Is Big Brother watching? Or listening in..

[WaltP]

Just heard from my buddy. He wasn't Googling as we spoke, nor after. Maybe I'm being paranoid, maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it's FA. The only one of the attached snipped subjects we didn't speak of was yoga, something he's into and I'm not.

We talked road cycling, arts and craft movement, photography, the Lake District, cottages and the local scenery re photography. Oh food shopping was mentioned, so maybe a supermarket will get in touch, LOL.

Heartbeat has moved downstream, gotten more streamlined (faster) and is now being monitized. Normal process for big new software, and the NSA can use the money

You just noticed this? This has been going on for nearly a generation. The software is real, even if we no longer talk about it or think about it.

We are now directed to call it "data mining" which is a great innocuous explanation. And seeds of scepticism are carefully nurtured so it can never be sure. Yes, everything is recorded. Everything.

 

[pellicle]

Yes

 

[pellicle]

@StephenB
Most definitely yes

Yes, everything is recorded. Everything.

You can make it easier for them by regularly using

• Google assistant
• Siiri
• Alexa
• Google Home
• Voice to text on your phone

You provide them with better more comprehensive coverage that way.

I thought this was as well established as the movements of the moon and the tides...
But not as much in Europe I think. The USA is however a free for all...

 

[StephenB]

@StephenB
Most definitely yes


You can make it easier for them by regularly using

• Google assistant
• Siiri
• Alexa
• Google Home
• Voice to text on your phone

You provide them with better more comprehensive coverage that way.

I thought this was as well established as the movements of the moon and the tides...
But not as much in Europe I think. The USA is however a free for all...

It went yo my friend's email account, I'm not sure he uses voice control, but then I don't know, we were on landlines. I only use voice very occasionally when I use Google maps when driving.

 

[Keeth101]

Turn off the tech. You really don't need it.

Most use of it is down to pure laziness and this thread proves just how dangerous it can be. It's bad enough using Google search never mind all the things most people do not really need like Siiri, Alexa etc.etc.etc.

 

[pellicle]

... we were on landlines.

I had assumed you were on mobile (I haven't even had a landline for over 5 years now). I don't believe that voice is routinely tracked on landlines.

Its wise however to read CAREFULLY the terms and conditions to all the apps you install.

Something I wrote in 2012 (and its about that still)
in my view ...: the fine print

Some other readings

How the Australian Broadcasting Corporation used a reporter's cell phone data to track and tell the story of his every move - Storybench

And the Australian fellow mentioned above is doing some interesting research

How your phone tracks your every move

My phone is spying on me, so I decided to spy on it

Do you know what your phone is up to while you sleep?

 

[pellicle]

I encourage anyone to carefully read the "conditions" you agree to when installing apps. Apps are the best way to get your data pack raped by all the demons possible (although some tracking is inevitable just by having any phone). But Apps mean you give the owner company (of the App) access without needing to pay Google for the data they want.

For instance, Facebook (which I refuse to have on my phone):

This app has access to:
In-app purchases
Allows the user to make purchases from within this app
Device & app history
Allows the app to view one or more of: information about activity on the device, which apps are running, browsing history and bookmarks
Identity
Uses one or more of: accounts on the device, profile data
Calendar
Uses calendar information
Contacts
Uses contact information
Location
Uses the device's location
SMS
Uses one or more of: SMS, MMS. Charges may apply.
Phone
Uses one or more of: phone, call log. Charges may apply.
Photos / Media / Files
Uses one or more of: files on the device such as images, videos or audio, the device's external storage
Camera
Uses the device's camera(s)
Microphone
Uses the device's microphone(s)
Wi-Fi connection information
Allows the app to view information about Wi-Fi networking, such as whether Wi-Fi is enabled and names of connected Wi-Fi devices
Device ID & call information
Allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active and the remote number connected by a call
Other

• download files without notification
• adjust your wallpaper size
• receive data from Internet

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

Just heard from my buddy. He wasn't Googling as we spoke, nor after. Maybe I'm being paranoid, maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it's FA. ...

Since Siri, Amazon echo, Cortana (and all the rest) came into existence [devices explicitly designed to respond to voices] many devices are sending parts of what they hear back to the office [because that is the only way they can work] ... not exactly to "big brother", just to a few "dodgy uncles" in order to improve their advertising ... and those uncles will also be talking to "big brother" in exchange for a few quid.
The evidence is overwhelming.

 

[WaltP]

I had assumed you were on mobile (I haven't even had a landline for over 5 years now). I don't believe that voice is routinely tracked on landlines.

Its wise however to read CAREFULLY the terms and conditions to all the apps you install.

Something I wrote in 2012 (and its about that still)
in my view ...: the fine print

Some other readings

How the Australian Broadcasting Corporation used a reporter's cell phone data to track and tell the story of his every move - Storybench

And the Australian fellow mentioned above is doing some interesting research

How your phone tracks your every move

My phone is spying on me, so I decided to spy on it

Do you know what your phone is up to while you sleep?

