Star Wars and Surveillance

Happy Star Wars Day!

As you may or may not know, I am a massive Star Wars fan. Star Wars is such a cultural phenomenon that I couldn't let May the Fourth go by without writing something about it. It didn't take long to come up with a way to integrate Star Wars into the security industry. So, just for the fun of it, we're going to countdown 5 instances of surveillance in the galaxy far, far away!

5. ZALUNA

One of the first things that came to mind for me was the character Zaluna from John Jackson Miller's novel A New Dawn. Zaluna, a Sullustan, was a surveillance operator for the company Transcept Media Solutions. She was able to use her "slicing" skills to freeze several cameras in order to assist the heroes Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla.

4. SECURITY RECORDINGS

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, security recordings are vital in giving Yoda and Obi-Wan the proof they needed that Anakin turned to the dark side. Yoda cautions Obi-Wan that he'll only find pain if he looks into the security recordings at the Jedi Temple. And pain is about the only way you can describe the onslaught of younglings by the merciless Darth Vader.

3. IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU

The ISB was a law enforcement and intelligence agency of the Galactic Empire. An entire branch was dedicated to surveillance. This bureau was formed by the Emperor himself and was instrumental in maintaining stability throughout the galaxy.

2. RATHTARS ATTACK!

In The Force Awakens we see a good example of CCTV when the Rathtars are accidentally let loose on the ship. After Finn is incapacitated by one, Rey sees where they're headed on the monitoring screens and is able to use some quick thinking and probably The Force to rescue her friend.

1. IMPERIAL PROBE DROIDS

The Imperial probe droid was commonly used for reconnaissance. The most notable instances are when Darth Maul uses 3 of them to search for Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace and when a probe droid searches for the Rebels on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back.

So, there you have it. Five instances of surveillance in Star Wars. Surveillance cameras have become so second nature and I find it fascinating  that even something as fantastical as Star Wars incorporates it.

Thanks to all my friends on Twitter who helped me think of ideas for this! I had a lot of fun doing this, maybe I should do a follow-up article about access control in a galaxy far, far away....

(All images property of Lucasfilm.)