Big Brother & Surveillance
Comment
Think About: 1) AI surveillance 2) Algorithms suppressing viewpoints and pushing narratives 3) Tracking with digital currency 4) Big tech owning personal data
Eye Spy
2014-02-19 Google launched smart glasses.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/19/google-glass-advice-smartglasses-glasshole
2025-09-30 Meta launched Ray-Ban Display smart glasses.
https://www.meta.com/blog/meta-ray-ban-display-ai-glasses-connect-2025/
2026-02-20 Mark Zuckerberg wore Ray-Ban smart glasses during court proceedings.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/882030/smart-glasses-in-court-meta-mark-zuckerberg
https://epic.org/the-verge-smart-glasses-in-court-are-a-privacy-nightmare/
2026-05-13 Google unveiled facial recognition technology with their smart glasses.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj37z8357e5o
2026-06-16 Snap Inc. released SPECS augmented reality glasses.
https://newsroom.snap.com/introducing-specs-augmented-reality-glasses
https://www.wired.com/story/snaps-new-ar-specs-cost-2195/
2003
2003-05-06 Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel after 9/11 for defense intelligence. Critics warned that its surveillance and AI capabilities could enable predictive policing, warfare, and civilian targeting. In 2025, the DOD added a $113M contract to Palantir’s existing $795M contracts, while ICE paid $30M for immigrant tracking tools.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/3124/2020/en/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/0211/2025/en/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes
https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html
https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-government-contracting-push/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/palantir-secures-795m-us-army-180040461.html
2016
2016-01-01 A Cambridge Analytica whistleblower revealed harvested Facebook data was used by Trump’s 2016 campaign to build psychographic voter profiles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal
2017
2017-04-01 Project Maven, run by Palantir, helped the Pentagon identify bomb targets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Maven
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/31/project_maven_manson_bloomberg_ai_warfare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsZH6ZNV1CY&list=WL&index=3&t=17s
2021
2021-06-04 Legislation under the HALT Drunk Driving Act required new vehicles to include “kill switch” technology, sparking privacy and government overreach concerns. Ron DeSantis posted to X, “The idea that the federal government would require auto manufacturers to equip cars with a ‘kill switch’ that can be controlled by the government is something you’d expect in Orwell’s 1984”.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684
https://x.com/RonDeSantis/status/2014500133971296434
https://www.kbb.com/car-news/explaining-the-car-kill-switch-controversy/
https://cei.org/news_releases/house-vote-today-could-help-end-vehicle-kill-switch-mandate/
https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2025/06/kill-switches-in-new-2026-vehicles-still-up-in-the-air/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6563
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1137
2023
2023-07-11 Matt Gaetz broke at times over surveillance powers and foreign intervention posture, warning against “deep state” escalation even under Trump-aligned leadership.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/matt-gaetz-fisa-surveillance-citizens
https://www.congress.gov/event/118th-congress/house-event/117688/text
2023-11-01 After the Hamas attacks on Israel, lawmakers pushed for a TikTok ban over alleged anti-Israel bias; venture capitalist Jeff Morris described a “TikTok War.”
https://x.com/jmj/status/1717404573214671068
https://x.com/jmj/status/1717404589262025031
2024 May
2024-05-06 Reports claimed lawmakers admitted TikTok ban efforts were tied to pro-Palestinian content.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/mitt-romney-tiktok
https://x.com/NathanJRobinson/status/1787176314023092727
2024 December
2024-12-27 Algorithms increasingly track user behavior, fueling concerns about tech-billionaire influence and surveillance.
https://thehill.com/business/5054083-trump-embrace-ceos-friends/
2025 January
2025-01-18 The U.S. temporarily banned TikTok for about 15 hours, then pressured ByteDance to sell to a U.S. company despite CNN reporting no public evidence China harvested TikTok user data.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/18/nx-s1-5266146/tiktok-offline-supreme-court-ban
https://hls.harvard.edu/today/is-the-new-us-tiktok-safer/
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-executive-order-tiktok-ban/
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/21/tech/tiktok-national-security-concerns/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scVV1SscRWg
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/bytedance-s-agreement-to-sell-tiktok-puts-21251979.php
2025 February
2025-02-01 DOGE received extensive access to payroll systems and government code.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-doge-treasury-5e26cc80fcb766981cea56afd57ae759
2025-02-02 Office of Personnel Management employees were locked out of computer systems.
2025 June
2025-06-02 Leaked emails exposed DHS use of the face-scanning app Mobile Fortify to add protestors to ICE databases.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/27/ice-facial-recognition-minnesota
2025 September
2025-09-26 Trump joked he would make TikTok’s algorithm “100% MAGA.”
2025 October
2025-10-01 Flock Safety partnered with Amazon Ring to expand its surveillance network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flock_Safety
https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/tracking-alpr-cameras/flock-roundup
https://www.404media.co/ice-taps-into-nationwide-ai-enabled-camera-network-data-shows/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEllWdK4l_A&list=WL&index=1&t=29s
2025-10-13 California passed AB 1043 requiring Linux and Windows users to verify their age.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1043
2026 January
2026-01-13 The FBI searched Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home and seized devices after she reported on DOGE-related layoffs.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/g-s1-106103/fbi-search-washington-post-reporter-home
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/
2026-01-27 After TikTok’s forced sale, users reported censorship of anti-Trump, ICE, and Epstein-related content.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/media/tiktok-trump-ice-epstein-censorship-tech-issues
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/30/tiktok-us-takeover-new-type-of-censorship
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgjedpn8p8o
2026 February
2026-02-03 DHS submitted an administrative subpoena against a 67-year-old man from Pennsylvania after he wrote an email to them asking to “apply principles of common sense and decency” in their treatment of a man seeking asylum from Afghanistan. DHS issued the subpoena to Google just hours after the man sent the email so they could access the man’s computer and Gmail. Two weeks later, they showed up to his front door for questioning. The ACLU had to get involved to challenge the subpoena and the violation of his First Amendment rights.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/02/03/homeland-security-administrative-subpoena/
https://newrepublic.com/post/206088/homeland-security-67-year-old-us-citizen-criticized-email
2026-02-09 Discord and other platforms announced global age-verification systems requiring IDs or face scans.
https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1d67vdlk1ko
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-68161632
2026-02-10 Some consumers opted out of Amazon Ring after expanded surveillance capabilities were revealed.
https://www.404media.co/with-ring-american-consumers-built-a-surveillance-dragnet/
2026-02-14 DHS reportedly requested identifying information on online users critical of ICE.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/dhs-anti-ice-social-media.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/dhs-orders-tech-giants-to-unmask-anti-ice-accounts/
2026-02-15 A global push for online age verification accelerated. Peter Thiel-backed Persona became a major provider.
https://fortune.com/2026/02/24/discord-peter-thiel-backed-persona-identity-verification-breach/
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2026/02/age-verification-vendor-persona-left-frontend-exposed
2026-02-26 Senator Elissa Slotkin questioned Pentagon officials about mass surveillance of Americans.
2026-02-27 Anthropic said it refused Pentagon demands involving domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons after being threatened with “supply chain risk” designation. The CEO of Anthropic stated they could not – in good conscience – agree to the terms the Pentagon was asking for.
https://www.axios.com/2026/02/26/anthropic-pentagon-ultamatim-congress-deadline
2026 March
2026-03-01 OpenAI replaced Anthropic in the Pentagon deal.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/01/openai-shares-more-details-about-its-agreement-with-the-pentagon/
https://openai.com/index/our-agreement-with-the-department-of-war/
2026-03-06 Anthropic sued the Pentagon after being labeled a supply chain risk for refusing military AI demands.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/g-s1-112713/pentagon-labels-ai-company-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ISY16GtwLI&list=WL&index=8
2026-03-18 Trump signed an anti-fraud executive order creating a task force chaired by JD Vance. The order focused on immigration fraud, welfare programs, touts a claim of “staggering fraud and waste in Minnesota alone”, and alleged misuse of federal funds while expanding federal oversight and coordination with Homeland Security.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYOqdjApDtI&list=WL&index=6
2026-03-26 Judge Rita Lin rejected the Pentagon’s retribution against Anthropic, writing, “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFkuH7GRX8&list=WL&index=1&t=388s
2026 April
2026-04-08 The White House requested personal medical records for federal workers, retirees, and families.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/08/health/trump-federal-workers-medical-records-kff
https://www.regulations.gov/document/OPM-2025-0206-0049
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/trump-opm-federal-workers-medical-records-privacy/
2026-04-17 Madison Square Garden used facial-recognition systems to track a trans woman’s movements, including bathroom visits.
https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-jim-dolan-surveillance-machine/
2026-04-30 Congress passed a 45-day extension of FISA Section 702 despite surveillance concerns.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXuC4IvCKz9/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/30/fisa-section-702-congress-extension.html
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/29/house-passes-fisa-intelligence-bill-senate-opposition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2YMqZvyvMs&list=WL&index=3&t=56s
2026 May
2026-05-05 The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on U.S. companies enabling surveillance and detention in China.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGYd6emyk-0&list=WL&index=2
2026-05-10 Malware infecting robot dogs raised national-security concerns.
RECOMMEND ENTIRE VIDEO, BUT TIMESTAMP 15:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA8WuXDXfcI
2026-05-13 Google unveiled facial recognition technology with their smart glasses.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj37z8357e5o
2026 June
2026-06-18 DHS gave 1300 police departments facial recognition technology.
2026-06-30 SCOTUS ruled that geofence warrants are subject to Fourth Amendment protections. Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “An individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cell phone’s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/29/supreme-court-geofence-warrants-case-decision