"Welcome to London, the world's capital of surveillance" "Eventhough the year isn't 1984, you may be forgiven for imagining Big Brother really is watching you." "I can see one, two... six, seven..." "fourteen, fifteen... eighteen cameras." "On this spot." "Every bit of public ground is monitored all the time, so that every single street." "But also just because all the different companies, different Londoners, have their own CCTV cameras, so every spot is watched by everybody." "In the most monitored city in the world, there is one camera for every 14 people." "But does this intense surveillance keep Londoners safe?" "I mean, in a way these streets are kind of dangerous, because they're covered in CCTVs, but no one is watching." "That's what's interesting about CCTV culture." "It takes away the drive for having initiatives like natural surveillance being built in." "Photographer Henrietta Williams and cartographer George Gingell have mapped a 'Ring of Steel' around London's financial district," "forged from automatic bollards, security gates, and surveillance cameras." "Anyone who enters is registered electronically, and anything out of the ordinary triggers security protocols," "even seemingly innocuous things like video cameras." "You have to use the other side, not facing the building door." "You can, as long as you're here." "We can film whichever way we want." "I'm not arguing with you, I'm telling you what I'm told." "I'm only doing my job." "The police can rely on the private security to jump in there before them." "So it's like a faster response unit for less money by the government and for the city of London." "In fact in most cases, the streets along this block were given to the developers so they could enact the policy of complete pedestrian streets, but also installing the defense and surveillance against terrorist attack and again sort of petty loitering." "The surveillance systems here aren't just simple cameras." "Anyone who behaves unexpectedly triggers an alarm." "Imperceptibly, humans can observe and evaluate behaviour through these smart cameras without anyone noticing." "If the camera detects an unusual event, the subject is marked." "One of the world's leading scientists behind the development of smart cameras is Prof. James Orwell, of Kinston University." "The system his teams are developing can detect suspicious activity, even before a crime occurs." "The way is to present large volums of data over many months, possibly years." "And so that enables the system to develop a statistical model of what is normal or maybe what is abnormal." "And so then there is automatic flagging of anything that is considered abnormal." "Pr." "Orwell has been monitoring the university carpark with one of these new cameras." "This system is learning normal patterns of behaviour:" "who leaves, who arrives, and how they act." "We're able to measure how long they spend in this area, and so we can flag if there is some suspicious behaviour, for example if somebody is loitering in this area." "Loitering is not allowed in the carparks of Kingston University." "But the system doesn't perfectly understand human behaviour." "An individual only needs to linger moments early before the system flags them as potentially undesireable." "In locations where thousands of people pass in front of the cameras everyday, it's even more difficult for the systems to determine what is normal behaviour and what is not." "Are these people simply on their way to work?" "Or does this group hide a terrorist?" "Either way, inaccurate identification can have serious consequences." "It's the case that French national David Mery demonstrates." "In July 2005, the IT expert enters the Southwark underground station." "Eastward security cameras passed over him." "He was flagged up as different, wearing a jacket despite the warm summer weather." "And he does not immediately board the first train to arrive at the platform." "David now knows as first hand that he has been constantly evaluated." "They found my behaviour suspicious, because I was not looking at them or at others when I entered the station, I looked at the steps." "This was enough for David to warrant the full attention of the security cameras." "I would prefer to avoid the cameras but it's impossible, there are too many cameras in London." "David Mery was arrested and searched." "When nothing was found on his person, police raided his apartment." "One diagram in particular suggested the officials that they had apprehended a dangerous criminal." "I had been on the phone or something else." "And they were very interested in that." "They asked whether this was a map of the tub station." "As it's doodles, you can see anything you want in them." "It's impossible to disproof what it isn't." "It's just doodles." "Only three weeks before the police were quizzing David Mery about his suspicious drawing," "London had experienced the most devastating terrorist attack in the city's history." "52 people lost their lives when four suicide bombers detonated explosives on public transports." "Three of them were filmed ahead of the attack, during a test run on the underground." "But despite the thorough documentation of their preparations, there was still no way for their devastating crime to be prevented." "Suspicion instead falls on David Mery, whose details are stored in a file of terrorist suspects." "8 years on, and the authorities still haven't removed him from the file." "I cannot travel to the United States." "And considering that my arrest was in relation with terrorism, even though I was never charged," "I have no chance of getting a visa." "Anyone suspected of crime in the UK quickly loses their right to privacy." "The Face Watch unit of the London police presents faces of suspects to the public using footage from security cameras posted on the Internet." "This is a gentleman of interest." "And his image appears there." "We tick the authorized button here so it goes on the public website and to the app." "And we tick that we decide that we authorize it." "And then I press submit." "And that image is now gone into the system and can be viewed by the public on the Face Watch site and on