The novel 1984 by George Orwell brings up many ideas that seem absolutely crazy on the surface, but resemble, when looked into deeper, more similarly today’s conditions than originally thought. One of these topics is surveillance, specifically government and law enforcement surveillance. In the world today, surveillance solves crimes and keeps an eye on things in important buildings and even on some streets, making it a good thing, but too much surveillance, especially when no laws restrict it in any way, harms society in an irreversible way. The telescreens in 1984 are mega versions of security cameras, the undercover Thought Police compare to undercover police officers in their patience and tactics, and the hidden cameras and microphones equate to things such as wiretapping and using a cell phone as a listening device. These techniques, used on wide scales in both societies, differ greatly in how they are executed. In 1984, the Party uses them on everyone equally, while in today’s society, using them requires government and law enforcement officials to utilize them strictly for watching and studying possible threats. Telescreens, A huge part of the society in 1984, find themselves literally everywhere among the Party members, and anyone can be watched at any time with them. The proles have the option to install one in their house or not because, according to the Party views them as equivalent to animals. One of the Party’s slogans even states, “Proles and animals are free,” (Orwell, part 1 chapter 7). In the Party, though, escaping a telescreen proves virtually impossible. However, the Party allows the Inner Party members the privilege of turning off their telescreens, which astounds Winston and Julia when they visit O’Brian. When O’Brien turns it off, “Julia uttered a tiny sound, a sort of squeak of surprise. Even in the midst of his panic, Winston was too much taken aback to be able to hold his tongue,” (Orwell, part 2 chapter 8). The constant surveillance forces Winston and everyone else to feel like they are in a fishbowl and to operate a certain way so that the Party never views them as suspicious. Today’s society, however, employs security cameras and surveillance cameras in major buildings such as stores, schools, and government buildings; on the street, especially with a large amount of reported crime; and in some households to watch around their houses in case of a break in of any kind. Private homes are not monitored, and the use of security cameras restricts itself mainly to monitoring who comes in and goes out of buildings and as a precaution against cases of any crime, especially theft. Even though they consist of a large part of society, their use concentrates on the good of the people, not spying on them or even the good of society as the Party claims in 1984. The Thought Police’s undercover surveillance in 1984 constitutes a large part of the Party’s surveillance methods. A member of the Thought Police could be anyone and anywhere, just how undercover policemen and FBI agents can be. They differ in the sense that the Thought Police looks for people to commit thoughtcrime, while the FBI and police direct their undercover surveillance specifically towards a certain person who poses a potential threat. Both undercover agencies take as much time as they need gathering enough evidence to criminally convict the person. However, one major difference occurs in that the Thought Police need absolutely no evidence at all to convict someone of thoughtcrime, but they wait until a good time rolls around to bust somebody for it, especially if they possess illegal materials such as Winston with the book and Julia with the stolen Inner Party items. Just as the Thought Police dress as proles sometimes, like Mr. Charrington, undercover FBI agents and police frequently disguise themselves as everyday people (Temple-Raston). “The members of the FBI's Special Surveillance Group team, or SSGs, operate just below the radar — and that is where they are most effective… SSGs carry entire wardrobes in their cars — a business suit in case they need to go to Wall Street, gym shorts in case surveillance requires them to go for a jog through Central Park,” (Temple-Raston). All of this surveillance plays out to target one specific person or one specific group, unlike the undercover surveillance in 1984 where the Thought Police aims to trap anyone they can through their undercover methods. Naturally, along with undercover surveillance come undercover surveillance techniques. In 1984, the Party places hidden cameras and microphones virtually everywhere that no telescreen exists in their main realm. Hidden cameras and microphones prevail in today’s society, too, but other, more sophisticated methods exist such as wiretapping phone lines and using cell phones as listening devices. When Winston and Julia meet in the woods, they take extra precautions to be quiet until they get deep into them because of their fear that a microphone looms among the trees somewhere and could catch them for being out there in the first place. The Party uses its hidden intelligence equipment in order to find anyone doing anything wrong, not for going after a certain person that intends to harm the government or the country. In today’s society, wiretapping a phone requires approval from the judicial branch before the FBI can utilize it, and it even has regulations as to how much information can be disclosed and what the information is used for (Justice Information Sharing). The “roving bug,” or using cell phones as listening devices, acts as another way that the U.S. government uses undercover surveillance techniques (Broache). The FBI started utilizing this new technique, and the judicial branch allows it because it falls under federal wiretapping laws (Broache). Many people think that the “roving bug” encroaches majorly on privacy, and, even in a video, the Fox reporter says, “Cell phone users beware, Big Brother may be listening,” (McCullagh). This displays just how much today’s society resembles 1984’s society. However, today’s society uses this technology under the same strict rules as wiretapping and only uses it to listen in on known criminals such as known members of the Mafia (Broache). The societies of both 1984 and today possess many similarities, one being surveillance. While surveillance methods and equipment may be similar, their motives differ greatly. In the world today, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies only use these techniques for specific purposes and for keeping an eye on things in major buildings and on streets with a great deal of crime. Whenever agencies utilize undercover surveillance, it only gets applied towards specific people who involve themselves in conspiracies or are known criminals that have yet to be caught. In 1984, the Thought Police uses these same techniques and equipment to trap the everyday person into thoughtcrime just so that they can catch them. They set traps to apprehend the average joe. Surveillance in today’s society catches criminals and keeps an eye on things, so it proves to be useful and good, but too much surveillance with no laws regarding it or restricting it creates a doomsday for society.

"Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA)." Justice Information Sharing. N.p., 21 Mar 2012. Web. 9 May 2012.