A “Surveillance State” Is Coming to America

It looks like something out of a Star Wars movie.

Since June, more than 1 million protesters have taken to the streets of Hong Kong to fight against a bill that would allow extradition to Mainland China.

And it’s not like any other protest you’ve ever seen.

The protesters in Hong Kong have been lighting up the streets with high-powered green and blue lasers.

Here’s a screengrab from a local TV channel of the scene on the ground…

Protesters also hide their faces behind umbrellas…

The link between these two photos is the subject of today’s dispatch.

As we’ll show you… they’re forerunners of the dark future of digital surveillance that’s coming to America.

They’re also a wake-up call you need to act on now… before it’s too late. (More on that at the end of this week’s dispatch.)

Your Face Is Your ID

The lasers and umbrellas are two inventive ways protesters are trying to fight back against digital surveillance.

Specifically, they’re trying to avoid face recognition CCTV cameras.

As we’ve been showing you in our daily newsletter, The Daily Cut, China is fast becoming a digital police state.

It’s also a petri dish for a coming global surveillance society.

Today’s China Is Tomorrow’s America

Our mission here at Legacy Inner Circle is to put you ahead of the megatrends shaping the markets.

We do that by plugging you into the latest insights from Bill Bonner, Doug Casey, Teeka Tiwari, Jeff Brown, Jeff Clark, and the rest of the team here at Legacy Research.

But we also look out for risks on the horizon… and warn you of threats to your wealth and freedom.

And the steady encroachment of the surveillance state is the single biggest threat to your freedom – even if you were born in the so-called Land of the Free.

Digital Dragnet

Already, police in Orlando, Florida are trialing a face recognition dragnet across the city.

And your face is now your boarding pass at 17 of the top international airports in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has launched 25 “surveillance balloons” above five midwestern cities. They are hovering in the stratosphere (65,000 feet up).

They can monitor everything on the ground in those states in real time. This includes every moving vehicle within a 25-mile radius of each balloon.

Always Watched, Always Monitored

When we think we’re being watched all the time by Big Brother, we make behavior choices we believe other people want us to make.

When we’re always being watched, we think differently. We act differently. We’re no longer free.

But as Dan Denning has been telling our Bonner-Denning Letter readers, that’s the goal of mass surveillance.

The Chinese feds want a docile and compliant population. It’s why they’ve rolled out a government surveillance project called Sharp Eyes.

Sharp Eyes is the brainchild of China’s top planning authority, the National Development and Reform Commission. In 2015, it mandated that video surveillance cover 100% of China’s public areas and key industries by 2020.

The Chinese authorities are not alone in using these digital surveillance tools against their citizens. Governments around the world are waking up to the power of digital surveillance to keep populations under control.

The U.S. is not immune. And if you want to protect yourself, you need to know what’s coming down the pike.

As Dan shows in this week’s exclusive Q&A, round-the-clock digital surveillance is not just an attack on your right to privacy. It’s also an attack on how you think and act… and your rights as an American.

Q&A With Dan Denning

Chris Lowe: Legacy Inner Circle members have heard us sound the alarm about the growing threat of digital surveillance before.

We first spoke to you in April 2018 about the Chinese government’s use of digital surveillance technology – including face recognition – to control citizens’ behaviour. [Catch up here.]

We’re seeing a lot of media coverage of the protests in Hong Kong right now. About half a million pro-democracy protestors are rising up against the use of these technologies to limit their freedoms. What do you make of what’s going on there?

Dan Denning: It started earlier this year as a protest against a proposed extradition law. Remember, the British ruled Hong Kong until 1997. That’s when they turned it over to the Communist government in Mainland China. Now, Hong Kong is what’s known as a Special Administrative Region. But it’s also part of the Communist-run People’s Republic of China.

This extradition law would have allowed the Chinese government to take people from Hong Kong to stand trial in Mainland China. And in Mainland China, you’re guilty when the Chinese Communist Party bosses say you’re guilty.

So Hong Kongers took to the streets. And things turned violent. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse what they called “riots.” The authorities also unleashed Triad gangs on protesters.

