00:00
Open
00:08
Welcome to London, the world's capital of surveillance. Even though the year isn't 1984, you may be forgiven for imagining big brother really is watching you.
0:20 OT George Gingell, cartographer
I see one, two .. six, seven ... fourteen, fifteen ... eighteen cameras on this spot. Every bit of public realm is monitored all the time, every single street. But also just because all the different companies, the different land owners, have their own cctv cameras so every spot is watched by every body.
00:42
In the most monitored city in the world, there is one camera for every 14 people. But does this intense surveillance keep Londoners safe?
0:50 OT Henrietta Williams, Photographer
I mean, in a way, these streets are kind of dangerous because they're covered in CCTV but no-one's watching. That's what's interesting about CCTV culture; it takes away the drive for having initiatives like natural surveillance being built in.
01:04
Open
01:06
Photographer Henrietta Williams and cartographer George Gingell have mapped a ring of steel around London’s financial district. Forged from automated bollards, security gates and surveillance cameras, anyone who enters is registered electronically, and anything out the ordinary triggers security protocols.
Even seemingly innocuous things, like video cameras:
1:32 OT guard
You have over on the other side, you can not film the building.
1:35 OT George Gingell
You can. You can. As long as you're here. We can film whichever way we want.
1:47 OT Henrietta Williams
The police can rely on the private security to jump in there before them, So it's like a first response unit for less money to the government and to the city of London police.
1:55 OT George Gingell, cartographer
And ... in fact in most cases the streets along this block were given to the developers, so they could enact the policy of completely pedestrianising the street, but also installing the defences and surveillance against terrorist attack, and against sort of petty loitering and film crews and things.
02:16
Open
02:19
The surveillance systems here aren’t just simple cameras.
02:22
Anyone who behaves unexpectedly triggers an alarm. Imperceptibly, humans can observe and evaluate behaviour through these smart cameras without anyone noticing.
02:37
Open
02:42
If the camera detects an unusual event, the subject is marked.
02:53
One of the worlds leading scientists behind the development of smart cameras is Professor James Orwell, of Kingston University. The systems his team are developing can detect suspicious activity even before a crime occurs.
3:10 OT James Orwell, Research Center for Digital Image Recognition
The way is to present large volumes of data over many months possibly years and so that enables the system to develop a statistical model of what is normal and maybe what is abnormal and so then there is automatic flagging of anything that is considered abnormal….
03:32
Professor Orwell has been monitoring the university car park with one of his new cameras.
The system is learning “normal” patterns of behaviour. Who leaves, who arrives, and how they act.
3:51 OT James Orwell, Research Center for Digital Image Recognition
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 someone is loitering in this area.
04:04
Loitering is not allowed in the car parks of Kingston University - but the system doesn't perfectly understand human behaviour. An individual only needs to linger momentarily before the system flags them as potentially undesirable .
04:28
Open
04:29
In locations where thousands of people pass in front of the cameras every day, it is difficult to determine what is normal behavior and what is not. Are these people simply on their way to work? Or does this group hide a terrorist? Either way, innacurate identifications can have serious consequences, as the case of David Mery demonstrates.
04:52
In July 2005 the IT expert entered the Southwark underground station. As the security camera 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.
05:10
Open
05:12
French national David Mery now knows first hand that he is being constantly evaluated.
05:19 David Mery OT, IT expert
They find my behaviour suspicious because I was not looking at them when I entered the station. I looked at the steps instead to stop falling.
05:28
This was enough for David to warrant the full attention of the security cameras.
5:33 OT David Mery
I would prefer to avoid the cameras, if I could, but now it is impossible anyway, there are too many cameras in London.
05:41
David Mery was arrested and searched. When nothing was found on his person, police raided his apartment. One diagram in particular suggested to the officials that they had apprehended a dangerous criminal.
5:54 OT David Mery, Terror Suspect
I have done this idea whilst on the phone or something else, they were very interested in that and they asked whether this was a map of the tube station. So as is doodles you can see anything you want in them. It is impossible to disprove whether it is or it isn’t: its just doodles.
06:15
Insert: metro stop London, 7 July 2005
Three weeks before the police quizzed 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 transport.
06:30
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.
06:45
Open
06:46
Suspicion instead falls on David Mery, stored in a file for terror suspects. Eight years later, and the authorities haven't removed David's details from the file.