You don't have to believe anything you don't want to. But Cyclops was recording phone calls in the 1970s. The migration project was a wonder of clusters.

 

[pellicle]

You don't have to believe anything you don't want to. But Cyclops was recording phone calls in the 1970s. The migration project was a wonder of clusters.

I would not be in the least surprised (and I felt I should reword that after I wrote it but I intended to say "I'm not privy to sufficient evidence that ...". Belief is for church things.)

 

[speedy]

One thing I can't really get my head around, is why people are so stressed out about having their movements tracked. About the only time I ever think about it, is when I go out riding my motorcycle, as I may stray a little bit, well, sometimes more than a little bit, over the posted speed, & I don't want too much evidence left behind. So I simply switch it off (the phone). But then there's your credit card. Pretty easily tracked. And all your browsing history. I can understand if you're a crook, & you're trying to hide from the law, but for the average person going about their average business, what exactly is the issue?

 

[StephenB]

One thing I can't really get my head around, is why people are so stressed out about having their movements tracked.

I don't think it's about stress, my OP was about the speed in which the links were sent. It's nothing new, it's just auto sent now. Several years ago my wife went to the doc with a bad knee, someone in the health service fed the info in and we had a load of phone calls from stair lift companies hoping there was an opportunity to sell something.

 

[Mikehit]

I encourage anyone to carefully read the "conditions" you agree to when installing apps. Apps are the best way to get your data pack raped by all the demons possible (although some tracking is inevitable just by having any phone). But Apps mean you give the owner company (of the App) access without needing to pay Google for the data they want.

For instance, Facebook (which I refuse to have on my phone):

This app has access to:
In-app purchases
Allows the user to make purchases from within this app
Device & app history
Allows the app to view one or more of: information about activity on the device, which apps are running, browsing history and bookmarks
Identity
Uses one or more of: accounts on the device, profile data
Calendar
Uses calendar information
Contacts
Uses contact information
Location
Uses the device's location
SMS
Uses one or more of: SMS, MMS. Charges may apply.
Phone
Uses one or more of: phone, call log. Charges may apply.
Photos / Media / Files
Uses one or more of: files on the device such as images, videos or audio, the device's external storage
Camera
Uses the device's camera(s)
Microphone
Uses the device's microphone(s)
Wi-Fi connection information
Allows the app to view information about Wi-Fi networking, such as whether Wi-Fi is enabled and names of connected Wi-Fi devices
Device ID & call information
Allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active and the remote number connected by a call
Other

• download files without notification
• adjust your wallpaper size
• receive data from Internet

I was going to re-install Photographers' Ephemeris and re-read the T&Cs - it gives permission to access documents, photos, content and calendar. Why does a 'dumb' app need access to all those aspects of my hard drive?
My only thought is that it is a requirements of Google/Android or whoever's app library it belongs to.

 

[speedy]

I don't think it's about stress, my OP was about the speed in which the links were sent. It's nothing new, it's just auto sent now. Several years ago my wife went to the doc with a bad knee, someone in the health service fed the info in and we had a load of phone calls from stair lift companies hoping there was an opportunity to sell something.

That's about all I can see myself. Marketing. Who needs to track people, when they're falling over themselves to sign up to "rewards" schemes such as FlyBuys etc, never ever leave their phones at home, or switch them off, buying everything with credit cards, and so on.
I'd be a bit more concerned if I were a terrorist planning some sort of attack, but as far as general day to day business, I really don't care. It's about impossible to avoid any sort of behavioral observations these days, perhaps I'm just too boring to be of any real interest

 

[Bidkev]

One thing I can't really get my head around, is why people are so stressed out about having their movements tracked. About the only time I ever think about it, is when I go out riding my motorcycle, as I may stray a little bit, well, sometimes more than a little bit, over the posted speed, & I don't want too much evidence left behind. So I simply switch it off (the phone). But then there's your credit card. Pretty easily tracked. And all your browsing history. I can understand if you're a crook, & you're trying to hide from the law, but for the average person going about their average business, what exactly is the issue?

For me, the issue is privacy on personal issues..........commerce.............tracking what you're buying, I accept is what you should expect if buying online, but when it comes to your personal/family circumstances!!?? Likewise, your phone asking you to rate where you've just been. Is it ok to be tracked?

Does FB trawl messenger? Three of my sons are IT contractors (ex UK Army signals) working on defence contracts now outsourced. I asked one why I kept getting spam from dating sites (as many as 5 a day) via email and Faceache which I rarely use. He asked me if I had ever mentioned the words "single" or "divorced" on social media. Strangely enough, an old forces mate had found me via FB which I rarely use and I'd mentioned "single" in messenger. The ads appeared within 48 hrs! He said "that is it" and I replied that surely they don't read private messages and then give out your email addy. His reply was words to the effect (He explains himself as if he was talking to a colleague), "who knows what they do but they have the best algorithms..........probably better than what we've got!

