Cameras an microphones on your laptop can all be accessed by hackers and the intelligence community, if your laptop has an internet connection. To assume otherwise is naive. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Any computer with an internet connection can effortlessly be accessed by the Intelligence community. They even have a profile on every computer user and citizen inside the USA and Europe. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
All internet activity, phone calls and credit card purchases are being monitored 24-7. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Any cellphone can instantly be turned into a listening device. Most NGO´s, like Amnesty International, won't conduct any important meetings before everyone present has turned off their phones, removed the battery and placed it somewhere "safe".
DO NOT trust ANY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE encryption software. The Intelligence Community has been able to compromise every single one of them since the early 1980ties, without exceptions. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Every year 100.000s of computers are being outfitted with spy hardware. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Software companies, virtually all of them, work together with the NSA. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Google, Reddit, Microsoft, Apple and many other companies work closely together with the intelligence community. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
BBiWY: "A man under constant surveillance is never truly free, nor is a society under constant survailence truly a Democracy".
I just can't ignore the fact that the cam and mic are there, and although I rarely use these features maybe someone else might want to take advantage of the fact that they are there. Like having a glass door for a bathroom door.
They even have a profile on every computer user and citizen inside the USA and Europe.
The NSA with data that it has collected has begun creating social profiles on American citizens based on analysis of citizens social media pages. Source
The Intelligence Community has been able to compromise every single (encryption software) since the early 1980ties, without exceptions.
The NSA has been installing backdoors in hard drives through a mysterious module designed to reprogram or reflash a computer hard drive’s firmware with malicious code. Source
Google, Reddit, Microsoft, Apple and allot of other companies work closely together with the intelligence community.
Considering the many gag order placed against these companies to not discuss any sort of interactions that may take place between them and the government. Source
The NSA has been installing backdoors in hard drives through a mysterious module designed to reprogram or reflash a computer hard drive’s firmware with malicious code.
Has nothing to do with cracking any encryption whatsoever.
How does the ability to directly access and change not only the BIOS of the computer but also the hard drive not deal with encryption, they can rewrite your hard drive, which means they can very well access encrypted data.
Considering the many gag order placed against these companies to not discuss any sort of interactions that may take place between them and the government.
Gag orders against Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Not Reddit.
So you admit that it happens on some levels so that makes the point incorrect because Reddit, hasn't been shown to have a gag order on them.
That's 0/3 claims so far you've proven have been confirmed, if we're counting.
You really should consider the massive technological prowess that the NSA possesses, they are not some run of the mill intelligence agency.
I only do it because of some video I saw online about an intruder watching a girl through her computer and then breaking in. I don't need anyone watching me get acquainted with Gianna Michaels.
i do, but good luck finding the mic on new smartphones. and usually, there is two. I do it for symbolic purposes but they can be listening to everything i say at any time since i walk around with a phone.
On may laptop, yeah, but not my phone. I can't understand why no cellphone case creator has created a retractable camera cover yet, it's well past time.
if it muffles, distorts or reduces range its better than nothing. but yeah, you need to unplug it from the mobo, remove it or crush it with pliers to be sure. a good temporary measure is put the device inside the fridge (in a coolbox for longterm).
Ive taped a piece of dark paper over mine, dont exactly know where the mic is on my laptop, but I have some heavy metal playing most of the time so im not so concerned there.
there was an article about the DoD and DARPA sponsoring a project to detect bunkers below the surface and that got further progressed into a similar technology in cameras and it translated into roughly "they can see through thin layers of tape" but only outlines and not much detail, but other than that, yeah, tape it up with duct tape or don't have one, i disable mine internally on laptops period, if i want to communicate with someone ill pick up my throwaway cell and call them,if i want video,ill do it on a secure desktop or laptop on a network i trust behind firewalls i know
Legit question: How does one turn on your mic without turning on the LED? or is it turning on and people not realizing. Even when i use the mic in a game for VOIP the LED will turn on. Im almost certain those lights are hardwired to turn with the camera is on. You can not avoid that through software manipulation.
Yup, my laptop has its camera covered and my phone doesn't of course. But if someone wants to stare at my mug all day, so be it. I ain't handsome enough to care. Lol.
But what are the chances of them(someone or even anyone) watching you? and what do they do with what they see? Will they compile a criminal case against you from an unauthorized breach of privacy? Will they blackmail you? "We've got footage of you jerking off, picking your nose, or doing other 'nefarious' things, so give us money....do what we say....." What will they blackmail you out of, and who would blackmail you? Are they just randomly collecting footage of you browsing the internet, playing a game? Who decides who to watch, when to watch them, and what do they do with that information? "This guy looks really pissed, is he playing a game? Is he arguing on the internet? Ok, does it matter? What're we doing with this information? Compiling a profile? A database? Ok, what for? What will we do with this profile?" What could they possibly see through your webcam that is so "OMG it's destroying my life", and what're the chances that your laptop is picked out of the millions, possibly billions, amount of laptops that exist in the USA, in the world. I understand no one wants to be watched without knowing it, but if you don't know it, how does it affect you? To me it seems more like a paranoid delusion to assume someone is going to use your camera to watch you without you knowing, and that something will come out of it.
In no way am I making the argument supporting mass surveillance, or making the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" claim, in fact, I'm in no way even making an argument.
I'm merely asking the questions who, when, where, and why are these "people" (that supposedly, randomly, access our laptop webcams) record or view us browsing the internet, playing games, jerking off, doing homework, etc. and what they are doing with this footage/information.
Just answer that. I'm curious. I'm sure everyone will have a different answer.
I don't believe it's rational to think that you are constantly being surveyed in the privacy of your own home, from an electronic appliance just because it contains a webcam and there are rumors, articles, and "testimonies" that unaware surveillance occurs regularly and that they store and collect video, data, information, whatever. Even if they are, and this occurs, they do nothing with this information. How can a video of you jerking off hurt you? And why you? What do they want from you? Why do they want videos of you jerking off? How will this help their agenda? What do they do with this information they supposedly collect? So far I've seen nothing in the media, on the internet, of people who have A) reported that there is private footage of them taken from their webcam and that it's being used against them or B) webcam footage has been passed around the internet effectively embarrassing, or affecting someone in some way or another.
The only one that comes to my mind is when that school passed out laptops to it's students and it took pictures every 30 mins or so from the camera, but if I remember correctly that was decided as a violation of their privacy and they won a lawsuit against the school. The point being, the information they get from accessing your webcam unknowingly is not suitable to be used against you in very damaging world ending ways.
Since I'm assuming you didn't read my comment, or just skimmed through it, I'm going to assume you did the same thing with the link you posted, because it focuses on a very broad idea, when this thread and my comment focuses on a very small aspect of the much wider surveillance society that your article touches upon. Not to mention the fact that it's a 6 year old article, and in the 6 years since it was published/written there has not been drastic criminal cases against citizens using unauthorized webcam footage, nor any embarrassing video leaks from unauthorized webcam footage. The other thing wrong with your article is it cherry-picks four examples to support its claim, and they don't even support the claim. It supports the fact that, yeah, human error exists. It will exist in every system or organization that is run by humans, which is why it's called human error.
It doesn't even go near the topic of what this thread is about: unauthorized access of a laptop webcam, and the possible collection of footage from that access.
Human error, misuse of collected data, having a database for criminals (seriously? This one is self-explanatory) these are things that are separate problems in themselves and can be fixed through laws and regulations. Unauthorized webcam access and storage of footage has not been used in anything, that I know of, and isn't necessarily a problem, since it's not being used for anything except collection (if they're even collecting footage, for whatever reason, which doesn't make sense.)
So to reiterate, who is watching you through the webcam? Are they watching or recording or both? What are you doing in front of the webcam you are so concerned about? How is accessing your webcam and/or recording footage negatively effecting you? Answers I will not accept: "We don't know, they could use it for something in the future." "You won't know until they use it against you." or as your article puts it, "This sort of mistake might seem rare, but it is going to become increasingly common"..... six years later, it's not increasingly common. Again, it's paranoia to think someone is trying to watch you through your webcam, that they choose you among the billions of people in the world, and that somehow this information will be used against you in a matter that you will not be able to defend yourself from.
Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself.
Exactly, unless they hire one person for every person they can possibly spy on, you'd have one person for every person in the USA. That's double the population, with half of the population surveying the other half, all day, everyday. Or maybe it's random people at random times, but then who decides the people to spy on, and who decides the times to spy on them? What is gained by spying on people through their laptop webcam? Automated data gathering I can wrap my head around because it's not controlled by a person but basically a machine that is making copies of everything for storage/collection, but I don't buy that video footage is randomly being collected/viewed from webcams with no clear motive as to why, or any outcome of this collection.
I believe the paranoia from people on this comes from the fact that everyone thinks they're so damn special and don't realize that to other people, they are literally just another person in the world. Someone saw you naked when you didn't want them to? "Oh em gee, I can't believe my privacy has been breached." Bitch, we weren't born with clothes on. Get over yourself, your naked picture is as insignificant as your neighbor's naked picture, or some random guy in India's naked picture. "But people around me will know, see, and care." If they care and hold it against you, although you had no control of it, then they're stupid and you probably shouldn't interact with them in the first place.
The quote goes, "I never bother about that. Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."
Capture it all until it's needed. thats how it works. catch people in the act real time is silly for now. but to look back and make sure anyone at some time committed a crime is really valuable data to have stored.
Actually, this is not far from the truth. The main purpose behind the governments mass surveillance programs is correlation of data points using big data and data mining applications. It's the nature of this technology that the more inputs, the higher the quality of correlations. So they're not really that interested in the average citizen, as much as they're interested in the person who appears to be an average citizen, but who creates a "data spike" by the nature of the persons various activities correlating to something they're interested in. This data is not coming from your laptop's microphone or camera, but if you happen to be one of those citizens (or non) that create a data spike in correlation searches, then using your laptops mic and camera might be on their agenda. Its probably easier for them to put in a request for the FBI to fly one of their Cessna's around your house and gather what they need wirelessly from your laptops pre-compromised firmware and chip sets, thiough.
Valuable, how? What for? Who will use it? How will they use it? Why would they use it? Do you think there will just be a mass flood of criminal cases from the country vs the people and everyone will get a trial in court? The court justice system is already full on trials, cases, convictions, etc. There's no way they could pile on a large amount of cases and trials from "crimes" committed by citizens that were only known through an unauthorized access of a laptop webcam. I mean, how many crimes do you commit in front of your laptop? Do you leave your laptop in a position that is pointing at you committing crimes? How many people do you think commit crimes in front of their laptop and what crimes? Disregarding drug use, because the war on drug isn't about going after individual users, but manufacturers and distributors.
This is also not to mention statute of limitations. How long are they going to hold on to this information and footage? When will these cases start appearing? I feel like surveillance in this country has been going on for awhile, and how many instances have you heard about them accessing laptop webcams? Or using information that has been collected to pursue anything?
63 comments
18 Denmark1976 2015-06-24
I do, the camera on my laptop is always covered.
Cameras an microphones on your laptop can all be accessed by hackers and the intelligence community, if your laptop has an internet connection. To assume otherwise is naive. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Any computer with an internet connection can effortlessly be accessed by the Intelligence community. They even have a profile on every computer user and citizen inside the USA and Europe. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
All internet activity, phone calls and credit card purchases are being monitored 24-7. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Any cellphone can instantly be turned into a listening device. Most NGO´s, like Amnesty International, won't conduct any important meetings before everyone present has turned off their phones, removed the battery and placed it somewhere "safe".
DO NOT trust ANY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE encryption software. The Intelligence Community has been able to compromise every single one of them since the early 1980ties, without exceptions. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Every year 100.000s of computers are being outfitted with spy hardware. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Software companies, virtually all of them, work together with the NSA. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
Google, Reddit, Microsoft, Apple and many other companies work closely together with the intelligence community. This has been confirmed and verified by multiple sources like Mr. Snowden, Wikileaks, various whistle blowers and independent Journalists.
BBiWY: "A man under constant surveillance is never truly free, nor is a society under constant survailence truly a Democracy".
5 sweatpants7 2015-06-24
I just can't ignore the fact that the cam and mic are there, and although I rarely use these features maybe someone else might want to take advantage of the fact that they are there. Like having a glass door for a bathroom door.
-1 csehszlovakze 2015-06-24
How about some links to your claims then?
-15 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
8 redorblu 2015-06-24
clueless.
-12 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
12 redorblu 2015-06-24
fuckin noob.
-13 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
9 redorblu 2015-06-24
best you got?
-13 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
3 G_Wash1776 2015-06-24
The NSA with data that it has collected has begun creating social profiles on American citizens based on analysis of citizens social media pages. Source
The NSA has been installing backdoors in hard drives through a mysterious module designed to reprogram or reflash a computer hard drive’s firmware with malicious code. Source
Considering the many gag order placed against these companies to not discuss any sort of interactions that may take place between them and the government. Source
each of these statements is distinctly false.
-2 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
2 G_Wash1776 2015-06-24
Has nothing to do with cracking any encryption whatsoever.How does the ability to directly access and change not only the BIOS of the computer but also the hard drive not deal with encryption, they can rewrite your hard drive, which means they can very well access encrypted data.
Gag orders against Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Not Reddit.So you admit that it happens on some levels so that makes the point incorrect because Reddit, hasn't been shown to have a gag order on them.
That's 0/3 claims so far you've proven have been confirmed, if we're counting.You really should consider the massive technological prowess that the NSA possesses, they are not some run of the mill intelligence agency.
-3 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
2 redorblu 2015-06-24
are you a fucking shill? oh nevermind.
5 GrooIsSmart 2015-06-24
can you confirm that pls.
1 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
1 redorblu 2015-06-24
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/3az8m7/does_anyone_else_put_tape_over_their_webcam_and/cshpr0t
0 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
0 redorblu 2015-06-24
you are full of shit.
1 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
1 redorblu 2015-06-24
blah blah blah
0 [deleted] 2015-06-24
[deleted]
1 redorblu 2015-06-24
blah blah blah
-1 your-nuts-sir 2015-06-24
How about you speculate yourself out of here.
12 BillionaireBob 2015-06-24
I only do it because of some video I saw online about an intruder watching a girl through her computer and then breaking in. I don't need anyone watching me get acquainted with Gianna Michaels.
7 shah256 2015-06-24
i do, but good luck finding the mic on new smartphones. and usually, there is two. I do it for symbolic purposes but they can be listening to everything i say at any time since i walk around with a phone.
7 dejenerate 2015-06-24
On may laptop, yeah, but not my phone. I can't understand why no cellphone case creator has created a retractable camera cover yet, it's well past time.
3 MrFelthersnatch 2015-06-24
Hey, that's an upcoming market... NSA proof.
5 sweatpants7 2015-06-24
Should specify, I do this on my laptop. Fortunately my imbedded microphone is visible.
1 NomarGarciaVega 2015-06-24
Uninstall the drivers, for the mic you can cut off the end of a pair of headphones that dont work and plug them in the mic jack.
0 quicklypiggly 2015-06-24
FYI, tape over a microphone won't block sound. The thin tape vibrates slightly differently than air, but does still conduct vibrations.
4 redorblu 2015-06-24
if it muffles, distorts or reduces range its better than nothing. but yeah, you need to unplug it from the mobo, remove it or crush it with pliers to be sure. a good temporary measure is put the device inside the fridge (in a coolbox for longterm).
1 omenofdread 2015-06-24
if you are that concerned, might want to look into a Faraday Cage.
1 redorblu 2015-06-24
i'm not. thanks but a faraday cage does not stop the device from recording for later transmission.
4 lolurwack 2015-06-24
yes, i do.
3 BloodWillow 2015-06-24
Fuck yo tape, band-aid all the way!
3 jimmyrustler204 2015-06-24
i do not cover the webcam at all. I get off on the idea that somebody else is getting off watching me get off.
2 sweatpants7 2015-06-24
very valid way to go about it
1 redorblu 2015-06-24
the exhibitionist eh.
3 itrv1 2015-06-24
Ive taped a piece of dark paper over mine, dont exactly know where the mic is on my laptop, but I have some heavy metal playing most of the time so im not so concerned there.
2 4to6 2015-06-24
Everyone does this.
2 metal_up_your_ass 2015-06-24
yes, i have medical tape over my cam on my macbook.
2 theM3chanic 2015-06-24
there was an article about the DoD and DARPA sponsoring a project to detect bunkers below the surface and that got further progressed into a similar technology in cameras and it translated into roughly "they can see through thin layers of tape" but only outlines and not much detail, but other than that, yeah, tape it up with duct tape or don't have one, i disable mine internally on laptops period, if i want to communicate with someone ill pick up my throwaway cell and call them,if i want video,ill do it on a secure desktop or laptop on a network i trust behind firewalls i know
2 rabbits_dig_deep 2015-06-24
My camera has been covered since 2010. I don't know where the mic is but should find out.
1 csehszlovakze 2015-06-24
Open up Audacity, start recording and start knocking on your computer everywhere w/ the same strength.
2 stugots85 2015-06-24
I tape camera, take it off when business people are over. Doubt your doing much by covering mic with tape.
1 sweatpants7 2015-06-24
Double layer of masking tape over the mic hole on the laptop does do the trick because when I use Skype people can't hear me until I take it off.
1 stugots85 2015-06-24
Oh cool, I stand corrected. Good to know.
1 wazzledoozle 2015-06-24
Why? Are you worried the NSA is gonna watch you spanking it?
2 GirlNumber20 2015-06-24
That's my fetish.
1 make_mind_free2go 2015-06-24
yes for webcam & on the cell. (don't know where the "mike" is on iMac, it's fairly new.
1 KnightBeforeTomorrow 2015-06-24
I avoid having camera equipped online equipment. No one can turn on my camera or microphone that way.
2 itrv1 2015-06-24
Good luck buying a modern laptop.
1 Alcorr 2015-06-24
I tape over my Webcam but not my mic I use it for work.
1 DronePuppet 2015-06-24
Nope. I give the Watchers full Monty!
1 DarthUcket 2015-06-24
These are nice and they don't ruin the aesthetic of the laptop/make you look like you're wearing a tinfoil hat.
http://www.lightdims.com/
They have options for 100% blackout and just dimming for all sorts of annoying blinkin lights that are around these days.
1 yoholmes 2015-06-24
Legit question: How does one turn on your mic without turning on the LED? or is it turning on and people not realizing. Even when i use the mic in a game for VOIP the LED will turn on. Im almost certain those lights are hardwired to turn with the camera is on. You can not avoid that through software manipulation.
-1 itsjeremyson 2015-06-24
Yup, my laptop has its camera covered and my phone doesn't of course. But if someone wants to stare at my mug all day, so be it. I ain't handsome enough to care. Lol.
2 Shave_Bush 2015-06-24
That is hot
-10 DaarioNuharis 2015-06-24
But what are the chances of them(someone or even anyone) watching you? and what do they do with what they see? Will they compile a criminal case against you from an unauthorized breach of privacy? Will they blackmail you? "We've got footage of you jerking off, picking your nose, or doing other 'nefarious' things, so give us money....do what we say....." What will they blackmail you out of, and who would blackmail you? Are they just randomly collecting footage of you browsing the internet, playing a game? Who decides who to watch, when to watch them, and what do they do with that information? "This guy looks really pissed, is he playing a game? Is he arguing on the internet? Ok, does it matter? What're we doing with this information? Compiling a profile? A database? Ok, what for? What will we do with this profile?" What could they possibly see through your webcam that is so "OMG it's destroying my life", and what're the chances that your laptop is picked out of the millions, possibly billions, amount of laptops that exist in the USA, in the world. I understand no one wants to be watched without knowing it, but if you don't know it, how does it affect you? To me it seems more like a paranoid delusion to assume someone is going to use your camera to watch you without you knowing, and that something will come out of it.
10 TigerRoonie 2015-06-24
I was wondering when the old "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" fallacy was going appear.
Here, do something useful with your time: http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/the-data-trust-blog/2009/02/debunking-a-myth-if-you-have-n.html
-4 DaarioNuharis 2015-06-24
I'm not sure you even read my comment.
In no way am I making the argument supporting mass surveillance, or making the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" claim, in fact, I'm in no way even making an argument.
I'm merely asking the questions who, when, where, and why are these "people" (that supposedly, randomly, access our laptop webcams) record or view us browsing the internet, playing games, jerking off, doing homework, etc. and what they are doing with this footage/information. Just answer that. I'm curious. I'm sure everyone will have a different answer.
I don't believe it's rational to think that you are constantly being surveyed in the privacy of your own home, from an electronic appliance just because it contains a webcam and there are rumors, articles, and "testimonies" that unaware surveillance occurs regularly and that they store and collect video, data, information, whatever. Even if they are, and this occurs, they do nothing with this information. How can a video of you jerking off hurt you? And why you? What do they want from you? Why do they want videos of you jerking off? How will this help their agenda? What do they do with this information they supposedly collect? So far I've seen nothing in the media, on the internet, of people who have A) reported that there is private footage of them taken from their webcam and that it's being used against them or B) webcam footage has been passed around the internet effectively embarrassing, or affecting someone in some way or another.
The only one that comes to my mind is when that school passed out laptops to it's students and it took pictures every 30 mins or so from the camera, but if I remember correctly that was decided as a violation of their privacy and they won a lawsuit against the school. The point being, the information they get from accessing your webcam unknowingly is not suitable to be used against you in very damaging world ending ways.
Since I'm assuming you didn't read my comment, or just skimmed through it, I'm going to assume you did the same thing with the link you posted, because it focuses on a very broad idea, when this thread and my comment focuses on a very small aspect of the much wider surveillance society that your article touches upon. Not to mention the fact that it's a 6 year old article, and in the 6 years since it was published/written there has not been drastic criminal cases against citizens using unauthorized webcam footage, nor any embarrassing video leaks from unauthorized webcam footage. The other thing wrong with your article is it cherry-picks four examples to support its claim, and they don't even support the claim. It supports the fact that, yeah, human error exists. It will exist in every system or organization that is run by humans, which is why it's called human error. It doesn't even go near the topic of what this thread is about: unauthorized access of a laptop webcam, and the possible collection of footage from that access.
Human error, misuse of collected data, having a database for criminals (seriously? This one is self-explanatory) these are things that are separate problems in themselves and can be fixed through laws and regulations. Unauthorized webcam access and storage of footage has not been used in anything, that I know of, and isn't necessarily a problem, since it's not being used for anything except collection (if they're even collecting footage, for whatever reason, which doesn't make sense.)
