The government is spying on you via your webcam

[medusala]

No end to this sort of stuff, what was deemed to be conspiracy theory now turns out to be true.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo

Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal.
GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases

Edit: mods, sorry, probably could have gone on modern heroes thread below.

 

[Power Raid]

I would be more surprised if they didn't . Why not keep massive databases to review in the case of terrorism or kiddie crimes.

I know they already tap phones and emails so why not other data?

 

[DivideandMultiply]

I would be more surprised if they didn't . Why not keep massive databases to review in the case of terrorism or kiddie crimes.

I know they already tap phones and emails so why not other data?

But it wasn't for terrorism, it was for everybody. Plus they kept all non relevant data.

 

[Pie eyed]

I plan to video tape the lives of all our prominent politicians in office and in their retirement...until their death, which I intend to broadcast.

I think it's in the public interest and I don't trust any of them.

 

[Lester Burnham]

I plan to video tape the lives of all our prominent politicians in office and in their retirement...until their death, which I intend to broadcast.

I think it's in the public interest and I don't trust any of them.

I can see you. Stop picking your nose.

 

[Pie eyed]

That's not my nose.....

 

[Power Raid]

But it wasn't for terrorism, it was for everybody. Plus they kept all non relevant data.

You don't just identify the terrorist and then data collect.

You record everything, then sort by key words or other triggers such as jurisdiction to identify issues before they happen.

Or after an event, secure a charge by reviewing the data already collected as part of a blanket data collection.

 

[DivideandMultiply]

You don't just identify the terrorist and then data collect.

You record everything, the sort by key words or other triggers such as jurisdiction to identify issues before they happen.

Or after an event, secure a charge by reviewing the data already collected as part of a blanket data collection.

This stuff isn't aimed at stopping terrorists, it is aimed at collecting data for the sake of collecting data.

 

[Pie eyed]

This stuff isn't aimed at stopping terrorists, it is aimed at collecting data for the sake of collecting data.

Collect the data, then decide who you want to appear to be the "terrorist", spend a little time spinning the public then get rid of whoever you don't like, legally and with the support of the masses.

The danger is never the data, only who has it.....

 

[Power Raid]

This stuff isn't aimed at stopping terrorists, it is aimed at collecting data for the sake of collecting data.

All I am suggesting is this is nothing new. Only the format has changed.

 

[DivideandMultiply]

All I am suggesting is this is nothing new. Only the format has changed.

A lot has changed, both in scope, access and in terms of legality. This is massive data collection and retention, all without warrant or just cause.

 

[blackcat]

A lot has changed, both in scope, access and in terms of legality. This is massive data collection and retention, all without warrant or just cause.

exponentially greater. ad infinitum.

where are the philosophers in the gov't to put a firebreak up? or even the thinkwanks on the beltway. if they are not more useless, this is the best example of their utility, (lack thereof), besides them being a massive corporate and gov't agitprop device to enable foreign excursions for freedom.

 

[blackcat]

This stuff isn't aimed at stopping terrorists, it is aimed at collecting data for the sake of collecting data.

bureaucracy mission creep

they dont even know, or have a coherent policy. the end is just "more is better, and better is more". information as end inandof itself.

 

[JeffDunne]

The title is somewhat misleading.

The story is about intercepting transmissions of web chats and not hacking into your webcam as such. It's also about collecting images rather than video.

Anyone who assumes what's transmitted via the internet cannot be intercepted is naive. Further to that, if you use a company website or an application to transmit anything via the net, that company has access to everything you use it for. Not sure I'd be any more comfortable with a company spying on me than I would the government.

I work on the assumption that every website, their hosts, my ISP and the government have access to everything I do online. I've had this attitude ever since I first started using the internet.

 

[blackcat]

The title is somewhat misleading.

The story is about intercepting transmissions of web chats and not hacking into your webcam as such. It's also about collecting images rather than video.

Anyone who assumes what's transmitted via the internet cannot be intercepted is naive. Further to that, if you use a company website or an application to transmit anything via the net, that company has access to everything you use it for. Not sure I'd be any more comfortable with a company spying on me than I would the government.

I work on the assumption that every website, their hosts, my ISP and the government have access to everything I do online. I've had this attitude ever since I first started using the internet.

atleast with a company their motive is pretty clear. they either want your money, or wish to protect their own money.

 

[Tas]

I wouldn't want to be in the department responsible for watching video of slobs rubbing one out on their web cams on pr0n sites.

 

[Power Raid]

I wouldn't want to be in the department responsible for watching video of slobs rubbing one out on their web cams on pr0n sites.

lol

that said, the job may still appeal to some. it would be even funnier, if the government on sold the images or created their own aussiesrubbingoneout.gov.au

 

[DivideandMultiply]

The title is somewhat misleading.

The story is about intercepting transmissions of web chats and not hacking into your webcam as such. It's also about collecting images rather than video.

Anyone who assumes what's transmitted via the internet cannot be intercepted is naive. Further to that, if you use a company website or an application to transmit anything via the net, that company has access to everything you use it for. Not sure I'd be any more comfortable with a company spying on me than I would the government.

I work on the assumption that every website, their hosts, my ISP and the government have access to everything I do online. I've had this attitude ever since I first started using the internet.

There used to be a website, where people would upload links to hacked, unsecured or public webcam feeds. Everything from shipyards, to maternity wards, to personal cams that people just leave on. Probably still exists.

 

[evo]

it really is 1984 stuff, isnt it.

 

[Power Raid]

it really is 1984 stuff, isnt it.

sure but who has anything to hide?

 

[slicedndiced]

I remember the days when one of our Governments, (Hawke, Keating, Howard? I honestly can't remember), tried to introduce an "Australian Identity Card", ( I think that was the name).

But it was shitcanned because of the public outcry in regards to our personal privacy.

Those were the days.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I plan to video tape the lives of all our prominent politicians in office and in their retirement...until their death, which I intend to broadcast.

I think it's in the public interest and I don't trust any of them.

At last we may get an answer as to why Andrew Peacock called The Honourable John Winston Howard 'Tugboat' Johnny. Then again, once known never unknown again

 

[Atavistic]

sure but who has anything to hide?

Everyone.

 

[blackcat]

At last we may get an answer as to why Andrew Peacock called The Honourable John Winston Howard 'Tugboat' Johnny. Then again, once known never unknown again

Pru Goward neutralised said epithet

 

[Power Raid]

Everyone.

I am very comfortable with my life including my failures, indiscretions and embarrassments. Sure I wouldn't like them broadcasted in some irrational or insensitive wiki leaks way but to be recorded and keep on file would mean nothing to me.