Thursday, January 04, 2018

Biometric Tracking: Reading Reflection


"Why should you care? he shouts. Why should you fucking care? We're talking about intelligence gathering on an unprecedented scale. Forget data mining. This is mind rape. The end of privacy as we know it. It's not about advertising, you idiot. It's about power. Control. Sure, the marketing men might be the first to come knocking, but sooner or later this information is going to end up in the hands of agencies whose only interest is the total suppression of your freedom. In the whole of history, no system of mass surveillance had ever existed that hasn't ended up being hijacked by malevolent forces." via  A Spy’s Guide to Thinking ...

In Broadcast, by Liam Brown, a star vlogger is given an opportunity to test-drive a new technology. A small chip is implanted in the base of David's skull, which essentially live-streams his thoughts over the internet 24-7. 
Philosophers, savants, sages, and intellectuals have always been attracted to power. But what are the delusional propensities that led so many to embrace  dictators 

Security flaws place "nearly every" phone and computer at risk

Ad targeters are pulling data from your browser’s password manager The Verge







Documents Reveal the Complex Legacy of James Angleton, CIA Counterintelligence Chief and Godfather of Mass Surveillance The Intercept. “Complex” as in “batsh*t crazy,” a salutary reminder in these days when any intelligence community perjurer, torturer, or entrapment artist can end up as a Hero of the Republic to liberal Democrats








Story image for afr from The Australian Financial ReviewCriminals are dropping bitcoin for another currency: monero


What Would You Pay to Keep Your Digital Footprint 100% Private? HBR


Browser Password Managers Being Exploited to Track Users: Princeton Report




EFF: “Protecting the highly personal location data stored on or generated by digital devices is one of the 21st century’s most important privacy issues. In 2017, the Supreme Court finally took on the question of how law enforcement can get ahold of this sensitive information…EFF filed briefs both encouraging the court to take the case and urging it to reject the Third Party Doctrine. We noted that cell phone usage has exploded in the last 30 years, and with it, the technologies to locate users have gotten ever more precise. We attended the Supreme Court oral argument in Carpenter in late November. While it is always risky to predict the outcome of a case based on the argument, it appears that a number of the justices are concerned about the scope and invasiveness of tracking individuals using cell site location information (CSLI)…” 




“In the past year, Pew Research Center has explored a range of tech-related topics in the news – from online harassment to fake news to net neutrality. Here are some key findings from our research on these and other technology issues.” 


A Cute Toy Just Brought a Hacker Into Your Home NYT

New York State To Motorists: All Your Info Are Belong To Us Medium 





From Snowden To Russia-gate – The CIA And The MediaMoon of Alabama 


Russiagate Is Devolving Into an Effort to Stigmatize DissentThe Nation (and for those who missed Jackson Lears in the London Review of Books, check it out). Russiagate, as I suppose we must call it, is so useful to so many players in the political and national security class — besides being a surefire high-margin clickstream for our famously free press, stenography being cheaper than reporting — that if it existed, it would have not have been necessary invent it.Nobody could have predicted
Jailed Russian says he hacked DNC on Kremlin’s orders and can prove it McClatchy. Drag a dollar bill through the intelligence community, you never know what you’ll find,to adapt James Carville.




Go Ask Alice: the Curious Case of “Alice Donovan”Counterpunch. Initially posted last week, taken down, reposted (and revised and updated– or so I think)




The US government issued these images to help soldiers locate Adolf Hitler, who they believed would try to disguise himself.




People Are Taking Ubers to Avoid Ambulance FeesFuturism (re SilC). This is just crazy. If you’ve  had a stroke or heart attack, you could have a second before you reach the hospital. An ambulance isn’t just for transport, you also get lifesaving treatment from the EMTs– that’s not something your typical Uber driver provides.

Ironically, banks in Mexico lead the way.

By Don Quijones, Spain, UK, & Mexico, editor at WOLF STREET.

In 2018, banks in Mexico will face new regulations that will oblige them to collect biometric data (finger prints and iris scans) on allof their customers. Whenever a customer asks for a new home or car loan, cashes in a paycheck, applies for a credit card or opens a new savings account, the bank in question will have to request the customer’s digital fingerprints and then match those fingerprints with data against information in the database of the National Electoral Institute.