Mass Surveillance: Can We Blame It All On The Government?

Nicola Hahn writes: Yet another news report has emerged detailing how the CIA is actively subverting low-level encryption features in mainstream hi-tech products. Responding to the story, an unnamed intelligence official essentially shrugged his shoulders and commented that “there's a whole world of devices out there, and that's what we're going to do.” Perhaps this sort of cavalier dismissal isn’t surprising given that leaked classified documents indicate that government intelligence officers view iPhone users as ‘Zombies’ who pay for their own surveillance.

The past year or so of revelations paints a pretty damning portrait of the NSA and CIA. But if you read the Intercept’s coverage of the CIA’s subversion projects carefully you’ll notice mention of Lockheed Martin. And this raises a question that hasn’t received much attention: what role does corporate America play in all of this? Are American companies simply hapless pawns of a runaway national security state? Ed Snowden has stated that mass surveillance is “about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're about power.” A sympathy which has been echoed by others. Who, then, stands to gain from mass surveillance?