1984

New York Times: Many Tools of Big Brother Are Up and Running

In Orwell's 1984, people loved Big Brother. Today, we've already
embraced Big Brother technology. "In the Pentagon research effort
to detect terrorism by electronically monitoring the civilian
population, the most remarkable detail may be this: Most of the
pieces of the system are already in place. Because of the inroads
the Internet and other digital network technologies have made into
everyday life over the last decade, it is increasingly possible to
amass Big Brother-like surveillance powers through Little Brother
means. The basic components include everyday digital technologies
like e-mail, online shopping and travel booking, A.T.M. systems,
cellphone networks, electronic toll-collection systems and
credit-card payment terminals. In essence, the Pentagon's main job
would be to spin strands of software technology that would weave
these sources of data into a vast electronic dragnet. ... The
civilian population, in other words, has willingly embraced the
technical prerequisites for a national surveillance system that
Pentagon planners are calling Total Information Awareness."