surveilled
Secretly being monitored
Surveilled is the past tense of surveil, meaning to watch or monitor someone closely, typically by authorities or investigators.
The word is a back-formation from surveillance: The FBI surveilled the suspect for months.
Though some consider it awkward, surveilled fills a gap—"kept under surveillance" is clunky by comparison.
Saw with attention
- spottedSeen or patterned
- witnessedSaw firsthand
- scrutinizedExamined in close detail
- examinedLooked at closely
detected · eyed · observed · staked out · followed · tailed · shadowed · tracked
Followed the course of
- recordedCaptured for posterity
- wiretappedSecretly recorded communications
- buggedIrritated or surveilled
- scannedRead electronically
watched · logged · documented · profiled · analyzed · flagged · tagged · geolocated
Covert information gatherer
- intelligenceMental ability, cognitive capacity
- covertIntentionally concealed
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
agent · reconnaissance · wiretap · eavesdrop · counterintelligence · intercept · moles · sleeper
Evoking oppressive surveillance states
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
- panopticonCentral-view prison structure
- dystopianDepicting oppressive imagined societies
- totalitarianDictatorial, all-controlling regime
police state · Stasi · NSA · PRISM · Snowden · metadata · dragnet · warrantless
Irrational persecution fears
- distrustAbsence of confidence
- conspiracyClandestine coordinated scheming
- snoopingSecretly investigating others
- cloak-and-daggerInvolving secret intrigue
informant · suspected · investigated · scrutinized · questioned · suspected · under suspicion · person of interest
Visual recording devices
- CCTVSurveillance camera network
- guardWatchful defensive attention
- patrolRegular surveillance route
- checkpointInspection station on route
biometrics · facial recognition · access control · authentication · drone · body scanner · metal detector · license plate reader
watched
Saw with attention
- spottedSeen or patterned
- witnessedSaw firsthand
- scrutinizedExamined in close detail
examined · detected · eyed · observed · staked out · followed · tailed · shadowed · tracked · monitored
tracked
Followed the course of
- recordedCaptured for posterity
- wiretappedSecretly recorded communications
- buggedIrritated or surveilled
scanned · watched · logged · documented · profiled · analyzed · flagged · tagged · geolocated · timestamped
spy
Covert information gatherer
- intelligenceMental ability, cognitive capacity
- covertIntentionally concealed
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
undercover · agent · reconnaissance · wiretap · eavesdrop · counterintelligence · intercept · moles · sleeper · dead drop
Orwellian
Evoking oppressive surveillance states
- Big BrotherTotalitarian surveillance authority
- panopticonCentral-view prison structure
- dystopianDepicting oppressive imagined societies
totalitarian · police state · Stasi · NSA · PRISM · Snowden · metadata · dragnet · warrantless · FISA
paranoia
Irrational persecution fears
- distrustAbsence of confidence
- conspiracyClandestine coordinated scheming
- snoopingSecretly investigating others
cloak-and-dagger · informant · suspected · investigated · scrutinized · questioned · suspected · under suspicion · person of interest · target
cameras
Visual recording devices
checkpoint · biometrics · facial recognition · access control · authentication · drone · body scanner · metal detector · license plate reader · keylogger
- controlledcontrolled, managed, regulated, restrained, contained
- security termsPIN, password, passwords, encryption, encrypted
- examinedobserved, watched, inspected, studied, surveyed
- supportedsupported, backed, aided, helped out, assisted
surveilledunsurveilled
Not under observation
unwatched · unmonitored · unobserved · untracked · overlooked
- surveillance equipmentDevices for covert monitoring
- surveillance cameraDevice recording observed areas
- video surveillanceRecorded visual monitoring
- surveillance footageRecorded monitoring video
- surveillance stateGovernment that watches all
- surveillance systemsTechnology for observing activities