Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Sounds like tin-foil hat territory to me (especially given that detailed satelite images and normal cellphone tracking would already be available to the actors in this conspiracy),

But, while you're going down the rabbit hole, you could search and research "passive radar":

> Passive radar systems (also referred to as passive coherent location, passive surveillance systems, and passive covert radar) encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of illumination in the environment, such as commercial broadcast ...



You'd need a lot of satellites capable of very high resolution imagery. And even then it wouldn't be exactly the same. There are plans for 5G to go over 50GHz. That would give you a very high resolution! I mean, these EHF frequencies are also what's used in 'millimeter wave scanners' (full body scanners). You could theoretically sense through clothing. It's also nothing like a bird's eye image, you'd have live 3d imagery from the ground, including places that aren't visible from space.

All that ignoring that it's doubtful they'd ever have so many satellites and enough bandwith to transfer all that data. That seems a lot more feasible from the ground with antennas with broadband connections and which are already set up for the transfer of large amounts of data either way.


I doubt it would be used as mass surveillance from satellites. It would probably be used similarly to the old NYPD backscatter vans.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: