TECH OVERLORDS

Here’s looking at you, kid

Tech overlords are complicit with the regime’s tyranny.

Big Brother isn’t coming, he’s here. The idea of a surveillance state has always been part of the cultural zeitgeist, from 1984 to episodes of Black Mirror that depict a strict social credit system. And more new technology is headed in this direction.

The federal government is using emerging AI and biometric recognition technologies to collect dossiers on and target law-abiding citizens.

Consider these developments:

• Last March, Trump signed an executive order that directs the establishment, as Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a letter to Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp, of “a searchable, ‘mega-database’ of tax returns and other data” which would present “a surveillance nightmare” and which would “make it significantly easier for Donald Trump’s Administration to spy on and target his growing list of enemies and other Americans.

• Reddit, Meta, and Google, are handing over data about users whose First Amendment-protected speech challenges the government.

• The Department of Homeland Security (ICE and Border Patrol) routinely videos suspected undocumented individuals and protesters and uses facial recognition software to identify, and target them for harassment, and worse. Adding to the potential dystopia, Meta plans to incorporate facial recognition technology into its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which already have the capacity to produce video recordings.

• These tactics were used in the search for Luigi Mangione. Drones, facial recognition, and other forms of high-tech intelligence were deployed during the five-day manhunt for Mangione. And while they failed to find him with these methods, it is a look into the potential future of surveillance. The definition of “domestic terrorist” is constantly changing to include more and more people, and law enforcement has made it clear that they are ready to use this advanced technology against those they deem a threat to the administration.

• Many homeowners, through contracted security services like Amazon’s Ring, surveil their own property with facial-recognition-assisted video cameras that are activated either by the doorbell or a motion detector. Law enforcement and homeowner associations meanwhile widely use automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems from companies such as Flock Safety and Axon. The integration of these two systems with law enforcement and with each other is chilling.

• Forces deployed on American streets by the Department of Homeland Security have been using their phones, body cameras, and even drones to identify, surveil, and even intimidate U.S. citizens who seek to protest, observe, and protect immigrants and community members from assaults by ICE and Customs and Border Security.

• The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans throughout the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, and the IRS.

• On February 27, OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – signed a contract with the Department of Defense that will allow DoD to use its technology to conduct mass surveillance and to create AI-enabled autonomous weapons that can fire on targets of its own selection without human control. DoD had sought to seal such a deal with the rival company Anthropic (maker of the Claude AI system), but Anthropic insisted on non-negotiable “red lines” against such uses. The Secretary of Defense had threatened to designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” and thereby prohibit any company that does business with the Pentagon from also having any relationship with Anthropic. He made such a social declaration on social media and the president also declared on his own social media platform that all federal agencies must cease using Anthropic.

Resistance

Despite the president’s determination to use data against the people, there are ways to protect ourselves and our rights. Wired and the ACLU have guides to protect your privacy in daily life and while protesting. They recommend using encrypted messaging services, like Signal, to communicate and limiting access to your location on your phone. For online privacy, use a VPN to hide your location. Wear a mask and sunglasses while protesting for physical protection and to obscure your identity. Keep your phone on airplane mode and disable facial and fingerprint recognition in the event your phone is taken.

Take Action

The first amendment gives people the right to protest and speak out about what is happening in our nation. This administration is using fear tactics to scare dissenters into submission, but there are ways to fight back, by documenting and bearing witness to this regime. Go forward and keep fighting.