Electronic Surveillance -- How is it affecting your Life?

Electronic surveillance in its many forms is everywhere today, potentially creating greater safety for the public and for companies. Knowing how and where to use this type of surveillance can help individuals and companies make the right security decisions.

While plenty of people are aware of the fact that there are video cameras monitoring them inside of stores and banks, few people give much thought to the role that electronic surveillance plays in everyday life. However, there's no doubt that e-surveillance has proliferated in recent years, with the federal government making moves to monitor more correspondence and personal information exchange in the private sector, and more companies seeking added steps to protect against fraud and theft.

In 2003, Enron executives certainly had their lives affected by electronic surveillance. In that year, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission posted e-mail from Enron on its website. Outside surveillance does not always have to be that dramatic, either. Every day, without realizing it, someone may be reading someone else's personal e-mail, listening into a conversation, or reading correspondence meant for someone else's eyes only.

What is e-surveillance?

Electronic surveillance simply means using electronic devices -- such as GPS technology, surveillance cameras, digital cameras, wiretapping devices, computer software, and other tracking technology, to monitor or view someone else or someone else's private communications. With the level of technology available today, virtually every aspect of a person’s life can be monitored. GPS devices can usually tell someone where an individual is and how quickly they are traveling, computer surveillance can tell someone what an individual is writing and viewing online, and video surveillance can reveal what someone is doing at any moment in time. Thanks to live feeds, remote technology, and satellites, this information can be beamed around the world to virtually anyone interested in receiving the information.

How is it used?

While the explosion of electronic surveillance in recent years -- partly thanks to better technology, more discrete technology, and cheaper devices -- has led some to accuse companies and the government of Orwellian-like Big Brother tactics, there is little doubt that this type of remote surveillance is extremely useful. Homeowners can now use an e-surveillance and video devices to monitor their homes, even when they are away. Nanny cams and other video surveillance devices can ensure that children are safe, even when parents are away. Companies, rightly worried about the billions of dollars lost to fraud and theft each year, can easily monitor employees to ensure that employees do their job and remain honest in the workplace.

Using technology responsibly

Now that electronic surveillance devices -- including GPS trackers, video cameras, and computer surveillance programs -- are within the price range of many individuals, though, everyone needs to be aware of the laws surrounding electronic surveillance. While a homeowner may not need special permission to video monitor their home for security purposes, employers need to tread carefully to avoid messy lawsuits involving invasion of privacy. Even homeowners may get themselves into trouble if a security camera inadvertently leads to a termination of the caregiver's job.

With more and more individuals sensitive about the level of privacy that they enjoy in the modern world, anyone who's thinking of using electronic surveillance needs to set up their surveillance system in a completely legal way. That way, if the surveillance does catch illegal activity or a problem, there's less risk of a lawsuit and more probability that the information the surveillance has captured would stand up in court, if needed. Smart homeowners, employers, and individuals are turning to private investigators, who can often offer cost-effective and completely legal surveillance solutions for a number of situations.

Investigative professionals can set up workable, reliable, and personalized surveillance systems that offer exactly what individuals are looking for. Now, anyone can easily find a local, qualified investigator with e-surveillance experience at the PInow.com Worldwide Directory of Private Investigators. Plus, the PInow.com Worldwide Directory of Private Investigators even offers free surveillance resources that can help anyone understand this fascinating industry even more.