SMOKE: A New Era Of Spies

Originally published: 30 October 2003

I read a fascinating article on MSNBC yesterday about an exhibition - closed to the public - which the CIA recently had at its headquarters, in which they showcased some of their spy technology to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Directorate of Science and Technology.

Naturally they weren't just opening their laboratories and secret hangars for all and sundry to come and see precisely what they're up to, but they were exhibiting a number of gadgets which are no longer in use, or ones which were never used for various reasons.

Boy are they cool.

There was a thickish coin which contained a microdot camera and lens, capable of taking 12 microdot photographs.

A recently declassified triangular directional antenna - used in mobile surveillance (eg. stakeouts) during the '80s - was displayed for the first time.

But my personal favourite was a dragonfly used as a listening device, complete with miniature engine to propel it, a tank for liquid propellant and a microphone for listening in.

The sort of device you'd let loose in a Colombian or Panamanian mansion, to fly around lazily while the white-suited gents discuss business.

It's great to know folks like the CIA are still so Bond-like in their approach to spy technology, and you'd better believe these gadgets were only the tip of the iceberg. Q's got nothing on these guys, and the kicker is that in their world it is all very real.

Agents go out in the dead of night to unsafe places and plant devices, switch briefcases with beautiful Hungarian girls, throw drugged steaks to slavering hounds and generally live extraordinary lives.

But what really got me about the story I read was not so much the gadgets and the fact that they are real, but more about comments made by Donald Kerr, the deputy director of science and technology for the CIA.

He was talking about where the future of spy technology is going and it struck an alarm bell somewhere in the back of my brain.

"So one of the areas we spend a lot of effort on is so-called tagging and tracking," he said. "It's everything from 'can I paint a bullseye on your back and follow you with a camera?' Or do you leave a trail of candy wrappers that are unique to you that I can use to find you? So you're dealing with the physical and electronic detritus that people leave behind as one way of tracking."

Then he went on to talk about facial recognition technology, which has already been experimented with following the 9/11 attacks in places like Florida, and while he conceded that the technology is fraught with problems at the moment (apparently the databases of people to search for get way too big), once they sort out more efficient databases (which they will), at some point this technology is going to be a viable option.

To add to all this - you will notice that most new cellphones now come with cameras built in, and while it's a funky feature it's also pretty frightening. Once cameras become the norm with cellphones, and everyone has them, you will no longer be a private individual, as anyone can take a photograph of you doing anything, anywhere.

Already I feel violated just walking down Long Street in Cape Town - there are Business Against Crime cameras on just about every street corner, tracking your every move. I'm sure they're very useful in helping reduce crime in the area, but at the same time it gives you no opportunity to be anonymous.

Anonymous is sometimes a very necessary thing, even if you aren't a career criminal like myself.

Since the Long Street effort has proved a major success - as have others around the country - then it makes sense that the cameras will start moving into other areas, and even though it sounds all 1984-like, who knows? In 50 years' time?

That's probably a little too radical a scenario to reasonably believe, but the point I'm getting at is that with all the advances in camera technology, the increasing betterment of satellite capabilities and all the various surveillance methods used which can interfere with the life of the non-criminal, some day we could be in a position where it's simply not possible to exist without being noticed and captured on film.

But then, consider this - while we draw sharp intakes of breath and drag long and hard on our fading cigarettes at the horror of our future lack of anonymity - is it really such a bad thing?

Surely most crime becomes impossible, if there is always someone watching? Crime is the one thing everyone bitches about the most in South Africa - would you trade no crime for loss of privacy?

You can argue that if you are not guilty of anything then you needn't be afraid of being watched or recorded, but isn't it all just a little too voyeuristic for you?


I start acting like a criminal when I know I'm being watched - I can't help it. I check my pockets to make sure I'm not carrying any contraband, I slip a stick of gum in my mouth in case there's something wrong with my breath, and my eyes scan constantly - searching for potential threats up ahead - under cover of my dark, reflective shades.

Maybe that's just me though. Maybe you stop under a camera, kiss your wife as the first bright rays of morning sunshine cause her golden curls to sparkle like barleycorn in the fresh morning air, and with a cheery wave to the camera (behind which a friendly policeman is watching you over his eggs and coffee), you depart for a good, honest day of work, while your perfect, motherly wife pushes the baby stroller home, humming a Christmas carol.

If the latter is you, allow me to assure you that the fat, friendly policeman may seem like a nice enough bloke at the PTA meetings, but he's watching that ass belonging to your sweet wife, and doing very unseemly things to himself in the dark, airless cubbyhole he exists in. Thought you'd want to know.

Perhaps I got a little carried away there for a moment, but the ultimate point is that although George Orwell was no doubt a paranoid old fart, and Hollywood gives us just more than a smidgin of an unrealistic future, the technologies for spying on you are constantly being developed, and somewhere along the line someone is going to be watching just that little bit too closely.

See that guy who just came into your office? Yup - I see him too.

All Smoked Out,
Luke Tagg