0:00:01.230,0:00:02.389
A few years ago,

0:00:02.413,0:00:04.190
an American defense consultant I know

0:00:04.214,0:00:06.587
told me about a trip[br]he took to Uzbekistan.

0:00:06.897,0:00:09.325
His role there was to help sell technology

0:00:09.349,0:00:13.016
that the Uzbek government could use[br]to spy on its own citizens.

0:00:13.491,0:00:15.889
He eventually shared with me[br]the marketing material

0:00:15.913,0:00:18.032
he'd presented to the Uzbek government.

0:00:18.056,0:00:23.082
One glossy brochure featured technology[br]that could not just intercept phone calls,

0:00:23.106,0:00:24.689
but identify the caller,

0:00:24.713,0:00:27.164
regardless of what phone number[br]they were using,

0:00:27.188,0:00:29.283
based on their unique voiceprint,

0:00:29.307,0:00:32.577
and then identify their exact[br]geographic location.

0:00:32.926,0:00:36.085
This is a guy who had been involved[br]with the arms trade for years.

0:00:36.109,0:00:39.617
He wasn't some Hollywood-type gunrunner[br]doing backroom deals.

0:00:39.641,0:00:42.617
He was just a guy that worked[br]with legitimate Western companies

0:00:42.641,0:00:44.586
to help sell their weapons abroad.

0:00:44.610,0:00:47.499
But he wasn't bothered[br]by marketing this sort of technology.

0:00:47.523,0:00:50.285
For him, it was just the next step[br]in the arms trade.

0:00:50.309,0:00:53.253
And it was even easier than, say,[br]selling weapons to Iraq,

0:00:53.277,0:00:55.491
because it didn't require[br]an export license

0:00:55.515,0:00:56.926
from the US State Department,

0:00:56.950,0:00:58.998
the way most arms sales would.

0:00:59.022,0:01:01.133
It turns out that these[br]tools of surveillance

0:01:01.157,0:01:03.244
are almost completely unregulated,

0:01:03.268,0:01:06.442
because as of today,[br]they're not defined as weapons.

0:01:06.466,0:01:09.378
But they should be, and we need[br]to regulate them that way.

0:01:09.688,0:01:12.083
I'm a journalist[br]who has spent the last two decades

0:01:12.107,0:01:14.479
looking at how the military[br]and intelligence world

0:01:14.503,0:01:16.942
spurs the development[br]of new science and technology.

0:01:16.966,0:01:19.025
I've tracked the emergence of new weapons

0:01:19.049,0:01:20.498
and looked to see what happens

0:01:20.522,0:01:23.164
when companies start to market[br]these weapons abroad.

0:01:23.188,0:01:25.593
But what is a weapon[br]in the information age?

0:01:25.617,0:01:27.549
We know that armed drones are weapons,

0:01:27.573,0:01:29.537
missiles and bombs are weapons,

0:01:29.561,0:01:31.657
but the State Department[br]actually classifies

0:01:31.681,0:01:34.529
broad categories[br]of technologies as weapons.

0:01:34.553,0:01:38.887
So for example, a scientist going abroad[br]on an oceanographic research vessel,

0:01:38.911,0:01:41.268
they want to take[br]the latest night-vision goggles?

0:01:41.292,0:01:44.585
That, according to the State Department,[br]is potentially a weapon.

0:01:44.609,0:01:45.775
Why?

0:01:45.799,0:01:49.085
Well, because though night-vision goggles[br]are used today by scientists

0:01:49.109,0:01:50.506
and hunters around the world,

0:01:50.530,0:01:53.347
it was a capability[br]first developed for the military.

0:01:53.371,0:01:54.807
And yet, tools of surveillance

0:01:54.831,0:01:58.246
that an authoritarian regime could use[br]to spy on its own citizens,

0:01:58.270,0:02:00.079
on dissidents, on journalists,

0:02:00.103,0:02:03.190
that, according to the US government[br]today, is not a weapon.

0:02:03.587,0:02:05.317
And yet, these tools of surveillance

0:02:05.341,0:02:09.245
are part of a growing secretive[br]multi-billion-dollar industry.

0:02:09.848,0:02:12.753
The genesis of this spy bazaar[br]goes back some 18 years,

0:02:12.777,0:02:14.792
to a Hilton hotel in northern Virginia,

0:02:14.816,0:02:18.413
just a few miles away[br]from the US Central Intelligence Agency.

0:02:18.721,0:02:21.079
A few dozen people,[br]mostly dark-suited men,

0:02:21.103,0:02:23.190
gathered there in the spring of 2002

0:02:23.214,0:02:26.324
for a conference with[br]the unassuming name of ISS World.

0:02:26.627,0:02:30.405
You know, at first glance, this conference[br]probably looked like dozens of events

0:02:30.429,0:02:33.067
that used to take place[br]around the Washington, DC area.

0:02:33.091,0:02:34.781
But this event was unique.

0:02:34.805,0:02:37.749
ISS stands for Intelligence[br]Support Systems,

0:02:37.773,0:02:39.185
and the people who were there

0:02:39.209,0:02:41.639
were from companies[br]that built technologies to spy

0:02:41.663,0:02:43.513
on private communications.

0:02:43.537,0:02:46.535
In other words, these were[br]sort of wire-tappers for hire.

0:02:46.855,0:02:49.903
And the reason they were there[br]was that less than a year earlier,

0:02:49.927,0:02:52.439
the 9/11 terrorist attacks[br]on New York and Washington

0:02:52.463,0:02:55.323
had spurred the Congress[br]to press through legislation

0:02:55.347,0:02:57.027
known as the Patriot Act.

0:02:57.347,0:02:59.506
This gave the government[br]broad new authorities

0:02:59.530,0:03:01.744
to monitor communications.

0:03:01.768,0:03:04.117
Emails, internet activity, phone calls,

0:03:04.141,0:03:06.251
even financial transactions.

0:03:06.275,0:03:09.149
This created an instant demand for data.

0:03:09.173,0:03:11.784
And in the true American[br]entrepreneurial spirit,

0:03:11.808,0:03:14.559
an industry rose up[br]to help collect this data.

0:03:15.004,0:03:16.208
But back in 2002,

0:03:16.232,0:03:18.266
this was still a pretty modest affair.

0:03:18.290,0:03:20.512
Only about 10 percent[br]of the world's population

0:03:20.536,0:03:22.464
was even online using the internet.

0:03:22.488,0:03:26.741
So most of what was being collected[br]were simple emails and phone calls

0:03:26.765,0:03:29.018
over landlines and cell phones.

0:03:29.042,0:03:30.392
But over the next few years,

0:03:30.416,0:03:33.367
the way that we communicate[br]began to change rapidly.

0:03:33.391,0:03:35.783
There was the introduction[br]of Skype, Facebook

0:03:35.807,0:03:37.966
and then, crucially, the iPhone,

0:03:37.990,0:03:39.181
and within a few years,

0:03:39.205,0:03:42.539
billions of us were walking around[br]with little computers in our pockets

0:03:42.563,0:03:45.243
that do everything[br]from monitor our exercise habits

0:03:45.267,0:03:47.655
to help us find romantic partners.

0:03:48.022,0:03:51.171
And suddenly, you didn't necessarily need[br]the advanced capability

0:03:51.195,0:03:53.770
of the National Security Agency[br]or big telecoms

0:03:53.794,0:03:56.042
to monitor everyone's communication.

0:03:56.066,0:03:57.247
In some cases,

0:03:57.271,0:04:00.514
all you needed was access[br]to that device in their pockets.

0:04:00.538,0:04:03.926
And that gave birth to an entirely[br]new type of industry.

0:04:03.950,0:04:07.331
You know, not many companies[br]can build missiles or aircraft,

0:04:07.355,0:04:10.605
but it doesn't take a lot of capital[br]to create software

0:04:10.629,0:04:13.013
that can hack into someone's smartphone.

0:04:13.037,0:04:15.101
Computer hackers[br]have been around for years,

0:04:15.125,0:04:18.125
but now their skills could be used[br]to build technologies

0:04:18.149,0:04:20.259
that were in high demand[br]by law enforcement

0:04:20.283,0:04:22.016
and intelligence agencies.

