4 ms·

Yes, but not by man-in-the-middle attacks between the device and the network. There are systems internal to the provider that let you listen to any call.

immibis 2y ago
Because the US government forces them to have these systems and to not encrypt the calls. There should be more attention on the fact that, essentially, the US government hacked US telecoms for China's benefit.
- 0xbadcafebee 2y ago
  Since the 80s you can spy on anyone's calls using the telco's standard maintenance features. You dial up a number, you then dial another number, and you're basically patched in to the second number, can listen in on any current call. There was a different system required by the government for taps, but linemen have their own method so they can diagnose issues. At least that used to be the case through the 2010s. Stupidity and banality is a far greater threat than conspiracy.
- bilbo0s 2y ago
  Let's not overstate it. The US government hacks telecom for the benefit of the US government. Now having said that, as someone above mentioned, the intelligence agencies of the top 50 national governments are obviously all keen to use those hacks for their own benefit. And the flip side of that is that the US government is very interested in stopping these other national governments from succeeding. Clearly, the counter-intel part of the US government effort has been less successful than the surveillance and intelligence gathering effort. But that doesn't mean that the US government wants all those other nations to be able to gather data from these systems. Our government wants nothing more than to be the only national government capable of gathering data from these systems.
- sneak 2y ago
  Make your phone calls with Signal and you don't have this problem. So far the US government isn't forcing anyone to use unencrypted calling.
  - int_19h 2y ago
    The hard part is making all the other people you need to regularly talk to use Signal.
    - sneak 2y ago
      If getting people to download free apps and sign in to them with their phone number were hard, most of HN wouldn’t exist.
      - int_19h 2y ago
        Getting people to download free apps is easy. Getting them to actually use them is hard, especially when the whole point of the app is to communicate with other people, and literally none of the people they regularly communicate with other than yourself use (or even know about) Signal.

immibis 2y ago

Because the US government forces them to have these systems and to not encrypt the calls. There should be more attention on the fact that, essentially, the US government hacked US telecoms for China's benefit.

0xbadcafebee 2y ago
Since the 80s you can spy on anyone's calls using the telco's standard maintenance features. You dial up a number, you then dial another number, and you're basically patched in to the second number, can listen in on any current call. There was a different system required by the government for taps, but linemen have their own method so they can diagnose issues. At least that used to be the case through the 2010s. Stupidity and banality is a far greater threat than conspiracy.
bilbo0s 2y ago
Let's not overstate it. The US government hacks telecom for the benefit of the US government. Now having said that, as someone above mentioned, the intelligence agencies of the top 50 national governments are obviously all keen to use those hacks for their own benefit. And the flip side of that is that the US government is very interested in stopping these other national governments from succeeding. Clearly, the counter-intel part of the US government effort has been less successful than the surveillance and intelligence gathering effort. But that doesn't mean that the US government wants all those other nations to be able to gather data from these systems. Our government wants nothing more than to be the only national government capable of gathering data from these systems.
sneak 2y ago
Make your phone calls with Signal and you don't have this problem. So far the US government isn't forcing anyone to use unencrypted calling.
- int_19h 2y ago
  The hard part is making all the other people you need to regularly talk to use Signal.
  - sneak 2y ago
    If getting people to download free apps and sign in to them with their phone number were hard, most of HN wouldn’t exist.
    - int_19h 2y ago
      Getting people to download free apps is easy. Getting them to actually use them is hard, especially when the whole point of the app is to communicate with other people, and literally none of the people they regularly communicate with other than yourself use (or even know about) Signal.