The Doorbell Camera Surveillance State Is Not Just About Finding Fido And Grandma

The mass surveillance state is quite literally on your doorstep in the form of a big-tech owned doorbell camera.

Glenn Beck sounds the alarm on Apple’s digital ID: ‘Control of absolutely everything’



Apple has introduced its own digital ID, which is connected to Apple Wallet — but Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is not thrilled to hear about the company's latest advancement, calling it a “very bad idea.”

“Digital ID is the first thing. Then it includes your medical records. It includes all your health — everything. It will give you access to the hospitals or not access to the hospitals. It will allow you to buy things or not buy things,” Glenn explains.

“It’ll allow you to access online or not access online. It is control of absolutely everything. And that’s in the design, and they talk about it openly,” he adds.


After the tyranny displayed during COVID, Glenn is among those most skeptical of advancements like digital ID.

“Presenting the new Apple digital ID,” Glenn says sarcastically. “Now at the TSA checkpoints in more than 250 airports all across the U.S., you can present your digital ID at TSA checkpoints and get right onto that plane.”

While Apple claims the digital ID is “not a replacement” for a physical passport, it does add an official government ID to a user’s Apple wallet.

“It does sort of sound appealing, doesn’t it? I mean, just speaking frankly for a moment,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in.

While Glenn agrees that it does “sound appealing,” he points out that the end result would be anything but.

“I have to tell you, when you start putting everything, all records, all passports — it is your one universal key, and it’s tied directly to online, where it’s tracking everything, everywhere you go, every dollar you spend,” he says. “This is just a very bad idea.”

“There’s a story … it’s called the book of Revelation. I mean, how much clearer do you have to be, where you can’t go anywhere, you can’t buy anything, unless you have the mark. I’m not saying Apple is coming up with the mark of the beast, but this is the technology that sure kind of fits it,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Surveillance everywhere, justice nowhere: Brown University shooting exposes the illusion of safety



A dystopian surveillance state is what so many Americans fear their country is becoming, while some have just accepted that a surveillance state is our past, present, and future.

“There comes a point where, as a society, we just end up getting used to the massive surveillance state that we live in,” Glenn Beck’s head researcher and former DOD intelligence analyst Jason Buttrill tells Glenn.

However, while we’re used to the surveillance state, it doesn’t appear to be doing its job — especially when you look at the response to the recent shooting at Brown University.

On Saturday, Dec. 13, a gunman opened fire inside a first-floor classroom at the Barus and Holley building on Brown’s campus — and the gunman remains elusive.


“If you go back to around 2021, there were people writing about how Brown University was one of the most surveilled campuses in the United States,” Buttrill explains.

“How is it we only have one picture of this guy from the back?” Glenn interjects, adding, “Apparently the one thing that will help you get away with any crime is a hoodie.”

“Yeah, wear something over your head and a coat. Apparently that foils the entire surveillance state, y’all,” Buttrill agrees. “So I guess we have nothing to worry about with surveillance.”

“And on top of that, Kash Patel, the FBI director, said that, you know, they sprung into action and they activated their cellular monitoring system to help identify the person that has now been let go,” he continues.

“Again, that’s another layer of this surveillance state that I think a lot of us should be worried about, and that didn’t do anything either,” he says, adding, “That helped give us the wrong suspect.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

An ‘ankle bracelet’ for your car? AZ pushes new tech for serial speeders



Watch out, speed demons — the open road might be getting a little less free.

Arizona, known for its sun-soaked, sprawling highways, may soon become the first state to offer a high-tech alternative for habitual speeders: a “digital ankle bracelet” for your car.

With this new technology, Arizona may be taking the first step toward a future where cars themselves enforce the law.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow drivers at risk of losing their licenses to keep their privileges by installing devices that actively prevent their vehicles from exceeding posted speed limits.

The proposal, spearheaded by Republican state Representative Quang Nguyen, would let drivers voluntarily equip their cars with speed-limiting technology. The system relies on a combination of GPS and cellular signals to determine the legal speed on any given road. Electronics connected to the car’s engine control unit then prevent the vehicle from exceeding that limit, no matter how hard the driver presses the accelerator.

Speed bump

For practical reasons, the technology does include an override mode that permits a temporary 10 mph boost up to three times per month, giving drivers a limited margin to react in emergencies or avoid accidents.

Nguyen estimates the devices would cost around $250 to install, with a daily operating fee of roughly $4. He has been working closely with companies that manufacture the technology, including Smart Start and LifeSafer, to ensure the system is effective and reliable. This makes me wonder if he owns a piece of the company or has stock in the company.

