25 Years of Mass Surveillance Is Enough

This essay argues that mass surveillance (collecting information on large populations rather than targeting specific individuals) has grown far beyond its original national security justification after 9/11 and is now routinely used by law enforcement, immigration agencies, and private companies. The problem is amplified because private companies collect surveillance data for profit, which governments then access through legal processes or by purchasing it from data brokers, and AI technologies make this surveillance more powerful and concerning.