Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I don’t like surveillance. Why is someone surveilling me? It is sort of like testing a system I built. But are the testers out to get me or help me?

I don’t like surveillance. I don’t like the police state. Why is someone surveilling me? I haven’t done anything. What about the Bill of Rights? You don’t search someone or surveille someone without due process.

Back in June 2025, there were the No Kings protests in America. Guess what? Federal, State, and Local law enforcement used various video camera systems to watch the protests and the protestors. What? What was that about? Did they gather data on all the protestors so they could “round ’em up” and punish them for something? That is rotten.

Let’s ask, “Why?”

Let’s sidetrack to something else I often don’t like (at first glance). Testing. I don’t like someone testing something I’ve built. I built it. I tested it myself. Leave me alone. I don’t want your opinion on the system I built—even if your opinion is based on data. Leave me alone.

Perhaps, however, the testing is for my own good. Perhaps, however, the other person will see things I didn’t see. Perhaps, however, I can learn and do better. Hmm.

Let’s go back to surveillance. Remember the Boston Marathon bombing? Video cameras in public places helped law enforcement catch the bombers. Good thing, huh? Some people question that. Those questioning people weren’t relatives of the dead. This isn’t an easy item to discuss.

Now consider the video surveillance of No Kings day. Perhaps law enforcement was watching because they feared some malcontent would shoot some of the protestors. Surveillance, like in the Boston Marathon bombing, would help law enforcement find and convict the malcontent. It is possible that the surveillance was to protect the protestors, not spy on them.

I am not naive. No Kings day was a political event. Surveillance is a privacy versus security political issue. The politics cannot be removed.

Still, there are more reasons for some of these things like surveillance. Let’s try to consider the possibilities.