How to Choose a Smartphone and the Surveillance System Covering the World

When people hear the term "surveillance society," some may think it is something that only happens in movies. However, in reality, massive surveillance systems are already operating around the world. A representative example is America’s PRISM, the Cold War-era ECHELON, and China’s Skynet. PRISM This is a surveillance program built by the American NSA, publicly revealed to the world by Edward Snowden, with the National Security Agency at its center, under the pretext of counterterrorism. It is reported to have a system that can collect data directly from major IT companies such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. In other words, emails we casually send and photos saved in the cloud could potentially become targets of national surveillance. While the purpose of counterterrorism is understandable, it is impossible not to feel fear that the daily lives of ordinary citizens are included in this net. ECHELON This is a communication interception system by the five countries called the Five Eyes: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Its history is long, having been in operation since the Cold War era in 1947. Initially, its purpose was to monitor the Soviet Union, but now it is said to target communications worldwide. Since all means such as telephone, internet, and satellite communications can be intercepted, it can be said to be a massive surveillance net crossing national borders. Skynet Announced in 2015, this system combines facial recognition technology with surveillance cameras spread nationwide. It automatically identifies people walking in the streets and introduces a mechanism that evaluates individual behavior linked to a system called a credit score. If you run a red light, your face is captured and may even be displayed in public places. The dystopia from movies has already become a reality in China. What can be understood from these three examples is that surveillance is not a problem of a specific country alone. America does it in the name of security, the UK and its allies as a custom since the Cold War, and China for social order and control. Although the reasons differ, as a result, citizens’ actions are always being monitored by someone. So what should we do? It may be impossible to completely avoid surveillance. However, the risk changes greatly depending on how much of your data you entrust and which smartphone you use. AntiSpyPhone eliminates Google services and has a system that allows control of communication and access rights for each app. Combined with VPNs and anonymous SIMs, while it may not be possible to directly confront national-scale surveillance, at least it is possible to reduce situations where your information is indiscriminately collected. Knowing the threat of a surveillance society is the first step to protecting yourself. PRISM, ECHELON, and Skynet may seem like events in distant countries, but in fact, they are not unrelated to our lives. Whether to make a world where being monitored is normal or to choose a path to protect freedom even a little. The small decision of choosing a smartphone actually makes a big difference.