Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech
-
0:01 - 0:02A few years ago,
-
0:02 - 0:04an American defense consultant I know
-
0:04 - 0:07told me about a trip
he took to Uzbekistan. -
0:07 - 0:09His role there was to help sell technology
-
0:09 - 0:13that the Uzbek government could use
to spy on its own citizens. -
0:13 - 0:16He eventually shared with me
the marketing material -
0:16 - 0:18he'd presented to the Uzbek government.
-
0:18 - 0:23One glossy brochure featured technology
that could not just intercept phone calls, -
0:23 - 0:25but identify the caller,
-
0:25 - 0:27regardless of what phone number
they were using, -
0:27 - 0:29based on their unique voiceprint,
-
0:29 - 0:33and then identify their exact
geographic location. -
0:33 - 0:36This is a guy who had been involved
with the arms trade for years. -
0:36 - 0:40He wasn't some Hollywood-type gunrunner
doing backroom deals. -
0:40 - 0:43He was just a guy that worked
with legitimate Western companies -
0:43 - 0:45to help sell their weapons abroad.
-
0:45 - 0:47But he wasn't bothered
by marketing this sort of technology. -
0:48 - 0:50For him, it was just the next step
in the arms trade. -
0:50 - 0:53And it was even easier than, say,
selling weapons to Iraq, -
0:53 - 0:55because it didn't require
an export license -
0:56 - 0:57from the US State Department,
-
0:57 - 0:59the way most arms sales would.
-
0:59 - 1:01It turns out that these
tools of surveillance -
1:01 - 1:03are almost completely unregulated,
-
1:03 - 1:06because as of today,
they're not defined as weapons. -
1:06 - 1:09But they should be, and we need
to regulate them that way. -
1:10 - 1:12I'm a journalist
who has spent the last two decades -
1:12 - 1:14looking at how the military
and intelligence world -
1:15 - 1:17spurs the development
of new science and technology. -
1:17 - 1:19I've tracked the emergence of new weapons
-
1:19 - 1:20and looked to see what happens
-
1:21 - 1:23when companies start to market
these weapons abroad. -
1:23 - 1:26But what is a weapon
in the information age? -
1:26 - 1:28We know that armed drones are weapons,
-
1:28 - 1:30missiles and bombs are weapons,
-
1:30 - 1:32but the State Department
actually classifies -
1:32 - 1:35broad categories
of technologies as weapons. -
1:35 - 1:39So for example, a scientist going abroad
on an oceanographic research vessel, -
1:39 - 1:41they want to take
the latest night-vision goggles? -
1:41 - 1:45That, according to the State Department,
is potentially a weapon. -
1:45 - 1:46Why?
-
1:46 - 1:49Well, because though night-vision goggles
are used today by scientists -
1:49 - 1:51and hunters around the world,
-
1:51 - 1:53it was a capability
first developed for the military. -
1:53 - 1:55And yet, tools of surveillance
-
1:55 - 1:58that an authoritarian regime could use
to spy on its own citizens, -
1:58 - 2:00on dissidents, on journalists,
-
2:00 - 2:03that, according to the US government
today, is not a weapon. -
2:04 - 2:05And yet, these tools of surveillance
-
2:05 - 2:09are part of a growing secretive
multi-billion-dollar industry. -
2:10 - 2:13The genesis of this spy bazaar
goes back some 18 years, -
2:13 - 2:15to a Hilton hotel in northern Virginia,
-
2:15 - 2:18just a few miles away
from the US Central Intelligence Agency. -
2:19 - 2:21A few dozen people,
mostly dark-suited men, -
2:21 - 2:23gathered there in the spring of 2002
-
2:23 - 2:26for a conference with
the unassuming name of ISS World. -
2:27 - 2:30You know, at first glance, this conference
probably looked like dozens of events -
2:30 - 2:33that used to take place
around the Washington, DC area. -
2:33 - 2:35But this event was unique.
-
2:35 - 2:38ISS stands for Intelligence
Support Systems, -
2:38 - 2:39and the people who were there
-
2:39 - 2:42were from companies
that built technologies to spy -
2:42 - 2:44on private communications.
