
A paranoid guide to fighting the 'bugging epidemic' - bookofjoe
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/technology/surveillance-bugging-protection.html
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saagarjha
> Tiny cameras have been found in places where they shouldn’t be, like Airbnb
> rentals, public bathrooms and gym locker rooms. So often, in fact, that
> security experts warn that we are in the throes of a “bugging epidemic.”

Even more concerning, I feel, is cameras in places where they "should" be,
like on every street corner, in stores, or in drones. If you place a camera
surreptitiously in a place it shouldn't be and someone finds it, you're going
to jail, somewhat limiting their use. There are no consequences to the latter,
which means they're everywhere and people have come to accept them, meaning
they may end up _more_ invasive overall.

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jdnenej
I don't have any problems with security cameras that simply store their video
for a few weeks and then delete it. In the case of a crime or other real need
for the data the owner can pull that bit of video off.

The problem comes with cameras that will be constantly monitored by ai with
facial recognition networked up to some mega tracking datacenter. We have no
way of knowing which one the camera operates at.

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bloaf
I am seriously interested in a device which will spam garbage to the smart
devices in my house so that the companies monitoring my data will not be able
to extract anything useful.

E.g. some kind of speech synthesizer which mimics my voice and sends
engineered requests to Alexa while I'm not around.

E.g. A GPS spoofer that will occasionally tell my phone that I am visiting
places I don't.

E.g. A browser extension to send random browsing info to trackers.

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anonytrary
Sounds like you'd want this, but for it to truly work, you could also end up
suffering. For example:

> A GPS spoofer that will occasionally tell my phone that I am visiting places
> I don't.

Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll
question your own sanity.

> some kind of speech synthesizer which mimics my voice and sends engineered
> requests to Alexa while I'm not around.

Sure, but then you're liable for everything your spoofer says if it truly
isn't distinguishable from your own voice. If it is distinguishable, then it
defeats the purpose of hiding your true behavior in the first place.

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yorwba
> Sure, but the next time you want to see your Google Maps history, you'll
> question your own sanity.

Indeed I'd question my sanity, as I can usually remember roughly where I've
been yesterday and don't see much use in looking up where I'd been a year ago.
Of course I might be missing out on something, since I don't use Google Maps
at all. (I prefer OpenStreetMap.)

In what kind of situation is being able to look up one's own location history
actually useful?

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anonytrary
> In what kind of situation is being able to look up one's own location
> history actually useful?
    
    
      1. Remembering the name of a restaurant you went to two weeks ago.
      2. Tracing your steps to look for something you might have lost.
      3. Proving you were somewhere at a certain time.
      4. Documenting a trip you took in the past.
    

The more personal information you generate, the more technology can help you.
But if that information is tarnished or does not exist, then so too are the
insights and benefits.

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jdnenej
And in the many years I have had a smartphone I have never once had a reason
to look up my location history.

~~~
anonytrary
You're a single data point, so I'm not sure what your conclusion could even
be.

~~~
jdnenej
That android should not be by default tracking every user and sending a of
that data to google since most users aren't aware it is even happening and
most users have no use for this data. They know where they have been.

~~~
anonytrary
You're cherrypicking. A user does not need to know what or how much data they
produce in order for that data to do useful work for them. I've already
explained why a recent location history could be useful to a location-
suggestion algorithm.

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cjsawyer
Let’s not forget about smart phones with always on microphones, voice
assistant speakers, IoT devices, and laptop webcams. What a world we’ve built!

