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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.

ACLU-NC Applauds North Carolina House of Representatives for Passing House Bill 2136, Opposing the Controversial Federal Real ID Act as an Unfunded Mandate; Urges NC Senate to Act Quickly to Pass This Important Bill! (07/17/2008)
RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) today applauded the NC House of Representatives for taking an important stand against the controversial federal Real ID Act, a law imposing onerous new requirements for the issuance of drivers' licenses. House Bill 2136 passed overwhelmingly today with bipartisan support, by a vote of 69-45. Eleven (11) states have already passed legislation refusing to comply with Real ID, and if the NC Senate passes H. 2136 before the session adjourns this month, then North Carolina could become the twelfth (12th) state to block implementation of this law.

ACLU Warns Against Intrusive Deep Packet Inspection (07/17/2008)
Washington, DC – Americans’ online privacy was discussed today at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The hearing, titled “What Your Broadband Provider Knows About Your Web Use: Deep Packet Inspection and Communications Laws and Policies,” was meant to shed light on the practice of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) by Internet service providers (ISPs). DPI allows ISPs to track users’ Internet browsing activities and can be data mined for targeted marketing purposes. The ACLU urges members of the committee to be wary of the privacy landmines inherent in DPI.

Anti-REAL ID Leaders Vow to Press Forward on Repeal (07/17/2008)
PORTLAND, ME - Leaders of the repeal REAL ID effort vowed today that they will press forward and ensure that Maine takes no further steps toward compliance. Their optimism is fueled by the stunning turn-out of 652 volunteers who gathered 24,125 signatures from 398 towns across the state in the grassroots effort to repeal Maine's REAL ID compliance law.

Louisiana Becomes 11th State to Reject Federal Real ID Act (07/10/2008)
WASHINGTON – The state of Louisiana recently enacted legislation that prohibits the state from complying with the Real ID Act of 2005, federal legislation that mandates to all states that they create a national ID card. The Department of Homeland Security has been trying to gain support for the Act, but has faced growing resistance from the states. Louisiana is the 11th state to pass a law barring compliance with Real ID, and the 21st state to formally express its displeasure with the federal mandate. The legislation was passed by a vote of 72-22 in the Louisiana House, and by a vote of 36-2 in the Senate before Governor Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law.

ACLU to Mark One Millionth Addition to TSA Terrorist Watch List (07/02/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union will mark the addition of the one millionth name to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) terrorist watch list in a July 14th Press Club event. The roll-over to one million confirms the warnings the ACLU has been making for years: the TSA is pinning American security on a system of watch lists that are bloated, inefficient, ineffective and unfair.

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)

Science Under Siege (06/20/2005)
The Bush Administration's Assault on Academic Freedom and Scientific Inquiry

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

Comments on Export Controls (06/28/2005)

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

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

NIST 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)

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)

Why the "Registered Traveler" Program Will Not Make Airline Passengers Any Safer (08/17/2006)

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)