Despite these attacks, the protesters have stayed on the streets. Only now, they’re also fighting against the police state and the technologies it uses to intimidate, coerce, and control the population.

Chris: What kind of technologies?

Dan: President Xi Jinping’s authoritarian government in Mainland China wants to put a digital dragnet over an entire society. The people on the streets in Hong Kong want to stop that.

The Chinese government uses facial recognition software and artificial intelligence (AI) to turn the security cameras that already scan roads, shopping malls, and airports into a kind of all-seeing eye. It then knows where all its citizens are, what they’re doing, and if they’re breaking the rules.

Then it assigns everyone a “social credit” score. The government uses this score to limit what a citizen can do. If you break the rules, the government docks your score. If you get a low enough score, it bans you from getting on planes and trains. It stops you staying in certain hotels. It bars you from working in state-run companies. It even stops your kids going to certain schools. You become a second-class citizen.

It’s heartening to see so many people protesting against this on the streets of Hong Kong. Your readers may have seen photographs and videos of protestors wearing face masks and using umbrellas to stop the authorities identifying them. They’re also firing lasers at CCTV cameras to blind the face recognition cameras.

Chris: China is thousands of miles away. Americans may be aware there’s a digital police state there. But they’re not worried about that kind of thing taking root in the U.S. Are they right to be so complacent?

Dan: No, they’re not. As Legacy cofounder Bill Bonner and I have been writing about at The Bonner-Denning Letter, Americans are sleepwalking into a version of the Chinese surveillance state.

Every time we use Facebook, for instance, we voluntarily submit to surveillance. About 190 million Americans use Facebook. Each and every one of them is sharing their most private and personal details willingly with this for-profit surveillance company.

With Facebook, the idea is to share everything you do with everyone you know. But when you share a photo of yourself at a concert, or comment on a news story, you’re not just sharing it with your friends. You’re also sharing it with Facebook… and all the stakeholders it shares it with.

That includes the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies. We know that thanks to the internal National Security Agency (NSA) documents Edward Snowden made public in 2013.

He exposed a program at the NSA that was secretly monitoring Americans’ internet communications. Codenamed PRISM, it vacuumed up the personal data Silicon Valley firms – including Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google, AOL, and Yahoo – were harvesting from their customers.

There’s never been a more powerful surveillance tool than the internet. Facebook can track where you are… what apps you have installed on your smartphone… when you use them… and what you use them for.

It can also gain access to your webcam and microphone, your contacts, your emails, and your calendar. It knows about your call history, the messages you send and receive, the files you download, and the games you play. It sees your photos and videos, your music, and just about every move you make online.

Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke last year, we know that political campaign strategists use this data to influence our voting decisions. They serve us “micro-targeted” ads to manipulate – or “nudge” – us into voting for the candidate they’re working for. Said another way, they’re manipulating how we think and act.

Worse, the government could use your social media data to identify you as a threat. It could use what you “like,” post, and share on social media to build a profile of you. It could categorize you as a terrorist, a loner, or even – like me – a lover of cash, limited government, and individual liberty.

Chris: What about our lives outside social media? Are we still vulnerable if we delete our Facebook accounts?

Dan: Absolutely. Take something as ordinary as your weekly grocery run. You likely use your debit or credit card to pay. And you’re probably a member of the supermarket’s loyalty program. So you hand over your loyalty card to the cashier, too.

This allows the supermarket to keep a record of everything you buy. That gives it – and anyone else it shares your data with – a lot of information about you. There’s also a digital record of your credit card payment.

Chris: But technology also promises to make our lives simpler and better. For instance, loyalty programs help supermarkets manage inventory. Customers also get gifts and discounts. And Facebook allows its users to stay in touch with friends around the world. Why do you think people will push back on this?

Dan: Humans resent being manipulated. We get that being nudged into behaving in a certain way… or holding the “correct” political views… is the opposite of being free. It’s obeying the protocol of a mass surveillance apparatus. And that apparatus is controlled by people who think they know better than you how you should live your life.

As we’re seeing in Hong Kong, people are recognising this for what it is… and they’re rising up.

