Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Truly scary - electronic surveillance in your home and neighborhood over which you have no control

 

Bruce Wilds points out that the state and big business have made so many inroads into our personal freedoms that we have very little privacy left.  Basically, we've freely handed over to them the knowledge they're going to use to manipulate us.


Many people claim they have nothing to hide and use that as the reason they don't object to the expanding web of surveillance being weaved over them. These people ignore the fact we are surrendering our right to freedom when we as a society go down this path. The reality is that when someone knows all about you and your deepest thought they gain tremendous power over you. This is directly linked to the ability to control you.

. . .

This has drastically increased the fear of speaking out, which, was at one time considered a mainstay of a free society. The more I know and learn, the more appalled I have become concerning the direction society is taking mankind. Rather than making us freer, modern society is slowly squeezing and tamping down our right to go about life unimpeded and with a minimum of barriers blocking our ability to, shall we say, "freely move about the cabin."

This has gone to the point where our government thinks it should supply the poor and indigent with free computers and the internet to level the playing field. This in turn forces the rest of us to move in the direction of being "connected" or becoming irrelevant. Of course, being connected means it becomes easier for big brother to watch your every move and allows those in power to exert more control over those under their watchful eye.

. . .

Mainstream media continues to condition people to accept public surveillance and a Big Brother state under the umbrella of COVID or the greater good. Tax money has and continues to be diverted from more important venues to fund spying on the innocent and taking attention away from the guilty. This has created a scenario in which the noose will only continue to tighten around the neck of mankind.


There's more at the link.

Mr. Wilds cites as an example this video on how devices such as Amazon's Echo "smart speakers", Ring "smart doorbells" and similar products from other companies are invading our privacy.  The excerpt I've embedded below (from 12m. 35sec. to 15m. 44sec. if you watch the video in native mode on YouTube) is just over 3 minutes long.  It's truly scary in its implications for our privacy.  Please take 3 minutes to watch it, and think about what this means for you and "Big Brother".



Makes you think, doesn't it?  Literally everything you say and do around your home is being recorded on central computers over which you have no control.  Can you imagine a more perfect foundation for a "social credit score" such as China is implementing?  If anyone wants to know what sort of person you are, or what your political or cultural or religious opinions are, all they have to do is gain access to that central database - and you may never know that they have.

Even worse, similar capabilities are now being built into devices such as television sets, which record your channel and programming preferences, what you're doing while you watch TV (and while you're not watching), and so on.  It all gets sent to a central computer system that analyzes your behavior, then sells that information to marketers trying to figure out how best to manipulate you into buying their products.

That's why I will never allow such systems into my home:  and, if I ever have to use a TV or other system with such capabilities, it'll be permanently blocked from accessing the Internet.  If it can't function without such access, I'll do without it.

Peter


8 comments:

Divemedic said...

So no cell phone? No computers? No car?

Andrew Smith said...

Smart speakers are bought by dumb people.

Justin_O_Guy said...

Just because you don't THINK you have something to hide doesn't mean someone can't find a way to screw you over. As long as you are not a valuable enough target, meh,but If you're reading this blog, you're probably on Some list. Alexa is not welcome in our home. I don't have a cell phone. Of course the wifely unit is never more than feet away from hers. I'd feel comfortable saying Someone within a half mile has one, though.
I remember all those years ago when someone had a Wardrobe Malfunction during the halftime show of a stupor Bowl and the next day it was on the news how many people rewound the video and watched it again.
If they knew
How many
Did they also know
Who?

APL said...

Don't have Echo, or Siri, it was obvious what an intrusion those devices were. Do have a samsung smart TV but the voice control is off. yes mobile phones - probably more than a respectable household should admit to owning.

So, yea, I'm screwed.

5stonegames said...

If/when there is change of management so to speak, anyone who is all "let businesses do what they want." has to be assumed to be working for Team Evil and treated accordingly.

Frankly the new management will have to be ready/able and willing to control the technological monstrosity we've created for the greater good.

Anything that impairs family formation has to go period, if people can't learn some basic skills, get married, stay married and raise kids to adulthood while passing on our traditions because of some piece of tech , free trade or whatever else that whatever else has to go.

The real truth is simple, you can have maximal market efficiency or a future. Pick one.

Chip Anderson said...

PAN(Personal Area Network), CAN(Controller Area Network), etc. are becoming ubiquitous. You do not live in the matrix, you live in the mesh.

Guy Jean said...

For some practical solutions, check out The Privacy Guy on YT and on Odysee.

Brick Hardslab said...

If you have a tv, telephone, radio, etc you can be under surveillance without any computer involved on your end whatsoever. Smart phones, computers, etc. just make it easier.

Dean Ing had several articles about it decides ago.