We really are being spied on!!!

[ultrarunner]

Noticed when looking to buy something online like tires or travel I would later be inundated with ads...

Thing is it was ALWAYS after I had made my purchase...

I'm probably one of the last with a working Apple // and Win98 computer along with Rotary and DSL and Rabbit Ears...

Last month had the option on the work phone to pay for a data plan and after holding out forever now have one...

Smart Phone comes in handy but I much prefer a monitor...

 

[California]

If we go to crazy places it may come back to haunt us, but if a neighbor was into kiddie **** or such I'd hope his web traffic would trigger something somewhere.

Pray the weird neighbor hasn't learned how to post through your router!

 

[California]

It has occurred to me that a cyberattack on not just Alexa etc but even including the dumb 'Smart Plugs' that only control outlets or lights, could bring the country to its knees. This is because you have to give the vendor access into your router for the device to be reachable from your phone.

Your phone command doesn't go straight from phone to device, it goes to the vendor's website then comes back down to the device. Get a bad actor into that website, possibly located overseas, and the result could be a nationwide mess. Garage doors opened or front doors unlocked, lights turned off everywhere, think frightening music coming out of baby monitors. Chaos. There's a price, and a risk, for so much connectedness.

In addition to unwanted commands sent to your devices, the access into your router that the vendor needs to make all this work, may make your pc etc hackable too. We're living in a whole new world.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Heard this....a small group of office workers set up a meeting to discus a retirement gift for fellow worker. It was confirmed, no one thought, spoke of, or had searched anything related to a cruise for weeks etc etc. The guy retiring had no interest in cruising.

Had the meeting, one person suggested a cruise and with in hours they were all hammered with ads for cruises.

 

[lman]

I guess I'm missing out. I see no ads as I use an adblock extension in my browser and use a DVR to skip ads on TV. Hope you guys enjoy the ads.

 

[SylvainG]

That's why the brain of my system is an open sourced project (Home Assistant) running locally on a Raspberry Pie, not in the cloud. Alexa is just a 'guest' to this system and I decide what it can see or not.

My smart plugs are meant to be cloud based, but I flashed an open source firmware on them (Tasmota, to which I've personally contributed) so they have no internet access.

If I were to lose Internet access, beside voice commands through Alexa, everything would keep working.

It has occurred to me that a cyberattack on not just Alexa etc but even including the dumb 'Smart Plugs' that only control outlets or lights, could bring the country to its knees. This is because you have to give the vendor access into your router for the device to be reachable from your phone.

Your phone command doesn't go straight from phone to device, it goes to the vendor's website then comes back down to the device. Get a bad actor into that website, possibly located overseas, and the result could be a nationwide mess. Garage doors opened or front doors unlocked, lights turned off everywhere, think frightening music coming out of baby monitors. Chaos. There's a price, and a risk, for so much connectedness.

In addition to unwanted commands sent to your devices, the access into your router that the vendor needs to make all this work, may make your pc etc hackable too. We're living in a whole new world.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Perhaps I'm a bit paranoid - BUT... I suspect TV's, cell phones, security cameras, etc. are all collecting information to sell to vendors. It has been admitted that traffic CTV cameras have or could be used for identity purposes. All of those have been hacked for illegal purposes.

To further my paranoid-ism, most people know that radios can receive signals same as transmit them. At one time I had used mine for a 2-way intercom from the shop to the house. I'm now wondering if TV's don't have that same capability. Or, without our ever knowing it, there could easily be a camera buried behind the screen. Cameras can easily be disguised as some part of the TV hardware. Perhaps some of our more knowledgeable tech-knows could shed some light on that thought?

 

[Diggin It]

That's why the brain of my system is an open sourced project (Home Assistant) running locally on a Raspberry Pie, not in the cloud. Alexa is just a 'guest' to this system and I decide what it can see or not.

My smart plugs are meant to be cloud based, but I flashed an open source firmware on them (Tasmota, to which I've personally contributed) so they have no internet access.

If I were to lose Internet access, beside voice commands through Alexa, everything would keep working.

Well, if I could flash my brain to be able to do that and not eat the raspberry pie fresh out of the oven .....

 

[MoKelly]

Reading all this I am now wondering if our cars and trucks are also spying. That XM radio thing and OnStar stuff is pretty smart and tracks your locations. They can unlock your doors remotely.

It isn’t a big jump to think they are listening.

MoKelly

 

[the old grind]

Whoever 'they' are it's easy to understand the manpower and reason to spy on us are something to worry about.

No matter which party is in control in Washington both sides have agreed to keep the federal spying crew at full strength, probably hundreds if not thousands tracking our every move.

Yeah, and forensic police work is all about detectives chumming with lab and morgue crews when they're not doing the work themselves.

Anyway, if you're online reading this it's too late. You're next.