Under the bill, which Nguyen plans to formally introduce when the state legislature reconvenes in January, participation is optional — probably Nguyen’s earlier attempt to make it mandatory was a nonstarter.

Slow lane

Arizona is not alone in exploring this approach. Virginia, Washington State, and Washington, D.C., have already enacted similar laws. In Virginia, courts can require drivers with multiple speeding violations or reckless driving convictions to install electronic speed-limiting devices as an alternative to license suspension. Washington State has adopted a comparable program, giving judges discretion to mandate the technology for repeat offenders while monitoring compliance.

In Washington D.C., the program is more limited but aims to reduce repeat speeding among drivers with multiple moving violations. Meanwhile, Wisconsin is currently considering similar legislation.

These programs highlight a growing trend: Rather than grounding drivers entirely, some states are experimenting with technology as a way to enforce safe driving without taking away mobility. Proponents argue that these devices could prevent serious accidents while still allowing drivers to maintain employment, care for families, and perform other essential daily tasks. The technology also provides courts with a tangible tool to ensure compliance, rather than relying solely on citations and license suspensions.

RELATED: Spinning out at Discount Tire's Treadwell test track

Discount Tire

Machine learning

However, critics remain cautious. Some transportation and safety experts question whether the technology is advanced enough to accurately detect all posted speed limits. GPS mapping errors, temporary speed changes in construction zones, or malfunctioning sensors could cause a car to slow unexpectedly or fail to limit speed when needed, creating new safety risks. Privacy advocates also worry about how these devices track and store location data, raising concerns about government overreach or potential misuse.

From a practical standpoint, the legislation raises fundamental questions about the balance between personal responsibility and technological enforcement. Supporters argue it offers a lifeline to drivers who repeatedly violate speed laws but are otherwise safe, while critics maintain that it may encourage riskier behavior by transferring accountability from the individual to the machine.

There’s also the question of fairness. Not all drivers have access to new technology or the financial resources to participate in a program that charges daily operating fees. While $4 per day may seem modest, over a month or a year, it could be prohibitive for some families, effectively limiting the program to more affluent drivers. Additionally, the optional nature of the program could create inconsistencies across jurisdictions, leaving some habitual offenders unmonitored while others are under constant technological supervision.

Whether the measure passes will depend not only on lawmakers’ assessment of safety and effectiveness but also on public perception. Speeding remains the most common moving violation in the United States, and habitual offenders are a persistent concern for states nationwide. With this new technology, Arizona may be taking the first step toward a future where cars themselves enforce the law — but whether that future is practical, safe, or desirable remains up for debate.

At the very least, it’s a bold experiment in road safety and personal responsibility, one that could reshape the way states think about controlling speed without grounding drivers entirely. As the legislature prepares to weigh the bill, motorists, safety experts, and privacy advocates alike will be watching closely, asking the same question: Can a car truly keep its driver out of trouble, or is this just another way to shift accountability from human judgment to technology?

Flock Safety: Is any driver safe from its AI-powered surveillance?



Buckle up, America — because if you’re driving anywhere in this country, you’re already under surveillance.

I’m not talking about speed traps or red-light cameras. I’m talking about Flock Safety cameras, those sleek, solar-powered, AI-driven spies perched on poles in your neighborhood, outside your kid’s school, at the grocery store, and along every major road.

The Institute for Justice has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that Flock effectively builds detailed, warrantless movement profiles of ordinary people.

These cameras are not just reading your license plate. They’re building a digital DNA profile of your vehicle — make, model, color, dents, bumper stickers, roof racks, even temporary tags — and logging where you’ve been, when, and with whom you’ve traveled.

And guess who has 24/7 access? Your local police, HOAs, apartment complexes, and private businesses — all without a warrant, without your consent, and often without you even knowing they exist.

Worse than you think

I’ve been warning drivers for decades about government overreach, from cashless tolls to black-box data recorders. But Flock Safety? This is next-level.

Founded in 2017 in Atlanta, Flock has exploded into a $3.5 billion surveillance empire with over 900 employees and a single goal: blanket every city in America with cameras. As of 2024, it has already deployed 40,000 to 60,000 units across 42 states in more than 5,000 communities. That’s not a pilot program. That’s a national tracking grid.

Here’s how it works — and why it should terrify every freedom-loving American.

Pure surveillance tools

Flock’s Falcon and Sparrow cameras don’t enforce speed or traffic laws. They’re pure surveillance tools.

