I have to admit, I do find this quite disturbing. It seems a lot worse than I thought it was to be honest.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/...ram-online-data

I already assumed that they know everything I do online, every purchase I make with a card and every text or call I make. Americans like to puff their chest out and say we're the greatest, the bravest, and have the most freedom of any country on earth, while at the same time ignoring things like this, something which would be Nazi Germany's wet dream.

The ability to home in on every person at any time has become a frightening reality. We live in a time of exposure.

I wonder what MacGyver would do these days? Would he have a mobile? Or a FB account? Credit card? I really wonder...

Yup, there's a lot to be said and admired about the good old snail mail days. Sure, it took donkey's years (in comparison) to get/receive correspondence ... but you could(almost) be assured that it hadn't been infiltrated.

Having said that, I've had nothing but a positive experience with my online banking endeavors and any hanky-panky is insured by my financial institution. Aside from that, my public name and profile is slightly askew from my actual identity and for added security. This works for me & keeps me 'in control' should there be any nefarious happenings in the future.

Hate to burst your bubble, but all your online activities can be very easily traced back to your internet account billing records, which have your real name and address and if that didn't work it's relatively easy to check your internet activity and see which bank account you logged into and then get your real details from that.

I guess there is a bit of an upside though and that it that it would seem the spooks watching us really are only looking for activities such as terrorism etc, so if your not involved in anything like that (at the moment at least) we don't have anything to worry about - that still doesn't make the blatant invasion of privacy ok though.

Imaging what could happen if the next President, or whoever rules the outfits spying on us, gets a Hitler-like rush of power to the brain.

Hate to burst your bubble, but all your online activities can be very easily traced back to your internet account billing records, which have your real name and address and if that didn't work it's relatively easy to check your internet activity and see which bank account you logged into and then get your real details from that.

I guess there is a bit of an upside though and that it that it would seem the spooks watching us really are only looking for activities such as terrorism etc, so if your not involved in anything like that (at the moment at least) we don't have anything to worry about - that still doesn't make the blatant invasion of privacy ok though.

Imaging what could happen if the next President, or whoever rules the outfits spying on us, gets a Hitler-like rush of power to the brain.

Well, there's been no indication of that to date and my 'internet name' has already been confused with other internet names of the same. Regardless, I've got nothing to hide, other than my rudimentary online financial transactions(my real banking is not online and totally cloaked from cyberspace) and could care less if they glean my fake identity. My birthdate and address and phone number is not associated with my banking and thus I can't see how anybody could glean enough information to do anything nefarious. So lay down thy tinfoil hat and surf the net with due security 'macgyverisms' in place.

All banking is online, you just haven't been given an login to yours. If you go into a bank they check your details on a computer - where do you think that information is stored?

So your saying you didn't have to fill in forms when you joined which have your name, address, birthday, phone number, etc on it?

Date of birth and address and basic identification criteria and all banks have those details.

This isn't tinfoil hat scare-mongering. It's just simple facts which I've learned because I deal with them on a daily basis. I'm not promoting that we should all run for the hills in fear. I'm just saying it's kinda scary how much anonymity and privacy we have lost without realizing it.

I find it ironic how people say they have nothing to hide and don't care, but then announce that they use false information online and get quite defensive when confronted with the facts.

This post has been edited by KiwiTek on 31 May 2015 - 12:56 PM

Yeah, those IP lookups are useless. They go to the central hub which is often nowhere near where people operate. They might be able to look up the IP address owner of the communications be used .... but, in my case, they wouldn't be looking up me, as I don't own it. Anyway, this is a bit of an unusual conversation to have with an administrator who can see extra data on their forum users. And Paladin is monitoring & carries a gun!

Yeah those public ones are a bit useless, although knowing which ISP to dig into is a good starting point. It's basically the location of the treasure map.

Places like NSA and FBI have much more accurate systems in place to be able to find out who and where you are pretty quickly, which is great when used for the proper purpose, such as fighting terrorism and crime, but it has the potential to be neglected as well, which is the scary bit.

The local cop shop has a 'sniffer' now that can zero in on cyber miscreants. They caught a few perverts recently that were into child porn. The federal authorities have also caught several people on their way over to join the ISIS movement and the internet revealed many important clues, apparently. I think the good outweighs the bad in the majority of these cases and especially if you're the average joe who has nothing to hide & just surfs the net for a little fun, enjoyment & learning purposes.

Well, they do use programs to monitor internet searches. Banks do the same thing with monitoring account activity. I was a bank teller for 9 years, and we worked closely with the IRS, FBI and local law enforcement. Our job included looking out for suspicious activity, and we were required by law to fill out certain reports. Failure to do so was a federal offense, and you can get fired, fined and serve jail time.

I could tell stories. lol

But there is an upside and a downside to almost anything. For instance, hackers... I know last year a group of hackers flooded the Microsoft and Sony servers with fake IP addresses, causing the servers to crash. It eventually stopped when another hacking group, called Anonymous, hacked the group, and posted their information online. It ended up helping authorities to find the hackers... as they were going as far as using fake bomb threats to ground planes to achieve their goals. (or at least, so I was told)

Anonymous tends to consider themselves the "batman" of the internet. Most gamers trust them because of their ideals and desire to make the world a better place, and the internet a safer place to surf. But it really depends on your outlook on hackers. I tend to be neutral because being a teller has made me leery of people's motives. Just because they say they're good, doesn't mean they are.

If you have nothing to hide then you won't mind sharing what sites you visit and all your passwords with us just so we can check and be sure, right?

