All photos, which were taken in worrying proximity to our offices, by Marianne Eloise
We're living in a golden age of surveillance. Even as the debate around populations "going dark" rages on in both the UK and US (i.e. citizens using encrypted messaging and the difficulty law enforcement can have when trying to obtain personal data), pretty much everyone carries a tracking device in their pocket – one they'll go to great lengths to keep fully charged at all times – and many seem eager to hand over more and more data about themselves.
Advertisement
More good news: 2017 isn't looking great for the privacy conscious. In fact, here are just a few of the ways spies, cops and companies may snoop on you in the coming year, as well as a few examples of the stuff UK censors may block too, just for an extra bit of fun.
YOUR BROWSING HISTORY
In November, the UK passed a highly controversial surveillance law called the Investigatory Powers Act. As part of that, certain internet service providers (ISPs) – companies like Vodafone or BT, for example – will be forced to store a year's worth of all customers' browsing data, in what the government has dubbed Internet Connection Records (ICRs). In other words, your ISP is going to know every site you visit, and every web service you use. Checking your email, a scroll through a drug support forum and those frequent visits to your porn site of choice will all be collated.This vast swath of data will then be available to a slew of government agencies. This includes the usual roster of security and law enforcement agencies, but also some pretty obscure ones, such as the Foods Standards Agency.
Automatic Numberplate Recognition used by the Met police
THE PORN SITES YOU VISIT
Not only will the government and ISPs know which porn sites you're into, they may also block access to some of them. Under the Digital Economy Bill, which is currently going through parliament, ISPs would be forced to restrict sites from hosting various types of content.The power is included in the section of the Bill dealing with age verification checks, which are supposed to stop children from accessing pornographic websites. In short, the Bill bans anything being made available online which wouldn't ordinarily be available on a commercial DVD.
Advertisement
MPs recently also suggested blocking access to sites which encourage self-harm or give advice on how to commit suicide, but it's not clear yet if that plan will have any movement.
YOUR PHONE, COMPUTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
Also included in the Investigatory Powers Act was explicit authorisation for police to hack suspects' phones or computers. So-called "equipment interference" can range from a police officer using someone's Facebook email address and password to log into an account, right up to offensive software that takes control of a device.Of course, the country's spies also hack too, and in the Act they were given the ability to apply for "bulk" equipment interference warrants. These don't concern any one particular person, or even a group of people, but can be used to indiscriminately hack devices in, say, a given area, potentially also hitting innocent users' devices.
ALL THAT MASS SURVEILLANCE THEY WERE DOING BEFORE, BUT LEGALLY
The last main bit of the Investigatory Powers Act was that it gave a much stronger legal footing to the country's bulk powers, including some of those revealed by Edward Snowden back in 2013. These include hoovering up emails, Facebook posts and more. Although courts have found that the UK was using these powers unlawfully for over a decade, the Act conveniently makes all of that stuff totally legal.The UK's powers also include "bulk personal datasets", which are spying databases of information gleaned from various sources – medical records, travel plans, passport information – which security and intelligence agencies can then exploit. According to the government's own documentation, these datasets contain information on people, "the majority of whom are unlikely to be of intelligence interest".
Advertisement
YOUR PHONE LOCATION AND ALL OF YOUR TEXTS
In the US there is plenty of evidence of cops buying and using IMSI-catchers, briefcase sized devices that sweep up the unique identification code of a phone (the IMSI), and, in some cases, text messages and calls, too. Until recently, there were only a couple of reports about UK police forces purchasing the same sort of key.That changed after a VICE News investigation in January of 2016, and last month with an investigation published by local media outlet The Bristol Cable, which found that many more police forces had bought the gear than previously thought. According to a document published in February of this year detailing the Metropolitan Police's major contracts, the force spent over £1 million on IMSI-catcher related equipment; clearly, police forces are still going to use this technology, even if they're not super-keen on talking about it.
YOUR EMAILS, PROBABLY
When IMSI-catchers aren't enough, law enforcement might start turning to "app interception systems". These are similar devices, but instead of working on the cellular network they attack your smart phone over WiFi, hoovering up social media passwords, emails and more.It's not clear who has bought them yet. The FBI recently refused to say whether it had forked out the cash for one earlier this year. But according to glossy brochures published by companies pushing the hardware, police could deploy them in, say, airports or on border crossings.
Advertisement
AND ALL THA STUFF YOU'RE WILLINGLY GIVING TO PRIVATE COMPANIES
ONE EMAIL. ONE STORY. EVERY WEEK. SIGN UP FOR THE VICE NEWSLETTER.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.
