The Internet is a surveillance state

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    The Internet is a surveillance state


    Posted: 15 Apr 2013
    I'm going to start with three data points.

    One: Some of the Chinese military hackers who were implicated in a broad set of attacks against the U.S. government and corporations were identified because they accessed Facebook from the same network infrastructure they used to carry out their attacks.

    Two: Hector Monsegur, one of the leaders of the LulzSac hacker movement, was identified and arrested last year by the FBI. Although he practiced good computer security and used an anonymous relay service to protect his identity, he slipped up.

    And three: Paula Broadwell,who had an affair with CIA director David Petraeus, similarly took extensive precautions to hide her identity. She never logged in to her anonymous e-mail service from her home network. Instead, she used hotel and other public networks when she e-mailed him. The FBI correlated hotel registration data from several different hotels -- and hers was the common name.

    The Internet is a surveillance state. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, and whether we like it or not, we're being tracked all the time. Google tracks us, both on its pages and on other pages it has access to. Facebook does the same; it even tracks non-Facebook users. Apple tracks us on our iPhones and iPads. One reporter used a tool called Collusion to track who was tracking him; 105 companies tracked his Internet use during one 36-hour period.
    Source

    A Guy
    A Guy's Avatar Posted By: A Guy
    15 Apr 2013



  1. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #1

    Good read Bill bot hardly news. :)
    I tell people this and they think I'm crazy. It's all about money in the end, but I never clicks links in ads that are served up on pages I visit, so all they get is the few cents-per-click that's generated. It's funny when some site tell you they are placing a cookie "to enhance your browsing experience".
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  2. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Britton30 said:
    Good read Bill bot hardly news. :)

    I agree...but I'm not a bot

    A Guy
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  3. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #3

    Another way you are tracked and people don't even think of it.
    Go buy something at a place like Walmart and pay with a credit card.
    They track who you are and what you bought. They also know the time of day or night. Every product you bought with that credit card has a bar code they can match to your credit card therefor to you.
    Let's guess; your buying habits are for sale.
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  4. Posts : 35
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP-1
       #4

    I think all of this surveillance stuff is going way to far...
    And these methods discussed above are only the ones that we normal citizens know about! That my friends, is the scary part...

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  5. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #5

    A Guy said:
    Britton30 said:
    Good read Bill bot hardly news. :)

    I agree...but I'm not a bot

    A Guy
    ACK! I missed the spelling by two keys.

    Jack, aside from the card purchase tracking many items, mainly big ticket ones, TV, Ranges, etc., have a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag in it or the packaging. These can be read remotely to track where the item goes.
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  6. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #6

    Hi there
    Is this meant to be NEWS !! -- As soon as you walk on to the street in most large cities you are on zillions of CCTV cameras, every time you make a Financial transaction it's recorded by some un-accountable credit reference agency and goodness knows what capabilities are available with the latest high tech cameras and surveillance satellites.

    However the GREAT thing about all this which really saves most places from becoming a Police State is just the SHEER volume of data.

    I'm sure we all have our own horror stories to tell of dealing with typical public servants who are essentially OUR employees -- we PAY THEIR wages via tax etc. --Most Govt depts. are INCREDIBLY inefficient so there's no way a normal specific individual can be monitored unless something has been specifically flagged.

    WE have a semi decent govt organisation -- but it took me nearly 8 weeks to get an issue over a State Pension being queried and eventually paid (although still working I have reached State Pension age in my country so can collect it) -- and I am here talking about a reasonably well run democratic country with a TOTAL population of only around 300,000 -- so I would imagine in other places like the USA for example they would just be OVERWHELMED by the sheer volume of data they would have to handle -- or if not every 2nd person would be working for the State. !!!

    Even the old KGB in the Soviet era couldn't handle quickly a lot of data it got hold of and they had it easy - as they were a total monopoly and could get any resources from the state they required.

    Honestly just don't get paranoid over this stuff. I'd really pity any agents that had to listen to my total burblings during an 8 hour session --even these people are "semi Human" at least.

    Cheers
    jimbo
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  7. Posts : 1,269
    Windows 7 Ultimate Retail Box (64-bit installed) + Service Pack 1
       #7

    I really have nothing to hide about what I buy, if these huge companies didn't angle shoot for $, a lot of them would be out of business, I figure.

    If you are that paranoid about privacy, what do you NEED to hide? ....and was it worth it?

    I do recall that a large amount of Internet commerce involves porn.....

    Muhahaha to you pervs who now want that info protected... yeah yeah your SO is so at you already, yadda yadda yadda
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  8. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    I too have nothing to hide, but it is the principle of the thing. Just because I have nothing to hide doesn't mean it's ok to spy on me. It's like saying a cop could stop you and search you any time they want. I'd be ok, as they'd find nothing, but it's about rights and privacy. A Guy
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  9. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #9

    A Guy said:
    I too have nothing to hide, but it is the principle of the thing. Just because I have nothing to hide doesn't mean it's ok to spy on me. It's like saying a cop could stop you and search you any time they want. I'd be ok, as they'd find nothing, but it's about rights and privacy. A Guy
    Precisely, that's why I have doors on my house with locks and windows shades.
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