The Real Monsters of Street Level Surveillance

By Rory Mir

Safe trick-or-treating this Halloween means being aware of the real monsters of street-level surveillance. You might not always see these menaces, but they are watching you. The real-world harms of these terrors wreak havoc on our communities. Here, we highlight just a few of the beasts. To learn more about all of the street-level surveillance creeps in your community, check out our even-spookier resource, sls.eff.org.

If your blood runs too cold, take a break with our favorite digital rights legends— the Encryptids.

The Face Stealer

 

 

Careful where you look. Around any corner may loom the Face Stealer, an arachnid mimic that captures your likeness with just a glance. Is that your mother in the woods? Your roommate down the alley? The Stealer thrives on your dread and confusion, luring you into its web. Everywhere you go, strangers and loved ones alike recoil, convinced you’re something monstrous. Survival means adapting to a world where your face is no longer yours—it’s a lure for the horror that claimed it.

The Real Monster

Face recognition technology (FRT) might not jump out at you, but the impacts of this monster are all too real. EFF wants to banish this monster with a full ban on government use, and prohibit companies from feeding on this data without permission. FRT is a tool for mass surveillance, snooping on protesters, and deepening social inequalities.

Three-eyed Beast

 

 

Freeze! In your weakest moment, you may  encounter the Three-Eyed Beast—and you don’t want to make any sudden movements. As it snarls, its third eye cracks open and sends a chill through your soul. This magical gaze illuminates your every move, identifying every flaw and mistake. The rest of the world is shrouded in darkness as its piercing squeals of delight turn you into a spectacle—sometimes calling in foes like the Face Stealer. The real fear sets in when the eye closes once more, leaving you alone in the shadows as you realize its gaze was the last to ever find you.

The Real Monster

Body-worn cameras are marketed as a fix for police transparency, but instead our communities get another surveillance tool pointed at us. Officers often decide when to record and what happens to the footage, leading to selective use that shields misconduct rather than exposes it. Even worse, these cameras can house other surveillance threats like Face Recognition Technology. Without strict safeguards, and community control of whether to adopt them in the first place, these cameras do more harm than good.

Shrapnel Wraith

 

 

If you spot this whirring abomination, it’s likely too late. The Shrapnel Wraith circles, unleashed on our most under-served and over-terrorized communities. This twisted heap of bolts and gears, puppeted by spiteful spirits into this gestalt form of a vulture. It watches your most private moments, but don’t mistake it for a mere voyeur; it also strikes with lethal force. Its junkyard shrapnel explodes through the air, only for two more vultures to rise from the wreckage. Its shadow swallows the streets, its buzzing sinking through your skin. Danger is circling just overhead.

The Real Monster

Drones and robots give law enforcement constant and often unchecked surveillance power. Frequently equipped with tools like high-definition cameras, heat sensors, and license plate readers, these products can extend surveillance into seemingly private spaces like one’s own backyard.  Worse, some can be armed with explosives and other weapons making them a potentially lethal threat.  Drone and robot use must have strong protections for people’s privacy, and we strongly oppose arming them with any weapons.

Doorstep Creep

 

 

Candy-seekers, watch which doors you ring this Halloween, as the Doorstep Creep lurks  at more and more homes. Slinking by the door, this ghoul fosters fear and mistrust in communities, transforming cozy entries into a fortress of suspicion. Your visit feels judged, unwanted, and in a shadow of loathing. As you walk away,  slanderous whispers echo in the home and down the street. You are not welcome here. Doors lock, blinds close, and the Creeps’ dark eyes remind you of how alone you are.

The Real Monster

Community Surveillance Apps come in many forms, encouraging the adoption of more home security devices like doorway cameras, smart doorbells, and more crowd-sourced surveillance apps. People come to these apps out of fear and only find more of the same, with greater public paranoia, racial gatekeeping, and even vigilante violence. EFF believes the makers of these platforms should position them away from crime and suspicion and toward community support and mutual aid.

Foggy Gremlin

 

 

Be careful where you step for this scavenger. The Foggy Gremlin sticks to you like a leech, and envelopes you in a psychedelic mist to draw in large predators. You can run, but no longer hide, as the fog spreads and grows denser. Anywhere you go, and anywhere you’ve been is now a hunting ground. As exhaustion sets in, a world once open and bright has become narrow, dark, and sinister.

The Real Monster

Real-time location tracking is a chilling mechanism that enables law enforcement to monitor individuals through data bought from brokers, often without warrants or oversight. Location data, harvested from mobile apps, can be weaponized to conduct area searches that expose sensitive information about countless individuals, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent. We oppose this digital dragnet and advocate for legislation like the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act to protect individuals from such tracking.

Source: EFF

Rory Mir coordinates EFF’s support of local advocacy groups. Much of this work is done through the grassroots information-sharing network, the Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA).

Prior to joining the EFF, Rory studied activist pedagogy and adolescent use of social media as a doctoral student of psychology. As a student, instructor, and researcher, they advocated for student and worker privacy, open science, and open education on campus. They were also active in several New York City community projects like CyPurr Collective, an EFA member group focused on accessible digital security trainings.

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