Mounted on utility poles, traffic signals, or private property, they use automated license plate recognition (ALPR) and Vehicle Fingerprint™ technology to capture high-resolution images of your vehicle’s rear, including the license plate with state, number, and expiration, plus the make, model, year, color, and unique identifiers like dents, decals, roof racks, spare tires, even paper plates. They record the time, date, and GPS location, using infrared imaging for 24/7 operation, even at 100 mph from 75 feet away.

The data is uploaded instantly via cellular networks to Flock’s cloud servers, stored for 30 days, and accessible through a web portal by any approved user. That includes police departments across state lines through Flock’s TALON investigative platform. Drive from Georgia to New York, and every Flock camera you pass logs your journey. No warrant needed in most states.

RELATED: Why states are quietly moving to restrict how much you drive

F8 Imaging/Getty Images

Staggering scale

The scale is staggering. Milwaukee has 219 cameras with 100 more planned. Riverside County, California, uses 309 cameras to scan 27.5 million vehicles monthly. Norfolk, Virginia, has over 170 units. Raleigh, North Carolina, has 25 and counting.

Nationwide, Flock claims it logs over one billion vehicle scans per month. These cameras cost $2,500 per year per unit, are solar-powered with no wiring required, and can be installed in hours. HOAs love them, schools want them, police can’t get enough, and new units go up daily, often without public notice or approval.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley loves to brag about Flock's crime-stopping potential. But what he doesn't mention is that you’re tracked whether you’re a criminal or not.

No opting out

There’s no true opt-out for the public — every passing car is still scanned and logged — but some neighborhoods and agencies use Flock's SafeList feature to avoid nuisance alerts. SafeList doesn’t exempt anyone from being recorded. It simply tells the system not to flag certain familiar plates (residents, staff, permitted vehicles) as suspicious. The camera still captures the vehicle, stores the image, and makes it searchable; it just won’t trigger an alert for those approved plates.

Flock cameras can photograph more than a license plate — sometimes the interior of a car, passengers, or bumper stickers — but this varies by angle and lighting, and the system is not designed to gather facial images.

Privacy nightmare

This is a privacy nightmare. The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation call it mass surveillance. A small-town cop in Ohio can search your plate and see everywhere you’ve driven in Florida. Rogue officers have abused ALPR before, stalking exes, journalists, activists. Data breaches? Flock says its cloud is secure, but we’ve heard that before.

A 2024 Norfolk, Virginia, ruling initially held that Flock’s system amounted to a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant. But that decision was later reversed on appeal. Meanwhile, the Institute for Justice has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that Flock effectively builds detailed, warrantless movement profiles of ordinary people. If that case succeeds, it would be a true game-changer.

Yes, finding a kidnapped child or stolen car is good. But at what cost? This creates a chilling effect: Will you avoid a protest, a church, a gun shop, a clinic, knowing you’re being logged? This isn’t safety. This is control.

Fighting back

So what can you do right now? Start by finding the cameras — contact your police, city council, or HOA and ask where the Flock cameras are and who has access.

Demand transparency: Push for public hearings, warrant requirements, data deletion after 24 hours, and no sharing outside your jurisdiction. Support the fighters like the ACLU, EFF, and Institute for Justice. Spot the cameras yourself — look for black poles with tilted solar panels and a small camera box.

It's time to post your opinions on X, call your reps, show up at meetings — let's stop the surveillance.

Flock’s CEO dreams of a camera in every U.S. city. But liberty isn’t free, and it shouldn’t come with a tracking device.

Drop your thoughts below — I read every comment. Share this information with every driver you know. Because if we don’t fight now, soon there’ll be nowhere left to hide.

Does border security mean we’re stuck with a surveillance state?



CBS recently reported that U.S. Border Patrol is now quietly “monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide.” A network of cameras does the work of scanning license plates and grabbing facial ID information. The data is analyzed by an unnamed “predictive intelligence” algorithm.

Whatever happened to the land of the free?

The striking thing is, ever since 9/11, we all felt something like this was either happening or about to happen. Everybody knows, as the great bard Leonard Cohen sang. But what everyone doesn’t know yet is whether that sinking feeling can help us shape limits on the tech we want to deploy against others but not against ourselves.

The use of Palantir or something like it seems to be necessary to undo what the Obama-Biden revolution did.

