Surveillance – here’s looking at you, kid (safety)

05/03/2025
By Ray Shaw
In Consumer Advice Featured

Surveillance was simple in 1942 when Humphry Bogart spoke those enduring words to Ingrid Bergman. There was none apart from wiretaps, hidden microphones in every government building and ‘reds under the bed’.

This article follows reader feedback from our seminal article Cybercriminals Hire Locals to Spy on You. Readers were horrified to think that criminals and cybercriminals hired a network of watchers to collect information to qualify targets for crime. The inspiration for this article came from How Privacy Concerns Are Shaping the Future of City Surveillance and extensive research.

As I write this, I am saddened that both sanctioned and covert surveillance now is so intrusive that privacy has ceased to exist, even in the sanctity of our own homes. When you mix surveillance (in its many forms) with AI, you get a virtual Armageddon – Arm-a-geddon out of here! Hopefully, this article will help reduce your surveillance and increase privacy.

How you are surveilled in the physical world

We covered watchers—observers—in the first article, but private investigators and undercover law enforcement have also been added to the ‘dumpster divers’. Add in well-meaning neighbourhood watch groups, and there is still a lot of purposeful human observation.
CCTV (Closed-Circuit TV cameras): These have been used since the 1960s. Initially installed to monitor traffic and crime blackspots, they are now everywhere. All levels of Government can install interconnected cameras on public property with impunity. City-wide camera networks on buses, taxis, trains, and streets are commonplace.
Private home security cameras: You can see why so much crime video footage makes it to the TV news. There is essentially no law against using these. In the US, Amazon’s Ring provided footage to law enforcement until public outcry saw this discontinued in January 2024.
Dashcams: Ditto; why does so much road accident footage make the TV news?
Workplace cameras: Monitoring is legal, provided staff are informed. Private areas like toilets are prohibited.

Continued

Retail stores, pubs, and clubs use surveillance camera monitoring and face ID. Any business can install security cameras and implement face ID. All that is required is a plain-view entry sign advising shoppers. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner confirms it is legal. The key issue is whether collecting biometric information is necessary to perform a particular shop function, e.g., reducing shoplifting, enforcing entry bans, etc.
Bodycams: Now approved for use by front-line responders and networked to AI, make surveillance up close and personal.
Drones with cameras: Now extensively used to patrol suburbs and pursue criminals. While there are CASA rules for recreational drones, they don’t apply to Government agencies. In short, someone can fly a drone over your home or down your street with impunity.
Then there are the sensors: These quietly detect motion and noise levels, often directing nearby 360° pan and tilt CCTV to get a closer look. Many are part of the new generation of streetlights.
New internet-connected EVs, smart cars, or the speed and mobile phone cameras.
Let’s not forget Meta/Ray Ban spy glasses.

Enter the 2020s, and Surveillance is on steroids

Collecting all this video and audio is a fact of life, but the end goal has changed. In the past, this was pretty much unstructured data that gave human operators indications that some action should be taken.

First, let’s return to the 2000s and the US FBI’s Carnivore system. It could ‘packet sniff’ (a euphemism for making a copy) every digital email, SMS/RCS, and phone call made through the Telco networks. It was made possible by the simple move from analogue to digital transmission. These 0s and 1s allowed real-time message reconstruction and keyword searches. Added to that was the hidden metadata of the device that sent the message (location, number dialled, time, etc).

Computing power was insufficient for real-time analysis, but it was enough to search for keywords to help identify suspect communications. It was the successor to long-forgotten surveillance programs called PRISM, ECHELON, Sentient, Omnivore and many more before and after that. Every world government has a surveillance system for email and calls at home and globally.

Today, that concept is on steroids. Massive cloud storage, gigantic server farms, almost infinite computing power and now AI means no message escapes. But it is not just messages; it is all those video images, every transmission (even CB-radio), and so much more that are tracked and can be accessed for probable cause.

**AI-driven video analytic solutions are taking security teams and video management systems to new heights of efficiency, precision, responsiveness, and insights.**

“This technology doesn’t just strip its targets of anonymity but also allows for new forms of tracking, making it possible to collect information about people’s movements throughout the course of the day, including, for example, which shops, clinics, or homes they visit, and when – and all the personal information that might be inferred from this activity.” Monash University.

Minority report is real

The 2002 film starring Tom Cruise, set in 2054, is now real. In it, Tom has to apprehend people who have not yet committed a crime but whom AI ‘precogs’ have identified as likely to do so.

AI can single out people in crowds and is being used to predict their moods and behaviour, with significant concerns about profiling and discrimination. Once targeted, AI can track these persons of interest via a huge city-wide network that includes cameras, credit card machines, ATMs, and public transport.

The biggest spy is in your pocket

No tissues can’t spy, but your smartphone can. Location data is gathered from the SIM, Bluetooth beacons, public Wi-Fi, GPS and mobile data. Why? Even if you turn these things off, many phone apps can track you and phone home when they get a connection.

This applies to tablets, computers, smart speakers, IoT devices, TVs, and more, where precise location is often the default. Don’t forget that these have web tracking and usually cameras and microphones.

Behavioural data is gathered every time you use NFC to pay. AIs can assist with tax office surveillance, getting bank loans, and anything requiring a credit rating.

And yes, law enforcement can use it to track you, listen to conversations and read emails/SMS, much to the sorrow of criminals using the ANOM app.

