mass surveillance
Watching everyone constantly
Mass surveillance is the monitoring of entire populations or large groups rather than targeted individuals.
Governments conduct mass surveillance through programs that collect phone records, internet activity, or communications data in bulk: The leaked documents revealed mass surveillance of citizens' emails.
The term often carries critical connotations, implying overreach or violation of privacy rights.
Evoking oppressive surveillance states
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
- panopticonCentral-view prison structure
- police stateRegime controlling through surveillance
- totalitarianismState controls everything absolutely
authoritarianism · 1984 · thoughtcrime · oppression · civil liberties · human rights · privacy invasion · censorship
Covert phone surveillance
- eavesdroppingSecretly listening to others
- interceptionSeizing something in transit
- intelligence gatheringObtaining secret information systematically
- spyingSecretly observing others
infiltration · bugging · signals intelligence · SIGINT · informants · covert operations · NSA · Five Eyes
Surveillance camera network
- facial recognitionAutomated identification by face
- biometricsBody-based identity verification
- data miningExtracting insights from datasets
- metadataDescriptive information about content
drones · algorithms · AI · encryption · cybersecurity · smart city · social media monitoring · RFID
Obligation for one's actions
- transparencyState of being see-through
- watchdogGuard or monitor
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
- judicial reviewCourts invalidating unconstitutional acts
warrant · congressional oversight · checks and balances · due process · legal framework · reform · audit · compliance
Orwellian
Evoking oppressive surveillance states
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
- panopticonCentral-view prison structure
- police stateRegime controlling through surveillance
totalitarianism · authoritarianism · 1984 · thoughtcrime · oppression · civil liberties · human rights · privacy invasion · censorship · propaganda
wiretapping
Covert phone surveillance
- eavesdroppingSecretly listening to others
- interceptionSeizing something in transit
- intelligence gatheringObtaining secret information systematically
spying · infiltration · bugging · signals intelligence · SIGINT · informants · covert operations · NSA · Five Eyes · counterintelligence
CCTV
Surveillance camera network
- facial recognitionAutomated identification by face
- biometricsBody-based identity verification
- data miningExtracting insights from datasets
metadata · drones · algorithms · AI · encryption · cybersecurity · smart city · social media monitoring · RFID · tracking devices
accountability
Obligation for one's actions
- transparencyState of being see-through
- watchdogGuard or monitor
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
judicial review · warrant · congressional oversight · checks and balances · due process · legal framework · reform · audit · compliance · abuse of power
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
- security lawssedition laws, secrecy laws, FISA, security clearances
- surveillanceCCTV, security camera, spy, spying, spy cam
- surveillance statesecret police, informants, wiretapping, phone tapping, CCTV
- Totalitarianismtotalitarianism, one-party state, one-party rule, dictatorship, single-party state
mass surveillanceprivacy
Freedom from observation
personal privacy · civil liberties · individual freedom · anonymity · data protection
mass surveillancecitizen oversight
Public supervision of authorities
government transparency · open government · public accountability · freedom of information · whistleblower protection
mass, surveillance, masses, massed, massing, massive, massively, massiveness, survey