The expansion of federal surveillance has become a defining feature of the current political landscape, driven by technologies that allow unprecedented access to personal data.
By Matthew A. McIntosh
Public Historian
Brewminate
Introduction
Drivers across the United States have recently been stopped and questioned after automated systems flagged their “suspicious travel patterns.” Incidents like these show how a surveillance infrastructure built for border enforcement is now reaching deep into the daily movement of ordinary citizens. At the same time, federal agencies continue to expand their access to personal information through large datasets, social media monitoring, and commercial data brokers, creating a system that researchers at The Conversation describe as a quiet but sweeping repurposing of Americans’ digital trails for government use. Their analysis warns that data shared for one purpose can be redirected to surveillance without the public’s knowledge or consent, a shift that is already.
This expansion is not limited to citizens. Social media histories, contacts, and personal networks of immigrants and visa applicants are being collected and stored as part of a vast and growing trove of federal social media surveillance programs. Their research traces how agencies have steadily increased both the volume and type of online information they gather, creating an ever larger and more permanent archive of people’s digital lives. These systems can capture not only what individuals post, but also who interacts with them.
Advancements in artificial intelligence have accelerated this transformation. AI tools can analyze large datasets, track movement, match faces, and identify patterns at a scale that would not have been possible even a decade ago. These technologies allow the government to link disparate databases and monitor behavior across platforms, raising new questions about accuracy, bias, and democratic oversight. AI does not merely speed up existing programs but fundamentally changes what is possible for public surveillance.
Yet amid this rapid growth, meaningful guardrails remain limited. Privacy experts warn that many Americans remain unaware of how much of their data is accessible, how it can be used, and how few restrictions govern its flow from private companies to federal agencies. Outlets such as Wired have documented ways these systems operate in the background, often without judicial review or public transparency. With political rhetoric emphasizing control over immigration and internal security, the infrastructure continues to expand with little resistance from leaders who would normally warn against the dangers of broad federal power.
The result is a national surveillance environment that grows wider and more sophisticated each year. The question is not whether the government is building these capabilities. The question is how far they will reach before the public demands accountability.
Scope of Surveillance Expansion
The government’s access to personal data has grown sharply as agencies merge traditional monitoring with vast digital datasets. One of the clearest examples is the federal expansion of social media screening. Agencies collect information not only from posts, photos, and comments, but also from the networks of people who interact with those accounts. The Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have broadened their use of social media identifiers to evaluate visa applicants, monitor citizens, and build long-term archives of online behavior. These programs rely on large amounts of personal data, often gathered without the knowledge of those being monitored.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating this growth. AI systems enable agencies to analyze massive data repositories, connect information across platforms, and identify patterns in ways that manual review never could. Facial recognition tools, algorithmic pattern detection, and automated alerts can track individuals across disparate databases. These technologies allow surveillance programs to scale to millions of people at once, creating new possibilities for monitoring movement, communication, and online activity.
Physical surveillance has expanded in parallel with digital tools. U.S. Border Patrol is using technology originally designed for border enforcement to track and stop drivers far from the border. The system uses automated alerts based on travel routes and driving patterns, which can trigger stops even when individuals have committed no crime. Some drivers interviewed reported being questioned about their citizenship despite traveling entirely within the United States. This interior spread of surveillance tools reflects a broader shift in which border technologies are repurposed for domestic policing.
Commercial data also plays a central role in this expanding system. Data that Americans share for routine purposes, such as navigation apps, financial services, or social media platforms, can be acquired and reused by government agencies without explicit consent. This process allows the government to bypass legal safeguards that apply to direct collection, relying instead on commercial data brokers who aggregate and resell personal information.
Surveillance infrastructure has moved far beyond traditional law enforcement. It now encompasses social media ecosystems, AI-powered analysis, vehicle movement, and commercial data streams, forming a comprehensive environment in which both citizens and noncitizens can be monitored with increasing precision.
Who Is Affected and What Is at Risk
The people most directly impacted by these systems extend far beyond the individuals agencies claim to target. Social media monitoring programs used by the federal government collect information not only about users, but also about the friends, family members, and professional contacts connected to those accounts. Anyone who interacts with monitored profiles can become part of a broader surveillance network, even if they themselves have no immigration or law enforcement issues. Because these programs capture conversation threads, contact lists, and photos, the scope of people affected is significantly wider than many Americans realize.
Immigrants and visa holders face even more far-reaching scrutiny. Federal rules require many applicants to submit social media identifiers as part of the screening process. These identifiers allow the government to pull years of online activity into centralized systems, where agencies evaluate posts, networks, and interactions as part of immigration decisions. This information is stored and used across multiple agencies, creating a digital record that can influence employment authorization, travel, and residency determinations. For many applicants, there is little clarity about how these judgments are made or how long their data is retained.
Citizens who have never interacted with immigration systems are increasingly swept into surveillance programs through automated pattern detection. An Associated Press investigation documented cases in which Border Patrol flagged drivers for their travel routes, leading to stops and questioning even in areas far from ports of entry. These stops show how technologies developed for border monitoring can expand into domestic law enforcement, creating new points of government scrutiny for ordinary travel.
The risks of these programs reach into civil liberties and democratic norms. Researchers at the Brennan Center warn that broad surveillance can discourage people from expressing political opinions or engaging in lawful activism. The chilling effect emerges when individuals become aware that their online networks and public statements may be reviewed by federal agencies. This environment can suppress speech across communities who already face discrimination or increased law enforcement attention.
