As Americans, we value our privacy.

But our personal information isn’t as private as we think it is. Our government has been gathering data on us for years. 

And with data companies collecting and selling data to the government, it is even easier for the powers that be to know where we go, the websites we visit, the opinions we share, and how we shop.

They are doing this "secretly," but you better believe they know if you've purchased something they don’t approve of or visited a website on their naughty list.

As journalist Byron Tau puts it, “China wants its citizens to know that they’re being tracked, whereas in the U.S., ‘the success lies in the secrecy.’”

Terrifying. 

So, if there's anything you don’t want the government to know you own—such as guns or an emergency stockpile—now is the time to purchase these items and store them safely away.

Because government encroachment is only going to get worse.

Read on to see why you need to take action sooner rather than later.

The Post-9/11 Patriot Act

After the terrorist events on 9/11, the Patriot Act made massive changes to government surveillance in order to “protect” American citizens from terrorists.

However, the Patriot Act just made it easier for the government to spy on its own innocent citizens.

Specifically, it allowed national security officials to monitor phone and email communications, collect bank and credit reports, and track internet activity. 

Technically, FBI agents are required to issue a National Security Letter (NSL) to those from whom they are obtaining personal information... without a judge’s approval.

But of the 192,499 NSLs issued between 2003 and 2006, only one led to a terror-related conviction. 

If that isn’t disturbing enough, think about this: All the information obtained through NSLs is stored forever, which means law enforcement and security agents can access it whenever they want.

According to Elizabeth Goitein:

After 9/11, the legal protections against suspicion-less surveillance were swiftly and systematically cast aside. In a variety of contexts, it became lawful for the government to collect an American’s sensitive information based merely on a claim that the information was "relevant" to a legitimate purpose, regardless of whether the person was reasonably suspected of wrongdoing.

Evolving technology has made it even easier.

How Gray Data Is Making It Easier for Big Tech and the Government to Spy

Gray data is data that is easy to obtain through the devices we use, our movement on the web, and various internet services we use. 

For instance, gray data is being created and collected anytime you use Bluetooth devices. And this data is collected by private companies and then sold to buyers, including the United States government. 

This type of data collection is simply out there, and the government can buy it without breaking any laws.

Most of us are aware of how Google and Facebook use algorithms to change what each individual sees. We are also aware that Big Tech is surveilling us.

But far too many people are unaware that there are data brokerage companies that focus on consumer data, social data, and movement data.

Think about all the times you must consent to an ad or download on your device. When you give consent, what happens to your data?

We think it might be used for advertising and marketing purposes, but in reality, it is likely being sold to the government.

Bryon Tau explains:

Perhaps there is some clause in a privacy policy that says that location data may be resold to other entities, but generally speaking, those privacy policies indicate that it will be sold for commercial purposes or for targeted advertising. Rarely, if ever, do they mention that there might be a government buying it; there might be some public safety entity or military unit using this data.

The Government Is Collecting Data for Surveillance 

The government is collecting our data to invade our privacy without breaking privacy laws.

For example, if police officers can access a geolocation data broker that tracks phone movements, they could purchase someone’s geolocation movements and see them without a warrant.

(This is a good reason to not always have your location shared or GPS on.)

Or they can simply use gray data for easy surveillance.

Byron Tau shares this example in Politico:

Did you know that your car tires actually broadcast a wireless signal to the central computer of your car, telling it what the tire pressure is? Well, that’s all well and good, and it’s there for perfectly legitimate safety reasons. But of course, governments have figured this out. They figured out that the car tire is a proxy for the car. And if you just put little sensors somewhere or you run the right code on devices that you scatter around the world, then you can kind of track people with car tires. I am familiar with governments experimenting with it.

As a result, they can tell where you have been driving.

That’s just one example. Think of all the other wireless signals you interact with every day. 

The government has figured out that it can purchase data scraped by companies from ad exchanges, mobile phones, and social media to circumvent privacy laws.

Tax Money Used for Online Censorship Tracking Tools

In the last few years, it has become increasingly clear that Big Tech is monitoring the people and censoring viewpoints with which they don’t agree. 

But it isn’t just Big Tech...

The National Science Foundation spent $39 million on a program called Track F, which is geared toward censorship of the American people. 

According to a congressional report, “Officials from the National Science Foundation tried to conceal the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars on research and development for artificial intelligence tools used to censor political speech and influence the outcome of elections.”

It’s one thing when Big Tech is trying to censor what we say and change our minds by presenting only biased information.

It's even scarier when you realize that our tax money is being spent on tools that allow for it.

Michael Waller explains:

Every time we use an electronic communication device, someone, somewhere, stores every word, every keystroke, and can use that to extrapolate precisely where we are at what time, precisely what we do, precisely what we want, who all of our relatives, friends, and acquaintances are. They can psychologically profile us, they can run predictive analytics on our psychological profiles to anticipate what we’re going to do.

Now imagine the government paying for this data. Horrifying.

The Government Can Spy and Seize with Ease

It’s creepy and alarming enough that the government has easily found a way to spy on us.

But it’s even scarier when you consider what they can do with the knowledge they obtain.

For example, did you know that Executive Order 14067 allows the government to surveil and control your money?

Or that Executive Order 13603, issued under President Obama, gives the federal government power to seize control of everything, including:

• All commodities and products that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals.
• All forms of energy.
• All forms of civil transportation.
• All usable water from all sources.
• Health resources such as drugs, biological products, medical devices, materials, facilities, health supplies, services, and equipment.

Should you be deemed a threat for views that are “different,” you could have your bank account frozen.

Should the country face a war, if you have objects that are deemed necessary, these can be taken from you.

In other words, if the government can spy on you that easily, they know what you own—and they can take it from you.

Secure What You Need Now

Tau told Politico, “Any nightmare use for data you can think of will probably eventually happen. […] It might not happen immediately, but it’ll happen eventually.”

Here’s how to prepare:

• Buy food staples and gardening tools now. It’s important to keep food staples. The reason is simple. There may come a time when the government uses surveillance to control what food you buy. For instance, if they decide meat is dangerous to the environment, they may forbid you from buying it.

• Grow your own food and collect the tools you need to garden. Invest in heirloom seeds so they can be harvested and replanted for generations.

• Invest in solar-powered devices. There may come a day when the government regulates how much electricity we can use. With solar-powered devices, you don’t have to be connected to the electric grid.
  
  
• Prepare to barter. Buy things you can barter later. Items like alcohol, tobacco, and tools will come in handy. 

Stock up and prepare, friends.

 

In liberty,

Elizabeth Anderson

Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply