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Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | Sharon Weinberger

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. What is a weapon in the Information Age? From microscopic “smart dust” tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To…

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Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

What is a weapon in the Information Age? From microscopic “smart dust” tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To rein in this growing, multibillion-dollar marketplace that often caters to customers with nefarious intents, Weinberger believes the first step is for governments to classify surveillance tools as dangerous and powerful weapons.

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38 Comments

  1. Just Me

    December 29, 2020 at 12:09 am

    If the government wants to spy on me and follow me around, they might just discover the most powerful asmr ever! A life so boring, it will put insomniacs in a sleep coma. Keep watching and tracking me and to all a good sleep!

  2. Tim Gagnon

    December 29, 2020 at 12:12 am

    Information is power. ‘Murica is powerful with 17 spy agencies. And we just hand over our information. Control sadly won’t be broken…

  3. Mathew

    December 29, 2020 at 12:35 am

    Well, I liked the video. Guess I’m on a watch list now. And now that I’ve commented I’m probably being tracked by a dedicated satellite. Since China is projected to have such a large economy I think the US is suffering from a bit of ‘keeping up with the joneses’ and the American people with suffer for it. Just like all the US companies breaking their back to get into the Chinese market so they don’t “lose out”. How much is my soul worth?

  4. CrouchingWombatHiddenQuoll

    December 29, 2020 at 1:22 am

    I watched this video sitting on the dunny. So some freak is monitoring all my activities ?
    Not much job satisfaction I’m sure 😖

  5. Ext 2

    December 29, 2020 at 1:27 am

    Throw away app phones. Sm bs. Stay incognito n never put your dollar store phone number online, turn off location , maps, stay in safe mode.
    Slowly eliminate technology. Kids now like robots!
    Brains already wired up. 👎
    Fb r in target of a collosal global was of l.suits!
    Humongous!

  6. Wok Lindsay

    December 29, 2020 at 2:55 am

    Nosey. The nose that pokes into another person’s life should be poked back hard.

  7. Energy Falcon

    December 29, 2020 at 3:10 am

    Hey everyone reading this comment! We’re surveillance buddies now! Put a folder on your phone labeled “My Secret Files on Charlie Wilson’s War” and we can all wave to the same NSA agent together!

  8. Bro bro bro

    December 29, 2020 at 3:48 am

    super important, thanks for sharing!

  9. jarrod dong

    December 29, 2020 at 3:54 am

    ok well i agree.

  10. N3on Cyb0rg

    December 29, 2020 at 4:05 am

    If a human never watches the surveillance but an artificial intelligence does watch it is it still spying?

    • tjwoosta

      December 30, 2020 at 5:03 am

      Why does the nature of its creation have any bearing on the situation? For all we know we could be artificial intelligence ourselves, only organic ones.

  11. Anton Gavutti

    December 29, 2020 at 4:07 am

    They Lives

  12. Tee Vee

    December 29, 2020 at 5:50 am

    I don’t do social media. I have no pictures of myself on the interebs. I don’t even have a cellphone number.

    FYI, I was a tech Rockstar for Intel, NASA, SONY, and others. I don’t reject tech, but I am mindful of what I do with it, and how it can be used against me and others.

    Pardon Snowden! A true hero.

  13. FLEXCOPE INC.

    December 29, 2020 at 7:38 am

    Dejavu, the movie starring Denzel Washington.

  14. freesk8

    December 29, 2020 at 8:17 am

    More laws will be ineffective against this problem. The problem starts with government power. The people have allowed the government to violate the 4th amendment via the USA PATRIOT Act and subsequent Acts. The main threats do not come from private corps. They come from our own governments. Governments buy information and tech from corps. If we insist that the govt must get a warrant first, then the market for this tech dries up.

  15. Naglak2008

    December 29, 2020 at 8:22 am

    this vid was way to long

  16. Shu Meister

    December 29, 2020 at 8:36 am

    It’s not as if, we had no choice, but rather too many people has been living unconsciously.

  17. Shu Meister

    December 29, 2020 at 8:49 am

    Spying. It emerged out of distrust, animosity. How do you end it? End the conflict.
    What conflict? The broadening inequality locally and around the world.
    What’s needed is Department of Peace, Sustainability, and Coexistence.

  18. Tom TOndeur

    December 29, 2020 at 11:18 am

    Worldwide people are reporting extreme torture/experimentation with microwave weapons and technology, organized social sobatge and gangstalking of the victims . All with full coöperation of authorities, universities and the medical world. NOBODY in the mainstream media is reporting on this while this is a very worrying evolution that is scaling up to the point of global activism against it. Activism that is completely ignored by the way. In the best case victims are portrait as mentaly ill due to the evasiveness of the high tech programs that are very hard to proof. Are these the first signs of technological disruption? Or are we moving towards a society in witch a substantial part of the population has to accept a life as a guinea pig for the microwave industry…where are the docu’s and ted talks on these human rights violations? Hoping to see something like that!

  19. Arthur Hakobyan IBM AI ROBOTICS DEPARTEMENT MANAGER

    December 29, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    Don’t miss the opportunity to become a multi-billionaire super fast?

    Invest in Stellar Cryto Currency!

    Stellar, much better than the Bitcoin!

  20. Lopamudra Ray

    December 29, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    A spider will die tangled in it’s own web.

  21. Lancefer66

    December 29, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    “The more you know”, doubt that MSM will expose this new technology.

  22. EliteVulture

    December 29, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    92

  23. Scott D

    December 29, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    I’m sure some of this is true but never get your facts from a journalist 😎

  24. Lisa Love Ministries

    December 29, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    The world system is watching everyone but GOD The Almighty watches ALL.
    Revelation 3:16-20
    John 3:16-18💞

  25. observer7418

    December 29, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    people sell their own children

  26. anepileptic epileptic

    December 30, 2020 at 5:00 am

    Viewers are hopeless

  27. Catbus Driver

    December 30, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    I love how people think a government regulating things makes them better. It just reduces the number of players and concentrates power.

  28. m3dia

    December 30, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    1984

  29. mohamed kamal

    December 30, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    After this I’m really sure that the World has to get ready for a third world war and this one is going to be the last where everything is going to turn back to its first condition it looks like our beautiful world has come to an end and as long as this world doesn’t want to come together and get along to make the biggest revelation to save itself it will absolutely have to be destroyed because the people who think that they’re able to make one Government are really wrong about that

  30. Tresna Soaduon Mulatua Napitupulu

    December 31, 2020 at 4:57 am

    what a wonderful video at the end of 2020

  31. Melissa Haley

    December 31, 2020 at 7:44 am

    Now they know we watched this and that we know too much….🤪

  32. Rudy Massami Sakamoto Kawabata

    January 1, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    Always think interesting when US talks references “foreign governments”. Foreign to who?

  33. Rochelle Fernandes

    January 2, 2021 at 12:56 am

    This is not just a TEDTalk. This is a public service announcement! Well done!!! 🙏🏼

  34. Martapura009 009

    January 3, 2021 at 10:54 am

    SOFT STATAS TO YEARS SYS DATA COM MASTER COMMONECATION QUALITY OK ANDERSTAND SOUND

    • Martapura009 009

      January 3, 2021 at 11:05 am

      FUNGSION PHOTOS COMMONECATION EXAMPLE PHOTOS GOOD PRESENTASE PERSONAL SYS DATA COM MASTER THANK YOU INFORMATION PERSONAL OK QUALITY

  35. The Ancient Lantern

    January 3, 2021 at 10:13 pm

    Knowledge (Data) is power.

  36. Worry

    January 4, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    Tiktok is a weapon” i was telling everyone that no one would listen.

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