Privacy in America? Guess Again.

Ever have that feeling you are being watched? You are. Every day and everywhere you go. The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a “secretive” program to identify, and detain, people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious. It’s not just at the borders.

‘… people it deems suspicious’ is an understatement as every driver gets caught up in the system. Tens of thousands of license plate readers across the United States scan every car that goes by. The data is then entered into a central data base. Shame on you if you think data centers are just for innocent purposes.

The predictive intelligence program results in people being stopped, searched, and in some cases arrested. A built-in algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents may then notify local law enforcement. It’s not just one government level working to spy on you, it’s multiple levels of government.

If flagged, drivers could be stopped for reasons such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. Some are aggressively questioned and searched, with no idea of the true reason for the stop. Such a program allows authorities to monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions rather than targeting actual suspects. The program has greatly expanded in recent years.

The Border Patrol has grown even more powerful with endless cooperation. The Drug Enforcement Administration, private companies such as Flock, and local law enforcement programs are funded through federal grants. Texas law enforcement agencies insists Border Patrol use facial recognition to identify drivers.

Authorities, when not lying about the programs existence, like to state it is for our safety. However, let’s be honest. It’s a domestic intelligence operation… on everyone. Screw the 14th Amendment right to privacy. Yes, I realize being in public is not private, but tracking our every movement is like being subject to tens of thousands of private investigators following us just for the hell of it. To make matters worse, AI, with all its faults, is a key factor in pulling people over, rather than human intelligence.

The details of its license plate reader program was hidden for years. Charges against numerous people have been dropped when risk of the program becoming known was possible. This was especially true when individual camera locations were at risk. Such readers, we now know, are often disguised along highways, hidden in traffic cones, crash barrels, electrical boxes, and job site equipment. Even drones are being used.

“They are collecting mass amounts of information about who people are, where they go, what they do, and who they know … engaging in dragnet surveillance of Americans on the streets, on the highways, in their cities, in their communities,” stated Nicole Ozer, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy.

The potential for abuse is high. People in witness protection, those with protection from abuse orders, whistleblowers, and others with legitimate reasons for privacy should be highly concerned. This is not freedom, and it’s not the republic our forefathers ever would have condoned.

Source used: Associated Press