The Right to Walk Unsurveilled
There was a time when walking down a street was an anonymous act. You existed in public space without being recorded, identified, or tracked. That time has passed for most urban residents.
The current state
In a typical walk through a US city center:
- CCTV cameras record your image every few seconds
- ALPR readers log any vehicle you pass or ride in
- Facial recognition may identify you at transit hubs and building entrances
- Your phone broadcasts WiFi probe requests that retailers capture
- AirTag detection tells Apple’s network where you are
- If you pass a ShotSpotter array, your conversations may be captured
This is not surveillance targeted at a suspect. This is the baseline experience of existing in public in 2026.
Is anonymity in public a right?
Legal frameworks are split:
- The US has no constitutional right to anonymity in public spaces (Katz v. United States protects “reasonable expectations of privacy,” which courts have generally not extended to public movement)
- The EU treats public surveillance more restrictively under GDPR
- The UK has pervasive CCTV but also strong data protection laws
The question isn’t settled. But the technology is building the answer regardless of what courts decide.
What we believe
At Symvek, we believe that understanding surveillance is a prerequisite to having an informed opinion about it. Before you can decide whether 50 cameras within 1km of your home is acceptable, you need to know they’re there.
That’s why we built Sentinel. Not to tell you what to think about surveillance, but to give you the information you need to think about it at all.
498,500 surveillance records. 183 countries. The first step is seeing them.