Abstract
The term surveillance originates from the French language and it means “watching over” Surveillance is the act of monitoring activities and behavior as well as people’s surreptitious changing of information. Surveillance mostly refers to a private observation of individuals or groups of people by government organizations. Also, disease surveillance is process of monitoring the disease progress in a given community. The term surveillance can as well be applied to distance observations by electronic equipment means. A good example of electronic equipments used for surveillance is a CCTV camera. Another surveillance method is through electronically transmitted information interceptions through phones calls and the internet traffic. In addition, simple low technique methods like human intelligence and postal interceptions may be used as for surveillance. This book examines, explores and painstakingly researches intensively of how electronic surveillance has affected how human being lives. This paper also exposes how man has fallen victim of his own discoveries as far as technology is concerned. It is in this paper where advantages and disadvantages of using electronic surveillance in security matters. Coupled with it is the list of annotated bibliographies which helps in understanding the paper well (Barbara Guttman and Edward A. Roback, Page 15, 34)
Introduction:
Man’s irresponsible activities like theft and murder has led to losses of both property and lives. As a result, technologists have been working day and nights to see that they curb these illegal activities by inventing powerful surveillance machines. The main reasons for the usage of surveillance systems are: performance review, legal liability and compliance, productivity measures and lastly and mainly, for security concerns. As far as law enforcement in governments is concerned, electronic surveillance has been very imperative when maintaining social control, monitoring threats and, when investigating/preventing criminal activities. Electronic surveillance has completely changed human’s lifestyle. The advent of useful programs like ADVISE and Total Information Awareness, invention of technologies like biometric software and high speed surveillance computers, effective application of laws, governments currently have unprecedented abilities of monitoring their subjects’ activities. However, many privacy groups and civil rights like ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation has expressed concerns about allowing increasing government surveillance to citizens that will result to a mass surveillance society with limited or non-limited personal freedoms. Fears like this have led to frequent lawsuits such as ATT v Hepting (Schermer Bart, Page 46-50)
Computer Surveillance
The immense majority of computer surveillance involves monitoring of traffic and data on the internet. For example in the U.S, under the law of Communications Assistance Act, all phones and broadband internet traffic like web traffic, emails, instance messages and others, are available for monitoring unimpeded real-time by the Federal law enforcement agencies. There are too many data on the internet for the human investigators to search through. The automated internet surveillance computers strain through the large amount of intercepted internet traffic and then identifies and reports to human investigators traffic which is considered interesting by using confident trigger phrases or words visiting some parts of web sites or communicating through chat or email with suspicious groups or individuals. Per year, billions of dollars are spent by agencies like NSA, FBI and the Information Awareness Office to purchase, develop, operate and implement systems such as NarusInsight, ECHELON and Carnivore to analyze and intercept all this data and extract the only information which seems to be useful to intelligence agencies and law enforcement. Computers are a surveillance target knows as the TEMPEST, involves reading the electromagnetic emanations from devices of computing in turn to extract data from them at distance of 100 meters (Darin D. & Siljander, Page98-108)
Mobile phones and telephones
According to Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, the unofficial and official tapping of telephone lines is spread widely. For instance in the U.S, the act of Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA) requires that all VoIP and telephone communications be available for real- time wiretapping by the intelligence agencies and law enforcement. Two main telephone companies in U.S. have contracts with FBI requiring them to keep phone calls records to be searched easily and accessible for the Federal agencies. Between the years 2003-2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent out more than one forty thousand National Security Council ordering the phone companies to hand information to them about their customers’ internet histories and callings. Human agents are all required to monitor most calls. Law intelligence and enforcement services in the United States and the U.K acquire technology to remotely activate microphones in cell phones by accessing the maintenance features so that to listen to the conversations that takes place to the person who holds the phone. Mobile phones are commonly used in collecting location data. Geographical location of the mobile phone and the person carrying it can easily be determined whether it’s used or not, using a multilateration technique to work out the differences in time for the signal to travel from cell phones to several towers near the mobile user. The controversy has emerged in U.S. over legality of techniques and particularly a warrant is required. One carrier records alone showed that in a certain year the federal law enforcement agencies called for customer location data eight million times. (Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, Page 74, 83)
Surveillance Cameras
Hayness & Klehr clarify that surveillance cameras are the video cameras used for purposes of observing an area. They are usually connected to the recording device IP network and watched by law enforcement officer/ a security guard. Recording equipments and cameras used are relatively expensive and require human security systems to monitor the camera footage. Nowadays with cheaper production techniques, it’s cheaper and less expensive to be used in security systems at home and for daily surveillance. Footage analysis is made easier by the automated software which organizes digital footage video into a searchable database by automated software video analysis like VIRAT and HumanID. The footage amount is also reduced by sensor motion that only records the motion which is detected. The use of surveillance cameras by businesses and governments has noticeably increased over the last ten years (Hayness E. & Klehr H. Page 67-80)
Karim & Nahoun explains that In the U.K there is about four point two million surveillance cameras, for example, one camera for every fourteen people. In the U.S. the Determinant of Homeland security gives the billions of dollars per year in the Homeland Security grants for the federal, local and state agencies to install the modern video surveillance equipment. For instance, in Chicago city the IL recently used five point one million dollars homeland security grant in installing addition of two hundred and fifty surveillance cameras, and connecting them to centralized monitoring center along with its network of over two thousand cameras in the program called Operation Virtual Shield. Richard Daley a Chicago Mayor has announced that Chicago City will have surveillance camera on each street corner by 2016. Several corporations like General Electric, Honeywell and IBM have been closely working Chinese government to set up millions of surveillance cameras all over China over one point three billion people.
The head of China’s office, Lin Jiang Huai of the information Security Technology credits the systems surveillance in the U.K and U.S as the inspiration of the Golden Shield project. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding the research project -Combat Zones That See- which will link up the cameras across a city to a monitoring centralized station, identifies and tracks vehicles and individuals as they are moving through the city and reports suspicious activity. Government initially claims that cameras are destined to be used for the traffic control but many end up using all of them for general surveillance. The development of centralized networks of the CCTV cameras has been argued by people because it presents a risk to civil liberties (Karim H. Vellani and Joel D. Nahoun, Page 145-168)
Electronic surveillance in workplaces
The advent of electronics due to the advancement in technology has been a great relieve for man since he can multi-task more easily and comfortably. As a result, every aspect of human life has been changed completely. The current era has given birth to lots of advanced electronic devices and gadgets. Those gadgets have helped in making work done more easily. Computers and internets have been connecting millions and millions of people world over. The discovery of various surveillance electronic gadgets has been a turning point in a man’s life due to their constant advancement in technology. A good example of where electronic surveillance has changed the way man lives is at workplaces. Workplaces surveillance has completely affected the way people work. Most of the employees have been unease of working freely under surveillance in their respective work places since they believe that their privacies have been violated. Some of the surveillance and monitoring systems which are in use in most work places include:
Audio and video surveillance and monitoring
The monitoring of workers through the use of computer and its contents (e.g. Internet connection keystroke speed and computer files)
Surveillance Ibid, and biometric monitoring
Electronic surveillance has changed how the world conducts and operates business. Nowadays, managers can hold staff meetings globally sitting in their offices. This has led to significantly costs cut expenses of travelling from one place to another. In America, corporate now has populace in telecommunicating programs and the number is continually growing. Electronic surveillance was created in order to improve the world, and also to act as a link of communications between countries. Recently technology surveillance permits people to move away from society such as working at home and sending emails. For this reason, electronic surveillance separates and alienates people instead of bringing them together. It has been used as an important tool for development of the world, but constant use of it makes most people separated. If you look at most people, they think that cell phones are essential for our lives, but ten years ago it was not so important. So this is how it has changed the lives of people. The other example is about the internet. Internet is the most essential source of information and almost every individual has access to it. The profits and facilities of surveillance like cell phone and internet makes our lives easier and comfortable. That is why people are becoming isolated which brings us together.
