Report on Surveillance during the Gubernatorial Election Kathy Goodson Captain Eleanor Birrell Katie Fifer and Amelia Sagoff Introduction After analyzing the extent to which surveillance is possible we have concluded that there is always a threat The press and your competitors will take advantage of any opportunity to make you look bad Therefore we advise you to act gubernatorial whenever possible However we realize that it can be difficult to live in a world devoid of privacy therefore we have outlined both the main points of concern and the best ways to respond to the constant threat of surveillance Technological Surveillance Surveillance technologies have become increasingly cheap and increasingly small and thus increasingly more prevalent Some of these technologies may exist in places you do not expect Although the law guarantees you a level of privacy you cannot depend on legal repercussions Even if people acquire images or transcripts of conversations illegally once they are published particularly in this digital age the damage has been done Retroactive legal action will not be able to win your campaign Therefore the best course of action is to avoid generating any information you would not want published Laid out here are a few common surveillance technologies of which you should be aware Cell phones In 2005 Informa Telecoms Media estimated the number of cell phone users at 2 14 billion and since then the numbers have been growing You should assume that everyone you see even children has access to a cell phone These phones present a surveillance threat because many of them have picturetaking capabilities Since they are such small devices users can easily and covertly take your picture Even if you see no cameras or other recording devices in a room the chances are good that someone in that room can capture a digital image of you with his or her phone Video surveillance Paralleling the decreasing cost of cameras their use has become more widespread While security videos are sometimes not recorded at all there is still a chance that someone is watching you The fact that the data is lost does not change the fact that an outsider sees you In other cases of course the surveillance system keeps the data around for a significant period of time which makes video surveillance even more dangerous You can assume that whenever you are in a public place the street a store a school museums video cameras provide security surveillance Private buildings and offices will also have cameras trained on you You should also be wary even of semiprivate areas you may not expect to find cameras For example many taxi companies now put cameras in each of their cars which send the video back to the dispatcher Unless you have received confirmation that an area has no video surveillance it is safe to assume that it is there Electronic Communication The surveillance technologies mentioned above provide means to record your physical actions However other types of surveillance technologies monitor your electronic actions For example those with the knowledge and motivation can intercept your emails Also it is not difficult for a motivated individual to obtain phone records even though the phone company is not legally allowed to disclose them Although what you say is not included in these records the fact that you called a particular person is Accordingly please assume that the public will find out who you call and act accordingly You should write all your emails assuming they will be intercepted similarly with instant messages website postings and all other Internet communications Personal Surveillance Although technology has made surveillance cheaper and easier technology is not the only form of surveillance that you need to worry about Surveillance has existed since before cell phones and email and personal surveillance is still something that you should be aware of Quotes Whenever you are having a conversation with someone be aware that they could publish anything you say While reporters are the greatest threat many individuals will sell an embarrassing quote to the press for an appropriate price Accordingly you should watch what you say even when you believe you are not under any form of technological surveillance Potentially insulting jokes and comments that would anger swing voters should definitely be avoided Anecdotes Whenever you are around someone that you don t trust completely be extremely aware of your actions Just as quotes can be published embarrassing stories can be published and can have a negative effect on your public image Indirect Surveillance It is also important to remember that your image during this campaign is not just based on what you say or do right now There are less direct forms of surveillance that can also have a negative impact on your public image and therefore on your campaign Other people Those close to you whether it be your family or campaign staff all participate in building your image and they can all contribute to injuring it as well Unfortunately the latter is far more easily done than the former so care should be taken to educate your family and staff about the possibility and likelihood of their surveillance Everyone needs to keep well within the realms of legality Campaign staffers should be especially careful about contact with those in other campaigns and with industry leaders Also please remind your children that any problems they get into at school will have particularly sever consequences and that they should never make public statements about your campaign The Past Unfortunately surveillance is not limited to your current actions the press will be searching for any past events which could negatively affect your public image The easiest way to look at the past is via the internet Internet searches are not difficult and they are available to everyone Accordingly if there is anything on the internet it will be found Therefore we suggest a staff investigation of the already public information related to you specifically on the Internet This will allow us to anticipate and head off any negative coverage based on past events If you are aware of anything in your past that could potentially have a negative effect on your campaign please inform trusted campaign staffers so that we can decide on the best way to deal with the issue How to Deal with Surveillance Different Levels But while you could be being watched at any particular time there are levels of