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A Guide to Law Enforcement Spying Technology
- nerdponx 9y agoIt's over. Privacy lost.
- jumby 9y agoWere you under some other impression since Snowden?
- John_KZ 9y agoIt's never over. If you ignore it, it keeps getting worse. Organize and act. Vote with your money. Boycott. Vote appropriately.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> It's over. Privacy lost You don't value privacy enough to donate to the EFF [1], ACLU [2] or upcoming Signal Foundation [3]. That's okay. I don't max out my philanthropic budget to privacy-related causes. You also don't value privacy enough to call your representatives every time a privacy-related bill comes up. That, too, is okay. I don't do it every time. If you aren't fighting, that is fine. But don't be lazy and declare sour grapes on the whole movement in defense. [1] https://supporters.eff.org/donate https://supporters.eff.org/donate [2] https://action.aclu.org/give/donate-to-aclu https://action.aclu.org/give/donate-to-aclu [3] https://signalfoundation.org https://signalfoundation.org
- nerdponx 9y agoBlow it out your presumptuous ass. I already donate to the EFF. I already call my representatives in Congress. I am fighting. I try to explain carefully and clearly to anyone who will listen, how important privacy is. I have already convinced my immediate family to change their minds from the "I have nothing to hide" attitude. It has been seeping in for my friends as well. It doesn't matter. We lost.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> I try to explain carefully and clearly to anyone who will listen, how important privacy is....It doesn't matter. We lost Either you don’t think Hacker News contains “anyone who will listen” or your position is inconsistent. In any case, you’re wrong. Nothing has been lost with finality; small wins are made every day. The single thing holding us back is popular apathy. The second thing is apathy amongst technologists (or their preference for being melodramatic).
- nerdponx 9y agoI just don't see why you think I'm apathetic or inactive.
- ebcode 9y agoGlad to know you're fighting; sad to hear we lost. But maybe the war is not yet over. I think what we've really lost, and continue to lose, is respect. But that's just the respect from those above us in the mythical hierarchy. We can still respect ourselves, and choose to respect other people's privacy. Every day that I don't turn my binoculars on my neighbor's window is another victory, however small, for privacy. Don't give up the fight!
- LinuxBender 9y agoDon't forget internet connected cars and their cameras acting as LPR's and microphones. Then there is the microphone many folks is buying and installing in their home. A coworker already had their roommate purchase a large quantity of adult toys using that spy device. Has anyone considered starting a new industry around anti-spy devices that babble nonsense to your other spy devices? Or is there perhaps a script on github for this yet?
- confounded 9y agoIf you consider it malicious, why would you put it in your home? If you feel like you need an assistant, A better solution might be something like Mycroft https://mycroft.ai https://mycroft.ai
- LinuxBender 9y agoI consider it worse than malicious. It's a spy device, but you pay for it and provide it paid bandwidth. I would never use one. My coworkers roommate is however and the pranks are endless.
- CodeMage 9y agoI really like what I've read about Mycroft so far. Not only is it open source, but you can actually configure it to connect to servers you host. That last bit was what made me decide to back Mycroft v2 on Kickstarter.
- wonks 9y agoThis reminds me of the browser extension TrackMeNot, which just spams search engines. https://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/ https://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/
- confounded 9y agoIt’s saddening but not surprising how much of this technology was developed for killing people abroad, and is now being used against US citizens. Deploying Predator drones that can detect a face at 25kft from Afghanistan on US soil, without any meaningful regulation or political debate, is pretty terrifying.
- moate 9y agoNot trying to twist you words, just trying to understand your POV: was it more acceptable to you when it was being deployed to kill people in other countries?
- Sevii 9y agoTypical we are more comfortable with military tech being used far away in war zones than we are with it being used at home against US civilians. The presidents choosing not to formally declare war doesn’t change the layman view of our middle eastern combat activities.
- e40 9y agoI'm guessing it's not the location but the use. Military = OK. Civilian != OK.
- squarefoot 9y ago"Typical we are more comfortable with military tech being used far away in war zones than we are with it being used at home against US civilians." And drone usage is going to make it even worse. People isn't exposed anymore to the effects of being at war, so that the stronger side has no incentive to stop fighting. In the past people hated the war because of the high risk that loved ones could return in a coffin; nowadays only the enemies die, and at a convenient distance, so brainwashed masses don't develop hostility to the war but rather keep hating an enemy they have never met just because the TV says so. That's the first step to an endless state of war which is the best customer the weapon industry could dream about.
- jMyles 9y ago
- ape4 9y agoAnd, of course, facebook where people share tons of info. Even things about the future - eg upcoming events.
- ianstallings 9y agoWhat worries me most about the interception tech, such as stingrays, is that I myself can build one, or buy one off the shelf, and the communication systems are not robust enough to thwart it. Techs like GSM have serious flaws in them and agencies are using those holes to do whatever they want, with no oversight. But that's just the top of the iceberg. What about criminals?
- dsfyu404ed 9y agoWhile we're on the topic, does anyone know of resources on the characteristics of the (IR) flash and/or minimum range of ALPRs? I assume the manufacturers try to control that information but someone has likely written a paper on it (I just can't find it).