Cats are surveillance masters! We know when we are being watched, and we are often watching something — or someone — even if they are not aware of it.

If you're a human, it's almost impossible to make it through your day without coming across some version of the reality that the proverbial "Big Brother" is watching you.

The majority of the world doesn't really think about it, beyond the superficial level.

We "accept" that there are numerous security cameras at the supermarket because... you know... people steal stuff; we "accept" that there are license plate readers on toll bridges and roads because it's more convenient than stopping at a toll booth to pay. And more than a few of us might have felt slightly smug when some jackhead ran a red light at an intersection with traffic cameras... knowing that they can expect to get a traffic ticket in the mail, in a few days.

Heck many people even join the monitoring world by having doorbell cameras installed on their houses "for security," and we might even be glad we did so when we bust some "porch pirates" trying to make off with our mail order items.

It all seems at least harmless enough, if not actually beneficial.

Perhaps none of these things are particularly "evil," when we just look at them in isolation.

But that's where things start to get a little dodgy.

Just like each web site on the web isn't an "isolated island" but part of a much greater network of shared data, cookies and advertising... so all these cameras are part of 3rd party networks that also serve as data brokers.

It is almost certain that your local police force doesn't actually own and operate the traffic cameras in your town; somebody else does, and they lease the information gathered back to law enforcement. And so, local becomes a network.

For example, if the police is looking for someone, that car with the license plate that was scanned by the bridge tollbooth also gave up various other bits of information that can be cross-referenced with law-enforcement and registration databases around the nation. And that doorbell camera that films potential porch pirates? It's also directed towards the street and can gather information about the cars passing by.

As so, you're actually (at least POTENTIALLY) being watched by dozens of cameras on your trip from your house to the supermarket.

Maybe this sounds like the rantings of a delusional conspiracy theorist, but the way all these data points can be connected to form a detailed picture of someone's every movement is actually pretty well documented in the public domain. And unless you happen to be tech savvy enough to create an artificial "scatter pattern" for your license plate that confuses the AI readers — but not the human eye — you have no real way out.

So is this all bad?

To what degree does it actually matter whether some data broker knows that a soccer mom somewhere (predictably) drives her kids to succer practice every Wednesday?

Apologists for the "surveillance state" will argue that the technology enables us to locate lost seniors with dementia, stolen cars and abducted children... and that's a good thing. And that can be hard to argue with.

But what about the fact that when you pull into the supermarket parking lot, they already know your shopper profile, and suddenly you'll get a bunch of personalized coupons for products you might like but that you had no intention of buying?

Or your auto insurance "magically" rises by 50% because the cameras detect that you make illegal turns when you think nobody's watching?

It all does make me pause and ponder the world we have created...

How about you?

Till the next one, thanks for stopping by!

=^..^=

Curator Cat, August 26th, 2025