Chris: Can you give a concrete example of what you mean?

Dan: Imagine going to a bar. You have a few beers. Instead of going to dinner, you go to another bar and have a few more drinks. But when you go to pay for your next beer, your transaction is declined.

Not because you don’t have enough dollars in your account. But because the feds say, “According to our records, you haven’t eaten enough calories today. We know your body weight. Four standard drinks is too much for you. You’re banned from buying more drinks tonight.”

Or maybe you go for dinner, and they tell you, “Our records show you’ve eaten too much cholesterol this week. You’re not allowed order the steak.”

There’s a sphere of behaviour we used to consider private. But once all the data about our behaviour is in one place, the state can pass laws to regulate it. It can then enforce these laws by algorithm.

An algorithm is just a rule for making decisions. In the world we’re heading for, decisions we used to make for ourselves will become automated. People say it’s crazy… dystopian even. But this is where we’re headed.

Chris: Sounds like the convenience of new technology has lulled us into a false sense of security.

Dan: It has. Life is easier when we’re surrounded by digital technology. It’s easier to get places. It’s easier to find what you want. It’s easier to buy what you want.

I’ve spent the last few months traveling in Europe. Right now, I’m staying in a renovated shipping container. To get in, you have to download an app on your smartphone. The app is your “key” to open the door. It also controls the appliances in the room. You can stream movies on the TV, turn on the oven, turn off the lights, turn up and down the air-conditioning – all from an app on your phone.

Chris: That sounds convenient. But given what we know about digital surveillance, it also sounds scary. People would be able to track when you’re home… when you’re turning off the lights to go asleep… and when you leave the house again.

Dan: That’s right. Until now, we’ve enjoyed all the benefits of living in a world with seamless digital communication. But there’s a dark side, too. These technologies are irresistible to the authoritarian mind. They allow governments to monitor what people are doing… what they’re saying… and how they’re spending their money.

They also give governments the ability to control… influence… and even prevent certain behaviors. This also allows them to fundamentally change the ways in which you’re allowed to behave.

Before, the default was: “You’re free to do it unless you break the law.” Now, it’s: “You’re free to do it as long as we give you permission to do it.”

Chris: That seems a long way from the aims of America’s founders. What happened to our inalienable rights?

Dan: The founding idea of the United States was always revolutionary. For the first time in history, a group of people set in stone the idea that there are certain “inalienable” rights. The state doesn’t grant you these rights. You were born with them.

The Bill of Rights spelled out these rights. And the government could shove it if it wanted to scale them back. At least, it would have a hard time doing so.

But the Founding Fathers didn’t have to get past Facebook or Google. They couldn’t have predicted the rise of an algorithm-driven police state, where every action you take is recorded, catalogued, and used to nudge you into thinking in a “correct” way or taking the “correct” action.

Chris: Is there anything we can do to reverse this trend?

Dan: Sadly, I don’t think so. Look at how widely we adopted these surveillance technologies – Gmail, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Or how quickly we got used to using cards and apps to pay for stuff instead of cash.

It reminds me of the chutes you send cattle down when they go to the slaughterhouse. They go only one way. Once you’re inside, the only way out is toward the bolt gun.

Chris: What would you say to folks who are skeptical about your claims?

Dan: I’d ask them to think about it carefully. The U.S. was founded on the idea of limited government. Individual liberty is our core value. The state has no business watching us all the time.

Chris: What about the skeptics who claim all this surveillance makes you safer and that it doesn’t impact on your freedom? After all, they ask, what’s wrong with being watched all the time if you’re doing nothing wrong?

Dan: I get pushback like this all the time. But you can’t be free if you’re looking over your shoulder all the time. When you know you’re being watched, you start watching what you say. If you’re watching what you say, you’re watching what you think. And if you’re watching what you think, you stop thinking.

This is the goal of mass surveillance in a police state – the suppression of independent, critical thinking, speech, and action.

Maybe your readers disagree. And that’s fair enough.

But think about the future… If your data is being warehoused for all time, what’s to say you won’t be found guilty of a new crime 10 years from now? Maybe it’ll be a thought crime. Maybe a future artificial intelligence (AI) will detect a pattern in your data showing that you’re on the path to some radical action.

