Guys, this is NOT getting the attention it deserves in the USA but it’s really getting a lot of attention in Europe. I’ve been told by some folks that are privy to such things that it’s actually WORSE than what is being reported.
I’ve known about this for a long time and for years in my organization we have not been allowed to discuss anything of any importance over regular email or text messages because we KNOW we’re being spied upon.
Most of my friends and all my colleagues use WhatsApp for our coms and it’s great because it works all over the world and you can do voice or video calls encrypted end to end.
The new standard is Signal (you can find it in your App Store) and I encourage you all to switch to it and get your friends and family to do the same. Not only is it secure and private but it will also avoid the spying by goggle marketing and sales on your phone app text messages.
That other topic as I suspected was a political difference of opinion from a meltdown/resistance to reality type.
I got a link to my hidden post:
They did not like my encouragement to our community to contact their representatives about their concerns fine tuning action on what they want action on, like and besides promoting the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
It was not offensive except that did not want us encouraging each other to be politically active.
They aren’t even trying to hide it. The SAY IT on Thier Web Site
From the Web Sitr
“What if we could build a national data warehouse containing information about every person in the United States? Thanks to secret interpretations of the PATRIOT ACT, top-secret Fourth Amendment exceptions allowed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and broad cooperation at the local, state, and federal level, we can!”
" What Data We Collect
Every day, people leave a digital trail of electronic breadcrumbs as they go about their daily routine. They go to work using electronic fare cards; drive through intersections with traffic cameras; walk down the street past security cameras; surf the internet; pay for purchases with credit/debit cards; text or call their friends; and on and on.
There is no way to predict in advance which crucial piece of data will be the key to revealing a potential plot. The standard operating procedure for the Domestic Surveillance Directorate is to “collect all available information from all available sources all the time, every time, always”."
I don’t know much about Edward Snowden, but I heard him speak once about it not being hard for our phones and computers to be hacked. I’m not trying sound like a ‘worrywart’ per se, but do like my privacy and security.
This is only going to become increasingly predominant with the advent of AI being added to everyone’s phone .
Some companies utilize AI-powered systems to “listen” to ambient conversations near your phone, potentially capturing personal discussions without your knowledge.
Hackers could potentially exploit vulnerabilities in your phone’s AI system to listen in on your conversations if they gain access to your device.
If you have sensitive conversations, consider turning off your phone’s microphone or using a private communication app also carefully review which apps have access to your microphone and restrict access when not needed.
Sadly even these measure might fall short. Many phones have a feature called “quick start” or “fast boot” mode, which allows them to boot up more quickly when turned on again. This feature keeps some phone components running even when turned off, such as the radio, sensors, and memory.
I’v been on the inside of the Telecom industry working on advanced technologies for decades and even I forget how much they already know and continuously gather about you. The biggest punch in the face was a few years back when I took a picture of a ceiling fan in my doctor’s office and sent it to my wife on a text message to show her how nice it was. NEXT FREAKING DAY!!! I had a google ad with a picture of the SAME ceiling fan on my Facebook feed.
For many years I and ALL my colleagues and business associates have been using WhatsApp for critical conversations and information exchanges not even trusting our own company email systems which are powered by Google and Microsoft in most cases because we KNOW they are not secure.
Now there are better apps out there so I’m switching my whole family and every friend I can to Signal. I know as a fact that every “operator” I know nowadays uses Signal for their personal coms. That should tell you something…
Been using VPN and Signal ever since it became known ISPs and wireless providers were selling our data to the government. Signal had received funding from the CIA at one point, so I’d take their claims of secure communications with a bag of salt, but still a good app.
I use Session, which is based on Signal. Run it on my Android and Linux laptop. Admittedly most of my friends and relatives don’t bother. Just too easy for people to go with the default mobile messaging apps on their phones and share their phone numbers. And most ask, “Why? I have nothing to hide.” Security does require some effort and discipline.
I looked for some Alloy 10 hardware, something that 99.99% of people on this planet wouldn’t know anything about, next thin I know I got, you guessed it, Alloy 10 adds in my InBox, Pop Up’s on my browser…
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