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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
grelber #27126 10/21/13 11:51 AM
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Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
jchuzi #27129 10/21/13 02:46 PM
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The article you linked to came on the same day Glenn Greenwald (who published materials leaked by Snowden in The Guardian) announced that he was leaving The Guardian for a 'once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity' creating a new and large scale news organization. The day before Greenwald had stated that the worst [of the Snowden leaks] was yet to come. One wonders about possible links between the two...

In this context it's interesting to note that earlier today the French daily Le Monde published Snowden-sourced data indicating that the NSA had collected metadata from about 70 million French phone calls during a single month about a year ago. This article also shed light on the nature of 1.8 million Dutch phone calls intercepted by the NSA last year, a number derived from a graph published by the German Spiegel weekly this summer. The official French reaction was markedly muted, perhaps because the French (like the British) operate similar data collection programs. The Dutch were less amused, presumably because they are/were not. Be that as it may, these latest revelations don't yet qualify as 'the worst', suggesting it could be worthwhile to keep (y)our eyes/ears peeled for more.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #27245 11/02/13 03:40 PM
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Today, British daily The Guardian published NSA Files: Decoded, an impressive interactive summary of much that has become known about the NSA data collection activity. Recommended reading for anyone interested in the topic.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
grelber #27751 12/25/13 05:36 PM
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In the past year the public got proof positive of the fact that the US government (and several other national governments) had effectively usurped internet privacy, and with that, privacy in general. Rights and freedoms that once were considered inviolate turned out to be anything but. The justifications for these actions don't matter much; suffice it so say that Macchiavelli would have approved, to the chagrin of founding fathers all over.

In the wake of this news, many started or resumed work on measures to curb this increasingly virulent Big Brotherism. Today, some of those hard workers made the status of their efforts public, and provided more detail and background information. I consider it an appropriate and timely Christmas present, and for all of you who think likewise: have a look yourselves!

(Looking over shoulder...) Merry Christmas!


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #27797 12/31/13 02:59 PM
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Last edited by jchuzi; 01/01/14 12:21 AM. Reason: added new information

Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
jchuzi #27811 01/02/14 02:41 AM
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Earlier today my son noticed that the clocks on his Macs were running seriously slow, having rolled over to 1984. Coincidence? shocked smirk


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #27812 01/02/14 10:49 AM
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NY Times editorial: Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower.


Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
jchuzi #27826 01/03/14 04:42 PM
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Will 2014 stop the slide? Who knows, but awareness precedes action. Academics Against Mass Surveillance.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #28026 01/28/14 03:19 PM
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Still like your iPhone (or other smartphone)?

Spy Agencies Tap Data Streaming From Phone Apps


Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
grelber #28178 02/16/14 05:40 AM
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Wow. The hits keep on rollin'.

For those few folks who are still gullible enough to believe the NSA is doing all this to "PROTECT!!!!!" us from the "TERRORISTS!!!", it turns out the NSA is involved in corporate espionage, too...spying on American law firms, no less.

Power corrupts.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #28179 02/16/14 03:45 PM
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For those of you who want to keep abreast of developments around Snowden's revelations and don't yet know about Glenn Greenwald's new publishing venue, The Intercept is a worthwhile site to visit regularly.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #28463 03/22/14 07:41 PM
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Revelations of N.S.A. Spying Cost U.S. Tech Companies. Since we have the best government that money can buy, something now will be done because NSA spying is bad for the bottom line, not to mention campaign contributions.


Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #28588 04/07/14 08:34 PM
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Beyond the occasional media summary it's hard to keep track of what Snowden has released so far, and for those of you who are interested delving into one or the other document, here's some help. The ACLU started The NSA Archive, a web site containing all documents obtained by Edward Snowden and released since June 5, 2013. The database can be searched in a variety of ways, and the results sorted by type and area of surveillance. The archive will be updated as new materials become available.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #30077 05/14/14 06:38 PM
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Last night PBS aired the first part of United States of Secrets, a two-part FRONTLINE documentary about the NSA surveillance program that reversed decades of US government policy on privacy. For those who missed it, the documentary can be viewed online on this page, which also provides background information. This first part details the history of the surveillance program, and how knowledge of its existence and extent reached those outside of it.

The second part will be shown next week, and focus on how the NSA obtained (and continues to obtain) its surveillance data.

Last edited by alternaut; 05/14/14 06:45 PM.

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
alternaut #30100 05/19/14 09:11 AM
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No Place to Hide: Monumentally important book shines a spotlight on the surveillance state:

No Place to Hide : Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (Glenn Greenwald, 2014)


Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
grelber #31325 09/27/14 09:57 AM
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Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
jchuzi #31327 09/27/14 06:04 PM
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FBI director: New privacy protection in Android and iOS "allow[s] people to to place themselves beyond the law," complains "The notion that someone would market a closet that could never be opened -- even if it involves a case involving a child kidnapper and a court order -- to me does not make any sense."

Last edited by tacit; 09/27/14 06:04 PM.

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
tacit #31328 09/27/14 10:31 PM
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J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon (plus a lot of others) would have put the same spin on this. The Founding Fathers understood that mentality all too well, which is why we have the Fourth Amendment.


Jon

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
tacit #33043 02/10/15 11:44 AM
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It appears the name of the thread can have Son of Samsung added. According to this broadcaster's report Samsung can listen to conversations you have in your home, using the microphone intended to change channels by voice command.

It seems Samsung does state in their privacy policy that viewers should be aware that "personal or other sensitive" conversations "will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party" through the voice-recognition technology.

Hmmmm. I wonder how many consumers think they need to read a "privacy policy" when they purchase a television.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
ryck #33048 02/10/15 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: ryck
Hmmmm. I wonder how many consumers think they need to read a "privacy policy" when they purchase a television.

In Soviet Russia, (are we there yet?) TV watches YOU


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
Virtual1 #33060 02/11/15 12:00 PM
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It seems to me that the media aren't asking enough questions about this.

Taking a simple-minded approach, (and those more technically literate can correct any errors) the television needs a voiced instruction to change the channels. I assume that it compares the voice command to incoming data in order to make the right channel-changing decision.

I'm okay with all of that.

However, I wonder why circuits would be designed and installed that route the microphone's output anywhere other than to the device that makes the voice/data comparison.

Although my approach was a bit tongue in cheek, I did think this belongs in the discussion about spying.

If the moderators think this should be a new thread, okay by me. A good title might be "Television to Worry About"

Last edited by ryck; 02/11/15 12:04 PM.

ryck

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
ryck #33065 02/11/15 10:40 PM
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Doing natural language processing is still a very difficult task, especially in situations where you don't first "train" the computer to recognize your voice, and/or where there's a noisy background.

We can't yet do untrained language recognition in a TV or cell phone. So when you use Siri or Cortana or a voice-operated TV, your voice is recorded and uploaded to a huge server farm for analysis and processing, and the results are sent back down to the device. That's why Siri won't work if you don't have an Internet connection, and it's why this TV uploads everything you say to company servers.


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
tacit #33068 02/12/15 09:10 AM
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Well, that sure let's the air out of the conspiracy balloon. blush

Thanks for the explanation. I hadn't thought about or made that connection relative to Siri (although I've yet had occasion to use Siri anyway) but it is good to know.


ryck

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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
ryck #33069 02/12/15 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted By: ryck
It seems Samsung does state in their privacy policy that viewers should be aware that "personal or other sensitive" conversations "will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party" through the voice-recognition technology.

If it's all as benign as tacit has implied, why doesn't Samsung flat-out say so?

The implications of "third party" fly in the face of benignity!


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Re: Son of Snowden: It keeps getting worse
artie505 #33071 02/12/15 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
The implications of "third party" fly in the face of benignity!


You don't generally roll your own high quality offsite voice processing and recognition. You farm it out to someone else. Apple is a bit of an exception, since they more-or-less pioneered offsite VR.

(it wouldn't surprise me if Sony farmed it out TO Apple)


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