You’ll be guilty of a “pre-crime” – like in Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Minority Report.”

Chris: But that was sci-fi. Are you suggesting this kind of thing is becoming a reality?

Dan: Have you heard of Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART)? It’s the Department of Homeland Security’s new biometric database on U.S. citizens and foreigners. It matches people’s faces… their DNA… as well as their “non-obvious social relationships.”

Think of the people you’re friends with on Facebook. How well do you know them all? Simply being friends with them on Facebook could get you flagged as potentially dangerous. This could carry serious consequences.

This is a database of innocent people, keep in mind. And nobody has given the feds permission to use their data this way. But despite opposition from Congress, HART is going full steam ahead.

Chris: What can folks do about all of this?

Dan: There are two approaches…

First, you could say, “Whatever. It’s just the modern world. There’ll be some restrictions on what the authorities can do. Let’s hope it’s not as bad as some people say.”

This is naïve. But it’s probably what most people think.

The second way is to “go dark.”

Chris: Can you explain what you mean by that?

Dan: Google and Facebook are what I call “self-reporting systems”…

For example, if you’ve got a phone that runs Google’s Android operating system, you’re constantly broadcasting to the company’s servers exactly where you are in the world.

And Facebook is based on you sharing everything you do with everyone else. Not just your friends, but also anyone else that cares to look… including Deep State snoops.

It’s why I recommend you opt out of these systems now… and stop self-reporting to the authorities.

There are four basic steps to “going dark.”

The first thing to do is delete your Facebook account. We think we have to be connected all the time. But by staying on the platform, you’re sharing massive amounts of your personal data with the world. You can’t be a private citizen and be on Facebook. Find out how to pull the plug here.

Second, de-Google your life. The way to stop Google tracking every web search you type and every webpage you visit is to ditch Google search and the Google Chrome web browser. DuckDuckGo won’t track you like Google does. And it offers a decent search service.

There’s also the Epic Privacy Browser. It works just like Chrome, except it doesn’t store data on you. You can also try StartPage for a search engine that doesn’t track and store your search queries. Firefox is the least intrusive of your browser options (Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer).

Third, download an encrypted messenger app. Conversations on WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) are encrypted for the moment. But the feds recently requested that Facebook allow them to spy on peer-to-peer conversations on its messaging app.

WhatsApp has more than 1.5 billion, mostly foreign, users. This makes it a prime target for wiretapping by U.S. security services. Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, isn’t much better. Wickr, Telegram, and Signal are all much more secure alternatives.

Finally, buy a “dumb” phone. This is the only way to stop broadcasting your exact location 24 hours a day. An unlocked phone with 16MB of memory and a 2-megapixel camera will set you back about $25.

You won’t be able to play Candy Crush while you’re standing in line waiting for your caramel latte at Starbucks. But a dumb phone will relieve you of the urge to constantly fiddle with your “smartphone.” Unintended – but in my opinion, positive – consequences: more free time and a less cluttered brain.

We’ll also keep ringing the alarm bell. You can be the wealthiest person in the world and build your own fortress. But if you live in a digital police state – and I believe that’s where we’re headed – you’re behind your own walls in a well-appointed prison of your own making.

The problem we’re trying to solve for our readers is how to not get caught on the wrong side of those walls. But the walls are going up pretty fast. And I’m not encouraged by what I’ve seen.

What to Do

Chris here – The advance of the surveillance state in the U.S. is going to be one of the biggest stories of our time… maybe the biggest.

We’re putting this on your radar now so that you can take steps to protect yourself… and your family.

And we’ll have more for you on this important theme in future dispatches.

In the meantime, for more on how to “go dark,” make sure and check out our free The Ultimate Guide to Taking Back Your Privacy. To access it, just click here.

Finally, let us know what you thought of this week’s dispatch. Do you have a personal story to share about digital surveillance in America? Are you taking steps to “go dark”?

You can reach us at [email protected].

Regards,

Chris Lowe
Editor, Legacy Inner Circle