Essay argues mass surveillance has expanded beyond national security into routine law enforcement and private use

The post-9/11 shift from targeted to mass surveillance was framed as a national security necessity, but its legal and technical infrastructure has since expanded into routine use by law enforcement and private actors.

Agencies such as ICE use mass surveillance in immigration actions and against protesters exercising First Amendment rights, while private systems like facial recognition at venues and automated license plate readers blanket public spaces.

Private companies—whose business models depend on pervasive data collection—routinely provide data to governments, either through legal processes or direct purchases by agencies like the FBI from data brokers.

The authors note that despite the growth of mass surveillance, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of its costs, benefits, or effectiveness in preventing attacks or improving public safety, with only anecdotal or dubious evidence offered in its defense.

They highlight that mass surveillance programs, such as the NSA’s Upstream collection, have repeatedly overcollected data on U.S. persons and continued even after legal scrutiny, with content searches ending in 2017 but bulk collection persisting until at least Spring 2027.

Congress allowed Section 702 surveillance authority to expire in 2026, though the underlying mass surveillance infrastructure remains in place.