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Big brother IS watching you, right here on the internet

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Craven Morehead, Oct 18, 2013.

  1. I'm not a tinfoil hate/black helicopter kind of guy....... however, here's a piece of technology that sure plays into some people's paranoia.

    Geofeedia - Search & Monitor Social Media by Location

    The software provides geo-tagged social media posts in a format that can be mapped. Think of all the mindless crap that gets posted on Twitter or other sites. Now, consider law enforcement with the capability to focus on those posts specific to a location. Wanna post a picture of your new bong? Think you're anonymous when you post a nude selfie? Its now like standing naked in front of your windows for the whole world to see, and that window is right next to your house number.

    The whole world's watching.
     
  2. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    As amazing as that is, I can only imagine what types of things will come in the next decade or three. Like you, I'm not a paranoid type. Some of this stuff is actually good for combatting real crime. But it can be scary to think of what can be found out by the tracking of simple things like traffic cameras, cell phones, and social media.
     
  3. Law enforcement and fire departments in some areas are monitoring social media to identify 'events' that might require their presence. Twitter evidently gets updated sooner than calls come into 911. This is one tool that can be deployed. It is like the blue light cameras in Chicago, only this is focused on internet activity.
     
  4. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Reminds me of this image:
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    Oh, this is a fun topic.

    The thing about the internet is that stuff you cast out there stays out there pretty much forever, and a lot of people aren't terribly careful about whether or not that stuff leads back to them, or how easily. So we're broadcasting all of this information into a medium that is by nature distributed and perpetual. And I think many (most) people haven't figured out the implications of this, or how to deal with it yet. I don't even know how you do that.

    I have a thought that things like Prism are inevitable. You put this thing out into the world and it lets you track people's movements, activities, and opinions. And you expect that to not be abused. It's kind of naive.

    Fun fact: Modern digital cameras often come equipped with a GPS receiver, and attach hidden location information to photos they take. This feature can be turned off but in many cameras it's on by default. So yeah, that anonymous selfie? Maybe not as anonymous as you think.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. This is a big reason why I'm an advocate of "don't put anything on the internet you wouldn't want your (future) children, parents, or boss to see."

    There's security through obscurity (like the members-only section of this forum, for instance) that does an okay job at getting rid of the rest of the world from snooping through your stuff, but if Big Brother really wants access to that e-mail that you sent, or that picture that you posted, they can very easily bully their way into getting it.

    This is why I just act like my goofy, idiotic self everywhere I go; internet or otherwise. :D

    This also brings to mind that big story about the new iPhones having fingerprint scanners built in, and how easily those could be hacked/manipulated. That's a whole other can of worms.

    EDIT:
    The other thing that came to my head was the Cards Against Humanity card "Mr. Clean, right behind you." I guess Mr. Clean has turned rogue.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2013
  7. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    It's called EXIF data, and has been around for years and years. It is a good thing for me since I can get a map of where in the world and at what time I took a picture.

    Why is all of this stuff 'new'? Yes, I was a computer geek in the 90s, but I figured all of this stuff out a long time ago. How do you think a lot of the guys with child porn on their computers got caught?

    If I really wanted to be paranoid and protected from 'The Man', I would know how to do it. There is a reason why I have never paid for an internet account through an ISP... But, I don't have the time to put in to ensure that every way to figure out who I am is closed.
     
  8. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    It's not new, but it's still pretty relevant. Honestly, now that everyone and their cat is online it's more relevant than ever.

    There are kids entering college now who've always had an online presence of some form. There are kids in grade school now who've never known a world without Facebook. Our ability to share information, and to share ourselves, has grown in an unprecedented fashion, and I don't think we've come to terms with it as a society just yet.


    And there's your story. It's not about whether it's hypothetically possible to go "off the grid." It's about how practical is it. Where's the tradeoff? Where should the tradeoff be? And how do we navigate that?
     
  9. MSD

    MSD Very Tilted

    Location:
    CT
    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 4