By Aden Tate
Yet another consequence of 2020 was the growth of public surveillance (aka Big Brother state) disguised under the umbrella of COVID. When you can convince a populace it is dangerous for them to be unobserved, you create the mindset that public surveillance is for the good of all.
Big Brother is bigger than ever
I work within the security industry.
One newer piece of technology that we can now install is AI fever monitoring cameras. Many buildings throughout the US now have a camera with thermal capabilities monitoring your every move when you walk in.
Should you be deemed somebody with a temperature outside of the preset bounds, the system will use facial recognition to lock onto you. As you travel throughout the facility, security staff/management is notified.
How is this any different from giving a polygraph to every person without their knowledge or consent?
Is this information the world at large needs to know?
Must you tell every business owner from here on all your recent health history to be admitted into the building? In the future, do I have to reveal every medical procedure I’ve had? Do I also have to report my sexual history, what foods I eat, and other private information before being allowed inside?
Consider the invasions of privacy that come from the utilization of thermal technology. The front desk staff now knows who has a problem with armpit sweat, how hot your crotch is, and whose butt is sweating.
Do HIPAA requirements apply here at all?
What happens if it’s discovered that heart rate is linked with an infectious disease? Will we then incorporate heart rate monitors throughout our facility? I hope you don’t get nervous speaking to that person you find attractive. What if an employee who doesn’t like you works the cameras? Isn’t that a violation of privacy?
What if it’s determined that abnormal sweating patterns are associated with an infectious disease? In this case, let’s say that it’s a sweaty butt. Are thermal cameras going to monitor everybody’s backsides in such an event?
Do you see how this can quickly grow into a terrifying experience?
Privacy is foundational to freedom
The Founding Fathers of America fully understood the importance of privacy when it came to freedom. It’s for this reason that the Fourth Amendment was written.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…”
Is it not a violation of the Fourth Amendment for someone to use a camera to collect your biometrics without your consent? Are you secure in your person and effects in such a case? Are we now subject to rights violations each time we enter a grocery store, doctor’s office, or gas station? Does modern American society demand that our rights be violated so that we can live within that society?
Surveillance of US citizens and sensitive data collection reached epic proportions
COVID tech used to monitor the American people during the past year and a half collected more sensitive data than ever before.
Want proof?
Alabama State University purchased thermal imaging and facial recognition-equipped drones to enforce social distancing and masking in public.
Some US school districts required their students and staff to wear a Bluetooth armband to monitor their temperature.
The end result of these types of policies is to have authorities dictating your oxygen intake and whether or not you’re allowed to hug your friends.
Want more proof?
Online classrooms – intended to protect students against COVID – were turned into the ever-present TV cameras from 1984.
Twelve-year-old Isaiah Elliot of Colorado flashed a toy gun across his screen during one of his lectures and was then suspended. Police were then sent to his house for a welfare check.
Things were no different in Maryland. An 11-year-old boy had the police called on him by his teacher. The teacher saw a BB gun hanging on his bedroom wall during a Google Meet class.
Is the abolition of cash for your health or control?
The push for the abolition of cash was heavy throughout 2020. For example, the CNN article “Dirty money: the case against using cash during the coronavirus outbreak.” wrote:
The ongoing spread of coronavirus is forcing institutions around the world to rethink one particularly germy surface that most consumers touch every day: cash.
What’s the end result of this movement? A cashless society and, therefore, the monitoring and controlling of every purchase you make.
And now we have the vaccine passport
Now Americans must “state your name and race” before using certain transportation services, entering certain buildings, or going to certain churches. And it’s only going to continue to grow in use.
What does a vaccine passport do? First, it gives people the ability to know everywhere you’ve ever been. And, should it become digitally uploaded, to see where you are right now. Also, it lets them know whether or not you’re willing to comply with tyranny or not. Those who don’t – those who haven’t been placed on the list – are easier to find.
And when you’re easier to find – well, you end up in a situation very akin to Communist China, do you not?
Public health is the perfect guise for tyranny
It’s based on fear, and fear is a potent motivator. If you can get most people to seek security rather than freedom, slavery is not far behind. As FA Hayek said regarding security in his masterpiece The Road to Serfdom, “the general striving for it, far from increasing the chances of freedom, becomes the gravest threat to it.”
Do you enjoy your freedom? Do you enjoy your right to privacy – not having a peeping Tom invading every aspect of your life? Then pay attention to what is being done with COVID tech. Watch both where and how it is being used.
Because I think you’ll agree with me: it’s not in your best interest.
Aden Tate has a master’s in public health and was an exercise physiologist until recently. He now works part-time as a locksmith and is a freelance writer. He has an LLC for his micro-farm where he raises dairy goats, a pig, honeybees, meat chickens, laying chickens, tomatoes, mushrooms, and greens.
