Reply #2: I'm sure the satellites cost at least several million... [View All]

As far as monitoring communications, if the parties doing the communicating had an expectation of privacy, like in a phone call, then whether it was bounced off of a satellite or two matters little. Same laws apply to that as it does to private mail to and from civilians(as an example). The only exceptions to the fourth amendment are in cases where there are no expectations for privacy, as in publishing letters publicly, running a public blog or web page, or broadcasting messages over radio. Using encryption, even on publicly accessible mediums, on the other hand, requires a warrant to crack I believe.

As far as visual spying using satellites, especially on individuals. That is damn near impossible to practically do. First, satellites have a very limited point of view from which to observe the surface of the Earth, namely only being able to see straight down. And second, you would need hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of satellites to observe a single subject from on high. Satellites CANNOT stop over a particular subject, except for those in geo-synchronous orbits, and they are MUCH further away and require more powerful cameras than satellites in lower orbits.