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Cool tech but I'm not as excited about the surveillance this will enable

by jameslk 6y ago

m0xte 6y ago
At least you can step on it :)
- Mirioron 6y ago
  Then you get sued for destroying government property.
  - throwanem 6y ago
    And admit the program's existence in open court? No, either nothing happens and you sound like a loon, or you get black-bagged and just disappear. ...a joke that hits way different after hearing the news out of Portland...
johnwheeler 6y ago
The proverbial “fly on the wall”
mhh__ 6y ago
If it's remotely possible I can almost guarantee the three letter agencies around the world are using it already (or have tried). MI5 were lifting encryption keys via acoustic analysis of typing something like 65 years ago [Wright, Spycatcher]. And their budget was fairly limited, as opposed to the US agencies with their basically unlimited budgets (i.e. NRO)
- Mindwipe 6y ago
  The CIA were mounting cameras on cats in East Germany in the early 70s even. I read a book suggesting that programme was discontinued as the cats kept getting involved in road traffic accidents.
throwanem 6y ago
I'd worry a lot less about any theoretical Project Electric Cockroach than I would about ubiquitous smartphones.
- jameslk 6y ago
  I'm less concerned about the bug than the tiny remote camera with 6 hours of battery-powered live streaming capability from up to 120 meters distance. I'm concerned about more surveillance devices becoming smaller and pervasive. I hear this dismissal of "be more concerned about smartphones" frequently though. We can be equally worried about both can't we?
zokier 6y ago
I don't think camera system size has been limiting factor in surveillance for a while. For robotics (either walking or flying) the locomotion and power are more restricting aspects, and using live insects for surveillance seems too slow and unpredictable to be useful. Check out Black Hornet Nano for what was state of art almost a decade ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano
vidarh 6y ago
If they cheap enough, imagine the fun of trying to secure government sites against everything from random conspiracy nuts to journalists and state actors when you need to secure it against something bug sized entering...

Cool tech but I'm not as excited about the surveillance this will enable

m0xte 6y ago

At least you can step on it :)

Mirioron 6y ago
Then you get sued for destroying government property.
- throwanem 6y ago
  And admit the program's existence in open court? No, either nothing happens and you sound like a loon, or you get black-bagged and just disappear. ...a joke that hits way different after hearing the news out of Portland...

johnwheeler 6y ago

The proverbial “fly on the wall”

mhh__ 6y ago

If it's remotely possible I can almost guarantee the three letter agencies around the world are using it already (or have tried). MI5 were lifting encryption keys via acoustic analysis of typing something like 65 years ago [Wright, Spycatcher]. And their budget was fairly limited, as opposed to the US agencies with their basically unlimited budgets (i.e. NRO)

Mindwipe 6y ago
The CIA were mounting cameras on cats in East Germany in the early 70s even. I read a book suggesting that programme was discontinued as the cats kept getting involved in road traffic accidents.

throwanem 6y ago

I'd worry a lot less about any theoretical Project Electric Cockroach than I would about ubiquitous smartphones.

jameslk 6y ago
I'm less concerned about the bug than the tiny remote camera with 6 hours of battery-powered live streaming capability from up to 120 meters distance. I'm concerned about more surveillance devices becoming smaller and pervasive. I hear this dismissal of "be more concerned about smartphones" frequently though. We can be equally worried about both can't we?

zokier 6y ago

I don't think camera system size has been limiting factor in surveillance for a while. For robotics (either walking or flying) the locomotion and power are more restricting aspects, and using live insects for surveillance seems too slow and unpredictable to be useful. Check out Black Hornet Nano for what was state of art almost a decade ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano

vidarh 6y ago

If they cheap enough, imagine the fun of trying to secure government sites against everything from random conspiracy nuts to journalists and state actors when you need to secure it against something bug sized entering...