Big Brother Is Watching You

Big Brother is Watching You

        Every day, nearly every single person communicates with each other electronically whether it is via email, text or phone call. It is quite nearly impossible to go a day without using a cell phone or personal computer; some cannot live without our internet-connected devices. Through all of this communication, there is a lot of very personal information is revealed without thinking about whether or not there can or will be an impact of doing this. In June of 2013, the impact became apparent when Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, became a whistleblower and revealed mass surveillance programs happening in the United States and other countries where the communications of all citizens, and all the data therein, are being recorded and collected at all times (Snowden). While some have been suspecting that this has been happening for years, this is the first time that concrete evidence has been revealed to prove that government surveillance occurs in the modern era. This revelation no doubt was controversial with many citizens feeling many different ways about it. The popular street artist Banksy decided to do a piece about government surveillance where there are three men with various recording equipment surrounding a phone booth and recording what is happening within the phone booth. I believe that this art piece effectively points out the underlying problems with both the very idea of government surveillance.

        Banksy’s piece is found in Cheltenham, England and is less than five miles from the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters’ (GCHQ) surveillance network building.  The piece involves three pained men and a pained wire on a wall behind a tangible, nondescript phone booth with satellite dish hanged on the wall. The three men are all life sized and wearing brown trench coats and fedoras with a white shirt, black tie, black slacks and black sunglasses and are all holing recording devices pointed towards the phone booth in from of them. The two men on the outsides appear to be holding microphones attached to recording devices while the man immediately to the right of the phone booth is holding a radio device in one hand and a mini-satellite in the other. Behind all three of the men is a painted wire running up the wall to a satellite dish which is pointed towards the nearby headquarters for the nation’s mass surveillance program.

        To me, the most interesting part of this piece of street art is built in perspective that if someone is just walking on the sidewalk going towards the phone booth, they will not see the men spying on whoever is inside the phone booth. The only way someone will see the men spying is by standing away from the wall and looking directly towards it. I do believe that the artist did this intentionally to show how an individual will only see these sorts of surveillance programs if they are actively looking for it, not if they are just “walking by.” Another one of my favorite parts about this piece is the sense of discomfort it will create for whoever happens to be using this phone booth. After seeing the men spying on whoever may be inside of the phone booth, even if the men are not real, I do not believe that many people would use this to make any calls because of them.

        Banksy’s subject in this piece is the mass surveillance programs, which first began in the United States around the early 20th century. Two of the first mass surveillance programs began in America under Project SHAMROCK and ECHELON in 1945 and the late 1960s, respectively. Project SHAMROCK began as a collection of all telegraphy via Western Union that entered or exited the States and all of this data would be shared between the FBI, CIA, DoD, Secret Service, and what is now considered the predecessor to the DEA. ECHELON was a program based on signal interception where the countries in NATO, Australia, and New Zealand spied on each other’s citizens then shared the found information, and they did it this way so they would not technically be violating any domestic surveillance laws. While these projects may have begun with good intentions, they have set a terrible precedent that is still seen today. These projects, and all the ones that have followed since, have needlessly intruded into the lives of law abiding citizens. Furthermore, these classified programs set a terrifying precedent for future government operations and treats every single citizen as if they a criminal.

        The mass surveillance programs happening behind the backs of citizens all over the world affects them all and puts everyone under a high level of scrutiny that is completely unwarranted. Even if one has nothing to hide, the government analyzes all communications to assess if this man or woman is a threat in any way. While doing this, the government treats all citizens in an unfair way as if they were criminals. The act of mass surveillance treats all citizens as a suspect of a crime where all aspects of their lives are suspicious, and puts citizens into a position where they are guilty until proven innocent. In the United States Supreme Court case Weeks v. United States, the court set up the exclusionary rule which, “excludes from trial any evidence obtained by violating the Fourth Amendment, regardless of whether the evidence shows a criminal defendant’s guilt,” but the US seems to circumvent this rule when it comes to their programs of mass surveillance (Brown). Additionally, it is possible for the government to pursue an individual on an idea they have created that has no real merit in actual evidence. An implication of guilt occurs with every private communication that is sent, and is impossible to avoid.

In the United States of America, at the very least, the mass surveillance programs themselves can possibly be considered both unlawful and unconstitutional. The Fourth Amendment on the United States Constitution states that it is, “the right of the people to be secure … against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause”. When analyzed, the ongoing mass surveillance programs do seem to be in clear violation of the Constitution. Communications being recorded, collected and stored does seem like an “unreasonable search and seizure”. There seems to be no “probable cause” to justify this because citizens that this impacts lead normal, mundane lives for the overwhelming majority. Accompanying this, the maxim, “Innocent until proven guilty”, is in violation as mentioned above, yet is a part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written by the United Nations. Despite the violations that occur because of mass surveillance they are allowed to exist as a means to heighten national security.