Surveillance facts for kids

A nest of surveillance cameras

Surveillance means watching someone or something very closely. Sometimes, this watching is done in secret. People use many ways to do this. For example, they might listen to phone calls, which is called telephone tapping. Or, they might hide a small electronic device, called a bug, in a room to listen in.

Governments and the military have built huge places to listen to communications. They listen to messages between other governments and military groups. For instance, the U.S. has a big base called Pine Gap near Alice Springs, Australia. This base listens to communication signals from all over the world.

Eavesdropping is also a type of surveillance. But it often happens without much planning. It means listening to things you are not supposed to hear. It is a choice to listen, not just accidentally hearing someone talk.

What is Surveillance?

WWII aerial photo of the V2 rocket test stand at Peenemünde.

Soviet truck convoy carrying atomic missiles near San Cristóbal, Cuba, on Oct. 14, 1962 (taken by a U-2)

Surveillance is the secret or hidden watching of people or things. It always has a special reason. This reason might be to prevent bad things from happening. Or it could be to gather information for a political purpose. The information collected from surveillance is sometimes called "intelligence." Surveillance helps police, intelligence groups, military planners, or businesses.

This watching can happen from far away. It often uses electronic tools like CCTV cameras. It can also involve listening to electronic messages. This includes internet traffic or phone calls.

Surveillance can also use simple methods. These might include people who gather information, called human intelligence agents. Or it could be checking mail. On the other hand, global surveillance happens every day. This is done by satellite cameras orbiting Earth. These satellites are known as "reconnaissance satellites" or spy satellites.

The word surveillance comes from French. It means "watching over." "Sur" means "from above," and "veiller" means "to watch."

Images for kids

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  A 'nest' of surveillance cameras

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  Official seal of the Information Awareness Office -- a U.S. agency which developed technologies for mass surveillance

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  A surveillance camera in Cairns, Queensland

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  Surveillance cameras like these are installed by the millions in many countries. Today, computers often watch them instead of humans.

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  A special surveillance camera made by Controp. It was given to the U.S. government by ADI Technologies.

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  A graph showing how users are connected on Facebook. Social network analysis helps governments learn about people's friends and family. Much of this information is shared by users themselves. This is often seen as a type of open-source intelligence.

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  Fingerprints being scanned as part of the US-VISIT program.

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  A small flying vehicle with a surveillance camera attached.

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  A drawing for the HART program. This came from the official IPTO (DARPA) website.

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  A card with an identification number.

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  A hand with a planned spot for a Verichip device.

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  An RFID chip taken from a new credit card.

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  A diagram showing GPS satellites orbiting Earth.

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  Graffiti showing worry about many video cameras.

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  A detailed drawing in Columbus, Ohio. It shows government surveillance of telecommunications.

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  A traffic camera on a tall pole watching a road in Toronto, Canada.

See also

In Spanish: Vigilancia para niños