the Face Watch app." "Mick Neville is head of image recognition at Scotland Yard." "He feels this kind of crowdsourced policing by the Internet represents a powerful new weapon in the fight against crime." "Thousands of people have registered for the app." "In the United Kingdom, people quite accept the CCTV." "They think the police do a good job with CCTV, and they're happy to identify a criminal." "There's not so much fear of surveillance, I don't think, in United Kingdom, as possibly on mainland Europe." "Over the past decade, the UK has been constantly seeking new ways to combat the passive threat of terrorism." "In this military base two hours outside of London, the newest techniques are getting put through their paces." "Mark Lawrence is one of the new breed of experts, offering instructions in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones." "No official government sources will publicly talk about the effectiveness of this new technique." "Only Mark Lawrence will speak with us." "So what I'm planning to do now is hopefully track Patrick down, either on his way there or his way back." "And if I see him in this yard," "I will fly to the horse track to see if we can pick him up there." "The hunt takes place across three miles." "So we've got Patrick, we've located him, he is in the drone, so we're gonna fly towards him there." "Big Brother approaches unnoticed from the air." "When the target is discovered, the UAV becomes a constant companion at a height of 120 meters." "What we're doing is using a GPS lock to do this." "So if I double click here we can just keep the subject in the center of the screen, and also at the same time the unit will follow him backwards." "So let's fly this way." "There you go." "So, did it work?" "Yeah we got you." "We got you in the house and coming out as well." "So that's why it's good for covered surveillance." "Is it possible that in the future we see drones flying over our heads?" "Maybe not directly over your head but definitely, the police are using them now." "They're using them for surveillance work and not just sneaking around spying on people, as a lot of people seem to think." "Sometimes, to catch the bad things going on, you need to be" " I suppose you could call it sly - or just secretive about it." "There are plans to fit the drones with improved cameras incorporating face-recognition technology." "Quietly, public privacy is being exchanged for greater security." "Mickael Chandler is the head of Vanquish security back in London." "He's also keen to demonstrate some of his techniques, some of which are alarmingly effective." "Hey, how's it going?" "How did you get that?" "Well, basically, what we've done was we remotely switched on the microphone in your phone and recorded at a predetermined time and that recording then uploaded to our online platform." "The phone was bugged, whilst it was left unattended on the table during our interview with the police." "Professor Orwell was also monitored." "... then there is automatic flagging of anything that is considered abnormal." "Okay, so here is the photograph taken in the Police Station I believe." "There's that one and there's this one." "Here are the calls." "So obviously, these are all your phone calls, text messages, which has been only one." "You have an overview of your location which is - because it's an overview, you've only got your location for this afternoon." "But in general, it's also got the photographs that have been taken." "And also, all the voice recordings that we have made." "So you just can see everything without my knowledge actually?" "Basically yeah." "That's exactly what it was." "And not only that." "There's absolutely no way for you to be able to find the device on your phone." "It's totally hidden." "Only we would be able to find it." "OK so this is the photographs that we found in your phone." "Probably I don't know what they are, but what I can do is have a look at the time they were taken." "And then cross it not only with the recordings we have but also the location." "We can show you that you were... at a police station on Seymour Street." "That goes through GPS?" "This is a GPS report coming from your device." "And that's all legal?" "This is totally legal." "Absolutely legal, yes." "Amazing." "As this demonstration has revealed, it's becoming ever easier to covertly track individuals, using modern technology." "And it's happening far more often than we realize." "According to ex-NSA analyst William Binney," "American security agency now have the technology to eavesdrop whenever they want." "So they're storing it all." "They're collecting it all and storing." "It's all in large storing facilities, that's what that's all about." "And the point is that they hope by storing it all now that some time in the future they'll figure out how to go back into it and figure out what is important, so they can reanalyze it." "That's why they need 5 zettabytes of storage in Utah." "They store it all." "William worked for the US government for 32 years." "He was responsible for electronic espionage." "A decade ago, when the authorities began to bug US citizens, he left the service." "The fight against terrorism seems to change the rules of engagement over night." "I mean there virtually is nothing in the network that they can't have a copy of." "If they start targeting you, so what?" "They already have your data." "I can't find out what they are doing with my data." "But I know they have it." "So I make sure I write in there whatever I have to say about them," "I say that in there." "So when they collect it, they know what I'm thinking of them." "With specially developed software, the authorities can tap into our computers without us realizing." "This is a promotional video from the manufacturer FinSpy." "A surveillance program designed for the police." "It is widely used across western Europe, and the principle is always the same." "The authorities infect the victim's computer with malware, whilst they're hiding a fake software update." "The unsuspecting user clicks on 'OK', and the police can now observe everything as it happens on screen." "The intruder gets passwords, emails, and can