Surveillance Quotes

• We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.

  William O. Douglas

  Law, Government, Secret

  "Osborn v. United States, 385 U.S. 323". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. December 12, 1966.

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• There are people who are always going to try to engage in activity that is illegal and they're going to try to subvert surveillance. But everybody should not give up their liberties and rights to privacy because some people are going to [do that]. We shouldn't stop or limit our basic liberties because some people are going to engage in criminal activities.

  Laura Poitras

  Giving Up, Rights, People

  "Laura Poitras Talks CITIZENFOUR, Her First Impression of Edward Snowden, Her Commitment to Fearless Adversarial Journalism and More". Interview with Sheila Roberts, collider.com. October 26, 2014.

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• Arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

  Edward Snowden

  Nsa, Different, Care

  Reddit AMA, www.reddit.com. May 21, 2015.

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• Total surveillance is increasingly the general condition of society as a whole.

  Michel Foucault

  Whole, Conditions

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.

  George Orwell

  Keeping Secrets, Nineteen, Kept Secrets

  Nineteen Eighty-Four pt. 3, ch. 4 (1949)

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• Our society is not one of spectacle but of surveillance.

  Michel Foucault

  Our Society

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• If you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide from the giant surveillance apparatus the government's been hiding.

  Stephen Colbert

  Government, Giants, Doing Nothing

  Twitter post from Jun 11, 2013

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• Today we are at a crossroads. The technology is available for two great options: The massive surveillance state, or the renewed freedom of a deeply-involved citizenry thinking independently and holding the government to the highest standards.

  Oliver DeMille

  Technology, Thinking, Surveillance State

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• Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen.

  Zbigniew Brzezinski

  America, World Government, Liberty

  "Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era". Book by Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, 1970.

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• Surveillance of power is one of the most important ways to ensure that power does not abuse its status. But, of course, power does not like to be watched.

  Bruce Schneier

  Abuse, Important, Doe

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• History shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Political, Used, Mass

  Glenn Greenwald (2014). “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the Surveillance State”, p.10, Penguin UK

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• Surveillance technologies now available - including the monitoring of virtually all digital information - have advanced to the point where much of the essential apparatus of a police state is already in place.

  Al Gore

  Technology, Police, Essentials

  "The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change". Book by Al Gore, 2013.

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• Surveillance is the business model of the Internet.

  Bruce Schneier

  Internet, Models, Business Models

  "On Internet Privacy, Be Very Afraid". Interview with Liz Mineo, news.harvard.edu. August 24, 2017.

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• Corporate and government surveillance aren't separate; they're an alliance of interests.

  Bruce Schneier

  Government, Alliances, Interest

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• The framers of our Constitution understood the dangers of unbridled government surveillance. They knew that democracy could flourish only in spaces free from government snooping and interference, and they put restraints on government overreaching in the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. . . . These protections require, at a minimum, a neutral arbiter - a magistrate - standing between the government's endless desire for information and the citizens' desires for privacy.

  Elizabeth Holtzman

  Government, Space, Rights

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• If we don't do anything, if we go along with the status quo, we are going to have a mass surveillance world.

  Edward Snowden

  World, Mass, Status Quo

  Source: www.nesta.org.uk

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• Society develops a type of self-censorship, with the knowledge that surveillance exists - a self-censorship that is even expressed when people communicate with each other privately.

  Julian Assange

  Self, People, Censorship

  "Julian Assange: The Byline Interviews, Part One – ‘The God of Mass Surveillance". Interview with Seung-yoon Lee, www.byline.com. June 11, 2015.

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• All of the evidence highlights the implicit bargain that is offered to citizens: pose no challenge and you have nothing to worry about. Mind your own business, and support or at least tolerate what we do, and you'll be fine. Put differently, you must refrain from provoking the authority that wields surveillance powers if you wish to be deemed free of wrongdoing. This is a deal that invites passivity, obedience, and conformity. The safest course, the way to ensure being “left alone,” is to remain quiet, unthreatening, and compliant.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Worry, Support, Challenges

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• Facebook is not your friend, it is a surveillance engine.

  Richard Stallman

  Engines

  "Facebook Is a Surveillance Engine, Not Friend: Richard Stallman, Free Software Foundation". Interview with Sriram Srinivasan and Sangeetha Kandavel, economictimes.indiatimes.com. February 07, 2012.

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• Merging the ability to conduct surveillance that reveals every aspect of a person's life with the ability to conjure up the legal authority to execute that surveillance, and finally, removing any accountable judicial oversight, creates the opportunity for unprecedented influence over our system of government.

  Ron Wyden

  Opportunity, Government, Influence

  "White House urges Congress to reject moves to curb NSA surveillance" by Spencer Ackerman, www.theguardian.com. July 23, 2013.

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• A crucial question is how to balance surveillance with privacy and keeping Americans safe.

  Dana Bash

  Balance, Safe, Privacy

  Source: cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com

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• We should not be comfortable or content in a society where the only way to remain free of surveillance and repression is if we make ourselves as unthreatning, passive, and compliant as possible.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Way, Should, Passive

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• Everybody calls everybody a spy, secretly, in Russia, and everybody is under surveillance. You never feel safe.

  Agnes Smedley

  Russia, Spy, Safe

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• Surveillance cameras might reduce crime - even though the evidence here is mixed - but no studies show that they result in greater happiness of everyone involved.

  Evgeny Morozov

  Surveillance Cameras, Might, Study

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• To permit surveillance to take root on the Internet would mean subjecting virtually all forms of human interaction, planning, and even thought itself to comprehensive state examination.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Mean, Roots, Examination

  Glenn Greenwald (2014). “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State”, p.6, Metropolitan Books

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