According to Durbin, Electronic surveillance is vital for the whole world and progress of human being, but excessively use of it can lead us to a selfish world where every person cares about himself/herself. Many scientists surveillance often work hard every day to improve the world through electronic surveillance. Nonetheless, they forget about social and family integration. Most people are more concentrated on their own job than spending time with their family, making friends and other many things. Therefore, it’s necessary for one to be aware and not to overuse it. For example, there exists cell phone that is allowed to search the web and receive emails. Also, many students and workers can do their work or study at home without interacting with people at school or work. Electronic surveillance is essential in our lives but we should maintain our social communication and skills with others. Electronic surveillance has transformed the world very quick and it’s always progressing. It has advanced in a way that people who are associated with technology feel that they are being outdated. From telephones that are portable to sending actual machine rover to another planet like mars have led to explosion of surveillance. All these reimbursements are technologically advances which has benefited our way of living. Nowadays to communicate to other people we do not have to pull over and look for public phones like it was some years back, because the inventive cellular phone has facilitated our life. Some years back we used to watch movies in theatres but today we simply log on to the internet and watch any movie we would like to watch. Electronic surveillance has really facilitated life for many individuals such as medical advances (Paul T. Durbin Page 47-69)
Weckert reiterates that electrical surveillance advances has brought about revolution in business world, affecting almost all aspects of working life. One can reach other person in a matter of seconds with the cost being increasingly irrelevant. The employees are no longer being physically with clients and co-workers but instead they can effectively communicate at a distance office, at home, in their car or when they are on airplane. Most activists argue that people are living in a surveillance society and even apparently roam freely through the countryside or a shopping center (Weckert J, Page 112-122)
People fear that new electronic surveillance will displace personnel into unfamiliar job functions. The arrival of information age has generated new surveillance capable of improving almost every aspect of cutting costs. The invention of fax machine, telephone has offered businesses more efficiency and flexibility. The quantity range of surveillance and data collection by private and public organizations has changed balance between state and citizens. This is because citizens feel less trusted and as a result they lose monitoring and collecting motivation.
Conclusion:
Technology has advanced to the greatest levels. Due to this fact, people should embrace it positively and be responsible of their own actions. We cannot deny the fact that surveillance devices have got negative effects on the user. The truth remains very clear that it is because of the same immorality man, that they must be put in place. The makers or technologists in surveillance industry should improvise devices that are less harmful to the users. Some of the devices are harmful to health people’s health and governments should intervene and save their people. Surveillance cameras in work places (especially in toilets) should be abolished so that workers will be at ease when performing their daily routines. Employers should recruit faithful and responsible workers who are capable of working under minimum supervision.
Annotated Bibliographies
Barbara Guttman and Edward A. Roback, (1995). An Introduction to Computer Security: The Nist hand book: Washington: US Government Printing Office:
In their book, “An introduction to computer security” These awards winning the authors focuses on electronic gadgets in general but specifically points out the advantages and disadvantages of cryptographic systems, technical key controls public and secret key electronic signatures and the key escrow in electronic surveillance. The book goes deeper into researching the most unresearched computers components which support electronic surveillance. For instance, the authors highlight how cryptography can give a strong encryption and thwart governments’ effort of performing electronic surveillance lawfully.
Darin D. Fredrickson and Raymond P. Siljander, (2004). Street Drug Investigation. Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Publishers.
The authors of this book are renowned writers. In this book, they extensively explore the pros and cons of during conspiracy investigations. The book explains how the governments have advantages and the ability of enforcing law which are capable of dismantling organizations that were previously difficult to destroy but and how it has been made a reality through electronic surveillance. The book also reiterates the importance of electronic surveillance during a courtroom evidence presentation since it entails direct or real evidence by linking the accused directly to the crime. As far as the disadvantages are concerned, the authors reflect how electronic surveillance is time consuming during conspiracy investigations. The book also explains how the system is expensive. The gadgets which make up a complete effective surveillance system require very expensive computers to enable them work effectively.
Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, (2004). A Companion to the City. Berlin: Blackwell Publishers
These authors have won several awards in Germany because of their good work. In this book “A Companion to the City” they are talking about how cities have improved because of the electronic surveillance. The transition from post industrialism to industrialism has been marked in small number of major cities. The changing of socio-economic structure surveillance over a period of years shows clear picture of dependable upward shift in occupational class structure of economically active population.
Hayness Earl and Klehr Harvey, (2009). Early Cold War Spies.
This book reflects back on the times of wars and how electronic surveillance was used to curb espionage. The book however explains how soldiers felt manipulated by the secretly planted surveillance cameras and they even protested to have them removed from the camps. The authors also reveals how other countries protested against the United States of America for the satellites which United States put in the universe to strategically monitor other parts of the world. However, the book explains how the US government considers not using surveillance evidence against espionage suspects since it violates their human rights.
Karim H. Vellani and Joel D. Nahoun, (2001). Applied Crime Analysis. UK: Butterworth-Heinmann
This is a book which was written by two of the most experienced authors who have written couple of books. This book specifically touches on matters of crime prevention techniques. The book categorically indicates that security measures fall under heading of procedures and policies. The book also highlights on the applicability of electronic surveillance systems when enhancing security. In its categories of security enhancement, the book involves the purchasing and installation of physical security measures like the electronic surveillance systems, closed-circuit television, metal detectors, electronic entry and card readers. The book reveals how employees in work places are unable to feel at ease and work freely. Authors in this book states that workers feel like; they have been enslaved because they always think that they are watched by someone.
Paul T. Durbin, (2003).Technology and responsibility. N.Y: Springer Publisher.
Paul Durbin is one of the best authors in U.S where he has won many awards including the one which he won by writing this book.
He explains how one can stay at home and work without going outside. Also he writes that one can be protected by electronic surveillance. Citizens can communicate using electronic mail and can have access to the world’s information banks.
Schermer Bart, (2007).Software Agents, Surveillance, and the Right to Privacy. Amsterdam: Leiden University Press
The author in this book dwells largely on the cons of electronic surveillance as far as the right to privacy is concerned. The author is categorical when he states that surveillance forces people to rethink of legal frameworks, especially when the right to privacy is infringed. He also suggests of significant ways of prompting needs for the rules that will deal with qualitative and specific effects of electronic surveillance. The author also specifies the negative sides of agent enabled surveillance. He categorically mitigates that the negative effects which come as a result of electronic surveillance highly invokes the right to privacy.
Weckert John, (2005). Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace. UK: Idea Group Publishers. John Weckert is one of the world’s best writers of all times in matters of technology. In this edition “Electronic Monitoring in the work place” Weckert chooses to be categorical on whether he supports of opposes the existence of electronic surveillance devices. The author touches on both pros and cons even though he seems to dwell more on their usage. He explains the reasons for using electronic surveillance and according to him; the top reason as to why surveillance is applied is due to legal liability and compliance, productivity measures, performance review and for security reasons.
Works Cited
Barbara Guttman and Edward A. Roback, (1995). An Introduction to Computer Security: The Nist hand book: Washington: US Government Printing Office
Darin D. Fredrickson and Raymond P. Siljander, (2004). Street Drug Investigation. Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Publishers.
Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, (2004). A Companion to the City. Berlin: Blackwell Publishers
Hayness Earl and Klehr Harvey, (2009). Early Cold War Spies.
Karim H. Vellani and Joel D. Nahoun, (2001). Applied Crime Analysis. UK: Butterworth-Heinmann
Paul T. Durbin, (2003).Technology and responsibility. N.Y: Springer Publisher.
Schermer Bart, (2007).Software Agents, Surveillance, and the Right to Privacy. Amsterdam: Leiden University Press
Weckert John, (2005). Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace. UK: Idea Group Publishers.
