Surveillance of normal everyday people on line is usually associated with major tech companies because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them boost their profits a fair bit. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the highest level of surveillance is not being done by social media companies or tech corporations, but rather by a consortium of intelligence agencies called the Five Eyes.
The Five Eyes refers to the intelligence agencies of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, or basically the entire Anglosphere with all things having been considered and taken into account. A leak back in 2013 revealed how the NSA was spying on its own citizens and justifying it by saying that this was solely for national security purposes. In spite of the fact that this is the case, many found their techniques to be quite underhanded, and this led to some sever push back from rights organizations.
The origins of the Five Eyes lie in the aftermath of World War 2, in which the US and UK, fresh from the partnership that led them to victory over the Axis Powers, decided to collaborate in intelligence collection as well. The main target for their surveillance gathering was the Soviet Union, but they have expanded their web quite a lot. The main concern with how this spying is being done is that this alliance allows them to side step a lot of rules.
The CIA can’t spy on its own citizens, but they can have the UK intelligence agency do this without any troubles. A truly chilling aspect of this is that the Five Eyes alliance has expanded gradually, and now there are fourteen countries that participate in shared surveillance and several more are trying to join their club as well because they know how easy it will make it for them to keep spying on innocent civilians.
There is a chance that we could be heading into a world where pretty much everyone will be under surveillance as long as they are using the internet or indeed any form of electronic device. This has made it more necessary than ever for people to use various programs that can maintain their anonymity, such as high quality VPNs that can distort your location and stop people from tracking you. Keeping your sense of privacy online has nothing to do with trying to hide criminal activity, and everything to do with one’s basic right to privacy.
With the countries of Israel, Japan, South Korea and Singapore all angling to join this consortium and get a share of the intelligence, people’s rights to privacy are now at greater risk than ever before. This would mark the first time that the Five Eyes consortium has extended beyond Europe, and if this trend continues people might be living in surveillance states without even realizing it. World governments have a way of making malicious actors seem downright innocuous, and this is a good example of a conspiracy that actually exists instead of just being based on random logic that doesn’t hold up.
H/T: NordVPN
Read next: Employees never want to leave these 20 companies. And here's why
The Five Eyes refers to the intelligence agencies of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, or basically the entire Anglosphere with all things having been considered and taken into account. A leak back in 2013 revealed how the NSA was spying on its own citizens and justifying it by saying that this was solely for national security purposes. In spite of the fact that this is the case, many found their techniques to be quite underhanded, and this led to some sever push back from rights organizations.
The origins of the Five Eyes lie in the aftermath of World War 2, in which the US and UK, fresh from the partnership that led them to victory over the Axis Powers, decided to collaborate in intelligence collection as well. The main target for their surveillance gathering was the Soviet Union, but they have expanded their web quite a lot. The main concern with how this spying is being done is that this alliance allows them to side step a lot of rules.
The CIA can’t spy on its own citizens, but they can have the UK intelligence agency do this without any troubles. A truly chilling aspect of this is that the Five Eyes alliance has expanded gradually, and now there are fourteen countries that participate in shared surveillance and several more are trying to join their club as well because they know how easy it will make it for them to keep spying on innocent civilians.
There is a chance that we could be heading into a world where pretty much everyone will be under surveillance as long as they are using the internet or indeed any form of electronic device. This has made it more necessary than ever for people to use various programs that can maintain their anonymity, such as high quality VPNs that can distort your location and stop people from tracking you. Keeping your sense of privacy online has nothing to do with trying to hide criminal activity, and everything to do with one’s basic right to privacy.
With the countries of Israel, Japan, South Korea and Singapore all angling to join this consortium and get a share of the intelligence, people’s rights to privacy are now at greater risk than ever before. This would mark the first time that the Five Eyes consortium has extended beyond Europe, and if this trend continues people might be living in surveillance states without even realizing it. World governments have a way of making malicious actors seem downright innocuous, and this is a good example of a conspiracy that actually exists instead of just being based on random logic that doesn’t hold up.
H/T: NordVPN
Read next: Employees never want to leave these 20 companies. And here's why
