Spy Files Leaked

Coined the “Spy Files,” the latest WikiLeaks release is a collection of presentations from government-only security conferences claiming the relative ease of country and global-wide surveillance. French technology firm Amesys announced their ability to “aid governments in moving from eavesdropping on one person to ‘full country traffic monitoring,’ including automatic translation and mapping of real-world social networks based on who's talking to who.

It seems that the ubiquity of smart phones, social networking, and telecommunications tools that inundate daily life are a foundation for surveillance.  Like a vine or slow moving virus, the technology many people use as an accessory to improve their standard of living, may have its electronic tendrils around the throats of those who use it (ie: everyone).  This is especially the case when it's coupled with measues such as the recent senate approval for “indefinite detention” of US citizens in which authoritarian control is carried out under the guise of protection and national security.

Not all of the releases on WikiLeaks are in fact leaks, but collected data that is openly available for anyone looking for it.  The information outlining the architecture for global panopticon and observation is easily accessible on the Internet--if anyone can be bothered to look.