“The threat is that the public will know what the government is up to. Any system of power is going to want to keep free from public surveillance, that's natural. Its shouldn't be but, its very natural.” KnowsWantGovernmentNaturalThreatSurveillance Author:Noam Chomsky
“People are starting to be very skeptical of the Facebook algorithm and all kinds of data surveillance.” PeopleKindStartingAll KindsDataSkepticalSurveillanceAlgorithms Author:Cathy O'Neil
“Total surveillance is increasingly the general condition of society as a whole.” WholeConditionsSurveillance Author:Michel Foucault
“I think most Americans are against illegal surveillance of their emails and telephone calls by the government.” ThinkingGovernmentIllegalTelephonesEmailSurveillance Author:Ralph Nader
“When you say a wall, you mean a wall. You want to build a fence, you say fence. You don't use it as a euphemism for a virtual, say surveillance from hot air balloons that are floating over the border which some people have advocated.” PeopleWantMeanUseAirWallHotBordersFenceFloatingSurveillanceBalloonsEuphemismHot AirAir BalloonsHot Air Balloons Author:Steve King
“That way when we pick people up there they don't really have an excuse. They weren't out there picking mushrooms. They were illegally in the United States. It will simplify the adjudication and will expedite the voluntary return, and it will allow our border patrol officers to patrol both sides of that wall. And we can put surveillance devices on top of the wall, vibration detectors and other devices.” PeopleWayStatesSidesUnitedUnited StatesWallReturnPicksExcuseBordersDevicesOfficersBoth SidesVibrationsSurveillanceSimplifyMushroomsBorder Patrol Author:Steve King
“I was hoping to catch [Vladimir] Putin in a lie - like what happened to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper [in his congressional testimony]. So I asked Putin basically the same questions about Russian mass surveillance. I knew he's doing the same thing, but he denied it.” LyingHappenedDirectorsMassDeniedTestimonyPutinSurveillanceNational Intelligence Author:Edward Snowden
“In the United States, there hasn't been much legislative change on the surveillance issue, although there are some tepid proposals.” StatesUnitedUnited StatesIssuesProposalSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“The surveillance revelations are critically important because they revealed that our rights are being redefined in secret, by secret courts that were never intended to have that role - without the consent of the public, without even the awareness of the majority of our political representatives.” ImportantPoliticalSecretRolesRightsAwarenessMajorityCourtRevelationsRepresentativesConsentSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“Look at the reactions of liberal governments to the surveillance revelations during the last years. In the United States, we've got this big debate, but we've got official paralysis - because they're the ones who had their hand caught most deeply in the cookie jar.” YearsLooksStatesHandsBigsGovernmentLastsUnitedUnited StatesCaughtDebateReactionsOfficialsRevelationsLast YearCookiesSurveillanceJarsParalysisCookie Jars Author:Edward Snowden
“Many of our ally states don't have these constitutional protections - in the UK, in New Zealand, in Australia. They've lost the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause. All of those countries, in the wake of these surveillance revelations, rushed through laws that were basically ghostwritten by the National Security Agency to enable mass surveillance without court oversight, without all of the standard checks and balances that one would expect.” CountryStatesLawLostCausesSecurityBalanceMassStandardsCourtProtectionChecksAgencyRevelationsAustraliaAlliesNational SecuritySurveillanceUnreasonableNew ZealandOversightSeizuresProbable CauseUnreasonable SearchesUnreasonable Search And Seizures Author:Edward Snowden
“When we think in the context of the last decade's infringements upon personal liberty and the last year's revelations, it's not about surveillance. It's about liberty.” ThinkingYearsLastsLibertyDecadesRevelationsLast YearSurveillancePersonal LibertyInfringement Author:Edward Snowden