6:58 OT David Mery
I cannot travel to the United States and considering my arrest was in connection with terrorism, even though I was never charged,I basically have no chance of getting a visa.
07:07
Open
07:10
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.
7:32 OT policeman
This is a gentleman of interest, and thats an image of him as it appears there. We tick the authorise button here so it goes on the public website and to the app, and we tick here to say that we authorise it. We then press submit and that image has now gone into the system and can now be viewed by the public on the Face Watch site and on the Face Watch app.
07:54
Open
07:57
Mick Neville is the head of image recognition at Scotland Yard. He feels this kind of crowd sourced policing via the internet represents a powerful new weapon in the fight against crime
08:10 OT Mick Neville, Scotland Yard, Department of Image Recognition
Several thousand people have registered for the app and have taken it on. I mean in the United Kingdom people quite accept CCTV,they think the police do a good job with CCTV and are happy to identify criminals. I don't its a fear of CCTV in the United Kingdom so much as possibly on mainland Europe
08:32
Open
08:36
Over the past decade, the UK has been constantly seeking new ways to combat the perceived threat of terrorism. At this military base two hours outside London, the newest techniques are getting put through their paces. Mark Lawrence is one of a new breed of experts, offering instruction in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles – or drones.
08:53
Open
08:56
No official government sources will publicly talk about the effectiveness of this new technique – only Mark Lawrence will speak with us
9:07 OT Mark Lawrence, Managing Director Centre for Homeland Security
So what Im planning to do now is, hopefully, track Patrick down either on his way there or on the way back. And if I dont see him in this yard I will fly to the horse track and see if we can pick him up there.
09:22
The hunt takes place across three miles.
9:30 OT Mark Lawrence, Managing Director Centre for Homeland Security
So weve got patrick. Weve located him using the drone and were going to fly towards him now.
09:36
Big Brother approaches unnoticed from the air.
09:40 (CUT) On screen PTC
OT reporter GERMAN
One hears a buzz, but one sees nothing. And the drone flying somewhere above me now.
09:48
When the target is discovered, the UAV becomes a constant companion at a height of 120 meters.
09:55
Mark Lawrence, Managing Director Centre for Homeland Security
And 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 middle of the screen, and also at the same time the unit will follow him backwards, so if we fly this way...and there you go.
10:13
OT reporter PATRICK
So did it work?
10:10
OT Mark Lawrence, Managing Director UK Centre for Homeland Security
Yeh we got you. Got you in the house, and coming out as well.
10:20
OT Mark Lawrence, Managing Director UK Centre for Homeland Security
So thats why its good for covert surveillance.
Open
10:23
OT reporter PATRICK
Would it be possible in the future, that we see drones flying over our head?
10:28
OT Mark Lawrence, Managing Director UK Centre for Homeland Security
Maybe not directly over your head. But definitely the police are using these now. They are using them for surveillance work, and not just sneaking around spying on people, as a lot of people seem to think. So some times, to catch the bad things going on you need to be, I suppose you could call it sly, but just secretive about it.
10:45
There are plans to fit the drones with improved cameras incorporating face recognition technology. Quietly, public privacy is being slowly exchanged for greater security.
10:53
Open
10:55
Michael Chandler is the head of Vanquish Security back in London. He's also keen to demonstrate some of his techniques
11:06
Open
11:08
Some of which are alarmingly effective.
11:13 (CUT)
OT reporter German
I know that, that's out of the police station.
11:17
Open
11:21 OT reporter
I know this! How did you get that?
11:24 OT Michael Chandler, Vanquish Security
Well basically, what we done was we remotely switch on the microphone in your phone and recorded at a predetermined time and that recording then uploaded to our online platform.
11:33
The phone was externally bugged whilst it was left unnattended on the table during an interview with the police.
11:39
Open
11:41
Professor Orwell was also monitored.
11:45
Open
11:51 OT Michael Chandler, Vanquish Security
So here's the photograph taken in the police station, I believe.Theres that one. And theres this one.
12:01
Here are the calls. So obviously here are all your phonecalls.
12:06
And the text messages which has been only one.
12:09
We have an overview of your location which, because its an overview, only has the only got your location for this afternoon. But in general its also got the photographs that have been taken, and also all the voice recordings that we have made.
12:23 OT reporter
So you can just see everything without my knowledge actually?
