Forums → WEPR → The Machine

Do I think there is a machine like this? No. Surveiling even a single person 24/7 needs more than a handful of persons, surveiling everyone and everything therefore necessitates an automated process. Secret services may have automatic filters for key words in specific monitored mail boxes, and they may have access to many cameras, but I cannot imagine that anyone has developed an automated image and video processing software that reliably detects hints of terrorism/delinquency/whatever.

Do I think that there will be such a machine one day? I have no clue.

Would it be a good thing? Absolutely not. Surveillance is ok if there is reasonable suspicion. Surveillance is absolutely not ok if done by default, because it breaks our right to private sphere without reason. People need somewhere to feel safe, if they are constantly under threat of being watched like in Big Brother, they cannot rest, they cannot trust. The consequences are obvious.

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On another note, it reminds me of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUCRFMZ-hiY

Second that. I find it funny some people this as a black or white question.
Too much of it and you get a totalitarian regime, but you need at the very least something basic the police can use.

Do I think that there will be such a machine one day? I have no clue.

I don't think an exact copy of such a machine exists, but NSA surveillance comes pretty close in my opinion. So the way things are going, I definitely think it's possible that a machine like this will eventually exist. As for whether it would be a good thing, that's a tougher question. Honestly, if government surveillance is necessary for the country's well-being, I'm not entirely opposed. In times of crisis, individual liberties kind of fall to the wayside. We saw that early in US history, with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 during conflict with France. We saw that recently as well, with the passage of the Patriot Act after 9/11. In the end, I trust my government, and if they believe that drastic measures are needed, I'll accept those drastic measures.

I also don't believe that our liberties are being infringed upon as much as many people seem to believe. Currently, under the NSA's PRISM program, a vast amount of metadata is collected, but very little of it is actually reviewed. Most likely, some sort of system that cherrypicks data based on certain keywords is implemented. What that means is that as far as I'm concerned, the government really isn't invading my privacy at all. When I shoot a text to my mom telling her I'm gonna go pick up some eggs at Safeway, sure, there's a chance that that text gets collected, but in the end it's just going to get thrown into an ocean of other information, never to be examined since I didn't mention Allah in my text. Anyways, if a machine like the one proposed in the OP were to exist, I think it would work in much the same way as the current PRISM program, because as Hahiha mentioned, it would be impossible to extensively search through all the footage of every camera in the US. And in my opinion, the government would be justified in implementing such a program if they saw fit.

You mean this one?

Currently, under the NSA's PRISM program, a vast amount of metadata is collected, but very little of it is actually reviewed. Most likely, some sort of system that cherrypicks data based on certain keywords is implemented.

ECHELON is watching.

It should be fairly simple to determine if the government is really watching you. Just go and Google "How do I set out to kill the president with my new Cheytac sniper rifle", and see if within 24 hrs if you get a black bag thrust down over your head as you are grabbed and stuffed into the back seat of a black Suburban.

If i probably conspirate against the president here i probably going to get killed like poor Nisman did ...