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I assume constant imagery of most areas. We are probably all tracked in great detail but they would not want us to know that. I suspect they already can retrace the steps of any crime and follow it backwards. But they are not worried about crimes but probably are tracking certain people and don’t want them to wise up and deploy anti satellite tracking techniques. Spy vs spy.

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This is actually something that can be pretty safely ruled out. Spy satellites like this are placed at very low orbits, which allows them to get very high resolution images. At these low orbits, the satellites are moving incredibly fast relative to the ground. They're circling the earth in 1 to 2 hours. This is advantageous since the same satellite can be used to observe different areas and with minimal maneuvering can make passes over a much wider area than they could see in a single orbit, and even follow slow moving targets like fleets of ships or army columns, but it also means that they are only observing any particular place on earth for a very brief interval with substantial periods of time in between. While you could see the timelapse of say a building being constructed, they can't make high resolution videos of things that take more than a few seconds and less than several hours. To get continuous imaging in a particular spot, you need to utilize a very different orbit that will take the satellite much further away from Earth, which ruins the resolution of any imaging. While the exact resolution of a given satellite is classified, the laws of physics put upper bounds on how good an image they can possibly get. Any satellite that could track and record a specific individual for an extended period of time would be way too large to launch.

Not all surveillance is satellite based. There are radar systems and sufficiently high-resolution camera systems that make it possible to surveil entire cities and later play the footage back.

Such a system was in use during the Kenosha protests, by the FBI.

In my city people routinely notice planes appearing on ADS-B services circling an area for hours, the tail number traces back to some shell company, and airliners.net photos show a plane with a clear-as-day surveillance package attached to it.

Moreover, just as you can stitch images together in space, you can stitch them together in time if you have multiple satellites, drones, dirigibles, etc. covering the same area at different times.

Okay, but we're talking about the capabilities of spy satellites

Also: http://www.thestealthblimp.com

Some of that has been traced to mapping for Bing I thought but maybe that's old news.

This is actually something that can be pretty safely ruled out.

For now. Musk paving the way: https://www.sda.mil/sda-awards-contracts-for-the-first-gener...

If you've ever wondered why the guy has plot armor.

Spying can be detailed or not so detailed. Here's the link that shows exactly how things can be traced backwards. Albeit, this is with a plane but with enough satellites, it's entirely possible.

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/eye-s...

This is podcast is an advertisement by a man who is actively selling his technology to the US government. It's about as reliable as a founder seeking seed capital for their new AI product.

In 20 years Google Maps will probably show live video, at least in major cities.

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