see stored data." "Not everybody in here works for FinFisher, right?" "This is the largest hacker convention in Europe." "In fact, probably more people in here work against FinFisher." "Thanks for that." "So, to that end, we can make a choice about what we'd like to do." "Once a year, hackers from around the world meet in Hamburg." "The theme of this year's meeting is 'State surveillance'." "Keynote's speaker Jacob Appelbaum knows what it means to be persecuted." "He's a close friend and supporter of Julian Assange." "To be free from suspicion is one of the first freedoms." "That is important for being free in the rest of your life." "When you're followed around, when you're being investigated, because of the whim of someone, this is the beginning of the end of your freedom." "Does the NSA routinely intercept American citizens' emails?" "No." "Does the NSA intercept" "American's cellphone conversations?" "No." " Google searches?" " No." " Text messages?" " No." " Bank records?" " No." "That was General Alexander, the most powerful person in the world." "Probably even more powerful than the President of the US, or any leader of any other country." "That guy's a fucking liar, first of all." "Because, we know for a fact..." "We know for a fact from Mark Klein that the NSA was in fact doing dragnet surveillance of all of those things." "I don't really use a mobile phone for anything except security research these days." "So I don't really use a mobile phone." "I chose not to use Facebook because I really think it's more like 'StasiBook'." "We should not just use systems that make trade ops we wouldn't agree with, that are not democratically decided." "The Icelandic capital of Reykjavík is the perfect location from which to investigate the technologies states can use to track their citizens." "It was from here that Wikileaks released this infamous video from the Iraq war." "Those involved with the release of the video suddenly found themselves facing up to a powerful opponent." "Birgitta Jónsdóttir, who has worked for the media and for Wikileaks, sent photos from the video to the international press." "This activity transformed her into a national security target, and her right to digital privacy was repelled, eventhough there were no legal proceedings against her." "Twitter was demanded to hand over my personal stuff, within three days, without my knowledge." "Which means that they did a very bad example for the government of the US to go into people's" " you know, even parliamentarians - in other countries, to snoop into their personal matters." "What's most remarkable about this story is that Birgitta Jónsdóttir is a Member of the Icelandic Parliament." "Furthermore, Twitter was not the only source of private digital information to hand data over to the US security agencies." "Have a look at what experts say in this field in the States for example." "They speculated it's Facebook, Google, perhaps Skype or IP hosts." "I don't know, but the judge refuses to acknowledge the request from my lawyers to unseal what companies it is." "Jónsdóttir did nothing illegal when she released the video." "But it was enough to warrant invasive snooping from the US security agencies." "That's me, my younger son, older son." "Some people that I've got to know later I worked with." "Three years ago, the Icelandic people took to the streets." "The banking crisis had hit the small island nation hard." "The Icelandic saucepan revolution ultimately forced the general election." "Birgitta Jónsdóttir was elected to the new Parliament." "But for the US government, she remained a target." "Today, Jónsdóttir campaigns for digital rights and self-determination." "She wants Iceland to become a safe haven for sensitive data." "They want to put a stop to the prying eyes of the state." "We went on a quest around the world to cherry-pick all the best functioning laws in this regard." "Emails, for example, would be protected in the same way as written correspondence." "There is absolutely no country in the world that actually properly addressed how easy it is for government and corporations to mine through our private data." "We in Iceland are focusing on creating a standard and setting an example, and it would be really ideal, and this is one of the thoughts behind the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative." "The ideal if we can, with this new set of laws, create a haven in such a way that I would like to see it spread to other countries." "International demand to store confidential data in Iceland has increased dramatically." "But according to Smári McCarthy there is also global uncertainty about this issue." "He is director of the International Institute for the Media." "Journalists and their sources have deep concerns about their data being protected." "Your data is just being shifted around, and they turn computers off, and they turn computers on and your data is wherever they think it's gonna be cheapest." "This is great if you're running a business." "It is terrible if you own data and you don't know where it is." "Suddenly the cat folders are droploaded or subject to Brazilian law." "That's not something you signed up for." "The police can shut down illegal sites." "It was the case with this raid on the server room for online file sharing site The PirateBay." "The problem is with the legal information from other providers that may be lost in the process." "To protect these data from any access, it needs to be in an unreachable place." "In the future, that place could be in Iceland." "The idea of Iceland as an inverse tax haven" " this is a place that protects people's privacy and people's information, and free speech rights rather than protecting people against the tax authorities is a very nice one and it's definitely something worth striving towards." "It'll take time." "Hopefully over time every country will be a Switzerland of bits." "But Birgitta Jónsdóttir will continue to use Facebook, Twitter and Google, claiming she is a Guinea pig in the monitored space." "She says whoever spied on her feels they can do it with impunity, and that her case should be a warning." "It is such a temptation to go into somebody's