Giving someone the power to monitor everybody's conversations, movements, purchases and what they're reading is the strong tool for controlling a population. There are places in the world where they will throw you in jail or kill you for simply saying something the people in power don't like. Here in the US they scan your face and add you to a list if you attend a protest, are a member of certain groups or have certain political views. All it takes are some law changes, or interpretations of law, and those being eyeballed could go from people who are simply exorcising their rights as a human being, to being branded criminals. This has already been done in the US, the most glaring example is called McCarthy and his red scare.

To Kiwi's remark about the next Hitler, yeah, the next guy will have all the tools he needs to make his job easy.

Well, there's a big difference between having nothing to hide and allowing overly inquisitive parties unlimited access to your personal accounts. Site visitations are analogous to store visits with Cookies + Cyber DNA = Security Cameras + Points/Credit Cards.

So you *do* have something to hide then? Come on, if you're not doing anything wrong then you don't have anything to worry about. Feel free to PM those sites and passwords to either Kiwi or myself so we can make sure you aren't up to anything we don't think you should be doing. No? Would you feel more comfortable if thousands of government spooks keep an eye on you instead? They should. Especially considering the people you talk to online. Like me for instance.

Exactly!

That's what get's my goat when people use the "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about" argument.

It's not about hiding anything it's about not being spied on and having people peeking through your (cyber) curtains.

Just because someone can see what your doing online, doesn't give them the right to; in my humble opinion anyway. but I may be just an old fashioned coot.

*grabs his walker and shuffles off back to his room in the retirement home*

As I said before, it's no different than then cameras, points/credit cards in shops ... they track your every move and sell off your marketing information for big points. The difference with the internet is that people are more loose/bold with their thoughts .... particularly the more nefarious ones and/or terrorists ..... thus the authorities would be remiss if they didn't monitor. One apple spoils the whole basket as they say.

I think it is different because streets and shops are public spaces so you don't expect privacy. A camera in a store or street is no different to having a person actually standing there watching you.

Internet is monitoring a lot deeper into your privacy and from your own home. Communications between family members and friends should be private. I don't buy into the stupid argument of "well don't use it then." Why should we have to stop using something which has enabled families to stay in touch easily around the world.

Internet is a communication device which has changed the way we communicate and stay in touch, why should we revert back to the dark ages just because some power hungry American politicians think they can spy on the world.

I see the internet as as public as entering a shop. I enter this website and a tourist banner ad comes up enticing me for a holiday in my own region of the world. ie. we know where your from and we are watching your every move. Cookies, creeps, CIA ..... all apart of the internet and why you shouldn't flap your jaw too much, I guess.

Incidentally, I still think that it's much safer security wise then the old telephone and address system .... where people would have their addresses listed in the phone book and their name posted with their address number on their driveway. That's a dinosaur nowadays because crooks would just call homes to see if you were there and then drive to the listed address to case the place.

I'm thinking more about all the private storage facilities online where we keep stuff locked away behind passwords and privacy settings so only people we want to see them can see them, places like dropbox, google drive, OneDrive. They are private and I know they're private because I put passwords and protection in place to make them private , except the NSA have backdoor hacks to get into them.

A few months ago I remember a big news story of how Google increased the encryption between their data centers in an attempt (or perceived attempt) to make life extra difficult for NSA hackers to access the data stored in their systems because they don't agree with NSA being able to see private information - Which is pretty ironic coming from Google, but there ya go.

I don't often use those public, private storage facilities. I was recently hired by a documentary film company that requested I share the files with them via one of those mediums. That worked well and even if somebody eavesdropped or 'borrowed' them - there is/was absolutely nothing they could do with this information. Again, it really depends on what data you are dealing with and how redistribution of said data can ultimately affect you. Some more dire than others, for many it's a don't care situation.

One in four apps excessive in mining your personal data

One in four apps on an Android mobile phone is loaded with an excessive number of un-related "trackers" that are funnelling valuable personal information to third parties.

Professor Seneviratne said the big number of free flashlight apps showed many developers were creating ones loaded with trackers that can collect location data, photos and call logs.

"The trackers are leaking a huge range of data like contacts and your browser history to third parties so they can build a picture of you."



Read the full story

No such thing as a free lunch ..... or app.etizer

Seriously Joe? Have you ever heard of Linux? Have you ever heard of a non profit, people just doing things for the good of each other? You sound like some old gray haired conservative american geezer who loves to tell everyone how you do everything on your own with no help from anyone.

"I see the internet as as public as entering a shop.-- all apart of the internet and why you shouldn't flap your jaw too much"

So the world should watch what it says and keep it's mouth shut about things that those in power might not like hearing, egh? What a great way of thinking, sounds slightly cowardice. The ability to conduct yourself online with some degree of privacy could mean the difference between life and death or being locked in prison for simply saying the wrong thing in parts of the world. But you yourself don't need to worry about things like that in plush and comfy canada. It's ok if lord harper and rogers record everything you do because they are doing it to keep you "safe".

I've got a couple of good friends who work (erm... slave) for a nonprofit. They make a little above minimum wage and have a mountain of debt. Free lunch ..... on their nickel. Great stuff! Not really. This website appears to be free ... but is it really?

Actually, I'd rather a world with a little bit of internet (in)security over a world full of wikileak type weasel-anarchists who'd sell their best friend/colleague/employer out for a song on the first downer of a day they encounter.

Check out this Mikko Hyppönen's interesting lecture where you get wind of whats going on in internet privacy.

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