Technologies of surveillance, identification, categorization, recordkeeping are all at their peak, and climbing. If it hasn’t happened already, we will very soon live in conditions where comprehensive, up-to-the-instant dossiers will be available on all human beings. These will later be integrated into psych profiles based on deep, personal internet histories.

True, the accuracy of these profiles will only be high if we presume a fixed human nature, devoid of spontaneity and repentance. The utility of these vast profiles will be high only insofar as our end goals are tied to a value system where material comfort and ever-increasing union between human souls and machines are prioritized. Prioritized above family, above the divine.

But more and more of us, willingly or otherwise, are signing up for that materialist, Borg-like existence.

Since 9/11, both the left and right have sounded the alarm on the “surveillance state.” Along the way, however, our demographics have undergone radical, unprecedented (some might even say suicidal) levels of alteration. We’ve imported competing tribes, ethnicities, and clans in numbers more than sufficient for those groups to wage their own little internecine wars on our streets — streets we Americans pay to upkeep in a thousand costly ways.

Why would we do this?

The answer is generally given that we Americans are no longer a people but a collection of increasingly isolated and belligerent peoples. And while some degree of regionalism has always marked the country, not until very recently did we think of ourselves this way. We can occupy ourselves with innumerable possible explanations for our increasing division, and many kill time or get paid spooling out financial, religious, historical, cyclical, and economic theories. All of these have some merit.

RELATED: Can Palantir defeat the Antifa networks behind trans terror?

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

But what about the technologies themselves? They seem to advance along a one-way ratchet no types of ups and downs can reverse, or even arrest. But it’s difficult to see how the tech is somehow “inevitable,” independent of human agency. Online occultists are ascribing responsibility to future entities reaching back into their past, our present day, roughly like the “temporal pincer movement” from Christopher Nolan's time-turnstile sci-fi epic “Tenet.” Easier perhaps to cobble up an explanation from human nature, economic choices, and corruption.

Regardless, we’re going to have to deal with a very real pincer situation: predictive super-tech on one side and an invidious, noncompliant, indeed hyper-fragmented population on the other.

OK. Then what should we do with the surveillance panopticon we’re building in the meanwhile? Polls vary, but even Gallup shows that in 1995, immigration was very unpopular. It made no difference. The citizenry has been remade. Acceleration of the remaking may have peaked under the Biden presidency, but even now, with leaders like Stephen Miller mincing no words about the necessity to remigrate millions, we aren’t getting very far. The use of Palantir or something like it seems to be necessary to undo what the Obama-Biden revolution did.

Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the American dream was long ago “downsized,” all but dead at present. It’s not hard to envision the panopticon moving on from unwanted and unlawful “newcomers” to the underclass of heritage American men and women bitterly struggling to survive under impossible economic conditions. They see no path because there is none. Are the men of this class, say those under age 40, going to accept such egregious limitations on their capacity to secure a living wage to offer a potential mate?

This distortion of first-world expectations is so transparent that even the U.S. Department of Labor is posting images of Rockwellian-ideal domestic existence with the accompanying text: “The American Dream has been stolen from the American People. Decades of failed policies prioritized foreign labor, offshored our jobs, and sold the American Worker out.”

Do the math: Tons of foreigners and their interest organization, plus millions of young, able-bodied heritage American males unable to form families on promised terms, plus a surveillance apparatus that has no true ideological master ... equals?

On the upside, AI-panopticon tech forged by the likes of Palantir would (you’d presume) make extremely short work of the right-coded goal to super-remigrate the 30-odd-million foreign noncitizens on U.S. soil. But wait! Regimes are changing. Palantir’s panopticon contract is sure to outlast the Trump administration. Even if we accept the ostensible inevitability of “total recall” and predictive algorithms shaping society, we don’t have much in place to backstop future abuses, even as we rush into unprecedented social, technological, and perhaps even biological change.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange predicted the surveillance state we currently live in



A decade ago, Julian Assange warned that “we are the last free generation.”

Now, Americans are living in the dystopian reality he once predicted.

And Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Assange, is continuing to sound the alarm, sitting down with BlazeTV host Nicole Shanahan to discuss what has turned into a nearly full-blown surveillance state.

“We are at a tipping point now where it’s not even being hidden,” Shanahan tells Shipton. “It’s actually in clear daylight that the government has every intention to rip away our civil liberties, our constitutional rights. Julian’s watching all of this go down. What does he think?”


“You can look back to his writing, you know, even from 10 years ago, and he was predicting all this, predicting this surveillance even before the Snowden leaks. They knew it existed, but they didn’t have confirmation in black and white from actual leaked information about this NSA spying,” Shipton explains.

