Big Brother is tracking you

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by clock

Soon the movie “The Firm” will be a reality for all.

I’m not paranoid, I know they are watching me

ALL those surveillance movies are now reality. And just because they don't doesn't mean they can't.

When I saw a number of years ago that On Star could unlock your car for you if you lost your keys, I thought oh, oh. Science fiction is here.

Selling an intrusion as a feature is now standard operating procedure.

"Alexa, please turn my home over to everyone."

[dnpina]

Originally Posted by kieselguhr

It’s how the Rolex ADs know you left the house so they can stash all the S/S models in the back room


AOW

Funny

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Blansky

ALL those surveillance movies are now reality. And just because they don't doesn't mean they can't.

When I saw a number of years ago that On Star could unlock your car for you if you lost your keys, I thought oh, oh. Science fiction is here.

Selling an intrusion as a feature is now standard operating procedure.

"Alexa, please turn my home over to everyone."

Alexa, please have your "software engineers" eavesdrop on my private in-home conversations in the name of validating your voice translation accuracy.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Alexa, please have your "software engineers" eavesdrop on my private in-home conversations in the name of validating your voice translation accuracy.

To me it's kind of scary. It's proven again and again that tech is not secure and yet we are willingly turning over our door locks, security cameras, appliances and privacy in our home to whomever in the name of some sort of convenience.

Boggles the mind.

[ras47]

The real threat is hackers and apps like Facebook. Their surveillance is avoidable with good habits and a VPN.

The NSA will not be denied however. Think a VPN protects you from government surveillance? Might be true if the VPNs didn't give the NSA keys to the backdoor. Heck, even BlackBerry knuckled under back in the day. BlackBerry's elliptical curve encryption was preventing the NSA from reading messages in real-time. They could crack it given enough time, but not fast enough to react to terrorists using BBs to synchronize events. So even Canadian Research in Motion caved in.

I'm not so sure about Apple. They talk big about protecting users' privacy but I don't think they can avoid giving the boys at Ft. Meade the keys. Local law enforcement? Sure. FBI? Probably. But not the NSA. I personally don't care if the NSA looks at my stuff. They don't need a warrant - just ask me. But then I'm not a terrorist or subversive.

[Blansky]

I'm guessing it's an age thing as well. People today have just given up.

When pagers first became popular in the 1990s that was probably the first thing able to contact you without being near a phone. So basically you could do and wander around whereever you liked and travel around the world without anyone knowing where your were unless you checked in.

Due to the 9/11 mentality we lost that ability. Not saying that's good or bad, it just is.

But now with Apple apps, satellites cameras and wifi we are/can be observed 24/7 whatever we are doing. In our homes and away.

In 30-40 years we are now in a science fiction movie. And at the mercy of whom ever is "in charge".

The theory of "if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear" is appallingly naive.

[timedate]

i also hate that line that is used to justify being watched,

one of my pet hates now is people taking your picture, they just assume its ok to let the world see it, also a phone conversation that you thought was private and the idiot on the other end has you on speakerphone, it's all just crap now.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by timedate

one of my pet hates now is people taking your picture, they just assume its ok to let the world see it, ....

Taking a picture and immediately posting it online. You are now forever tied to whomever else is in the picture, even if you are in the background.

[timedate]

i ditched my smartphone along with the contract a few weeks ago, and went back to an old basic nokia that is just a phone without contract, i have the other one charged and switched off as its handy to take pictures,

i honestly dont miss the smartphone, i dont need to know the news every 5 minutes, or receive instant emails, or watch some video, texting is quite enough,

i just go online later and its more than enough for me.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Blansky

To me it's kind of scary. It's proven again and again that tech is not secure and yet we are willingly turning over our door locks, security cameras, appliances and privacy in our home to whomever in the name of some sort of convenience.

Boggles the mind.

I have exactly zero IOT devices in my home (phone and laptop excepted).

I'm not concerned about government spying as much as I am the minimum wage college dropout hired to monitor stuff by some nebulous commercial entity that has little interest in who has access to the intimate details of my life.

[Fat_ninja]

My phone has been telling me lately

1) where I parked my car and
2) how long it will take to get home


I never opened a map program
Freaks me out a little

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

I have exactly zero IOT devices in my home (phone and laptop excepted).

I'm not concerned about government spying as much as I am the minimum wage college dropout hired to monitor stuff by some nebulous commercial entity that has little interest in who has access to the intimate details of my life.

It's probably past my concern, but the fact that companies that are hiring or just checking up on you, now go can go through your life, facebook posts etc since you were born and find out everything about you and what and who you talk to online.

So it's not just govt but anybody with access to "security" companies and the vast Homeland Security and "private security" machine that came into existence after 9/11 that works as private security/private military for hire.

All those private armies also have corporate security divisions.

Just google Eric Prince and Blackwater now known as Xe and see his entanglements with companies and political affiliations.

For all those cop wannabees wandering around malls wearing ill fitting uniforms they are employed by private security companies like Wackenhut now called G4S that is available with ex military to handle real security and intelligence for companies that can afford to pay for it. Kroll, CSS, and probably dozens of others are available.

There are some scary types working with these firms and IT is a part of their portfolio. The higher ups are all connected to govt and to corporations.

So I don't think it's a tin foil hat issue to be concerned with what has happened in the last 20 years with information and who has it and how they can use it.

Just think back to all the FBI files that were obtained on those scary people like Ralph Nader, Dr. Benjamin Spock and John Lennon during the Vietnam war, and wonder what certain people can collect now.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Blansky

It's probably past my concern, but the fact that companies that are hiring or just checking up on you, now go can go through your life, facebook posts etc since you were born and find out everything about you and what and who you talk to online.

So it's not just govt but anybody with access to "security" companies and the vast Homeland Security and "private security" machine that came into existence after 9/11 that works as private security/private military for hire.

All those private armies also have corporate security divisions.

Just google Eric Prince and Blackwater now known as Xe and see his entanglements with companies and political affiliations.

For all those cop wannabees wandering around malls wearing ill fitting uniforms they are employed by private security companies like Wackenhut now called G4S that is available with ex military to handle real security and intelligence for companies that can afford to pay for it. Kroll, CSS, and probably dozens of others are available.

There are some scary types working with these firms and IT is a part of their portfolio. The higher ups are all connected to govt and to corporations.

So I don't think it's a tin foil hat issue to be concerned with what has happened in the last 20 years with information and who has it and how they can use it.

Just think back to all the FBI files that were obtained on people like Ralph Nader, Dr. Benjamin Spock and John Lennon during the Vietnam war, and wonder what certain people can collect now.

China has my most intimate secrets. They hacked the US Government OPM (where all our security clearance background data is kept).

Now, there are all these private firms with much lower system security capability than OPM, who have just as much sensitive information about us. It's the wild west. Very little regulation and a lot of people looking to exploit you.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

China has my most intimate secrets. They hacked the US Government OPM (where all our security clearance background data is kept).

Now, there are all these private firms with much lower system security capability than OPM, who have just as much sensitive information about us. It's the wild west. Very little regulation and a lot of people looking to exploit you.

If I were you I wouldn't be going to visit the Great Wall of China any time soon. It's too easy to get arrested and be a political pawn.

I think China is a scary nation and haven't shown the west their true colors yet.

[LandWatch]

Originally Posted by ras47

The real threat is hackers and apps like Facebook. Their surveillance is avoidable with good habits and a VPN.

The NSA will not be denied however. Think a VPN protects you from government surveillance? Might be true if the VPNs didn't give the NSA keys to the backdoor. Heck, even BlackBerry knuckled under back in the day. BlackBerry's elliptical curve encryption was preventing the NSA from reading messages in real-time. They could crack it given enough time, but not fast enough to react to terrorists using BBs to synchronize events. So even Canadian Research in Motion caved in.

I'm not so sure about Apple. They talk big about protecting users' privacy but I don't think they can avoid giving the boys at Ft. Meade the keys. Local law enforcement? Sure. FBI? Probably. But not the NSA. I personally don't care if the NSA looks at my stuff. They don't need a warrant - just ask me. But then I'm not a terrorist or subversive.

Not all VPNs are US based, I use one based in Switzerland. Also, I would never have anything like Alexa in my house. Other than the lap top, iPad, phone, nothing is ‘smart’. I switch off most features of my iPhone, use essentially for music, podcasts, camera.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by HighlandWatch

Not all VPNs are US based, I use one based in Switzerland. Also, I would never have anything like Alexa in my house. Other than the lap top, iPad, phone, nothing is ‘smart’. I switch off most features of my iPhone, use essentially for music, podcasts, camera.

The NSA isn't the only spy in the room. Other governments want your metadata too. It's likely that offshore VPN providers have given other governments the keys to the kingdom.

[Moggo]

Perhaps someone more enlightened on the subject of cyber security could start a thread on good habits to follow etc?

I am not great at all this and don’t know where to start with VPN’s etc

Whilst being as law abiding as possible I don’t like the thought of having all my data collected.


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[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Moggo

Perhaps someone more enlightened on the subject of cyber security could start a thread on good habits to follow etc?

I am not great at all this and don’t know where to start with VPN’s etc

Whilst being as law abiding as possible I don’t like the thought of having all my data collected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The problem with vast government data collection isn't so much that you have nothing to hide, as much as you can easily be associated in their system with people who have something to hide.

A former coworker (USAF contractor with a security clearance) somehow became associated and was put on a watch list. He found out when an airline wouldn't let him fly. He never found out how it happened and it was never corrected. The travel limitations caused the company to terminate his employment.

[TheVTCGuy]

Some people have suggested that there are secret agents planted in TRF to track and spy on your posts, but I swear we’re not doing that... I MEAN- they’re not doing that.

