Surveillance and Profiling
Here’s what is below…
Surveillance
Surveillance is exploding. There are cameras seemingly on every intersection, building, and house. Those cameras potentially can record our movements, recognize faces or bodies, and identify our car license. It is, or eventually will be, virtually impossible to move around undetected.
Your movement, both current and historical, is also being tracked by your newer car and phone. Probably you know this, but let it seep in. If the “location” setting on your phone is turned on (and if you are not sure… then it is likely on), there is a historical record of your movement. This is done via GPS, cell towers, and Wi-Fi. Someone theoretically can determine your shopping habits, fishing spot, vacation travels, friends, favorite restaurant, where you walk, who you visit, and routes you drive. On a nefarious note, they could know the whereabouts of your secret lover, drug supplier, and favorite bar.
Privacy is a thing of the past!
Anything with a microphone, (cell phone, smart tv, tablet, computer, video game station, alexa/siri, smart glasses, electronic watch, and newer car), has the ability to listen to you. And it could have voice recognition to differentiate people. Anything with a camera, (cell phone, tablet, computer, security system), possesses the capability to watch you.
This doesn’t mean that currently this level of surveillance is being done on you. It simply means that it is possible… currently possible. The infrastructure and mechanics of this potential has been rolling out for years and continues to do so. We can only hope that the surveillance potential is being treated with respect for our privacy, and that there are no usurpers of what should be our rights.
If you have installed a home security system, those cameras and devices are on your Wi-Fi network. That’s how you can watch your cameras when away. That is, via the Internet and into your home Wi-Fi network. Hypothetically, someone could take control of your cameras and home security system via the Internet. This is not the present norm, but we can’t rule out a more politically or socially dysfunctional time in the future.
This isn’t conspiracy theory.
It’s what is technologically here now.
Now, with the “Internet of Things”, which is the term used for all new devices that have a built-in Wi-Fi connection, the operation of our personal world becomes vulnerable. Someone could, in theory, disable your car, change the channel of your TV, turn off your refrigerator, activate your home alarm system, turn off the heat, and flick your lights on and off.
But who would do this? Hackers? Sure, but hacking is just a technique to illegally gain access. The “who” is up in the air and could be individuals, corporations, a powerful elite, your government, or someone else’s government. To take control of your system, they use virus’ and malware, or simply have hacked your login password from you or a vendor.
Stuxnet and SolarWinds!
Have you heard of Stuxnet from 2010? It’s a virus that the US & Israel allegedly put on Iranian scientists’ computers to thwart their nuclear program. For years it blew up centrifuges, changed data, watched and listened, and did an amazing job of hindering their nuclear program. I’m sure the Iranians had secure procedures and had anti-virus software. Yet, Stuxnet went undetected.
Now consider SolarWinds, where hackers (allegedly the Russians) slipped infiltrating code into an update routine from a ubiquitous networking software tool by the SolarWinds company. As updates for the SolarWinds product spread throughout their customers, the malware spread. The result is hackers gleaned information from the Pentagon, Homeland Security, Treasury, State Department, and potentially over 16,000 other SolarWinds customers until the malware was accidentally discovered in 2020.
The point here is how possible it is to infiltrate our computers and devices in spite of strong security measures and active anti-virus software. Who is safe if the Pentagon couldn’t detect the breach. The SolarWinds malware was inadvertently discovered by an anti-virus security company, FireEye, who found it within their own computer system. So FireEye was infected, and only discovered because the hackers were actively logging in as one of their employees having created an alternate phone to be used for 2-factor authentication. Keep in mind that SolarWinds and FireEye are superb companies, and with this experience being hacked, are likely some of the most careful companies around.
Without a doubt, there can currently be malware present on our computers and the anti-virus software cannot detect it. This level of surveillance has to be acknowledged as real and active now.
Potentially, cameras can be turned on without your knowing. Same for microphones. Your files and data could be uploaded from your computer or your storage location on the cloud.
Don’t fret and throw out your Amazon Echo. Our vulnerability is already too pervasive. All we can do is understand that vulnerability, and seek control of our world to keep the danger in check.
For a look at why this is important…
Scenario of a Corrupt Government
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Every Facebook post you make,
every “like” for goodness sake,
every personality test you partake,
every DNA test you take,
they’ll be watching you.
Every Amazon item you buy,
every link you try,
every book that makes you cry,
every video they can verify,
they’ll be watching you.
Whenever you use your credit card, that transaction is located somewhere. Everything you do online, like how long you play a game, can be traceable back to you. Your medical monitoring tools like Fitbit, record your personal health data back to the cloud.
Who is compiling your psychological profile?
We like to think that our data is safe out there on the cloud. Oh, by the way, the cloud at its simplest level means that your data is stored on the Internet. So is it safe?
Companies do a good job securing your data. While someone in that company, computer folks most likely, could technically gain access, the procedures make it very difficult. But not impossible, right? Over and over again, hackers get our personal information.
Regardless, except for health data, we know that companies don’t treat your data as truly personal. They sell your information. But before they do that, they develop your information into a profile.
That’s right, they have your profile. You likely have already been psychologically analyzed. Someone knows where you go, how you spend your money, how susceptible you are to ads, how you spend your time, how you manage your finances, what attracts you online, how well you play a game, what hobbies you like, what you are interested in, who your friends are, what you like to eat, and your interests in health.
On a more nefarious and illegal note, they could have your medical history via a HIPA breach, extract profile data from your texts and emails, extract profile data from your files in the cloud, or use your DNA results to know your personality. Safe to say, they could understand you fairly well.
Now consider how Artificial Intelligence could be used to quickly consolidate and analyze each person’s data and produce an elaborate profile. Then AI could be utilized to watch us in real time, see what we do and where we go. The machine could then be tasked to report or warn of certain behaviors. Unnerving is not too strong a word.
For right now, “they” likely limit themselves to only wanting to sell you something. Later in another situation, who knows what “they” will do with your profile. If things go awry in the world of government, we are in big trouble. Maybe even permanent trouble.
See also: Scenario of a corrupt government
Holding back the tide of surveillance is almost impossible at this juncture. But it should make us nervous when we see how our government is somewhat out of our control. Gaining control of our government is our best hope. Creating a real citizen’s voice in democracy is needed to control government.
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