“But he’s written about this and, you know, said things like ‘we are the last free generation.’ You know, soon we’re going to be manipulated in more and more subtle ways that we don’t even understand,” he continues.

“And I think this FISA bill, combined with things like, you know, the potential for AI integration with all this surveillance,” he says, before Shanahan chimes in, “Well, it’s already happening.”

“We are very well aware that many government agencies are using AI for censorship and surveillance. I mean, they go hand in hand. They’re not even truly even hiding it after the pandemic,” she says.

“I think generally there’s awareness, but I think there’s an outcry that is being limited and almost herded. I feel like everyone who’s stepping out there and trying to show everybody what’s going on and what’s at stake is being quieted and herded,” she continues.

However, while Assange predicted the surveillance state we currently reside in, he is optimistic about some things.

“I believe he is excited about those independent journalists that are out there doing work. I know he, you know, engages with a lot of independent journalism as much as he can given his limited connection to the outside world,” Shipton says.

“You know, you can draw a line from Wikileaks’ work to this flowering of independent journalism, the loss of confidence in corporate media. And I think that is due to a lot of Wikileaks' work,” he continues.

“They exposed the corporate media for what it actually was,” he adds.

Want more from Nicole Shanahan?

To enjoy more of Nicole's compelling blend of empathy, curiosity, and enlightenment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

UK government makes digital ID mandatory to get a job: 'Safer, fairer and more secure'



Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that digital ID will become mandatory in order to be employed in the United Kingdom.

The new ID is part of a government plan to allegedly help fight illegal immigration. The idea is that illegal employment is what is attracting many migrants to make the treacherous trip across the English Channel to move to the U.K.

'You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID.'

Starmer said the IDs would not only make it more difficult to work in the U.K. illegally but that it would offer "countless benefits" to citizens. The BBC reported that senior minister Darren Jones claimed the IDs could also be "the bedrock of the modern state."

The prime minister made the announcement at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London on Friday, stating, "Our immigration system does need to be fair if we want to maintain that binding contract that our politics is built on."

Starmer continued, "And that is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free of charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out: You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID."

"It's as simple as that," the leader sternly stated, before making a moral argument. "Because decent, pragmatic, fair-minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them. And, of course, the truth is, we won't solve our problems if we don't also take on the root causes."

RELATED: Europe pushes for digital ID to help 'crack down' on completely unrelated problems

The knighted leader continued to claim that the move was an attempt by the government to have "control over its borders."

"We do need to know who is in our country," Starmer added.

"It is not compassionate left-wing politics to rely on labor that exploits foreign workers and undercuts fair wages."

Jonathan Brash, a member of parliament from Hartlepool and politician in Starmer's party, said that it was important to "explode the myths and conspiracy theories being spread on Digital ID."

"It will make our country safer, fairer and more secure," Brash said on his X page, along with an image of a political poster that said the same.

RELATED: Trump's new AI Action Plan reveals our digital manifest destiny

— (@)

"This is a battle for freedom," English reporter Lewis Brackpool told Blaze News. "Liberalism is to blame. This attitude of 'live and let live' caused this freedom-robbing policy. It's time for Brits to take a stand."

Brackpool called for peaceful resistance while pointing to his work with Restore Britain, which has already begun investigating the government's intentions behind the project.

"The British public deserves full transparency on Digital ID drifting into surveillance and financial control," he wrote on X.

In early September, Blaze News reported that both French President Emmanuel Macron and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair were urging Starmer to consider making digital IDs mandatory.

The Daily Mail reported that Blair was pushing the idea in backroom conversations, continuing his early-2000s attempt to push the IDs on the country's citizenry.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Netflix’s chilling new surveillance tools are watching YOU



There was a time, for a brief second, when Netflix felt like a genuine escape. No ads. No distractions. Just a moment of sacred silence before the next episode auto-played. YouTube, on the other hand, has always been the neighborhood hawker, jamming five-second countdowns and “skip” buttons between cat videos and clips of Candace Owens speaking with Harvey Weinstein. But Netflix? It felt different. Intentional. Entirely neutral.

Not any more.

We now know that YouTube, owned by Google (the company that famously deleted “don’t be evil” from its code of conduct), uses AI to analyze your viewing habits in real time. The company calls it Peak Points, a system that detects when you’re most emotionally invested. Not so it can recommend better content. No, it’s so YouTube can slice in an ad. A perfectly timed disruption — just as you’re crying, laughing, leaning in. Not after. During. Essentially, it’s manipulation dressed as optimization.