Legislators point to the greater good overruling the right to privacy

Having painted the blackest picture of the massive privacy invasions, authorities simply say that surveillance is necessary for:

Crime reduction: Decreases in property and violent crimes, as visible surveillance deters offenders and aids law enforcement in solving cases more quickly.
Public event safety: AI systems help monitor large-scale events, like the 2024 Paris Olympics, by detecting crowding, identifying risks, and enabling rapid responses to potential threats.
Efficiency and cost savings: IoT-enabled devices optimise city operations, such as smart crosswalks in Singapore that adjust signal timing based on pedestrian flow, reducing congestion and accidents.
Improved urban planning: Surveillance data informs better infrastructure design, such as enhancing traffic flow or guiding the placement of public transportation and bike lanes.
Emergency management: Surveillance systems help coordinate responses to natural disasters or large-scale emergencies by providing real-time data on affected areas.
Enhanced resource allocation: Data from sensors and cameras allows cities to pinpoint inefficiencies, such as reducing energy waste through smarter streetlights or improving garbage collection routes.

Who watches the watchers?

The authorities universally ignore this embarrassing ethical question for the ‘greater good’ or call it proactive, predictive policing. We are not suggesting they may be corrupt, but so many supposedly well-intentioned people in power are.

Privacy is the greatest threat to humanity, and we need to take charge of the conversation.

For example:

Respectful cameras: If we are to have AI facial recognition, why not blur the faces of those not of interest?
Storage: Why must we store the Exabytes of video data when it could be processed, used and discarded?
Train AI about privacy: Currently, no AI system is trained to recognise people’s needs for privacy. In short, good, honest people should not be concerned that their data is being used.
Minimise unnecessary monitoring: This huge growth industry is largely unchecked. Regulation on where and what it can be used for needs to be introduced.

What can you do to minimise surveillance?

You can’t escape surveillance unless you live in a cave, wear a disguise, and pay cash!

But you can minimise its effect on you. There are two worlds you need to think about.

Physical Surveillance

Anti-surveillance clothing: Certain patterns and designs can confuse facial recognition cameras. See Etsy or search online.
Masks: Even a COVID mask can help.
Anti-CCTV: Reflectables (glasses)
Anti-drone fabrics: To mask thermal imaging.
RFID-blocking wallets and phone signal-blocking pockets
Use Cash
Turn off smartphone location, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It is not foolproof, but it can help.
Get to know where the cameras are.

Online Privacy

Every device that connects to the internet is a tracker. Traffic is unencrypted by default and includes masses of metadata to identify you.

Watch out for AI TVs with a camera

Samsung’s 2025 Neo QLED TV range ‘go beyond conventional TV watching’. Vision AI’ will ‘keep a watchful eye on loved ones, detecting unusual behaviour in both pets and family members’.

SW Yong, president of Samsung Electronics, said:

It enhances comfort by automatically adjusting room settings, like dimming the lights when a child falls asleep, while providing real-time updates and recorded events through TVs. Samsung sees TVs not as one-directional devices for passive consumption but as interactive, intelligent partners that adapt to your needs.

Emory Roane, Associate director of policy for the non-profit Privacy Rights ClearningHouse, said she is ‘worried’ about smart TV sets.

These TVs are allowing parents to spy on kids. Privacy isn’t only about safeguarding against third-party advertisers; it also involves protecting the privacy within our own households. The data collected can be exploited in abusive relationships, whether it’s parents exerting control over children or abusive partners, ex-partners, or stalkers. Don’t forsake privacy for convenience. A TV should not be a two-way device’.

Use a VPN

The most practical way to ensure online privacy is to use a paid VPN. Don’t use a free one, as these are often fronts for spyware and malware. Avoid VPNs bundled with anti-virus packages, as these are often slow and lack sufficient global points of presence. Read Do you need a VPN? (Virtual Private Network).

Turn off device tracking:

Start with ‘location’ on any device and disable that. If an app needs this, set the permission to ask whenever required.

In Windows, we recommend running O&O Shutup, which removes most of the telemetrics that report back to Microsoft. Read Five free Windows programs that will save your bacon (including cookie and registry cleaners), and Remove Windows Bloatware, and get back heaps of memory and CPU resources.

Use privacy-focused apps

Outlook and Gmail have encryption options that are even more effective when used with a VPN.

Firefox Browser has excellent privacy settings. I am using and can recommend Mercury Browser, a Firefox ‘fork’ with exceptional default privacy settings and uses the Firefox add-on library. It is for Linux, Windows and MacOS (ARM and Intel).

Avoid Chrome-based browsers like MS Edge, Chrome, Chromium, Thorium, Opera, Brave, Samsung, Amazon Silk, and Vivaldi.

Strong passwords are critical

Never reuse a password; convert all to at least 16 characters, including text, symbols and numbers. Remember that the best passwords are simple phrases like MyCarUsesPetrol*24 or ILikeDonuts*24. I use the paid LastPass for Families (up to 6 users) to manage all Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android passwords so I don’t have to remember them. It is easy to use and will work offline, too. Read How long does it take to hack your password?

Use a paid Antivirus/malware app.

We recommend Trend Micro or Nortons, but you don’t need all the features of the premium apps as there are more fully-featured VPNs, Password managers (like LastPass), and you likely don’t need cloud backup (you may already have it with most devices). Straight anti-virus/malware protection is lower cost.

CyberShack’s view: Surveillance – here’s NOT looking at you, kid

Let’s face it – surveillance is here to stay, and unless you start vocally objecting, it will only worsen.

But many voices are better, and the Australian Privacy Foundation will keep you informed, enable involvement in focus groups and is the right voice. Full membership is $40, and concession card holders get it for $10 annually.