I’ve never been a fan of Alexa or similar devices.  It’s just too easy for big tech (or big government) to literally spy on you in your home.  It’s like 1984 only instead of the government mandating everyone put one of these in their homes, they get people to not only willingly put them into their residences, but to pay for them as well!

Yeah, thanks.  I can queue up my favorite songs when I want them.

And yes, while Big Government is bad, Big Tech is even worse.  They don’t even have to pretend to follow Constitutional protections.  And if you don’t think Big Tech can wreck your life, they you’ve not read about this guy wrongly accused of hurling a racial invective against one of their drivers.  They locked him out of his devices, including his “smart” door locks.  “Smart” devices may not be so smart after all…

Over at AreaOcho (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), they recently posted about government spying on tech devices.  I’d heard of a few of these from credible sources, but that was years ago.  These might include some more modern techniques:

Spying

A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone that I know who is an analyst for a US intelligence agency. I’m going to keep this as generic as I can, because even though he says that he told me nothing that could get him in trouble, well, you never know. We had an hour long conversation. A few of the things that he said were things that I found VERY interesting.

  1. The government collects so much intelligence from American citizens that it is almost too much. That is the reason for the massive data centers. It’s difficult to sort through all of the stuff they collect, but they do get a lot of stuff that they pass on to law enforcement. Apparently, they aren’t allowed to collect intel on American citizens on purpose, but if they cast a wide net and get stuff by accident, well, nothing says it can’t be passed along.

I’ve heard this as well.  It’s almost (a-l-m-o-s-t) more than even AI algorithms can process.  The US government is sucking up and storing almost all electronic transmissions in the world.

Some of it is easy to manipulate… like the mass public murder spree in Highland Park.  They identified the shooter’s exact location, then poured through “ping” data from cell phones.  I no time they had the exact phone that was at that location…  and guess who it belonged to?  The killer.  And guess how cops found him?  They tracked his phone and picking him up a few hours later was easy-peasy.

  1. Social media and smart phones are the main source. Many of the Apps that are on your phone are collecting massive amounts of data: your location, your secret information, credit stuff, banking information, and more. Many apps have keyloggers that save any information put into your phone and forward it to other parties.

See above.

  1. Burner phones are useless. Ten years ago, using a burner was a good way to dodge those collecting information. Not anymore.

They still provide anonymity… IF you don’t have them on alongside your personal cell phone.  If they are together for any length of time, it’s not rocket surgery to figure out the two cell phones are linked.

  1. If you are a target of clandestine government investigation, there are pocket-sized devices that allow them to walk nearby and download the contents of your phone. Whatever is in your phone now belongs to the government.

There’s some YouTube channels of hackers and security consultants who talk about how they can “read” electronic security badges from 18″ away.  That’s kid’s play compared to what Uncle Sugar’s abilities.

  1. He confirmed that the government can and do clandestinely activate the camera and microphone of any internet connected device, including your phone, smart TV, whatever.

Yup.

  1. Nearly every electronic device and app has some sort of backdoor access installed in it at the request of one government intel agency or another.

No surprise there.

  1. He said that, as far as phones go, iPhones were the most compromised, then Android, and believe it or not, Google phones are the most secure. I’m not sure I trust that, but that’s what he said.

Hmmm.

  1. He said that many VPNs are routed through China, and you are giving your information to China by using them. I pointed out that I am less afraid of China than I am the US government. I said China wouldn’t care about me because I am not that important. He smiled and just shook his head.

China’s trying to vacuum up all the data they can as well.

  1. The US government has its hands in more online porn than almost any other entity. The content/pages/etc of online porn sites is riddled with malware and malicious code that belongs to the NSA. According to him, almost everyone looks at porn, and even in Muslim countries, they catch a lot of people and get a lot of information as a result of this.

You would think some areas are off limits, right?  LOL.  Nothing is off limits.

 

One thought on “THE PART OF GOV THAT ACTUALLY ‘LISTENS’… Content of tech devices belongs to the government”
  1. It is in the air for the taking. How many of you believe ‘land-lines’ still exist? You are being watched, tracked, and heard. Even when not talking on your mobile hand held device. Your laptop also listens to you and sees you.

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