 

[Mack]

That's about all I can see myself. Marketing. Who needs to track people, when they're falling over themselves to sign up to "rewards" schemes such as FlyBuys etc, never ever leave their phones at home, or switch them off, buying everything with credit cards, and so on....

I'm going to pack a cot when I go into the local Hobby Lobby to buy anything. Some people pull out their cell phones at the last minute to pull up sundry online coupons and then they take forever and argue with the cashier over some 20% discount. Some can't work their phones so they hand them to their kids to find the coupon. Then the line grows... Argh!

One argued over some one dollar pack of colored pencils "Being an Xmas item for a 20% discount cellphone coupon." Cashier said, "Pencils are not Xmas items." Women argued back, "Her kids used them to write Xmas cards!" Cashier called the manager and the argument continued until they gave in and gave her the 20 cent discount. I about passed out waiting for someone so cheap and holding up the line of 15 people for 20 cents. This woman thought she'd won the lottery, and will likely continue to do this behavior elsewhere - just hope I'm not in line behind her.

Cellphones need to be banned at the register, imho, especially if they cannot work or find their cellphone coupons.

 

[Bidkev]

Cellphones need to be banned at the register, imho, especially if they cannot work or find their cellphone coupons.

It'll never happen! It's the drive of Capitalism................you're forced to buy to "participate in the world of capitalism". Monopoly Capitalism conspiracy theory coming up.............produce a technology (previously product such as coal or oil)............make the masses reliant on it.........make the businesses reliant on it..............change/update it regularly..........make both business and the masses think that they need to follow suit.........ad infinitum..............continuing sales and continuing control of the market aka "the people" Those "people" are causing multiple pileups on the highways and jay walking in front of trucks................mindless zombies controlled by capitalism.

I had a nokia brick for 12 years (provided by Family Services as I was fostering at the time)..........they let me keep it when I stopped fostering, replacing the battery with ones I found on ebay. Then I bought a $9 phone at my Coles supermarket, (How can they make them at that price?) now replaced by a samsung s8 which the boys bought me because they worried about me going out bush on my own with my health problems...............their reasoning.................. for the GPS if you get lost or "you can ring 000 if you have heart attack"............ sorry boys..................GPS in the rainforest is no better than a compass and the first thing that you reach for with a heart attack is your chest, not your phone! I humoured them and accepted it graciously

My phone is currently on charge.................4 days since the last charge so you can imagine how popular I am

 

[Lawrence Beck]

Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism.
Just today on demcracynow.org Shoshanna Zuboff, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School and author of "The Age of Sueveillance Capitalism" was interviewed on the topic of Surveillance Capitalism.
Democracy Now! | Democracy Now!. Click on today's show and fast forward to 42:40 to see the interview.
This program is accessible today, March 1, at the link above. After today you'll have to find the March 1 program in the democracynow.org archives.
This segment should be seen by anyone using a cell phone as everything about us is being monitored so as to sell as data.
Zuboff states: "We think we're searching Google. Google is searching us. We think that these companies have Privacy Policies. Those policies are actually Surveillance Policies. Surveillance Capitalism claims Private Human Experience for the Market Dynamic as a free source of raw material that is translated into behavioral data. These data are then combined with advanced computational abilities to create predictions: predictions of what we wil will do. Predictions of our behavior. Predictions of what we will do now, soon, and later. And these predictions are then sold to business customers in a new kind of marketplace that trades exclusively in Human Futures".
Orwell is turning in his grave... as not even in Orwell's wildest dreams could he envision the invasive nature of the state as it exists today.

 

[WaltP]

One thing I can't really get my head around, is why people are so stressed out about having their movements tracked. About the only time I ever think about it, is when I go out riding my motorcycle, as I may stray a little bit, well, sometimes more than a little bit, over the posted speed, & I don't want too much evidence left behind. So I simply switch it off (the phone). But then there's your credit card. Pretty easily tracked. And all your browsing history. I can understand if you're a crook, & you're trying to hide from the law, but for the average person going about their average business, what exactly is the issue?

Don't stress about it, Speedy. If it doesn't bother you, let it ride, dude. For many people (and not just folks you know) it's the principle of privacy that matters. Many people object to being filmed in their bedrooms or bathrooms, but if it doesn't bother you, then just leave it for those other folks to worry about. No worries, mate.
Probably harmless. Probably no other implication than "personalized marketing". Probably no one interested in my boring life; right? And I never do anything that I wouldn't do in public. No worries then.

 

[Mack]

Fwiw, I got one of those Nielsen Surveys in the mail this week with a $1 bill attached to it for their survey as a bribe. Some password supplied to log onto their site instead of filling out the older style booklet.

More odd is they send you $10 at the end of the survey should I submit it (I haven't logged on nor plan to participate.). So they get paid somewhere in excess of $11 for my data. Not a bad deal for them should I respond. Hard to believe my TV viewing (or radio?) data is worth that much to someone.