Soon you won’t be choosing shows. You’ll be chosen by them.

If Google pulling this stunt doesn’t surprise you, that’s because nothing Google does should surprise you. What should worry you, however, is Netflix quietly following suit, disguised beneath its polished UI and faux prestige. To be clear, this isn’t a case of algorithms nudging you toward rom-coms or action thrillers. This is full-blown behavioral harvesting, run out of what’s called “clean rooms," a fancy way of saying they’re still collecting everything, just behind closed doors. They promise it’s private. But they still track your habits, reactions, pauses, and clicks. They’re not watching you, they insist. Just everything you do.

Netflix’s ad-supported tier allows third-party data brokers — including Experian (more on this notorious credit score company in a minute) — to build a psychological profile on you. Your stress tells them what to sell. Your loneliness tells them when to sell it. Your late-night binge-watching isn’t just a pattern; it’s a profile. You think you’re relaxing, when in reality, you're participating in a lab study that you never signed up for. Not knowingly, anyway.

Netflix used to sell impressions. Now, however, it's selling intimacy — your intimacy. It's the kind of advertising that doesn’t feel like advertising because it’s been trained to mimic your tone, your mood, your hesitation. Mid-roll ads now talk back. Pause screens offer prompts and tailored suggestions based not on your genre preferences but on your emotional volatility.

Even rewinds are a metric now. Linger too long on one scene? It wasn’t just memorable — it was actionable. Every flicker of interest, every second you lean forward, becomes a flag for monetization. A signal to tweak the pitch, change the lighting, or modify the ad delivery window.

You’re not the customer any more. You’re the subject.

This is much more than targeted marketing. It is emotional extraction. Netflix and YouTube are conditioning you and your loved ones. The goal is no longer passive consumption. It’s emotive response mining. Once satisfied with getting your eyeballs, they now want what’s behind them.

And here’s the most worrying part: Their devious plan is working.

RELATED: Netflix shares blunt message to woke employees offended by its content: 'Netflix may not be the best place for you'

ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images

You feel it when your pause screen suddenly knows you’re restless. You sense it when an ad knows you’re anxious. But you can’t prove it, because this isn’t surveillance as we used to know it. It’s ambient, implicit, and sanitized. Framed as “user experience.” But make no mistake, the living room has been compromised.

Netflix used to say, “See what’s next.” But increasingly, the real motto is “see what we see.” Every moment of attention, every flicker, flinch, or fast-forward, is a data point. Every glance is a gamble, wagered against your most vulnerable instincts.

Which brings us back to Experian. By partnering with the same data broker that helps banks deny loans, Netflix is making a statement. A troubling one.

Experian isn’t just some boring credit bureau. It’s one of the largest consumer data aggregators on the planet. It tracks what you buy, what you browse, where you live, how often you move, how many credit cards you have, what you watch, what you search, and what you owe. It then slices that information into little behavioral fragments to sell to advertisers, insurers, lenders, and now … to Netflix.

With 90 million U.S. users, Netflix has now integrated with a company whose entire business model revolves around profiling you — right down to your risk appetite, spending triggers, and likelihood of defaulting on a loan.

So while you're watching a true-crime documentary to unwind, Experian is in the back end, silently refining your “predictive segment.” Your favorite comedy special could now become a soft proxy for Experian to gauge how impulsive you are. That docuseries about minimalism? Great test case for your spending restraint. They don’t just want to know what you watch. They want to know what you’ll buy after. Or worse, what you’ll believe next.

RELATED: Upstart streamer Loor.TV is out to televise the conservative revolution

Loor.tv

The future isn’t one of generic binge-watching. It’s curated manipulation. Your partner just walked out? Cue romantic dramas … with targeted ads for dating apps. Watching a dystopian thriller? Insert ads for tech “solutions” to the very problems being dramatized.

Soon you won’t be choosing shows. You’ll be chosen by them. Not because they’re good, but because they serve a data-driven purpose. If you're a Netflix subscriber, perhaps it’s time to consider whether it still makes sense to continue funding the violation of your privacy.

If ‘Quiet Skies’ Surveillance Was Abuse, So Is The Rest Of The Surveillance State

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday that the “Quiet Skies” surveillance program was dismantled. It’s a good first step — but it’s just that: a first step. It’s time to dismantle the entire surveillance regime that grew out of post 9/11 panic. The “Quiet Skies Program” was launched in 2010 with the […]