The Secrets of Government Surveillance: How You're Being Watched

The scope of modern surveillance extends far beyond the targeted monitoring of suspected criminals or foreign agents to encompass mass data collection that captures the communications, movements, and activities of entire populations. Intelligence agencies routinely collect telephone metadata, internet communications, financial transactions, and location data from millions of people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing, creating vast databases that can be searched and analyzed for patterns that might indicate suspicious behavior or future threats.

Legal frameworks that govern surveillance activities often provide broad authorities that can be interpreted to justify extensive monitoring while lacking meaningful oversight mechanisms that might prevent abuse or ensure accountability. Laws written for earlier eras of communication technology have been stretched to cover modern digital systems, while secret courts and classified legal interpretations can authorize surveillance activities that would shock the public if their scope were fully understood.