‘Big Brother is watching you.’ With these words, George Orwell created one of the most oft-quoted phrases in the world today. Within the context of the novel 1984, complete surveillance of the nation’s citizens is the way of mass control and oppression.

Liberal minded people often cite the rejoinder, ‘If you’ve got nothing to hide, what’s wrong with surveillance?’ Well, for one thing, if your movements and routine are tracked daily then you can be wide open to theft. Surely it could never be used thus?



Its connotations now encompass the expansion of CCTV monitoring on high streets, the use of agencies like supermarkets and banks who track your every expenditure through to mobile phones whose GPS services allow the owner to be tracked anywhere, anytime.

As a country, we accept these as a paranoid downside of otherwise beneficial services which can unfortunately be misused. It’s a fine line between deterring crime and the feeling of surveillance overdose that is trodden on a daily basis.

Recent news stories about phone hacking show how easy it is for our private conversations and messages can be taken without our permission and also highlight the vulnerability of our everyday life in the hands of large organisations.

So which governments and agencies are keeping tabs on us and is it always as harmless as they assert?

BAHRAIN

According to a Bloomberg report in August 2011, the authoritarian regime of Bahrain used the Nokia-Siemens network and surveillance software to intercept messages and collate information on human rights activists. What followed was the arrest and torture of these individual. All in the name of maintaining discipline you understand.

LIBYA

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, carried a story of how the Libyan government had used French, American and South African monitoring equipment to oppress Libyan dissidents before and during the uprising this year.

Inside a government building in Tripoli, a surveillance room was found where English language training manuals, intercepted emails and transcripts of private phone calls. According to the newspaper, ‘Libya went on a surveillance-gear shopping spree after the international community lifted trade sanctions.

For global makers of everything from snooping technology to passenger jets and oil equipment, ending the trade sanctions transformed [Col. Gaddafi’s] regime from pariah state to coveted client.’

SYRIA

More evidence of the use of European and US built surveillance was found in Syria. So-called ‘hactivists’ at Reflets have identified Bluecoat Technologies as the source of technology that has allowed the Syrian regime to employ deep packet inspection which allows the government to monitor internet traffic and then decide on a routing policy: to read or block the communications.

THAILAND

Reporters Without Borders alleges that Canadian web hosting company Netfirms Inc supplied sensitive information about a US citizen of Thai origin that resulted in his arrest upon entering Thailand.

The organisation is urging web users to be more alert to what they see and say over the Internet. Bear in mind that aside from email interception, Skype phone calls can be recorded and the private chat on social media sites is also open to lifting.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA