Video Game ‘Watch Dogs’ Lets Players Hack into NSA-like Spy Grid
June 21st, 2013
The upcoming video game Watch Dogs, set for release on PC and game consoles towards the end of 2013, puts players in control of fictional hacker and vigilante Aiden Pearce. The game takes place in a dystopian re-imagination of Chicago in which the government has created a sophisticated web of spy technology to monitor citizens called CtOS.
The game plays somewhat like Grand Theft Auto, only the main character has the ability to hack into CtOS to get visuals from security cameras, attain private data on others, gain control of vehicles, and listen in on phone calls. The game has been in development since long before Edward Snowden’s leaks about the capabilities of the National Security Agency’s spying program, yet the CtOS system seems eerily similar. Check out some Watch Dog game-play footage from the E3 electronics expo below, and let’s consider what it might be like to live in a world in which hackers can access the NSA’s snooping program after the jump.
Crime in a Sandbox
The main character of Watch Dogs is effectively a violent criminal with access to all the same spy tech that government agencies are scrambling to put into place right now. He uses these tools to stalk potential victims, and, in multiplayer mode, friends can hack into the same system to battle each other.
This brings to light an important point, though. Hackers will eventually gain access to the real-world versions of these databases filled with private info. In the game, players can quickly find out others’ bank records, ages, and credit scores. If the NSA is allowed to continue its spying programs unchecked, future criminals could use these same databases to carry out their crimes.
Watch Dogs Predicted the NSA’s Spying Program
Watch Dogs has been in development for quite some time. However, Edward Snowden’s leaks contributed significantly to the buzz around the game at the E3 electronics conference. It’s shocking how much the game’s CtOS spying system mirrors the NSA’s PRISM and telephone snooping programs.
Said Dominic Guay, senior producer of the game at Ubisoft, of the NSA leaks, “We’re just as surprised as everyone else. We’ve been working on this game for the past five years and locked down the script last year. These events keep transpiring in the news – whether it’s the NSA or using a cellphone to hack into a car – that mirror the ideas that we have in the game.” Despite having no advance knowledge, Watch Dogs‘ designers are tapping into a current issue by giving players an opportunity to extrapolate some of the potential dangers of programs like PRISM by participating in them in a fantasy setting.
For fans of third-person shooters, Grand Theft Auto, and open-world sandbox games, Watch Dogs could be a hit. For those of us who care about privacy and civil liberties, the game serves as a great conversation starter into the abuses that could come from the NSA’s unconstitutional spying.
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