“It's fascinating to see how things have changed. Basically, every time the US government gets off the soapbox of the Sunday-morning talk shows, the average American's support for the surveillance revelations grows.” ShowsGovernmentGrowsMorningSupportChangedAverageRevelationsFascinatingSundaySurveillanceTalk ShowsThings Have ChangedSunday MorningSoapbox Author:Edward Snowden
“I have used mass surveillance to target people, so I do know how it works.” PeopleKnowsUsedKnow HowMassTargetSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“What we're really debating is not security versus liberty, it's security versus surveillance. When we talk about electronic interception, the way that surveillance works is it preys on the weakness of protections that are being applied to all of our communications. The manner in which they're protected.” WayLibertySecurityCommunicationWeaknessProtectionProtectedVersusPreySurveillanceInterceptions Author:Edward Snowden
“If we don't do anything, if we go along with the status quo, we are going to have a mass surveillance world.” IfsWorldMassStatus QuoSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“If even one country, an Iceland for example, defects from this global legislative bargain and says no, we're not going to enforcement mass surveillance here. We're not going to do that. That's where all of the data centres, all the service providers in the world will relocate to. And I think that gives us a real chance to see a more liberal than authoritarian future.” IfsThinkingWorldGivingRealCountryChanceExampleMassDataCentreEnforcementDefectsSurveillanceBargainsProvidersIcelandService Providers Author:Edward Snowden
“When we have some horrible terrorist attacks happen in some country we see in the recording that follows, that the intelligence community already knew about these people in advance. We know that these countries were involved in intelligence sharing premiums, that they benefited from mass surveillance, and yet they didn't stop the attacks. Yet at the same time we immediately see intelligence officials running to the newspapers and claiming that we need more surveillance, that we need more intrusion, that we need more expense of powers because it could have stopped an attack.” PeopleKnowsNeedsCountryHappensRunningCommunityInvolvedMassTerroristNewspapersHorribleOfficialsExpensesSurveillanceTerrorist AttacksIntrusionIntelligence Community Author:Edward Snowden
“When we look at the full-on mass surveillance watching everyone in the country, in the United States, it doesn't work. It didn't stop the attacks in Boston. The marathon bombings. Where again, we knew who these individuals were. It didn't stop the Underwear Bomber, whose father walked into an embassy and warned us about this individual before he walked onto an airplane. And it's not going to stop the next attacks either. Because again, they're not public safety programmes. They're spying programmes. They are valuable for spying.” LooksCountryStatesNextFatherIndividualUnitedUnited StatesMassSafetyValuableWorking ItAirplaneBostonMarathonSurveillanceUnderwearBombingProgrammesBombersEmbassyPublic Safety Author:Edward Snowden
“We have to argue forcefully and demand that the government recognise that these programmes do not prevent - mass surveillance does not prevent acts of terrorism.” DoeGovernmentDemandMassTerrorismArguingSurveillanceRecogniseProgrammes Author:Edward Snowden
“We have to recognise that rights are being violated. The United Nations actually filed a report that found that that was the case, that mass surveillance is a violation of rights.” FoundNationsUnitedCasesRightsMassReportsUnited NationsViolationSurveillanceRecognise Author:Edward Snowden
“We have to call mass surveillance mass surveillance. We can't let governments around the world redefine, and sort of weasel their way out of it by saying this is bulk collection.” WorldWayGovernmentLetting GoMassAround The WorldCollectionsSurveillanceWeasels Author:Edward Snowden
“The issue I brought forward most clearly was that of mass surveillance, not of surveillance in general.” IssuesMassSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“A political decision has been made not to irritate the intelligence community. The spy agencies are really embarrassed, they're really sore - the revelations really hurt their mystique. The last ten years, they were getting the Zero Dark Thirty treatment - they're the heroes. The surveillance revelations bring them back to Big Brother kind of narratives, and they don't like that at all.” YearsKindHas BeensMadeBigsLastsPoliticalCommunityHurtDarkDecisionBrotherHeroTenNarrativeThirtyAgencyRevelationsTreatmentZeroEmbarrassedSpySurveillanceMystiqueIntelligence CommunityPolitical DecisionsZero Dark Thirty Author:Edward Snowden