12:25 OT Michael Chandler, Vanquish Security
Basically, yes. Thats exaclty how it works.And not only that, there is absolutely no way for you to find that device on your phone. Its totally hidden. Only we would be able to find it.
12:38
OK so this is the photographs that we found on your phone. Currently I dont know what they are. But what I can do is have a look ath the times they were taken and then cross reference it with not only the voice recordings we have but also the location.
12:52
Open
12:55
We can show you that you were at a Police station on Seymour Street.
13:00 OT reporter
That goes through GPS?
13:02 OT Michael Chandler
This is a GPS report coming from your device.
13:05 OT reporter
And that's all legal?
13:07 OT Michael Chandler
This is totally
13:09 OT Michael Chandler
Absolutely legal, yes.
13:10 OT reporter
Wow. Amazing.
13:13
Open
13:17
As this demonstration reveals, it's becoming ever easier to covertly track individuals using modern technology.
13:22
Open
13:23
And it's happening far more often than we realize. According to ex-NSA analyst William Binney, American security agencies now have the technology to eavesdrop whenever they want.
13:38 OT William Binney, Former Crypto-Analyst NSA
So theyre storing it all. They are collecting it all and storing it so they need a large storage facility. Thats what thats all about. And the point is that they hope that by storing it all now that some time in the future they will figure out how to go back in to it and figure out what was important so they can retroactively analyze everything. Thats why they need 5 zettabytes of storage at Utah: to store it all.
14:04
William worked for the US government for 32 years. He was responsible for electronic espionage. A decade ago, when the authorities began to bug U.S. citizens, he left the service. The fight against terrorism seemed to change the rules of engagement overnight.
14:28 OT William Binney, Former Crypto-Analyst NSA
I mean there is virtually nothing in the network that they can't have a copy of. If they start targetting you, so what, they already have your data. I cant find out what they are doing with my data, but I know they have it-OK. So I make sure I write in there, whatever I have to say about them I say it, so when they collect my data they know what I am thinking of them.
14:52
Open
14:55
With specially developed software the authorities can tap into our computers without us realizing. This is a promotional video from the manufacturer of FinSpy, a surveillence program designed for the police. It is widely used across Western Europe. The principle is always the same. The Authorities infects the victim's computer with malware, which they hide in a fake software update. The unsuspecting user clicks on "OK", and the police can now observe everything as it happens on-screen.
15:39
The intruder gets passwords, mails, and can see stored data.
15:47 OT Jacob Appelbaum
Not everyone in here works for FinFisher, right?
15:51
This is the largest hacker convention in Europe.
15:53 OT Jacob Appelbaum
And in fact, probably more people in here work against FinFisher. Thanks for that. And so to that end, we can make a choice about what we do
16:03
Insert: CCC hacker Congress, Hamburg, 28 December 2012
Once a year, hackers from around the world meet in Hamburg. The theme of this years meeting is state surveillance. And keynote speaker Jacob Appelbaum knows what it means to be persecuted. He is a close friend and supporter of Julian Assange.
16:20 OT Jacob Appelbaum, Hackers
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 are followed around, when you are being investigated because of the whim of someone, this is the beginning of the end of your freedom.
16:37
Insert: hearing before the U.S. Congress, 20 March 2012
OT Hank Johnson, U.S. Congressman
Does the NSA routinely intercept American citizen's e-mails?
16:41
OT General Keith Alexander, NSA director
No.
16:46
OT Johnson
Does the NSA intercept American's cell phone conversations?
16:52
OT General Alexander
No.
16:53
OT Johnson
Google searches?
OT General Alexander
No.
16:55
OT Johnson
Text messages?
OT General Alexander
No.
16:58
OT Johnson
Amazon.com orders?
OT General Alexander
No.
17:02
OT Johnson
Bank records?
OT General Alexander
No.
17:05 OT Jacob Appelbaum, Hackers
That was General Alexander. He is the most powerful man in the world, probably even more powerful than the President of the United States or any leader of any other country. That guy is a fucking liar first of all. Because we know for a fact...
17:17
Open
17:22 OT Jacob Appelbaum, Hackers
We know for a fact, from Mark Klein that the NSA was in fact doing dragnet surveillance of all of those things.
