Surveillance

Uncommon card · No. 114828

Surveillance is the systematic observation and monitoring of a person, population, or location, with the purpose of information-gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. It is widely used by governments for a variety of reasons, such as law enforcement, national security, and information awareness. It can also be used as a tactic by persons who are not working on behalf of a government, such as by criminal organizations to plan and commit crimes, and by businesses to gather intelligence on criminals, their competitors, suppliers or customers. Religious organizations charged with detecting heresy and heterodoxy may also carry out surveillance. Various kinds of auditors carry out a form of surveillance. Surveillance is done in a variety of methods, such as human interaction, postal interception, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, wiretapping, and data mining. Surveillance can unjustifiably violate people's privacy and is often criticized by civil liberties activists. Democracies...

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