“Someone recently talked about mass surveillance and the NSA revelations as being the atomic moment for computer scientists. The atomic bomb was the moral moment for physicists. Mass surveillance is the same moment for computer scientists, when they realize that the things they produce can be used to harm a tremendous number of people.” PeopleMomentsUsedRealizingNumbersMoralProduceComputerMassScientistHarmRevelationsBombsPhysicistSurveillanceNsaAtomic Bomb Author:Edward Snowden
“When I was working in Japan, I created a system for ensuring that intelligence data was globally recoverable in the event of a disaster. I was not aware of the scope of mass surveillance. I came across some legal questions when I was creating it. My superiors pushed back and were like, "Well, how are we going to deal with this data?" And I was like, "I didn't even know it existed."” KnowsWellsDealsEventsCreatingMassDisasterSuperiorsDataJapanScopeSurveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“[Bill] Binney designed ThinThread, an NSA program that used encryption to try to make mass surveillance less objectionable. It would still have been unlawful and unconstitutional.” TryingHas BeensStillsUsedMassProgramBillsSurveillanceNsaUnconstitutionalUnlawfulEncryption Author:Edward Snowden
“Candidates run for election on campaign promises, but once they're elected they renege on those promises, which happened with President [Barack] Obama on Guantánamo, the surveillance programs and investigating the crimes of the Bush administration. These were very serious campaign promises that were not fulfilled.” RunningPresidentHappenedCrimeSeriousPromiseProgramElectionCampaignsAdministrationBarackCandidatesFulfilledSurveillancePresident Barack ObamaInvestigating Author:Edward Snowden
“I considered bringing forward information about these surveillance programs prior to the election, but I held off because I believed that [Barack] Obama was genuine when he said he was going to change things. I wanted to give the democratic process time to work.” GivingSaidWantedProcessInformationProgramElectionDemocraticGenuineBarackSurveillanceDemocratic Process Author:Edward Snowden
“Moreover, it is clear that the era of the information bomb, the era of aerial warfare, the era of the RMA and global surveillance is also the era of the integral accident.” ClearInformationAccidentsErasBombsWarfareSurveillance Author:Paul Virilio
“I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union, for example. He would have closely followed the Arab Spring. And certainly he would be very critical of the massive surveillance state that has emerged in America in the last five to 10 years. He would have approved of the movements trying to gain some accountability in U.S. foreign policy, such as drones being (used) on innocent people. I think he would march against drones.” PeopleThinkingTryingYearsStatesWould BeLastsAmericaUsedPoorFivePolicyExampleMovementKingsSpringGainsConcernedUnionsTrackJewCriticalInnocentCollectivesTreatmentAccountabilityMarchMassiveSovietForeign PolicySoviet UnionLutherSurveillanceApprovedDronesArab SpringInsurgencySurveillance State Author:Cornel West
“Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance.” KingsVictimSolidarityLutherSurveillance Author:Cornel West
“We're being subject to incredible amounts of surveillance, the police are taking on draconian powers and violating our rights. I think this attempt to protect ourselves is ultimately going to founder because people don't like living inside prisons.” PeopleThinkingRightsSubjectsAmountProtectPolicePrisonIncrediblesFoundersSurveillanceDraconian Author:Mohsin Hamid
“The atmosphere of fear and security manipulated by the government has converted American citizens into terrorist suspects who are all subject to arbitrary and unreviewable detention and surveillance.” GovernmentSubjectsSecurityCitizensTerroristAtmosphereSuspectsArbitrarySurveillanceAmerican CitizensDetention Author:Richard A. Falk
“The internet is like a surround system, a landscape at its most benign, a closed system of surveillance and self-surveillance at its more sinister. Something we can no longer imagine an outside of.” SelfImagineInternetLandscapeSurroundSurveillanceSinisterBenign Author:Tom Burr
“Police in Washington D.C. are now using cameras to catch drivers who go through red lights. Many congressmen this week opposed the use of the red light cameras incorrectly assuming they were being used for surveillance at local brothels.” UseHumorLightFunnyUsedComedyWeekRedPoliceCamerasAssumingLocalsDriversPolicemenSurveillanceCongressmanBrothelsRed LightsSurveillance Cameras Author:Dennis Miller
“One of the downsides of being famous is that folks pay far more attention to you than they should. American celebrities are constantly under surveillance, and every word they say is subject to scrutiny. So, be careful what you wish for if you desire fame. No human being should be a goldfish.” IfsShouldHumansDesireWishHuman BeingsPayAttentionSubjectsFameFolksCarefulBe CarefulSurveillanceScrutinyBeing FamousGoldfishCareful What You Wish For Author:Bill O'Reilly
“I worked with the March of Dimes to enact legislation for a national birth defects prevention program to provide surveillance, research and preventive services aimed at reducing the rate of birth defects.” BirthResearchProgramRateMarchLegislationDefectsReducingSurveillanceDimesPreventionBirth Defects Author:Solomon Ortiz
“Bounty hunters these days - because everything is so sophisticated with computers and surveillance, it doesn't have to be a one-man-army-type guy who goes in and kicks a door down.” MenGuyDoorsTypeComputerArmyThese DaysKicksOne ManSophisticatedHuntersSurveillanceBountyBounty Hunter Author:Mickey Rourke
“Incidentally, our railroad facilities are under video surveillance by the federal police. However, the federal and state governments will have to determine whether video surveillance shouldn't be significantly expanded to a certain degree.” StatesGovernmentCertainDegreesPoliceDetermineVideoFacilitySurveillanceRailroadsState Government Author:Otto Schily
“I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.” PeopleWorldI CanGovernmentLibertyBuildingInternetConscienceMachinesAround The WorldPrivacyMassiveSurveillanceNsaGovernment SpyingInternet FreedomGovernment Surveillance Author:Edward Snowden
“The NSA routinely lies in response to congressional inquiries about the scope of surveillance in America.” AmericaLyingResponseInquiryScopeSurveillanceNsa Author:Edward Snowden
“Facebook is not your friend, it is a surveillance engine.” EnginesSurveillance Author:Richard Stallman
“China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism. In China, I am constantly under surveillance. Even my slightest, most innocuous move can - and often is - censored by Chinese authorities.” TwoDifferentMovingAttitudeOpinionAuthorityCriticismChinaChineseSurveillanceOften IsCensoredDifferent Attitude Author:Ai Weiwei
“Racism is a moral catastrophe, most graphically seen in the prison industrial complex and targeted police surveillance in black and brown ghettos rendered invisible in public discourse.” BlackMoralRacismPolicePrisonComplexesInvisibleBrownDiscourseCatastropheSurveillanceGhettoPublic Discourse Author:Cornel West
“In China, Internet surveillance has already become a profitable industry. In fact, a growing number of private firms eagerly assist the local police by aggregating this data and presenting it in easy-to-browse formats, allowing humans to pursue more analytical tasks.” HumansFactsEasyNumbersGrowingIndustryInternetTasksPoliceChinaLocalsPursueDataFirmAllowingProfitableSurveillancePresentingFormat Author:Evgeny Morozov
“Surveillance cameras might reduce crime - even though the evidence here is mixed - but no studies show that they result in greater happiness of everyone involved.” ShowsMightResultsStudyGreaterCrimeInvolvedEvidenceCamerasSurveillanceSurveillance Cameras Author:Evgeny Morozov
“Openness and participation are antidotes to surveillance and control.” OpennessParticipationAntidoteSurveillance Author:Howard Rheingold
“You can't assume any place you go is private because the means of surveillance are becoming so affordable and so invisible.” MeanBecomingAssumingInvisibleSurveillanceAffordablePlaces You Go Author:Howard Rheingold