home without them ever being able to know about it." "And then I'm referring to my online home, for it is just as sacred as my offline home." "This is where all my private stuff is." "This is where all my personal matters are." "This is where all my thoughts are, and all my activity and moment can be traced." "So, you know, hands off my home!" "A similar case of monitoring is currently unraveling in Berlin." "Andrej Holm is a noted sociologist who is teaching at the Humboldt University." "For months, he was shadowed and monitored, suspected as the leader of a militant group that committed arson attacks in Berlin in 2007." "It is the morning of the 31st of July, so it's summer day in the morning, before seven." "I woke up to a pounding on the front door." "Then a massive armed man fell on me." "They then threw me to the ground, my hands fixed behind my back." "You then get the impression that you're in a film, because they behave as in one of the thrillers or action movies." "I was already aware that there is such things as house searches and arrests directed also against left-wing activists." "It was already going through my head, but I could not understand what they actually had to do with me directly." "So it was an abstract fear that I had at that point." "Andrej Holm was arrested by a special detachment and brought in federal court in Karlsruhe." "Only later did Holm learn that he had been systematically monitored." "The federal investigators had been studying his academic essays, and the wide spread use of expressions such as 'gentrification' and 'casualization' had inflamed their suspicions." "These were terms also used by the militant group that had claimed responsibility for the Berlin arson attacks." "The investigating authorities had created a characters grid to use in their investigation, which suggested suspects should have 'extraordinary political and historical knowledge' and 'the scientific and analytical ability to execute the attacks'." "Following his arrest, the investigating judge ordered home detention." "After 30 days in solitary confinement, the federal court ruled that there was 'no strong suspicion'." "For the first time since his arrest, Holm is free." "And for the first time, he learns about the surveillance protocols surrounding him." "The excerpts from the minutes reveal a detailed investigation into all aspects of Holm's life." "You spend your whole life second guessing yourself how the police officers have been listening to you, interpret what your actions or words mean." "You are doing something completely harmless, but they've already read in the files that anything can be interpreted as malignant." "If I tie my shoes in the street, then I don't turn my back so as not to give the impression that I am hiding something." "Then further friends and acquaintances are intercepted." "Video cameras are installed in front of the doorways." "You turn into a totally transparent people." "The investigators monitored Holm's social environment and couldn't find any evidence to incriminate him." "But this only caused them to intensify their surveillance." "According to their logic, Holm is an intellectual who's highly conspiratorial and expertly concealing his misdeeds." "That they may be on the tail of an innocent person didn't seem to occur to his pursuers." "We were completely monitored." "Our personal emails have been read." "They obviously found ways, even before the online search, to gain access to our computers." "There was also a sense of political outrage in the country, over the loss of freedom to choose what the main ingredients of domestic social value should be." "Because those personal freedoms are trampled in the course of these kinds of investigation." "Finally, anyone who now searches Andrej Holm on the Internet will receive a huge number of results, in many articles linking him to terrorism." "For the rest of his life, Andrej Holm will be tainted by the phrase 'terrorist suspect'." "People are more conscious of the need to protect their digital privacy than ever before." "The call for digital self-defense is heard everywhere." "Emails are sent encrypted." "But many are choosing to do without social networks like Facebook and Twitter." "In Vienna, this group meets once a week for a cypherparty." "They discuss how to make themselves invisible in the network." "What is the goal of Tor and the people that operate it?" "Anonymity, that is from web browsing, chats, or other Internet services." "To make it anonymous." "Until now, encryption techniques have only been in the domain of the authorities and elite Internet geeks." "These people want to spread the word." "I think we are more and more transparent." "Even when I use a debit card or a credit card, I have the same feeling." "I want to save data as much as possible, and leave as little as possible behind." "I think it's wiser." "Cypherparties have formed spontaneously all over the planet." "The interest of the population has risen in the course of more government control and more profiling by large companies such as Google, Facebook, and others." "And the interpretation and openness of this profile data is a major problem and a major threat." "These groups have straightforward aspirations." "No one should be able to read their social media posts, unless they want them to." "And nobody should be able to leaf through their photo albums without permission." "They argue this is not just paranoia." "Privacy is a basic human right." "And it must also apply in the digital world." "When you bareback with the Internet, you bareback with Big Brother." "So maybe it's a good idea, just like we understood with HIV and AIDS, we have a personal responsibility to not infect our friends and lovers and neighbours." "And when you use the Internet without any crypto, without anonymity, without privacy, what you do is you present a transmitting risk to your community and probably even to your country, certainly to yourself." "Big Brother is watching you." "With most people having a limited understanding of this world of cybersurveillance and how to protect themselves" "are our most basic freedoms already being lost." "Synch  transcript by Hell"