Civil Liberties Concerns

Surveillance programs can impact civil liberties in many ways. It is important to weigh these costs when considering the approval of new surveillance technologies. Click on the icons to explore the various ways that surveillance can affect your fundamental rights.
Individuals should be free to live their lives without the fear that their lawful activities, private relationships,...[LEARN MORE]
New surveillance technologies – especially systems that allow government investigators to easily monitor our movements...[LEARN MORE]
The government sometimes uses surveillance as a tool to control individuals, groups, or social movements it considers...[LEARN MORE]
Too much data collection and too little oversight can add up to significant privacy violations for innocent people.[LEARN MORE]
When we voluntarily turn our private information over to others, we expect them to treat it with care – and to use it...[LEARN MORE]
As surveillance tools become more powerful and more pervasive, national security and law enforcement agencies...[LEARN MORE]
Surveillance proponents often argue that mass monitoring tools allow police to discover crimes as they happen. But when...[LEARN MORE]
Often, the government’s gaze doesn’t fall on everyone equally. Advanced surveillance technologies may be targeted...[LEARN MORE]
Pervasive surveillance can reveal parts of our lives that – for any number of legitimate reasons – we’d rather not see...[LEARN MORE]
Mass surveillance and data collection expose us to the danger of retaliation for actions and choices that are legal,...[LEARN MORE]
Even if a police department or government agency has strong privacy rules in place to protect the surveillance records...[LEARN MORE]
The ease of data sharing increases the risk that your information will be abused.[LEARN MORE]
“Data mining” occurs when someone analyzes a large data set to find patterns or consolidates information about a single...[LEARN MORE]
That feeling of vulnerability – the sense that others can intrude upon or coerce your boundaries with impunity –...[LEARN MORE]
Even if you have nothing to hide, being watched by the government can impact your behavior.[LEARN MORE]
We should be able to express our minds freely without fear that the government will monitor us, keep a permanent record...[LEARN MORE]
Covert surveillance systems are powerful tools that can be abused.[LEARN MORE]
The Constitution places limits on the ways the government can collect and use information about you.[LEARN MORE]
Police and policy-makers often justify extraordinary surveillance programs on the grounds that they prevent terrorism,...[LEARN MORE]