17:28 OT Jacob Appelbaum, Hackers
Well I mean I dont use a mobile phone for anything other than security research these days. So I dont really use a mobile phone.I choose not to use Facebook because I really think its more like Stasi book. We should not just use systems that make trade offs we wouldnt agree with, that are not democractically decided.
17:45
The Icelandic capital of Reykjavik is the perfect location from which to examine the technologies states can use to examine their citizens. It was from here that WikiLeaks released this infamous video from the Iraq war.
17:59
Open video
Insert: Collateral Murder video, Wikileaks 2010
18:04
Those involved with the release of the video suddenly found themselves facing up to a powerful opponent. Birgitta Jonsdottir, who has worked for the media and for WikiLeaks, sent photos from the video to the international press.
18:24
This activity transformed her into a national security target and her right to digital privacy was repealed – even though there were no legal proceedings against her.
18:35
OT Birgitta Jonsdottir, Internet activist
Twitter was demanded to hand over my personal stuff within three days without my knowldege. Which means we do have a very bad example for the government of the United States to go into even parliamentarians in other countries, and to snoop into their personal matters
19:01
What's most remarkable about this, is that Birgitta Jonsdottir is a Member of the Icelandic Parliament. And Twitter was not the only source of private digital information to hand data over to the US security agencies.
19:19 OT Birgitta Jonsdottir
Looking at what experts say, in this field in the States for example. They speculate that Facebook, Google, perhaps Skype or IP host- I dont know- but the judges refuse to acknowledge the request from our lawyers to reveal what companies it is.
19:38
Jonsdottir did nothing illegal when she released the video. But it was inconvenient to the US government. This, it seems, is enough to warrant invasive snooping from the US security agencies.
19:46 OT Birgitta Jonsdottir
So its me, my younger son, older son, and some people I got to know later, some people I used to work with.
19:55
Open
19:59
Three years ago, the Icelandic people took to the streets. The financial crisis had hit the small island nation hard. The Icelandic "Saucepan Revolution" forced a general election.
20:14
Birgitta Jonsdottir was elected to the new parliament. But for the U.S. government, she remains a target.
20:26
Today Jonsdottir campaigns for digital rights and self-determination: Iceland should be a safe haven for sensitive data. They want to put a stop to the prying eyes of the state.
20:42
OT Birgitta Jonsdottir
We went on a quest around the world to cherry pick all the best functioning laws in this regard.
20:48
Emails, for example, would be protected, as well as correspondence.
20:55 OT Birgitta Jonsdottir, Member of Parliament
There is absolutely no country in the world, that has properly addressed the fact that it is so easy it is for governments and corporations to mine through our private data.
We in Iceland are focusing on creating a standard and setting an example. And then it would be really ideal, and this is one of the thoughts behand the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, it would be ideal if we can, with these new set of laws, create a haven, and see it spread to other countries.
21:33
Open
21:38
International demands to store confidential data in Iceland have increased dramatically. But according to Smari McCarthy there is also global uncertainty about this. He is director of the International Institute for the Media.
21:56
Journalists and their sources have deep concerns about their data being adequately protected.
22:04 OT Smari McCarthy, Director of International Media Institute (IMMI)
Your data is just being shifted around and they turn computers off, and they turn computers on, and your data is anywhere they think it will be cheapest. This is great if you are running a business, it is terrible if you own data and dont know where it is, and suddenly the cat photos you uploaded are subject to Brazillian law. Thats not something you signed up for.
22:26
Insert: Police raid on The Pirate Bay, 31 May 2006
Open
22:28
The police can shut down illegal sites, as was the case with this raid on the server room for online file sharing site "The Pirate Bay". The problem is with the legal information from other providers that may be lost in the process. To protect this data from any access, it needs to be in an unreachable place. In the future, that could be in Iceland.
22:55 OT Smari McCarthy, Director of International Media Institute (IMMI)
The idea of Iceland as an inverse Tax Haven that is to say a place that protects people privacy, and peoples information and free speech rights rather than protecting people against the tax authorities is a very nice one and is definately something worth striving towards. It will all take time so hopefully after a long enough times all countries will be a Switzerland of bits.
23:21
But Birgitta Jonsdottir 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.
23:40 OT Birgitta Jonsdottir, Member of Parliament
There is a great temptation to go into someones home without them ever being able to know about it. Then I am referring to my online home because it is just as sacred as my offline home. This is where all my private stuff is. This is where all my personal letters are. This is where all my thoughts are from where all my activities and movement can be traced. So, hands off my home.
24:07
Open
24:10
A similar instance of monitoring is currently unravelling in Berlin.
24:15
Andrej Holm is a noted sociologist who was teaching at the Humboldt University.
24:25
For months he was shadowed and monitored...
24:27
suspected as the leader of a militant group that committed arson attacks in Berlin in 2007.
24:46
OT Andrej Holm, a sociologist Humboldt University
GERMAN
It was the morning of 31 July, so a summer day, in the morning before 7. I woke up to pounding on the front door. Then, a mass of armed men fell on me. They then threw me to the ground, my hands fixed behind my back. Then you have some the impression that one is in a film, because they behave as in one of the thrillers or action movies. I was already aware that there is such a thing as house searches and arrests directed also against left-wing activists. That was already going through my head, but I could not understand what that actually had to do with me directly, So that was as an abstract fear I had then.
25:36
Andrej Holm was arrested by a special detachment and brought to Federal Court in Karlsruhe. Only later did Holm learn that he had been systematically monitored.
25:51
The Federal investigators had been studying his academic essays, and the widespread 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.
26:08
The investigating authorities had created a character grid to use in the investigation, which suggested suspects should have:
- Extraordinary political and historical knowledge, and
- The scientific and analytical ability to execute the attacks
26:24
Following his arrest, the investigating judge ordered Holm's 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.
26:47
The excerpts from the minutes of the investigation revealed a detailed investigation into all aspects of Holm's life.
27:06
OT Anne Roth, partner Andrej Holm
GERMAN
You spend your whole life second guessing yourself. How will the police officers who have been listening you interpret what your actions or words mean? You are doing something completely harmless, but have already read in the files that anything can be interpreted as malignant. If I tie my shoes on the street, then I don’t turn my back so as not to give the impression that I am hiding something.
27:30
OT Andrej Holm, a sociologist Humboldt University
GERMAN
Then phones of friends and acquaintances are intercepted; video cameras are installed in front of the doorways; you turn into totally transparent people.
27:48
The investigators monitored Holm's social environment and couldn't find any evidence to incriminate him. But this only caused them to intensify surveillance. According to their logic, Holm is an intellectual who is 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.
28:19
OT Andrej Holm, a sociologist Humboldt University
GERMAN
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, etc. There is also a sense of political outrage in the country over the loss of the freedom to choose what the main ingredients of domestic social values should be, because those personal freedoms are trampled in the course of these kinds of investigations.
29:00
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: "terror suspect".
29:17
Open
29:19
People are more conscious of the need to protect their digital privacy than ever. The call for digital self defense is heard everywhere: E-mails are sent encrypted, but many are choosing to do without social networks like Facebook and Twitter. In Vienna, this group meet once a week for cypher party. They discuss how to make themselves invisible in the network.
29:49
OT Pepi Zawodsky, Metalab Vienna
GERMAN
What is the goal of the door and the people that operate it? Anonymity. That is, from web browsing, chat, or other Internet services, to make it anonymous.
30:04
Open
30:05
until now, encryption techniques have only been in the domain of the authorities and elite Internet geeks. People like this want to change that.
30:15
OT Woman 1
GERMAN
I think we are more and more transparant. Even when I use the debit card or credit card, I have the same feeling.
30:25
OT Woman 2
GERMAN
I want to save data as much possible and leave as little as possible behind. I think it is wiser.
30:33
Open
30:40
OT Pepi Zawodsky, Metalab Vienna
GERMAN Cypher parties 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.
31:01
Open
31:03
They 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. This is not paranoia, they argue.
31:21
Privacy is a basic human right. And it must also apply in the digital world.
31:28
OT Jabob Appelbaum, Hackers
When you bare back with the internet you have bare back with Big Brother, so maybe it is a good idea, just like we understood with HIV and AIDS in the 80s we have a personal responsibility to not infect our friends and lovers and neighbours and when we use the internet without any crypto without anonymity, without privacy, what you do is present a transit of risk to your community, and probably even to your country, certainly to yourself.
31:52
Open
31:54
Big Brother is watching you. With most people having a limited understanding of this world of cyber surveillance and how to protect ourselves, are our basic freedoms already being lost?
32:16 End