There are also concerns about accuracy. AI systems can misinterpret data, incorrectly match identities, and repeat bias contained in their training sets. When these errors enter a surveillance system, they can affect a person’s travel, immigration status, or interactions with law enforcement. These risks are heightened because many programs operate without transparent standards or independent review, leaving people few options to correct or even identify mistakes in the data used about them.
The expansion of federal surveillance is not confined to suspected criminals or border crossers. It now affects broad categories of people, including citizens whose data is gathered passively and immigrants whose online lives are examined in detail. The result is a system in which personal information can be used for decisions that shape people’s movements, rights, and opportunities, often without warning or oversight.
Why It Is Escalating Now
The rapid expansion of federal surveillance is being driven in part by tools that can merge and analyze information at unprecedented scale. Artificial intelligence allows agencies to link data from social media, commercial brokers, and public records in ways that were not possible a decade ago. Analysts describe how AI systems can sift through millions of data points, recognize patterns, and generate alerts with minimal human oversight. These capabilities encourage agencies to broaden their reach because the technological barrier to mass monitoring has been significantly reduced.
The policy environment has also created conditions for growth. Federal agencies have increased their reliance on commercial data that Americans share through everyday services, such as mobile apps and online platforms. Information given to private companies can be purchased or accessed by government agencies without the legal constraints that apply to direct collection. This practice effectively expands surveillance capacity by using the commercial data economy as an intermediary, allowing agencies to monitor large parts of the population with limited oversight.
Immigration enforcement has become a central testing ground for these technologies. Border Patrol increasingly relies on broad monitoring techniques, including social media analysis and large databases of personal information, in its operations. These tools are promoted as necessary for identifying threats, but the infrastructure they create applies well beyond the border. Once these systems are in place, they are often repurposed for other forms of domestic surveillance.
Political rhetoric also plays a role in their expansion. Policies framed around national security, border control, or rapid enforcement tend to receive strong support from leaders who argue that sweeping data collection is necessary for public safety. Yet many of the same officials who have historically opposed large federal programs now support significant increases in surveillance powers. Some lawmakers have expressed concern only after surveillance tools began to be used more broadly, despite having backed earlier expansions that created the current system.
These conditions have produced an environment where surveillance grows by momentum. Technological capability, political incentives, and data availability combine to make expansion easier than restraint. Without clear limits or independent oversight, the trend continues moving in one direction, quietly extending federal reach deeper into both digital and physical life.
The Editorial Argument: Reining It In
The rapid expansion of federal surveillance demands stronger limits and clearer oversight. As social media monitoring, commercial data purchases, and AI analysis become routine tools for federal agencies, the public is left without meaningful insight into how these systems operate or how long their information is stored. Programs created for specific security purposes often continue long after their initial justification fades. Without independent audits or transparent standards, surveillance programs can grow unchecked, collecting information far beyond what Americans expect.
A key step toward accountability is defining the boundaries of what government agencies are permitted to collect. Experts argue that data shared for commercial use should not automatically be available to federal authorities without strict legal safeguards. Clear rules on data retention, access, and scope would prevent agencies from relying on broad interpretations of existing authorities. Judicial oversight and public reporting requirements could help ensure that monitoring is focused on legitimate threats rather than routine activities or political expression.
Oversight of AI tools is equally important. Automated systems can misidentify individuals or reinforce existing bias, which raises questions about how these tools influence decisions in immigration, travel monitoring, and law enforcement. Independent evaluations would provide a check on systems that are often adopted before their accuracy is fully understood. Safeguards should ensure that people can challenge errors in the data used to evaluate them, particularly when those errors affect their movement or legal status.
There is also a political dimension that cannot be ignored. Leaders who have long warned about the dangers of federal power now support expansive surveillance infrastructure because it aligns with current enforcement priorities. Some lawmakers express concern only when these tools begin reaching constituents who are not the intended targets. A consistent approach is needed, one that recognizes that surveillance built for one group inevitably expands to others. Reining in these programs now is essential if the United States hopes to preserve expectations of privacy and prevent routine monitoring from becoming a permanent feature of daily life.
Conclusion
The expansion of federal surveillance has become a defining feature of the current political landscape, driven by technologies that allow unprecedented access to personal data. Investigations show how tools originally built for border enforcement and national security are now applied to citizens who are not suspected of wrongdoing. This shift creates a level of monitoring that most Americans never agreed to, relying on data that many do not realize is accessible to federal agencies.
The technological momentum behind these programs makes them difficult to contain once they are in place. AI systems encourage broader data use by lowering the cost and increasing the speed of analysis. Commercial databases add another layer, which documents how personal information collected for private purposes can enter government systems without transparent safeguards. These developments reveal a surveillance environment that grows whether or not the public is aware of its reach.
The challenge now is whether lawmakers and citizens will demand constraints before these systems become permanent. Political concern often appears only after surveillance begins affecting people outside the intended targets. Yet the history of these programs demonstrates that once a monitoring infrastructure is built, its scope rarely narrows. Clear rules, independent oversight, and consistent political standards are necessary if the United States hopes to prevent a future in which routine government monitoring becomes an accepted part of ordinary life.
Originally published by Brewminate, 11.27.2025, under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
About the Author
