ILLINOIS SURVEILLANCE INDEX

Who’s watching you?

Surveillance does not begin or end with police. NoRec documents the systems that can monitor, identify, locate, profile, score, or influence people in Illinois — and separates confirmed Illinois deployment from national capability, research, and unresolved questions.

SCOPE

This directory follows the relationship between the person being watched and the watcher: government, employer, business, private party, or data intermediary. One system may cross several rungs as data moves between them.

17tracked entries
10confirmed IL deployments
1federal entries seeded

WHY THIS MATTERS

Privacy is not only about hiding information.

Information changes bargaining power. Surveillance can affect what price you see, how an employer evaluates you, whether a system flags your behavior, what a retailer infers about you, or what an investigator can reconstruct later.

SURVEILLANCE RUNGS

The technologies monitoring you at each level.

01 Government surveillanceThe government is watching me. 11

Local, county, Illinois state, and federal systems that monitor, identify, locate, score, or investigate people in Illinois.

LOCAL / COUNTYILLINOIS STATEFEDERAL / NATIONAL
Biometric identification

Facial recognition / biometric face search

CONFIRMED

One-to-one and one-to-many facial comparison systems can use facial images to verify or search for identity. Illinois Secretary of State records and law expressly establish use of facial recognition in the driver-license / identification-card environment.

ILLINOIS / STATE CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Obtaining or holding an Illinois driver license / ID, or being the subject of a qualifying facial-recognition search.
DATA
Biometric identification
Open entry → IDEMIA
Vehicle surveillance

Automated license plate readers (ALPR)

CONFIRMED

Networked cameras read license plates and commonly associate those detections with time, location, and vehicle characteristics for alerts and retrospective search.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Driving past a fixed or vehicle-mounted plate-reader camera.
DATA
Vehicle surveillance
Open entry → Flock SafetyMotorola Solutions
Aerial surveillance

Police drones / unmanned aircraft systems

CONFIRMED

Law-enforcement drones can carry cameras and other sensors for aerial observation, search, documentation, and emergency response.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Being present in an area observed by a law-enforcement drone during an authorized operation.
DATA
Aerial surveillance
Open entry →
Biometric identification

Human fingerprints / ABIS

CONFIRMED

Fingerprint systems compare biometric records for identity, criminal-history, background-check, and investigative purposes.

ILLINOIS / STATE CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Biometric identification
Open entry →
Device identification & location

Cell-site simulators / IMSI catchers / digital analyzers

CONFIRMED

Cell-site simulators can cause nearby phones or other communications devices to interact with a law-enforcement device so that identifying or location information can be obtained. Illinois law also places passive digital analyzers and passive interception devices inside its definition.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Device identification & location
Open entry →
Property identification & tracking

Vehicle / property fingerprinting

CONFIRMED

Modern ALPR systems can describe and re-identify vehicles using more than a plate number. Vehicle make, model, color, distinguishing characteristics, and other machine-readable attributes can turn a vehicle — privately owned property — into a searchable signature.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Property identification & tracking
Open entry → Flock SafetyMotorola Solutions
Acoustic surveillance

Acoustic gunshot detection

HISTORICALLY CONFIRMED

Distributed acoustic sensors detect impulsive sounds, estimate a probable gunshot location, and generate alerts for review and police response.

LOCAL / COUNTY HISTORICAL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Acoustic surveillance
Open entry → SoundThinking / ShotSpotter
Audio / video surveillance

Body-worn and in-car video systems

CONFIRMED

Body-worn and vehicle-mounted systems record law-enforcement encounters and typically depend on evidence-management software and storage infrastructure.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Audio / video surveillance
Open entry → AxonMotorola Solutions
Audio / video surveillance

Covert video surveillance cameras

CONFIRMED

Concealed surveillance cameras permit investigators to record locations or subjects without an obvious camera installation.

ILLINOIS / STATE CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Audio / video surveillance
Open entry →
Device identification & location

Passive communications-device identification / interception

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Passive radio-analysis systems can collect identifying or signaling information emitted by communications devices without necessarily impersonating a cellular base station.

LOCAL / COUNTY CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Interacting with, passing through, or becoming the subject of the documented government system.
DATA
Device identification & location
Open entry →
Biometric identity verification

CBP biometric facial comparison at O’Hare

CONFIRMED

U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses face-comparison technology at Chicago O’Hare, including Enhanced Passenger Processing for returning U.S. citizens.

FEDERAL / NATIONAL CONFIRMED IL DEPLOYMENT
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Returning to the United States through an applicable CBP inspection process at Chicago O’Hare.
DATA
Facial image · Traveler identity · Travel/inspection context
Open entry → U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Browse government surveillance →
02 Corporate / workplace surveillanceI work here. How am I being tracked? 2

Monitoring performed by employers or on employer-managed systems, including user activity monitoring, productivity analytics, access logs, behavioral analytics, and insider-risk systems.

