Back in June 1949 English writer George Orwell created his Dystopian book called '1984', it's themes centering on the risks of government overreach, totalitarianism, oppression and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviours within society through omnipresent governmental surveilance and censorship. The book was later made into a film about how the residents of Oceana were constantly watched and their every action scrutinized.

For years Conspiracy theorists have tried to prove that '1984' has become a reality, that we are now monitored around the clock, our every spoken word and our every action recorded.  The blame placed on many governmental and military agencies around the world including such agencies as the C.I.A. F.B.I. and Interpol.

Are we being watched?

Well yes we are, the UK has the highest number of publicly located CCTV camera's in the world which monitor our movements through the towns and inside buildings, many of these camera's now including Facial Recognition Software and with direct links to the police and to many governmental databases that can be used to identify those recorded.

Our roads and our motorways, even public and privately owned car parking areas in supermarkets are intensively covered with camera technology, each filming, recording, and saving timed and dated details of our registration, facial identity of the drivers.

We are growingly relying on credit card technology over using money in cash form, our bank cards, driving licences, company identity cards, even shop 'Reward' cards, each reports our location and the date and time when it was used, cash machines even take our photograph and video us as we make use of them.

Once only used by businesses for surveilance, the trend of Home security camera's now monitor the activities of those passing by many of our homes, and in-car video-cameras record activity around our vehicles, car registrations, personal images, all which can be saved on a data card or even transferred over Wi-Fi to the owners computer. These camera's just like our Sattellite Navigation devices, date, time and record all our travel details including the speeds travelled.

Mobile cell phones due to the nature of how they work transmit our GPS location to 3 or more receivers which triangulate our exact position, this information is then stored creating a full path of our every movements and can be used to locate us by the authorities.  The numbers we text, dial, or receive calls from are saved, and sometimes even the text / calls content is 'monitored'.

You only have to watch the television program 'Wanted' to see how the Police or other agencies could use the our everyday technology to locate us, to see who we talk to, and what we say to them.

Digital devices such as the newest trend of home based voice activated 'Personal Assistants' also track our current location, and are constantly monitoring our every conversation while they seek out the special key word/s that are designed to activate them. Passing on the subject matter of our conversations to agencies who then match them against companies who then target us for advertising purposes.  Computers, Laptops, Tablet devices, do the same as above, tracking our location, who we communicate with, what we look at, what we buy, and who we bank with. They record our preferences and our shopping styles.

So if the voice activated search facilities of Alexa, Siri, and Google need to monitor every conversation looking for keywords that supposedly activate them. Why do they need to be 'Activated' when they are already 'Active' listening for their start command ?

How many of you have ever noticed that just after a private / personal conversation on a telephone or computer with a friend, you suddenly see adverts for exactly what you were talking about appear in emails, or on screen based adverts on facebook ?.

Samsung were taken to court for recording their customers who had a smart television with a voice remote control !

The digital communication software we use, Browsers, Skype, Whatsapp, Kik, etc., all save our conversations and who we talk to so as to be able to display it once again the next time we use it. All this information is saved with timed/dated GPS information.

SO YES WE ARE BEING MONITORED !

But it's what information is saved, for what purposes, and how it is used against us that we need to be aware of.

To everyone, good or bad, Government or thief  -  Information is Important!

Its not always a bad thing if the ability to monitor individuals is available.

Espionage and surveilance has transformed greatly along with modern digital technology, modern day crime has changed also.

The Police, Government, Secret Services all want to be able to locate suspected terrorists and learn of terrorist plots and lntercept them, they would also use this technology to catch thieves or even pre-empt a crime, and would monitor those that may cause civil unrest.

BUT... We are not all Criminals or Terrorists ! 

Regardless if we believe the FBI / CIA / Interpol / DWP or any other governmental agency is watching us and monitoring our every move, there could be others who are. How many of us are being monitored by thieves? watched to see what we buy, where we store it, watch our security arrangements and our routines, know when we will be out and for how long so that they may use these devices to let them enter our homes and steal from us.

With digital personal assistants that control your home, what is stopping electricity providors from boosting your heating to maximum when you are not at home, increasing your usage and lining their pockets?

How many women who travel alone in their car maybe home from work in the dark are being watched via wi-fi connectedd vehicle cameras and satelite navigation devices, their routine and route used known so that they can be intercepted?

How many paedophiles are using your own baby monitoring cameras over your wi-fi or over the internet to watch your children ?

We already make it far too easy without these devices, putting our whole life on social media, where and when we will be away on holidays, photos or videos of what we have just bought, photographs that show us standing outside our doors showing the number, or standing beside the street name, or telling someone what time our shift ends after previously showing us standing outside our place of work . We also put those cute photographs and videos of our children, first bath, first steps, undressed doing things that will not only embarrass our child in later life, but willingly providing what the paedophiles so eagerly search for.

THINK BEFORE YOU PUBLISH EVERY PHOTOGRAPH OR VIDEO !       CHECK WHAT IT SHOWS !

BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PLACE YOUR SECURITY CAMERAS IN THE HOME !

If these home based digital personal assistant devices are listening in to our conversations at home, and the digital personal assistants are now available on phones, PC's and Laptops, and possibly on wearable devices such as watches (if not already then most probably will be soon), are these watches also listening in the same way and passing on information?

Would it then not be advisable to ban taking our own devices including laptops and digital watches to our place of work, or in to other areas where delicate sensitive and private information may be overheard ?

Industrial Espionage has been going on for many years, staff planted into competing companies to spy on events and who then report back.  Back in the late 80's following the development and the gradual miniaturization of transmitting devices and their availability to the public via technology and electronics stores, these tiny microphones and transmitters were fitted into items that were normally found on a business desktop, such items as desktop calendars, pen holders, photo frames, calculators etc. The purpose being that they were given away as complimentary gifts to companies in the hope they would be placed where any conversation between the company and its clients could be overheard. This did involve having to be positioned fairly close by with a matching receiver.

Now 'Spy Cams' are cheap and very easily available, fitted into almost anything including Smoke detectors, cigarette lighters, pens, along with the picture frames and other items mentioned above. Depending on the make and design some still need to have a matching radio receiver located very close, they may also broadcast via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Others transmit using phone technology or by their own access to the internet, these can be viewed from anywhere in the world.

My thought is, I wonder how many 'Personal Assistant' devices are now appearing in offices? and how many of these have been 'Doctored' with hidden camera's and made to send information back to a competitor?

Everything is being put online, information that was once paper based and hopefully safely locked away is now being digitized instead, then stored on computer medium or computers themselves. These computers are often connected via the internet so are susceptible to possible access by hackers who could not only access the information but possibly even change it.

Doctors surgeries come to mind, these days our medical records are in a digital form on the doctors computer system, the same computer system the doctor uses to access via the internet my xrays at the hospital.

We would hope that like our bank accounts the information is suitably protected by the strongest hack proof security measures, but banks have lots of money to pay for this, but do the NHS with their incessant cut backs ?.