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There are many ways that advances in technology such as smart phones, GPS tracking and the internet have vastly improved modern society. However, a decade or so into the technological age, we’re also very familiar with the cost to our privacy that came along with many of these advances. It used to be that most of these concerns were surrounding identity theft and cyber criminals. Unfortunately, it appears the government is also realizing that the more information we share online, the easier it is for them to access.

The annual Intelligence Support Systems (ISS) World Americas conference recently took place in Washington, DC. The conference included representatives from intelligence agencies and law enforcement to discuss “lawful interception” techniques, including GPS tracking, computer hacking and covert bugging. The conference was closed to members of the public and media.

“Traditionally communications flowed through phone companies, but consumers are increasingly using communications that operate [outside] their jurisdiction. This changes the way interception is carried out . . . the current method of choice would seem to be spyware, or trojan horses,” explained a Washington-based privacy and surveillance expert, Chris Soghoian. “There’s now a thriving outsourced surveillance industry and they are there to meet the needs and wants of countries from around the world, including those who are more – and less – respectful to human rights.”

Whenever you bring up privacy concerns with GPS tracking or phone tapping, especially when it comes to the government, someone will inevitably argue that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Chris Soghoian, who was a former government employee and attended an ISS conference in 2010 offers a counter point. “When there are five or six conferences held in closed locations every year, where telecommunications companies, surveillance companies and government ministers meet in secret to cut deals, buy equipments, and discuss the latest methods to intercept their citizens’ communications – that I think meets the level of concern,” adds Soghoian.

“They say that they are doing it with the best of intensions. And they say that they are doing it in a way that they have checks and balances and controls to make sure that these technologies are not being abused. But decades of history show that surveillance powers are abused – usually for political purposes.”

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor