The National Security Agency (NSA) didn’t follow some of its own required procedures meant to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens, a new report by the NSA’s Inspector General revealed Monday.
“Surveillance Society”
The British Warn Americans: UK Has Suffered Under These Cameras, Now Buttigieg Wants Them Stateside
The Biden administration is embracing a vision of the United States that turns the nation into a massive speed trap, according to critics of a plan to put speed cameras on American highways.
Saying that Americans “need a national change of mentality,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week called for increasing the use of speed cameras as part of his national transportation plan, which decides how much of the massive infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year will be spent.
The Federal Government does not have the right to mandate this, but it won’t stop them from trying.
WARMINGTON: Border surveillance app sounds like 1984 but very much 2022
Even George Orwell didn’t write of a surveillance tool like this.
In the name of preventing COVID-19 spread through Canada’s border points, a new information tracking app now being utilized is either a modern way of keeping the country safe or something dystopian out of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four novel warning of totalitarianism.
I hope others follow suit.
Dutch truckers first to follow in Canada demonstration
THE EU could be on the verge of more haulage woes as Dutch lorry drivers appeared to join in their Canadian cousins in their “freedom convoy” protest against mandatory Covid vaccines.
h/t TB
The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon
In June 2019, three Israeli computer engineers arrived at a New Jersey building used by the F.B.I. They unpacked dozens of computer servers, arranging them on tall racks in an isolated room. As they set up the equipment, the engineers made a series of calls to their bosses in Herzliya, a Tel Aviv suburb, at the headquarters for NSO Group, the world’s most notorious maker of spyware. Then, with their equipment in place, they began testing.
The F.B.I. had bought a version of Pegasus, NSO’s premier spying tool. For nearly a decade, the Israeli firm had been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what no one else — not a private company, not even a state intelligence service — could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.
How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)
Here’s a fun thought experiment; picture the amount of personal data you think tech companies keep on you. Now, realize it’s actually way more than that (hmm, maybe this isn’t that fun). Even as privacy and security become more talked about in consumer tech, the companies behind our favorite products are collecting more and more of our data. How much? Well, if you want to know the information, say, Amazon has on you, there is a way to find out. And it’s a lot.
h/t Todd
Big Brother Alert! US Gov’t Submitted More Info Requests To Twitter Than Any Other Country
Twitter VP Sinéad McSweeney warned of unprecedented authorities crackdowns on free speech and requests for surveillance of web customers within the platform’s newest transparency report.
It speaks volumes when Huge Tech executives sound the alarm on censorship. “In a change from our final reporting interval, the USA grew to become the one largest supply of presidency info requests with 3,026 requests, accounting for twenty-four% of the worldwide quantity we acquired throughout this era,” Twitter defined in the transparency report issued on Jan. 25. “These requests accounted for 27% of all accounts specified from around the globe and Twitter complied, in entire or partly, with 68% of those U.S. info requests.” “We’re going through unprecedented challenges as governments around the globe more and more try and intervene and take away content material,” the report quoted firm Vice President of World Public Coverage and Philanthropy McSweeney as saying. “This menace to privateness and freedom of expression is a deeply worrying pattern that requires our full consideration.”
Google sued in US over ‘deceptive’ location tracking
Google is being sued in the US over accusations it deceived people about how to control location tracking.
The legal action refers to a widely reported 2018 revelation turning off one location-tracking setting in its apps was insufficient to fully disable the feature.
It accuses Google of using so-called dark patterns, marketing techniques that deliberately confuse.
IRS to demand facial recognition ID
A new kind of digital identification, requiring the user to submit their personal data to a private company in Virginia – including a live video of their face from their cell phone or computer webcam – will be the only way Americans can create an account with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) starting by the summer of 2022.
Old log-in credentials will stop working later this year, and the only way to log into irs.gov will be by using ID.me, an online identity verification service run by a company in McLean, Virginia, just outside the Capital Beltway. This is according to investigative journalist Brian Krebs, who went through the procedure of creating an account for himself this week.
CSIS survey finds majority of Canadians leery of giving more powers to police, intelligence agencies
A poll commissioned by Canada’s spy agency early last year found that a slight majority of Canadians are opposed to expanding the powers of police and intelligence agencies.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service hired EKOS Research Associates to survey the public’s attitudes toward the agency, which is responsible for conducting foreign interference and influence operations, and for countering spying and terrorism.
When asked if police and intelligence agencies should have more powers to carry out security operations, even if the boost in authority came at the cost of personal privacy, 52 per cent of respondents said they disagreed with the idea. Another 32 per cent said they agreed, and 13 per cent said they neither agreed nor disagreed.
Quietly and over some objections, national digital vaccine card has emerged
Whether they realize it or not, about 200 million people in the United States now likely have access to a Covid-19 digital vaccine card.
The digital pass known as the SMART Health Card is voluntary and minimal by design to protect personal information. It has a person’s name, date of birth and the dates and brands of vaccination doses, all contained within a type of scannable bar code known as a QR code.
And after a relatively quiet start, it has built momentum in recent months as more states and companies have signed on, making it something of a de facto national digital vaccine card.
RCMP Releases Guide to Reporting Suspicious Incidents
OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2022 /CNW/ – The RCMP, in collaboration with various law enforcement partners, has produced a guide to inform and assist Canadians on how and when to report suspicious incidents to police with a view to keeping Canadians safe.
The public is an important ally in the fight against criminal activities. If anyone is concerned that someone is considering, planning, or preparing to commit an act of violence, or is supporting, inciting or counselling others in committing violent acts, they should immediately contact their local police service or the RCMP.
RCMP Commish Brenda Lucki Goes Full STASI Calls For Nation Of Informers To Criminalize Dissent
RCMP Commish urges people to tell them when they spot ‘anti-government’ opinions on Net
“When in doubt, report it,” Commissioner Brenda Lucki said in a statement.
“Canadians go about their daily lives and routines. It’s easy to overlook the seemingly ordinary moments that make up our days.”
The RCMP yesterday issued a guide that encouraged Internet users to watch for people with suspicious politics or “anti-authority” views that “include anti-government, anti-law enforcement and anarchist” opinions or “grievance-driven ideologies.”
Like Islam or Antifa? I kid myself.
Opposition MPs call for emergency probe of health agency’s use of Canadians’ mobile data during COVID
OTTAWA — All three main opposition parties are calling for a review of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s plan to continue using anonymized cellphone location data of Canadians to track travel patterns during the pandemic.
Justice Dept. creating unit focused on domestic terrorism
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, the department’s top national security official told lawmakers Tuesday as he described an “elevated” threat from violent extremists in the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, testifying just days after the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, said the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic violent extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020.
Ain’t we Lucki…
.@CommrRCMPGRC Brenda Lucki says Canadians should report suspicious #internet activity including comments by people who express "anti-government, anti-law enforcement" opinions. https://t.co/q1hec3ZMGt @rcmpgrcpolice #RCMP #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/KrE35Luapl
— Holly Doan (@hollyanndoan) January 11, 2022