It seems that more and more the US government is surveilling (is that a word?) and controlling the public by ever increasing leaps and bounds. Traffic cameras, the Patriot Act, TSA, domestic wiretaps, internet tracking, etc.

There are more cameras watching you in a day than you know. Heck, if you are a member of MySpace or Facebook, you provide the government with more information about your life and networking than you realize. The best ‘feature’ added so far is the ‘tagging’ of photos. drag a square around friends’ faces and then put in their name. Facial recognition anyone?

Yes, that is pretty far out there, but so were electric cars.

Back to task – All of these things and more make surveillance extremely easy for anyone, especially a powerful and ominous force like the government. I don’t think things are as bad as the crazy conspiracy theorists do, but the  opportunities are there.

Unfortunately, the government has realized that the opportunity is there as well, and now they are asking companies to help them right along. Here is a snippet from the Senate summary: