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→Third Party services
==Third Party services==
==Third Party services==
Although the US government is prohibited from performing data searches on individuals, without a valid judicial warrant, the courts did make a legally questionable exception. Under the [[third party doctrine]], the courts ruled that information which was willingly handed over to another person, may be collected by the government without a search warrant. This standard was created before the computer age, with the thought that a person handing over papers to be stored in an attorney's safe, is giving up their 4th amendment rights over those papers. In the digital age, it is being used to justify the collection of massive troves of personal data, from technology companies, internet service providers, and until 2018 (when the courts ruled against it), cell phone carriers.
Although the US government is prohibited from performing data searches on individuals, without a valid judicial warrant, the courts did make a legally questionable exception. Under the [[third party doctrine]], the courts ruled that information which was willingly handed over to another person, may be collected by the government without a search warrant. This standard was created before the computer age, with the thought that a person handing over papers to be stored in an bank's safe, is giving up their 4th amendment rights over those papers. In the digital age, it is being used to justify the collection of massive troves of personal data, from technology companies, internet service providers, and until 2018 (when the courts ruled against it), cell phone carriers.
The courts have starting indicating that the third party doctrine may not be intended for use in these ways, but as of 2026, no explicit law or ruling had outright stopped it.<ref>https://reason.org/commentary/the-third-party-doctrine-is-dying-government-surveillance-is-not/</ref>
===Mercenary surveillance===
===Mercenary surveillance===
In the late 2010s, a new and rapidly growing industry emerged. Private companies began offering mass surveillance services, for a fee, to both government and private entities. While the government could not perform dragnet surveilance, the thinking was that third party companies could do it on the government's behalf. The first successful business in this industry, was [[Flock Safety]]. They began deploying AI powered cameras in large numbers, to track the movements of every single person. Although promising not to be doing facial recognition<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/trust</ref> Flock's Condor cameras did support searching for people based on identifying characteristics. (Later on, there were also add-on options from separate companies, which would run facial recognition services on Flock camera feeds.)<ref>https://www.biometricupdate.com/202609/vendor-pitches-facial-recognition-layer-for-flock-camera-data</ref><ref>https://www.gadgetreview.com/surveillance-firm-pitches-facial-recognition-add-on-for-flock-cameras</ref> However, Flock's most successful service, was a nationwide surveillance grid composed of roadside [[Automated license plate reader|Automated License Plate Readers]] (ALPRs). Each ALPR would scan every vehicle passing by, recording the license plate, bumper stickers, vehicle make, model, color, customizations, and other matters.<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/not-all-lprs-are-created-equal</ref><ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/products/license-plate-readers</ref> This data was collected and analyzed by their central AI to determine each person's movement patterns, current location, who they associate with, and more.
In the late 2010s, a new and rapidly growing industry emerged. Private companies began offering mass surveillance services, for a fee, to both government and private entities. While the government could not perform dragnet surveillance, the thinking was that third party companies could do it on the government's behalf. The first successful business in this industry, was [[Flock Safety]]. They began deploying AI powered cameras in large numbers, to track the movements of every single person. Although promising not to be doing facial recognition<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/trust</ref> Flock's Condor cameras did support searching for people based on identifying characteristics. (Later on, there were also add-on options from separate companies, which would run facial recognition services on Flock camera feeds.)<ref>https://www.biometricupdate.com/202609/vendor-pitches-facial-recognition-layer-for-flock-camera-data</ref><ref>https://www.gadgetreview.com/surveillance-firm-pitches-facial-recognition-add-on-for-flock-cameras</ref> However, Flock's most successful service, was a nationwide surveillance grid composed of roadside [[Automated license plate reader|Automated License Plate Readers]] (ALPRs). Each ALPR would scan every vehicle passing by, recording the license plate, bumper stickers, vehicle make, model, color, customizations, and other matters.<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/not-all-lprs-are-created-equal</ref><ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/products/license-plate-readers</ref> This data was collected and analyzed by their central AI to determine each person's movement patterns, current location, who they associate with, and more.
Seeing how lucrative this mass surveillance industry was becoming, numerous other companies began their own competing services. [[Axon Enterprise|Axon]], [[Leonardo ELSAG|Leonardo]], [[Rekor Systems|Rekor]], [[Genetec]], [[Motorola Solutions]] as well as others, began building their own mass surveillance grids. They lease and/or sell the hardware, and some of those vendors also support facial recognition. Additionally, some other vendors began offering software systems to do the same thing, without custom hardware.
Seeing how lucrative this mass surveillance industry was becoming, numerous other companies began their own competing services. [[Axon Enterprise|Axon]], [[Leonardo ELSAG|Leonardo]], [[Rekor Systems|Rekor]], [[Genetec]], [[Motorola Solutions]] as well as others, began building their own mass surveillance grids. They lease and/or sell the hardware, and some of those vendors also support facial recognition. Additionally, some other vendors began offering software systems to do the same thing, without custom hardware.
===Data brokers===
===Data brokers===
Although the US government built extensive surveillance infrastructure, they also found that it was often easier to just buy a person's data on the open market, than obtain it themselves, directly. Data brokers themselves are often able to collect or buy a great deal of personal information on private citizens. This comes from a variety of sources, ranging from bank records, to spyware embedded in popular [[smartphone]] applications. Often these records include purchasing behavior, movement history, political leanings, religious beliefs, friend networks, phone calls and text messages, and much more. By purchasing these records from data brokers, government officials are able to avoid needing to obtain a search warrant.<ref>https://observed.org/data-brokers-and-law-enforcement-access/</ref>
==See also==
==See also==