (07/21/2008)

Questions to Ask About Fusions Centers (11/21/2007)
The questions below will help you make the most of a meeting with Department of Homeland Security and Fusion Center personnel.

AT&T Petition to SEC to Omit NSA Resolution (01/17/2007)

Response to AT&T SEC Petition from As You Sow (01/17/2007)

Automated Targeting System (11/22/2006)

E-Verify Backgrounder (06/20/2008)
Proposals are making their way through Congress, including the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088), that would dramatically expand the government’s flawed “E-Verify” program – ensuring that millions of Americans will be barred from working. If passed, every employer in the United States will be required to verify the eligibility to work of every current and prospective employee, including U.S. citizens.

ACLU Real ID Scorecard (01/17/2008)
Real ID regulations earn a failing grade. Find out why.

Fuzzy Math and the Real Cost of Real ID (01/16/2008)
A persistent criticism of the Real ID Act since its enactment in 2005 has been the charge that the law is a massive unfunded mandate. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially estimated that nationwide implementation would cost over $23 billion, roughly in line with estimates from independent groups like the National Governors Association and National Conference of State Legislators.

Fact Sheet: Final Real ID Regulations (01/11/2008)
Compliance Deadlines. States need to do almost nothing to comply with Real ID before 2014 (or 2017 for those over the age of 50)DHS will grant an extension until Dec 31, 2009 to any state which requests one.Citizens of states who become “materially compliant” will be able to use their license for all federal purposes until 2014 (or 2017 for those over the age of 50). Material compliance under the regulations is essentially what states are already doing in the issuance of licenses (and only a fraction of what the Real ID statute requires).

Surveillance Cameras and the Attempted London Attacks (07/05/2007)