So to reiterate, who is watching you through the webcam? Are they watching or recording or both? What are you doing in front of the webcam you are so concerned about? How is accessing your webcam and/or recording footage negatively effecting you? Answers I will not accept: "We don't know, they could use it for something in the future." "You won't know until they use it against you." or as your article puts it, "This sort of mistake might seem rare, but it is going to become increasingly common"..... six years later, it's not increasingly common. Again, it's paranoia to think someone is trying to watch you through your webcam, that they choose you among the billions of people in the world, and that somehow this information will be used against you in a matter that you will not be able to defend yourself from.
-1 rabbits_dig_deep 2015-06-24
You're not fooling me.
-1 DaarioNuharis 2015-06-24
I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting. How am I trying to fool you? Fooling you in what way? Fooling you with what?
-1 lightning_hophead 2015-06-24
Apparently the NSA can't even monitor what their own contractors are doing very well, let alone 300 million citizens
2 csehszlovakze 2015-06-24
or maybe Snowden is a CIA agent, right in Russia where he can do the most damage...
2 lightning_hophead 2015-06-24
Very possible.
-2 DaarioNuharis 2015-06-24
Exactly, unless they hire one person for every person they can possibly spy on, you'd have one person for every person in the USA. That's double the population, with half of the population surveying the other half, all day, everyday. Or maybe it's random people at random times, but then who decides the people to spy on, and who decides the times to spy on them? What is gained by spying on people through their laptop webcam? Automated data gathering I can wrap my head around because it's not controlled by a person but basically a machine that is making copies of everything for storage/collection, but I don't buy that video footage is randomly being collected/viewed from webcams with no clear motive as to why, or any outcome of this collection.
I believe the paranoia from people on this comes from the fact that everyone thinks they're so damn special and don't realize that to other people, they are literally just another person in the world. Someone saw you naked when you didn't want them to? "Oh em gee, I can't believe my privacy has been breached." Bitch, we weren't born with clothes on. Get over yourself, your naked picture is as insignificant as your neighbor's naked picture, or some random guy in India's naked picture. "But people around me will know, see, and care." If they care and hold it against you, although you had no control of it, then they're stupid and you probably shouldn't interact with them in the first place. The quote goes, "I never bother about that. Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."
1 tripsick 2015-06-24
Capture it all until it's needed. thats how it works. catch people in the act real time is silly for now. but to look back and make sure anyone at some time committed a crime is really valuable data to have stored.
1 lightning_hophead 2015-06-24
Actually, this is not far from the truth. The main purpose behind the governments mass surveillance programs is correlation of data points using big data and data mining applications. It's the nature of this technology that the more inputs, the higher the quality of correlations. So they're not really that interested in the average citizen, as much as they're interested in the person who appears to be an average citizen, but who creates a "data spike" by the nature of the persons various activities correlating to something they're interested in. This data is not coming from your laptop's microphone or camera, but if you happen to be one of those citizens (or non) that create a data spike in correlation searches, then using your laptops mic and camera might be on their agenda. Its probably easier for them to put in a request for the FBI to fly one of their Cessna's around your house and gather what they need wirelessly from your laptops pre-compromised firmware and chip sets, thiough.
0 DaarioNuharis 2015-06-24
Valuable, how? What for? Who will use it? How will they use it? Why would they use it? Do you think there will just be a mass flood of criminal cases from the country vs the people and everyone will get a trial in court? The court justice system is already full on trials, cases, convictions, etc. There's no way they could pile on a large amount of cases and trials from "crimes" committed by citizens that were only known through an unauthorized access of a laptop webcam. I mean, how many crimes do you commit in front of your laptop? Do you leave your laptop in a position that is pointing at you committing crimes? How many people do you think commit crimes in front of their laptop and what crimes? Disregarding drug use, because the war on drug isn't about going after individual users, but manufacturers and distributors.
This is also not to mention statute of limitations. How long are they going to hold on to this information and footage? When will these cases start appearing? I feel like surveillance in this country has been going on for awhile, and how many instances have you heard about them accessing laptop webcams? Or using information that has been collected to pursue anything?