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Themass surveillance industry is a multibillion-dollarindustry that has undergone phenomenal growth since 2001. According todata provided byThe Wall Street Journal, the retail market forsurveillance tools has grown from "nearly zero" in 2001 to about US$5 billion in 2011.[1] The size of thevideo surveillance market rose to US$13.5 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach US$39 billion by 2020.[2][needs update]
Fueled by widespread fears ofterrorist attacks, the future of surveillance is particularly promising in the field ofvideo content analysis, where computers analyze live camera feeds to count the number of people, registertemperature changes, and automatically identify suspicious behavior viastatisticalalgorithms.[2] The following terrorist attacks have led to a significant increase in street-level surveillance:
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(October 2013) |
Private intelligence agencies are non-governmentalcorporations involved in the collection and analysis of information. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, such tasks were mostly performed by governmental agencies such as theNational Security Agency (NSA) andCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA). After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the gathering of intelligence was rapidly outsourced by the U.S. government to private intelligence agencies, which function asindependent contractors.[4]
According toThe Washington Post, about one in four U.S. intelligence workers are contractors, and over 70 percent of the budget of theUnited States Intelligence Community is earmarked for payment to private firms.[4] An examination by The Post found that 1,931 private companies work on programs related tointelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.[5]
The average annual cost of a contract employee is US $250,000, almost twice that of a federal employee.[6]
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known asStratfor, is a global intelligence company founded in 1996 inAustin, Texas. It offers information to governments and private clients includingDow Chemical Company,Lockheed Martin,Northrop Grumman,Raytheon, theU.S. Department of Homeland Security, theU.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, and theU.S. Marine Corps.[7]
In 2012–13, over 5 million internale-mails fromStratfor were released byWikiLeaks.[7]
Booz Allen Hamilton is apublicly traded company that is majority-owned byThe Carlyle Group, a globalasset management firm specializing inprivate equity, based inWashington, D.C.[9] Founded in 1914 byEdwin G. Booz, Booz Allen Hamilton became one of the most profitable private contractors by supplying tens of thousands of intelligence analysts to the U.S. federal government.[9] During thefiscal year of 2013, Booz Allen Hamilton derived 99% of its income from the government, and the largest portion of its revenue (16%) came from theU.S. Army.[10] Half of its employees carrytop secret security clearances.[11] In the first half of 2013, Booz Allen Hamilton has won numerous contracts, including:
In 2006, Booz Allen Hamilton was recognized byFortune magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For".[14] In 2013, Booz Allen Hamilton was hailed byBloomberg Businessweek as "the World's Most Profitable Spy Organization".[15]
Commercial mass surveillance often makes use ofcopyright laws and "user agreements" to obtain (typically uninformed) 'consent'to surveillance from consumers who use their software or other related materials. This allows the gathering of information that would be technically illegal if performedby government agencies. This data is then often shared with government agencies - thereby - in practice - defeating the purpose of such privacy protections.
Reporters Without Borders' March 2013Special report on Internet Surveillance contained a list of "Corporate Enemies of the Internet", companies that sell products that are liable to be used by governments to violate human rights and freedom of information. The five companies on the initial list were:Amesys (France),Blue Coat Systems (U.S.),Gamma (UK and Germany),Hacking Team (Italy), and Trovicor (Germany), but the list was not exhaustive and is likely to be expanded in the future.[16]
Intelligence agencies in the U.S. and abroad have long conducted their own surveillance. But in recent years, a retail market for surveillance tools has sprung up from "nearly zero" in 2001 to about $5 billion a year, saidJerry Lucas, president of TeleStrategies Inc., the show's operator.