-
2:44 - 2:47In other words, these were
sort of wire-tappers for hire. -
2:47 - 2:50And the reason they were there
was that less than a year earlier, -
2:50 - 2:52the 9/11 terrorist attacks
on New York and Washington -
2:52 - 2:55had spurred the Congress
to press through legislation -
2:55 - 2:57known as the Patriot Act.
-
2:57 - 3:00This gave the government
broad new authorities -
3:00 - 3:02to monitor communications.
-
3:02 - 3:04Emails, internet activity, phone calls,
-
3:04 - 3:06even financial transactions.
-
3:06 - 3:09This created an instant demand for data.
-
3:09 - 3:12And in the true American
entrepreneurial spirit, -
3:12 - 3:15an industry rose up
to help collect this data. -
3:15 - 3:16But back in 2002,
-
3:16 - 3:18this was still a pretty modest affair.
-
3:18 - 3:21Only about 10 percent
of the world's population -
3:21 - 3:22was even online using the internet.
-
3:22 - 3:27So most of what was being collected
were simple emails and phone calls -
3:27 - 3:29over landlines and cell phones.
-
3:29 - 3:30But over the next few years,
-
3:30 - 3:33the way that we communicate
began to change rapidly. -
3:33 - 3:36There was the introduction
of Skype, Facebook -
3:36 - 3:38and then, crucially, the iPhone,
-
3:38 - 3:39and within a few years,
-
3:39 - 3:43billions of us were walking around
with little computers in our pockets -
3:43 - 3:45that do everything
from monitor our exercise habits -
3:45 - 3:48to help us find romantic partners.
-
3:48 - 3:51And suddenly, you didn't necessarily need
the advanced capability -
3:51 - 3:54of the National Security Agency
or big telecoms -
3:54 - 3:56to monitor everyone's communication.
-
3:56 - 3:57In some cases,
-
3:57 - 4:01all you needed was access
to that device in their pockets. -
4:01 - 4:04And that gave birth to an entirely
new type of industry. -
4:04 - 4:07You know, not many companies
can build missiles or aircraft, -
4:07 - 4:11but it doesn't take a lot of capital
to create software -
4:11 - 4:13that can hack into someone's smartphone.
-
4:13 - 4:15Computer hackers
have been around for years, -
4:15 - 4:18but now their skills could be used
to build technologies -
4:18 - 4:20that were in high demand
by law enforcement -
4:20 - 4:22and intelligence agencies.
-
4:22 - 4:25And soon, dozens
and even hundreds of companies -
4:25 - 4:28were getting into this
wire-tappers' market. -
4:28 - 4:30And that little conference in Virginia,
-
4:30 - 4:34it grew and soon became known
as the Wiretappers' Ball. -
4:34 - 4:37Well, not much was known
about the Wiretappers' Ball -
4:37 - 4:38in those early years,
-
4:38 - 4:40because the conferences
were closed to everyone -
4:40 - 4:43except the companies
and their government customers. -
4:43 - 4:45But journalists did begin to see
and hear reports -
4:45 - 4:48of companies getting
into this private spy market. -
4:48 - 4:51Spooky entrepreneurs
going around the world, -
4:51 - 4:52doing deals,
-
4:52 - 4:54often with authoritarian regimes.
-
4:54 - 4:58And it was, from the start,
a really loosely regulated market. -
4:58 - 5:02Some countries do require permission
to sell these technologies abroad, -
5:02 - 5:06but rarely with the type of scrutiny
that is given to traditional arms. -
5:07 - 5:10So for example, the Italian-based
company Hacking Team -
5:10 - 5:13reportedly sold its technology
to authoritarian regimes -
5:13 - 5:15in Egypt and Kazakhstan.