0:04:22.363,0:04:25.363
And soon, dozens[br]and even hundreds of companies

0:04:25.387,0:04:28.045
were getting into this[br]wire-tappers' market.

0:04:28.069,0:04:30.180
And that little conference in Virginia,

0:04:30.204,0:04:33.948
it grew and soon became known[br]as the Wiretappers' Ball.

0:04:34.250,0:04:36.734
Well, not much was known[br]about the Wiretappers' Ball

0:04:36.758,0:04:37.908
in those early years,

0:04:37.932,0:04:40.139
because the conferences[br]were closed to everyone

0:04:40.163,0:04:42.829
except the companies[br]and their government customers.

0:04:42.853,0:04:45.330
But journalists did begin to see[br]and hear reports

0:04:45.354,0:04:48.386
of companies getting[br]into this private spy market.

0:04:48.410,0:04:51.033
Spooky entrepreneurs[br]going around the world,

0:04:51.057,0:04:52.235
doing deals,

0:04:52.259,0:04:54.211
often with authoritarian regimes.

0:04:54.235,0:04:57.831
And it was, from the start,[br]a really loosely regulated market.

0:04:58.188,0:05:02.227
Some countries do require permission[br]to sell these technologies abroad,

0:05:02.251,0:05:06.267
but rarely with the type of scrutiny[br]that is given to traditional arms.

0:05:06.680,0:05:10.029
So for example, the Italian-based[br]company Hacking Team

0:05:10.053,0:05:12.852
reportedly sold its technology[br]to authoritarian regimes

0:05:12.876,0:05:14.556
in Egypt and Kazakhstan.

0:05:15.018,0:05:18.815
The Israeli-based company NSO Group[br]has reportedly sold its technology

0:05:18.839,0:05:20.625
to the regime in Saudi Arabia,

0:05:20.649,0:05:22.491
which has been accused of harassing,

0:05:22.515,0:05:25.569
and even, in one case,[br]killing one of its political opponents.

0:05:25.982,0:05:30.137
And we do think of weapons[br]as things that kill people.

0:05:30.161,0:05:31.470
But in the information age,

0:05:31.494,0:05:35.414
some of the most powerful weapons[br]are things that can track and identify us.

0:05:35.724,0:05:39.034
This is something that the Pentagon[br]and CIA have recognized for years,

0:05:39.058,0:05:40.930
and they've tried to build technologies

0:05:40.954,0:05:44.579
that can track people,[br]suspected terrorists, around the globe.

0:05:44.904,0:05:47.943
The Pentagon has invested[br]in something called smart dust,

0:05:47.967,0:05:50.555
little microsensors[br]the size of specs of dust

0:05:50.579,0:05:53.589
that you could scatter on people[br]without them knowing it,

0:05:53.613,0:05:55.835
and then use it to track their location.

0:05:55.859,0:05:58.447
The Pentagon, through[br]its venture capital firm,

0:05:58.471,0:06:02.783
has invested in a beauty products company[br]once featured in "Oprah Magazine"

0:06:02.807,0:06:05.807
to build a device that could[br]surreptitiously collect DNA

0:06:05.831,0:06:08.031
just by swiping across the skin.

0:06:08.537,0:06:11.473
But something remarkable has happened[br]over the past decade.

0:06:11.497,0:06:14.467
In many cases, what the private[br]marketplace has been able to do

0:06:14.491,0:06:18.721
has far outstripped what the Pentagon[br]or CIA even thought was possible.

0:06:18.745,0:06:19.921
Back in 2008,

0:06:19.945,0:06:24.087
the Pentagon had a secretive database[br]of DNA from terrorists.

0:06:24.111,0:06:26.436
It had about 80,000 samples.

0:06:26.871,0:06:29.371
Well, the private company AncestryDNA

0:06:29.395,0:06:32.728
today has samples[br]from over 15 million people.

0:06:32.752,0:06:36.263
23andMe, the second-largest[br]genealogical database,

0:06:36.287,0:06:38.724
has samples from over 10 million people.

0:06:38.748,0:06:42.343
So now, maybe you don't need[br]these James Bond-worthy techniques

0:06:42.367,0:06:43.961
of collecting DNA

0:06:43.985,0:06:46.937
if we're willingly handing it over[br]to private companies

0:06:46.961,0:06:49.410
and even paying for the honor of doing it.

0:06:49.807,0:06:53.138
Well, what could you do[br]with a sample of someone's DNA?

0:06:53.162,0:06:54.679
In the United States and China,

0:06:54.703,0:06:57.178
researchers are working[br]on using DNA samples

0:06:57.202,0:06:59.520
to build images of people's faces.

0:06:59.544,0:07:03.513
So if you pair DNA[br]with facial recognition technology,

0:07:03.537,0:07:06.600
you have the basis of a really[br]powerful surveillance system

0:07:06.624,0:07:10.449
that could be used to track individuals[br]or entire ethnic groups.

0:07:10.473,0:07:12.861
And if you think that sounds[br]a little bit paranoid,

0:07:12.885,0:07:15.625
keep in mind that the Pentagon[br]last year sent out a memo

0:07:15.649,0:07:17.537
to all of its service members,

0:07:17.561,0:07:20.815
warning them precisely not to use[br]those commercial DNA kits

0:07:20.839,0:07:23.689
over concerns that information[br]could be used to track them

0:07:23.713,0:07:25.679
or their family members.

0:07:25.703,0:07:29.926
And yet, even with the Pentagon[br]raising concerns about this technology,

0:07:29.950,0:07:32.878
almost nothing has been done[br]to reign in this market.

0:07:32.902,0:07:35.109
One American company, Clearview AI,

0:07:35.133,0:07:37.760
has been collecting billions[br]of images of people's faces

0:07:37.784,0:07:39.196
from across the internet,

0:07:39.220,0:07:43.371
like those pictures you post on Instagram[br]of you and your friends and family,

0:07:43.395,0:07:45.649
and then selling its facial[br]recognition services

0:07:45.673,0:07:48.506
to US government[br]and law-enforcement agencies.

0:07:48.530,0:07:49.704
And even if you think

0:07:49.728,0:07:52.738
that's a perfectly acceptable[br]application of this technology,

0:07:52.762,0:07:56.198
there's nothing to stop them[br]from selling to private individuals,

0:07:56.222,0:07:59.101
corporations or even foreign governments.

0:07:59.125,0:08:01.823
And that's exactly[br]what some companies are doing.

0:08:01.847,0:08:05.085
That Wiretappers' Ball[br]that started in northern Virginia?

0:08:05.109,0:08:08.932
Today, it's held in multiple cities[br]around the globe.

0:08:08.956,0:08:13.083
Thousands of people now attend[br]the ISS trainings and conferences.

0:08:13.107,0:08:16.829
And more of the companies showing up[br]are coming from the Middle East and China.

0:08:16.853,0:08:18.987
The spy bazaar has gone global.

0:08:19.545,0:08:21.446
And at arms shows now around the world,

0:08:21.470,0:08:24.531
you'll see companies displaying[br]facial recognition technology

0:08:24.555,0:08:26.139
and phone hacking software,

0:08:26.163,0:08:29.022
displaying right next[br]to traditional arms manufacturers

0:08:29.046,0:08:30.903
with tanks and missiles.

0:08:30.927,0:08:32.642
And walking around these arms shows,

0:08:32.666,0:08:35.617
it's pretty easy to go down[br]dystopian rabbit holes,

0:08:35.641,0:08:37.759
thinking about future[br]surveillance technology

0:08:37.783,0:08:39.529
that will track our every move.

0:08:39.553,0:08:41.696
And I remember one[br]Pentagon adviser telling me

0:08:41.720,0:08:44.816
that what the military really needed[br]were space-based satellites

0:08:44.840,0:08:48.839
that could track people anywhere on earth[br]based just on their DNA.

0:08:48.863,0:08:51.656
It's enough to make you invest[br]in tinfoil hats.

0:08:51.680,0:08:52.839
But the truth is,

0:08:52.863,0:08:55.958
we don't know what sort[br]of technology the future will bring.

