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US Congresswoman Claims She's Being Spied on Through Her TV

5 points by hammock 3y ago

coldtea 3y ago
Why through the TV? They couldn't access her smartphone?
mindcrime 3y ago
As much as it pains me to be seen as agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Greene on anything... she's probably right - in a sense. I mean, anybody with a "smart TV" is probably being spied on. I doubt she's being specifically singled out, but the idea that "smart TV's" are hoovering up some kinds of data (sorry, "telemetry") and sending it back to the mothership, isn't exactly prototypical "tinfoil hat territory" anymore.
- clipsy 3y ago
  "[I]n a sense" is doing a lot of work there; if she truly is opposed to (this particular instance of) surveillance capitalism she has far more power than any of us do to fight back against it, eg by introducing a bill to regulate or limit such behavior. The fact that she chooses to portray herself as a singled-out victim instead points to some combination of stupidity, selfishness, and media manipulation.
ano-ther 3y ago
It’s Marjorie Taylor Greene. Original tweet: https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1672968710141747202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1672968710141747202?ref...
lusus_naturae 3y ago
I think this is the danger of having relatively dumber representatives. I don't have anything against her or her constituents. In fact, I think contrarian ideas and people (in various directions) serve a useful function in any healthy democracy. It's not a surprise to anyone, however, that she comes off as less intelligent (maybe she's just playing a role like Boris Johnson, I don't know or care). The problem, however, is this: the correct response (I believe) to reporting an incident like this (if that's what you think happened) is to report it discreetly and cautiously to the right people who can help/protect you. I think blurting it out to various randos on the internet is ill-advised, to say the least. In fact, it may have been better to pretend not to notice and report it so the would-be attackers might think their machinations are undetected. For the sake of believing in the best of her (because I believe she has a very important job), I think maybe she did report it, and only tweeted about it after the security or incident team said she could. In general, I think Twitter accounts of representatives/public officials should go through some kind of pull-request like mechanism via their own internal teams so there is a chance of feedback before something is posted ("loose lips sink ships" etc.). More likely, I wonder if she saw a standard update mechanism and misunderstood it? Though this is just sepculation on my part. All the best to whoever has to deal with all this, I guess.
scrum-treats 3y ago
I mean, yea, it's possible, e.g., https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-smart-tvs-from-snooping-on-you https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-smart-tvs-from-snoo.... Can we agree that MTG gets her security clearance pulled, and her house checked for any sensitive materials, while the TV hacking claim is confirmed? We can give it back when we've "confirmed" the TV hacking situation (i.e., never).

5 points by hammock 3y ago

Why through the TV? They couldn't access her smartphone?

As much as it pains me to be seen as agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Greene on anything... she's probably right - in a sense. I mean, anybody with a "smart TV" is probably being spied on. I doubt she's being specifically singled out, but the idea that "smart TV's" are hoovering up some kinds of data (sorry, "telemetry") and sending it back to the mothership, isn't exactly prototypical "tinfoil hat territory" anymore.

clipsy 3y ago
"[I]n a sense" is doing a lot of work there; if she truly is opposed to (this particular instance of) surveillance capitalism she has far more power than any of us do to fight back against it, eg by introducing a bill to regulate or limit such behavior. The fact that she chooses to portray herself as a singled-out victim instead points to some combination of stupidity, selfishness, and media manipulation.

ano-ther 3y ago

It’s Marjorie Taylor Greene. Original tweet: https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1672968710141747202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1672968710141747202?ref...

lusus_naturae 3y ago

I think this is the danger of having relatively dumber representatives. I don't have anything against her or her constituents. In fact, I think contrarian ideas and people (in various directions) serve a useful function in any healthy democracy. It's not a surprise to anyone, however, that she comes off as less intelligent (maybe she's just playing a role like Boris Johnson, I don't know or care). The problem, however, is this: the correct response (I believe) to reporting an incident like this (if that's what you think happened) is to report it discreetly and cautiously to the right people who can help/protect you. I think blurting it out to various randos on the internet is ill-advised, to say the least. In fact, it may have been better to pretend not to notice and report it so the would-be attackers might think their machinations are undetected. For the sake of believing in the best of her (because I believe she has a very important job), I think maybe she did report it, and only tweeted about it after the security or incident team said she could. In general, I think Twitter accounts of representatives/public officials should go through some kind of pull-request like mechanism via their own internal teams so there is a chance of feedback before something is posted ("loose lips sink ships" etc.). More likely, I wonder if she saw a standard update mechanism and misunderstood it? Though this is just sepculation on my part. All the best to whoever has to deal with all this, I guess.

scrum-treats 3y ago

I mean, yea, it's possible, e.g., https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-smart-tvs-from-snooping-on-you https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-smart-tvs-from-snoo.... Can we agree that MTG gets her security clearance pulled, and her house checked for any sensitive materials, while the TV hacking claim is confirmed? We can give it back when we've "confirmed" the TV hacking situation (i.e., never).