[Oliver Mendl]

Originally Posted by Moggo

Perhaps someone more enlightened on the subject of cyber security could start a thread on good habits to follow etc?

I am not great at all this and don’t know where to start with VPN’s etc

Whilst being as law abiding as possible I don’t like the thought of having all my data collected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi,

a couple of suggestions/ easy to make changes to start with, from a fellow layman/amateur in terms of cyber security/ evading data harvesting:

Avoid Amazon. Their harvesting of data (clickstream) is enormous.

-> Amazon tracks an awful lot of data. And I'm not talking about the obvious stuff they need to fulfill your order but everything else: Which site you came from, which site you leave to, where you place your cursor/rest, where you click, how long you interact with a certain page, how often stuff gets loaded when you scroll, what products you look at, (...), and much more.

A civil right activist, Katharina Nocun used GDPR to force Amazon to give here all of that data and with help of a friend, analyzed/"decrypted" much of it. This is a real eye opener: https://media.ccc.de/v/35c3-9858-arc...mull#l=eng&t=0 (Should be in English, if not you can switch by using the gear symbol)

Original article (in German): http://kattascha.de/datenauskunft

https://github.com/Letty/amazon

Katharina Nocun has also written a fantastic book on the collection of data. https://kattascha.de/worum-geht-es-i...-die-ich-rief/


Replace Google with a search engine that doesn't track you. I use duckduckgo.com

Avoid Google services all together.

I'm currently also thinking of ditching Instagram for good. Quit Facebook ages ago.

Kind regards,
Oliver

[LandWatch]

Originally Posted by Moggo

Perhaps someone more enlightened on the subject of cyber security could start a thread on good habits to follow etc?

I am not great at all this and don’t know where to start with VPN’s etc

Whilst being as law abiding as possible I don’t like the thought of having all my data collected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1, install a VPN. Recommend Express VPN or Proton
2, use DuckDuckGo rather than chrome or safari
3, avoid google products
4, switch off location services
5, avoid social media of any sort

[miamiclay]

Originally Posted by Moggo

Perhaps someone more enlightened on the subject of cyber security could start a thread on good habits to follow etc?

I also recommend DuckDuckGo.

Turning off location, etc. may not be enough - When I want privacy, I pull out the phone battery and SIM card.

In the non-digital realm, just remember your data trail exists, and don’t make things unnecessarily easy for Big Brother,. The simplest example - Pay for gym membership and produce shopping with credit, while liquor stores and other purveyors of “sin” get cash only.

[Moggo]

Switched to DuckDuckGo now.

Does a VPN slow everything down? Can you set it up at router level or is it on every device?

Thanks guys


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[timedate]

Originally Posted by Blansky

If I were you I wouldn't be going to visit the Great Wall of China any time soon. It's too easy to get arrested and be a political pawn.

I think China is a scary nation and haven't shown the west their true colors yet.

you been watching those videos you told me not to watch?

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by timedate

you been watching those videos you told me not to watch?

No you can go, because you finally gave back Hong Kong. Although it did take a while. A long while.

He's some type of ex military, whom I'm guessing they now have files on.

[Star Ferry]

for what it's worth, you can visit the Great Wall and will not be captured as a political pawn. they do not randomly abduct Americans in China. if you're on a tourist visa, they'd prefer that you spend your vacation budget and then leave

[timedate]

Originally Posted by Blansky

No you can go, because you finally gave back Hong Kong. Although it did take a while. A long while.

He's some type of ex military, whom I'm guessing they now have files on.

you mean the uk government handed it back in 1997, in accordance with the terms of the 99 year lease.

[CRM114]

This is why I've never gotten one of those grocery store loyalty cards for the sake of a "discount".

If the Government wants to know if I prefer Raisin Bran to Lucky Charms or Hellman's mayonnaise to Kraft it's not going to because of some nerdy NSA computer-desk jockey tracking my purchases. Nope, they're gonna have to send out actual field agents to follow me to Harris Teeter.

It's not as if their fieldcraft is so excellent I won't easily spot them tailing me into Walgreen's and hanging out in the vitamin aisle while I'm browsing for toothpaste.

(of course, any information gleaned from the above paragraphs may be disinformation and I really shop at Winn Dixie and CVS) <-- Wait, is this also an attempt at misdirection?

Is any of it real? Good luck figuring it out suckers. Now, I'm low on veggies so I'm off to Trader Joe's....or is it Whole Foods? (psst, really, a local farmer's market).

- sent from my iPhone, standing in my garden pulling up radishes and carrots-

[rbox]

Wean yourselves off Google, Android and Chrome. I know it’s tough, just bite the bullet and do it. Switch to Bing if you need a smart search engine. It will learn you in a couple of weeks and you’ll be back to 100% productivity. Firefox is a great browser.

Google is getting too big for their britches and it’s not going to bode well for the internet.


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