For decades, an insidious Big Brother control grid has been growing and evolving all around us, and now artificial intelligence is allowing authorities to do things that they have never been able to do before. Shockingly, that includes monitoring where we drive so that those with “suspicious” travel patterns can be detained. There are many that are arguing that this kind of surveillance is unconstitutional, and it is certainly morally wrong. How can we possibly be free if the federal government is literally watching us wherever we go?
I don’t want to live in a “Minority Report society” where the government is arresting people simply because an algorithm has flagged their travel patterns.
But that is precisely what the Border Patrol’s “predictive intelligence program” is doing…
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found.
The Border Patrol’s predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement.
Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over – often for reasons cited such as speeding, no turn signals or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar.
This is so wrong.
The AP spoke to eight former officials that have direct knowledge of this program.
All of them confirmed that this is happening.
You may think that you are safe is you do not live near the border, but when asked about the scope of this program the CBP explained that it can legally operate “anywhere in the United States”…
CBP defended its use of license plate readers, stating that the program is “governed by a stringent, multi-layered policy framework, as well as federal law and constitutional protections, to ensure the technology is applied responsibly and for clearly defined security purposes.” The agency added: “For national security reasons, we do not detail the specific operational applications.” According to CBP, while the U.S. Border Patrol primarily operates within 100 miles of the border, it is legally permitted “to operate anywhere in the United States”.
Reading that should send a chill up your spine.
Apparently this program began “about a decade ago”, and they have been going to great lengths to keep it secret…
Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol’s surveillance system stretches into the country’s interior and monitors ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years.
Border Patrol has for years hidden details of its license plate reader program, trying to keep any mention of the program out of court documents and police reports, according to two people familiar with the program. Readers are often disguised along highways in traffic safety equipment like drums and barrels.
If the government is trying to keep a domestic surveillance program secret, that is a major red flag right there.
Obviously they know that they are doing something that the general population would not like.
So why are they doing it?
We are also being told that the government is “ramping up its social media surveillance” with new AI-driven tools…
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is acquiring powerful new surveillance tools to identify and monitor people.
They include apps that let federal agents point a cell phone at someone’s face to potentially identify them and determine their immigration status in the field, and another that can scan irises. Newly licensed software can give “access to vast amounts of location-based data,” according to an archive of the website of the company that developed it, and ICE recently revived a previously frozen contract with a company that makes spyware that can hack into cell phones.
The federal agency is also ramping up its social media surveillance, with new AI-driven software contracts, and is considering hiring 24/7 teams of contractors assigned to scouring various databases and platforms like Facebook and TikTok and creating dossiers on users.
When most of us post stuff on social media, we never even imagine that the feds might be spying on us.
But that is exactly what is taking place.
According to Politico, the Department of Homeland Security has contracts with several social media monitoring companies…
It’s not clear what tools the government is using to collect and analyze social media posts, and DHS didn’t respond to a direct request about how it is surveilling online platforms.
To get a picture of what kinds of tools they might be using, DFD reviewed active federal contracts from public government records, and found four DHS contracts with social media monitoring companies.
One of the entities that the Department of Homeland Security is working with is known as Zignal Labs.
Apparently Zignal Labs is able to monitor and analyze “8 billion social media posts per day”…
An informational pamphlet marked confidential but publicly available online advertises that Zignal Labs “leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning” to analyze over 8 billion social media posts per day, providing “curated detection feeds” for its clients. The information, the company says, allows law enforcement to “detect and respond to threats with greater clarity and speed.”
Essentially, Zignal Labs is using artificial intelligence to watch everything that we do on social media.
If you post this article on social media, they will see that too.
Big Brother is watching, and if something you post gets flagged, you could potentially get into trouble.
If we do not stand up and object now, they will just keep pushing the envelope even farther.
Eventually, we could end up just like China…
To get a sense of the capabilities of AI law enforcement, look to present-day China. Analysts estimate that over half of the world’s surveillance cameras are in China, and many of those cameras use AI facial recognition. AI algorithms identify people and track their movements, allowing the government to monitor their activities and their meetings with others. Iris scans act as a visual fingerprint of people, even those wearing masks. Spy drones fly above China’s cities, recording activities in ever-sharper detail. AI analytics can spot unlawful or anomalous actions, even littering. In recent years, Chinese authorities have installed facial recognition cameras inside residential buildings, hotels, and even karaoke bars. The goal of installing these systems is, according to a Fujian province police department, “controlling and managing people.”
Increasingly, AI is used not just for surveillance but also for policing. Semi-autonomous AI police robots operate without human input a majority of the time. In China, these police robots patrol public places and use facial recognition to scan for people wanted by law enforcement. When such a person is detected, the robot begins following them until the police arrive. Other robots knock suspects over or fire a “net gun” to immobilize them.
In China, there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
The Chinese government uses artificial intelligence to monitor everyone and everything, and even the smallest infringement can affect your social credit score.
What the Chinese have created is the exact opposite of a free society.
And that is where we are heading too if we continue to go down the road that we are on now.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.