Workplace / insider-risk monitoring

User Activity Monitoring (UAM)

ACTIVE CAPABILITY

UAM is the technical capability to observe and record an individual’s activity on systems in order to detect insider threats and support authorized investigations. Commercial workplace-monitoring systems can implement related capabilities outside government.

NATIONWIDE / APPLIES IN IL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Using an employer-managed computer, account, network, or other monitored work system.
DATA
Login/activity events · Application and resource access · File or network activity · Other endpoint telemetry depending on implementation
Open entry → UAM / UEBA systems
Behavioral anomaly detection research

ADAMS — Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales

HISTORICAL / RESEARCH COMPLETE

DARPA’s ADAMS research program developed anomaly-detection technology for massive datasets, with insider-threat detection as its initial application domain.

RESEARCH / NO KNOWN IL DEPLOYMENTHISTORICAL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Research/historical entry only; NoRec does not currently document an Illinois deployment of ADAMS itself.
DATA
Information-system logs · Sensor/instrumentation data · Behavioral/anomaly signals
Open entry → DARPAADAMS
Browse corporate / workplace surveillance →
03 Consumer / retail surveillanceI shop here. How am I being tracked? 1

Retail, app, advertising, and e-commerce systems that profile customer behavior, attention, location, purchases, and willingness to pay.

Algorithmic pricing and consumer profiling

Surveillance pricing / individualized offers

DOCUMENTED PRACTICE / CAPABILITY

Retailers and pricing intermediaries can use granular personal and behavioral information to tailor prices, promotions, or which products are shown to different consumers.

NATIONWIDE / APPLIES IN IL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Shopping through a website, app, loyalty ecosystem, or other channel where behavioral and personal data can be tied to the transaction.
DATA
Precise location · Browsing history · Shopping history · Demographics · Mouse movement · Cart abandonment and product interest
Open entry → Surveillance-pricing intermediaries
Browse consumer / retail surveillance →
04 Private / residential surveillanceI live near them. How am I being tracked? 2

Cameras and sensors operated by neighbors, property owners, HOAs, landlords, and other private parties that can capture people who never purchased or opted into the system.

Residential video surveillance

Networked doorbell cameras / Ring Community Requests

ACTIVE

Privately operated doorbell cameras can record visitors, neighbors, pedestrians, vehicles, and public-facing areas. Ring’s Community Requests system allows verified public-safety agencies using Axon Evidence to request footage for investigations; participation is voluntary.

NATIONWIDE / APPLIES IN IL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Walking, driving, delivering, visiting, or living within the field of view of a privately operated doorbell or residential camera.
DATA
Video · Audio where enabled/legal · Motion/event metadata · Time and camera/location context
Open entry → RingAxon Evidence
Residential RF motion sensing

Xfinity WiFi Motion / residential Wi-Fi sensing

ACTIVE / OPT-IN FEATURE

Xfinity WiFi Motion uses disruptions in Wi-Fi signals traveling between compatible Xfinity equipment and selected stationary connected devices to detect movement. Comcast explicitly warns that neighboring units or shared walls can produce unwanted motion detections.

NATIONWIDE / APPLIES IN IL
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Living, walking, or moving in or near a residence using WiFi Motion, including shared-wall housing where movement in a neighboring unit may affect the sensing environment.
DATA
Motion events · Event start/end times · Sensing-zone context · Network/device context used by the feature
Open entry → Comcast / Xfinity
Browse private / residential surveillance →
05 Data brokers / surveillance infrastructureI may never have dealt with them. Why do they have a profile on me? 1

Commercial identity, location, advertising, biometric, and intelligence infrastructure that connects data generated across the other surveillance rungs.

Commercial location intelligence

Babel Street Locate X / commercial location intelligence

DOCUMENTED FEDERAL USE

Locate X uses commercially obtained mobile-advertising location data to support device-location analysis. FOIA litigation and released records document federal contracts involving CBP and ICE.

NATIONWIDE / APPLIES IN ILCOLLECTS IL RESIDENT DATA
HOW YOU ENCOUNTER IT
Carrying a mobile device whose apps or advertising ecosystem generate commercially available advertising/location telemetry.
DATA
Mobile advertising identifier · Device location history · Geofence-associated location events
Open entry → Babel StreetLocate X
Browse data brokers / surveillance infrastructure →

READ THE BADGES

Capability is not deployment.

NoRec distinguishes confirmed Illinois deployment, Illinois agency access, Illinois-resident data collection, nationwide applicability, historical use, and research without a known Illinois deployment. Vendor documentation proves capability; it does not prove that every feature was purchased, enabled, or used.

RESEARCH PATHS

Follow the system, provider, operator, or place.

Evidence libraryDocumented anecdotes, consequences, court records, audits, and regulator actions. Illinois mapWhat is documented where. JurisdictionsLocal and state agency dossiers. Existing providersVendor relationships and product capability. Programs & entitiesAgencies, programs, platforms, and infrastructure that are not vendors.