-
5:15 - 5:19The Israeli-based company NSO Group
has reportedly sold its technology -
5:19 - 5:21to the regime in Saudi Arabia,
-
5:21 - 5:22which has been accused of harassing,
-
5:23 - 5:26and even, in one case,
killing one of its political opponents. -
5:26 - 5:30And we do think of weapons
as things that kill people. -
5:30 - 5:31But in the information age,
-
5:31 - 5:35some of the most powerful weapons
are things that can track and identify us. -
5:36 - 5:39This is something that the Pentagon
and CIA have recognized for years, -
5:39 - 5:41and they've tried to build technologies
-
5:41 - 5:45that can track people,
suspected terrorists, around the globe. -
5:45 - 5:48The Pentagon has invested
in something called smart dust, -
5:48 - 5:51little microsensors
the size of specs of dust -
5:51 - 5:54that you could scatter on people
without them knowing it, -
5:54 - 5:56and then use it to track their location.
-
5:56 - 5:58The Pentagon, through
its venture capital firm, -
5:58 - 6:03has invested in a beauty products company
once featured in "Oprah Magazine" -
6:03 - 6:06to build a device that could
surreptitiously collect DNA -
6:06 - 6:08just by swiping across the skin.
-
6:09 - 6:11But something remarkable has happened
over the past decade. -
6:11 - 6:14In many cases, what the private
marketplace has been able to do -
6:14 - 6:19has far outstripped what the Pentagon
or CIA even thought was possible. -
6:19 - 6:20Back in 2008,
-
6:20 - 6:24the Pentagon had a secretive database
of DNA from terrorists. -
6:24 - 6:26It had about 80,000 samples.
-
6:27 - 6:29Well, the private company AncestryDNA
-
6:29 - 6:33today has samples
from over 15 million people. -
6:33 - 6:3623andMe, the second-largest
genealogical database, -
6:36 - 6:39has samples from over 10 million people.
-
6:39 - 6:42So now, maybe you don't need
these James Bond-worthy techniques -
6:42 - 6:44of collecting DNA
-
6:44 - 6:47if we're willingly handing it over
to private companies -
6:47 - 6:49and even paying for the honor of doing it.
-
6:50 - 6:53Well, what could you do
with a sample of someone's DNA? -
6:53 - 6:55In the United States and China,
-
6:55 - 6:57researchers are working
on using DNA samples -
6:57 - 7:00to build images of people's faces.
-
7:00 - 7:04So if you pair DNA
with facial recognition technology, -
7:04 - 7:07you have the basis of a really
powerful surveillance system -
7:07 - 7:10that could be used to track individuals
or entire ethnic groups. -
7:10 - 7:13And if you think that sounds
a little bit paranoid, -
7:13 - 7:16keep in mind that the Pentagon
last year sent out a memo -
7:16 - 7:18to all of its service members,
-
7:18 - 7:21warning them precisely not to use
those commercial DNA kits -
7:21 - 7:24over concerns that information
could be used to track them -
7:24 - 7:26or their family members.
-
7:26 - 7:30And yet, even with the Pentagon
raising concerns about this technology, -
7:30 - 7:33almost nothing has been done
to reign in this market. -
7:33 - 7:35One American company, Clearview AI,
-
7:35 - 7:38has been collecting billions
of images of people's faces -
7:38 - 7:39from across the internet,
-
7:39 - 7:43like those pictures you post on Instagram
of you and your friends and family, -
7:43 - 7:46and then selling its facial
recognition services -
7:46 - 7:49to US government
and law-enforcement agencies. -
7:49 - 7:50And even if you think
-
7:50 - 7:53that's a perfectly acceptable
application of this technology, -
7:53 - 7:56there's nothing to stop them
from selling to private individuals, -
7:56 - 7:59corporations or even foreign governments.
-
7:59 - 8:02And that's exactly
what some companies are doing. -
8:02 - 8:05That Wiretappers' Ball
that started in northern Virginia? -
8:05 - 8:09Today, it's held in multiple cities
around the globe. -
8:09 - 8:13Thousands of people now attend
the ISS trainings and conferences. -
8:13 - 8:17And more of the companies showing up
are coming from the Middle East and China. -
8:17 - 8:19The spy bazaar has gone global.
-
8:20 - 8:21And at arms shows now around the world,
-
8:21 - 8:25you'll see companies displaying
facial recognition technology -
8:25 - 8:26and phone hacking software,
-
8:26 - 8:29displaying right next
to traditional arms manufacturers -
8:29 - 8:31with tanks and missiles.
-
8:31 - 8:33And walking around these arms shows,
-
8:33 - 8:36it's pretty easy to go down
dystopian rabbit holes, -
8:36 - 8:38thinking about future
surveillance technology -
8:38 - 8:40that will track our every move.
-
8:40 - 8:42And I remember one
Pentagon adviser telling me -
8:42 - 8:45that what the military really needed
were space-based satellites -
8:45 - 8:49that could track people anywhere on earth
based just on their DNA. -
8:49 - 8:52It's enough to make you invest
in tinfoil hats. -
8:52 - 8:53But the truth is,
-
8:53 - 8:56we don't know what sort
of technology the future will bring. -
8:56 - 8:59But we know that today,
in the absence of regulation, -
8:59 - 9:01this marketplace is already exploding.
-
9:01 - 9:05And in fact, one of those companies
accused of selling surveillance technology -
9:05 - 9:07to authoritarian regimes,
-
9:07 - 9:11today, it's offering to help track
those infected with COVID-19. -
9:11 - 9:14And of course, technology does offer
the tantalizing promise -
9:14 - 9:17of helping control a pandemic
through contact tracing. -
9:17 - 9:21But it also opens up another door,
to privatized mass surveillance. -
9:22 - 9:25So what do we do
about this private spy bazaar? -
9:25 - 9:27We can hide, go offline,
-
9:27 - 9:30get off social media,
ditch our smartphones, -
9:30 - 9:31go live in a cave,
-
9:31 - 9:34but the truth is, we're not trained
to be professional spies, -
9:34 - 9:37we can't live under false identities
or with no identities. -
9:38 - 9:42And even real spies are having a hard time
staying below the radar, these days. -
9:42 - 9:44It doesn't matter how many
passports Jason Bourne has -
9:44 - 9:47if his face or DNA
is in someone's database. -
9:48 - 9:51But if even governments have lost control
of the tools of spying, -
9:51 - 9:53is there anything we can do about it?
-
9:53 - 9:54One argument I've heard
-
9:54 - 9:56is that even if the US
were to restrict companies -
9:56 - 9:59from selling this sort
of technology abroad, -
9:59 - 10:01companies based in China
might simply step in. -
10:01 - 10:04But we regulate the arms trade today,
-
10:04 - 10:06even if we do it imperfectly.
-
10:06 - 10:09And in fact, there was a multilateral
proposal several years ago -
10:10 - 10:11to do just that,
-
10:11 - 10:14to require export licenses
for surveillance software. -
10:14 - 10:16The United States
was among those countries -
10:16 - 10:19that agreed to these
voluntary regulations, -
10:19 - 10:22but back in Washington,
this proposal has simply languished. -
10:22 - 10:25We have an administration
that would rather sell more weapons abroad -
10:25 - 10:26with fewer restrictions,
-
10:26 - 10:28including to some of those countries
-
10:28 - 10:30accused of abusing
surveillance technology. -
10:31 - 10:34I think to move forward,
we would need to revive that proposal, -
10:34 - 10:36but even go one step further.
-
10:36 - 10:39We need to fundamentally change
how we think of surveillance technology -
10:39 - 10:42and define these tools as weapons.
-
10:42 - 10:43This would allow government
-
10:43 - 10:46to regulate and control
their sale and export -
10:46 - 10:49the way that they control
traditional arms, -
10:49 - 10:51advanced aircraft and missiles.
-
10:51 - 10:55But that means recognizing
that technology that tracks who we are, -
10:55 - 10:57what we do, what we say,
-
10:57 - 10:59and even in some cases, what we think,
-
10:59 - 11:01is a form of advanced weaponry.
-
11:01 - 11:03And these weapons
are growing too powerful, -
11:03 - 11:05available to the highest bidder,
-
11:05 - 11:07and according to the whims
of the spy bazaar. -
11:08 - 11:09Thank you.
- Title:
- Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech
- Speaker:
- Sharon Weinberger
- Description:
-
What is a weapon in the Information Age? From microscopic "smart dust" tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To rein in this growing, multibillion-dollar marketplace that often caters to customers with nefarious intents, Weinberger believes the first step is for governments to classify surveillance tools as dangerous and powerful weapons.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:23
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech |