The Relentless Advance of the Surveillance/Security State

I'm not sure how this can be abused but I expect clever minds will be exploiting it very soon.

How about a smartphone app that allows cops to zero in on a specific area and see what everyone's up to?  It's called Geofeedia.

By tuning in to social media, police can see what’s happening in their community in real time with live surveillance of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, Picasa and Viddy and with location-based monitoring platforms like Geofeedia, a subscription-based service now used by Chicago police and 200 other departments as well as corporations and the news media, according to Ted Motley, Geofeedia’s account executive.

Police can zero in on a geographic area and see what people are talking about on social media, find out exactly where they are and who their friends are. They can find witnesses, establish timelines, identify suspects and monitor specific sites for potential threats.

“It’s a fast, easy way to see what is happening in a specific location,” Geofeedia office manager Geneva Malagutti said.

And it seems there's no need for a warrant either.  You put it out there, Geofeedia vacuums it up and hands it over to those interested in learning a lot more about you.