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Are you afraid the government could be spying on you? Though we’d like
to think otherwise, the government has many tools at its disposal to
snoop. And they use them, often without warrant or probable cause. Since
we live in an ever interconnected world, it’s much easier for government
agencies to listen in on your conversations, watch you in your home, and
put together a detailed file on everything about you. They probably know
more than you might think. From your family history to your education to
how many times a night you get up to go to the bathroom, it’s all there,
stored in a well-protected server. If this is surprising, you might want
to sit down. Here are some scary ways the government could be spying on
you.
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Smart TV
If you own a Smart TV (a TV that connects directly to the internet),
which nowadays is pretty much every TV made, the government could be
listening in. According to WikiLeaks, CIA hackers have attempted to
break into these TVs, utilizing the microphones inside. |
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Social Media
The local police, the FBI, the CIA, and probably most government
agencies regularly monitor people’s social media. Your social media
accounts provide a huge amount of information about you, giving them a
better picture. Even if you have a private account, they’ll still could
find a way to get around it. At one point the U.S. government created a
fake Facebook account of a woman for their social media investigations.
They eventually were caught and had to pay her reparations. |
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Security Cameras
Today, businesses and government agencies have plenty of security
cameras inside their buildings and outside, monitoring city streets. The
government uses their own cameras for their investigations and can
easily gain access to business security cameras as well. So, if you see
a security camera, chances are…they’re watching. |
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Biometrics
Know how you can open your iPhone X just by it recognizing your face?
That’s biometrics, and it’s become extremely sophisticated. The
government has used this technology and its data to create a massive
face recognition database. This means that if your face shows up on a
security camera, your profile will instantly pop up, giving the
government everything they need to know about you. |
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Credit Cards
Along with loyalty program cards, your credit card transactions are also
recorded and monitored. The NSA specifically is collecting this
information. Of course, they say it’s to help stop terrorism, but many
fear plenty of innocent Americans have fallen prey to the data
collection.
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Text Messages
You’re text messages aren’t safe, either. According to The Guardian, the
NSA collects 200 million text messages a day.
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Phone Records
Naturally, if they’re collecting your texts, they’re also after your
phone records. Recently, Reuters reported that the NSA tripled their
collection of phone records in 2017.
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Business Records
Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows any government agency, like the
FBI, to collect business records, medical records, or bank statements,
if it involves a terrorist investigation. They do not need to show any
probable cause.
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