as a resident of southwest wisconsin, signs of 24/7 surveillance in public spaces are unfamiliar. coincidence or not that soon after taking photo security appeared.
irony alert at at&t building in background.
so those suspiciously similarly worded denials that all proclaimed to “provide no direct access” to PRISM were really just a a lesson in how to say something without really saying anything at all. i’m sure you’re shocked, *shocked*, that tech companies are now conceding to the surveillance program. much of the focus has been on social networks, but with apple on the record of claiming “no direct access”, i wonder why more aren’t speculating which hardware manufacturers are providing “no direct access” to webcam streams. and then you’re only a half step away from wondering who is providing “no direct access” to webcam streams that were not initiated by the laptop users themselves. there’s already plenty of evidence that sophisticated laptop surveillance programs exist and it wouldn’t surprise me if they are more tightly integrated into PRISM programs. of course, we’re only talking about foreign surveillance here. unless, presumably, you’re close to one of the dots.