0:08:55.982,0:08:58.942
But we know that today,[br]in the absence of regulation,

0:08:58.966,0:09:01.243
this marketplace is already exploding.

0:09:01.267,0:09:04.957
And in fact, one of those companies[br]accused of selling surveillance technology

0:09:04.981,0:09:06.608
to authoritarian regimes,

0:09:06.632,0:09:11.146
today, it's offering to help track[br]those infected with COVID-19.

0:09:11.170,0:09:14.091
And of course, technology does offer[br]the tantalizing promise

0:09:14.115,0:09:17.434
of helping control a pandemic[br]through contact tracing.

0:09:17.458,0:09:21.101
But it also opens up another door,[br]to privatized mass surveillance.

0:09:21.696,0:09:24.704
So what do we do[br]about this private spy bazaar?

0:09:25.005,0:09:26.926
We can hide, go offline,

0:09:26.950,0:09:29.735
get off social media,[br]ditch our smartphones,

0:09:29.759,0:09:31.244
go live in a cave,

0:09:31.268,0:09:34.148
but the truth is, we're not trained[br]to be professional spies,

0:09:34.172,0:09:37.490
we can't live under false identities[br]or with no identities.

0:09:37.902,0:09:41.617
And even real spies are having a hard time[br]staying below the radar, these days.

0:09:41.641,0:09:44.346
It doesn't matter how many[br]passports Jason Bourne has

0:09:44.370,0:09:47.237
if his face or DNA[br]is in someone's database.

0:09:47.767,0:09:50.879
But if even governments have lost control[br]of the tools of spying,

0:09:50.903,0:09:52.918
is there anything we can do about it?

0:09:52.942,0:09:54.109
One argument I've heard

0:09:54.133,0:09:56.426
is that even if the US[br]were to restrict companies

0:09:56.450,0:09:58.537
from selling this sort[br]of technology abroad,

0:09:58.561,0:10:00.961
companies based in China[br]might simply step in.

0:10:01.457,0:10:03.815
But we regulate the arms trade today,

0:10:03.839,0:10:05.772
even if we do it imperfectly.

0:10:06.466,0:10:09.491
And in fact, there was a multilateral[br]proposal several years ago

0:10:09.515,0:10:10.672
to do just that,

0:10:10.696,0:10:13.632
to require export licenses[br]for surveillance software.

0:10:14.030,0:10:16.046
The United States[br]was among those countries

0:10:16.070,0:10:18.629
that agreed to these[br]voluntary regulations,

0:10:18.653,0:10:21.914
but back in Washington,[br]this proposal has simply languished.

0:10:21.938,0:10:25.137
We have an administration[br]that would rather sell more weapons abroad

0:10:25.161,0:10:26.352
with fewer restrictions,

0:10:26.376,0:10:28.145
including to some of those countries

0:10:28.169,0:10:30.200
accused of abusing[br]surveillance technology.

0:10:30.559,0:10:33.574
I think to move forward,[br]we would need to revive that proposal,

0:10:33.598,0:10:35.534
but even go one step further.

0:10:35.558,0:10:39.241
We need to fundamentally change[br]how we think of surveillance technology

0:10:39.265,0:10:41.716
and define these tools as weapons.

0:10:41.740,0:10:43.066
This would allow government

0:10:43.090,0:10:45.923
to regulate and control[br]their sale and export

0:10:45.947,0:10:48.633
the way that they control[br]traditional arms,

0:10:48.657,0:10:50.724
advanced aircraft and missiles.

0:10:51.074,0:10:54.804
But that means recognizing[br]that technology that tracks who we are,

0:10:54.828,0:10:56.614
what we do, what we say,

0:10:56.638,0:10:58.765
and even in some cases, what we think,

0:10:58.789,0:11:00.789
is a form of advanced weaponry.

0:11:00.813,0:11:02.936
And these weapons[br]are growing too powerful,

0:11:02.960,0:11:04.691
available to the highest bidder,

0:11:04.715,0:11:07.127
and according to the whims[br]of the spy bazaar.

0:11:07.532,0:11:08.682
Thank you.