Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 16:02:44 -0700
From: cherokee at hctc.com Subject: THE SURVEILLANCE TRAP - NWO SAYS WE WANT YOU USELESS EATER SHEEPLE!!!
April 15 2001 SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE
THE SURVEILLANCE TRAP http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/04/15/magazine2.html
THE WAKE-UP CALL
Joe Smith, an average citizen, is woken at 7am by the alarm on his third-generation mobile device. It was in touch with its base station all night, so the network knows he has been at home. This has memorised every move that he has made since he bought the phone
POWER BREAKFAST
The contents of his breakfast, and all other food he has bought over the past five years, are known by the local supermarket, thanks to his loyalty card. While eating, he checks his e-mail. Unknown to Joe, a friend who mailed him last night supports an animal liberation group involved in attacks on laboratories. Both that mail and his reply are, therefore, logged by the Echelon international surveillance system. In fact, all Joe's e-mail and internet activity are "warehoused" in a national police database. The terrorist connection means that the software running this system routinely monitors his activity and reports it to an MI5 database. While online, he checks a few websites. A "web bug" hidden on his screen reports his surfing to hundreds of companies, whose software e-mails him news of products and services he might like to buy. Also hidden are the "cookies" sent to his computer so that the sites recognise him next time. Using his mobile, he calls a friend, Jim. Jim knows somebody who once took part in an anti-globalisation demo in the City of London. The call is, therefore, logged by Echelon. To MI5, he has already twice been implicated in subversive activity.
CAR TROUBLE
Joe gets into his car and drives to work. His car is watched by the 25 cameras that he passes on the way, and his numberplate is recorded by automated recognition systems and stored for future reference.
FOOT PATROL
Walking through the city centre to his office, Joe passes another five CCTV cameras, which also store his movements, while software automatically checks his face against the features of 5,000 criminals and terrorists known to the authorities.
A HARD DAY'S NIGHTMARE
At work, his phone calls, e-mails, internet activity, even his trips to the toilet, are logged by the company software. He lunches in a pub and is watched by hidden cameras. These were installed to look out for troublemakers and drunks, and they are wired into the national CCTV network, which is linked to police and MI5 computers. His mobile, meanwhile, is telling his network that, yes, he is in the pub.
HOME, NOT ALONE
On the way home, Joe buys petrol using a credit card and a loyalty card. The transaction time and place are stored by the oil company's computers. At home, he watches TV. He has an interactive system that has reported back everything he has ever watched. On the news, he notes, without much interest, that a bomb has gone off at a laboratory, and an anti-globalisation demonstration has ended in violent clashes.
THE STAKE-OUT
The next day, Joe's house is broken into while he is at work. Nothing is stolen. The police are unhelpful. Unknown to Joe, six microphones have been planted and the contents of his hard disk copied. A car follows him to work the next day. Inside is a black box that fools his mobile into thinking it is a base station. The men in the car listen to his calls. That night, a machine in a van outside his house picks up radiation from his computer screen and sees everything he sees. Joe, an average, law-abiding citizen, is now a known subversive and a terrorist suspect. The software says so. He could find out about this if he knew about the Data Protection Act and was prepared to demand all information stored on him from companies, police and MI5. But, being good old Joe, he suspects nothing and is baffled when, a week later, he is fired, his bank refuses an overdraft, cancels his credit cards and calls in his mortgage.
HOMELESS AND UNWANTED
Six months later, a CCTV camera scans a cardboard box in a doorway. Facial recognition software identifies the missing terrorist suspect Joe Smith. He is picked up by the police, who alert MI5. Its software has cleared Joe some time ago; the police let him go. Joe returns to his box. He is not worth watching any more, he has no mobile and no credit or loyalty cards. He has achieved privacy.