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France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

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Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#251

Post by weberer »

freedomben wrote: post #98
briandon wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And easily physically removable batteries, which used to be the norm and are still available for some devices (like the Nokia C30). It isn't mere coincidence that device manufacturers have made it impossible to power off mobile phones (short of refusing to charge a device) and impossible to positively disconnect ripe-for-abuse subsystems like the microphone(s) or cameras at the same time that governments and other en…

Are you suggesting widespread conspiracy between governments and tech companies? I'm strongly in favor of physical switches and I detest where technology is nowadays, but it seems pretty likely to me that they removed the physical switches because: 1. It simplifies (cheapens) production costs 2. It eliminates points of failure 3. It reduces user error opportunities 4. It makes it easier to waterproof devices 5. It ma…

Widespread conspiracy between governments and tech companies has already been proven.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#253

Post by pessimizer »

littlestymaar wrote: post #63

France has been slowly drifting away from the democratic countries for the past decade, it's disheartening to watch it in real time…

> the democratic countries

Which are those, and how is France worse?

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#254

Post by orangepurple »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #244
orangepurple wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like any app can be installed silently behind your back with GTalkService that is running on your Android phone https://github.com/CellularPrivacy/Android-IMSI-Catcher-Dete... https://jon.oberheide.org/blog/2010/06/28/a-peek-inside-the-... --------------------- Google Play Services spyware discussion https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-insanely-better-bat... https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-disable-s…

It's insecure by design because the NSA has for decades purposefully degraded the security of everything they can get their hands on to make it easier for them and law enforcement to spy on. They don't want you listening in on John Q. Senator's phone calls, but they sure do...

The workaround is to carry around a small insulated faraday cage for your phone which blocks cellular reception, transmits bogus GPS signals locating yourself as a random wanderer, and plays television series reruns 24/7 at low volume into the microphone.

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#255

Post by caditinpiscinam »

Emma_Goldman wrote: post #136
msoad wrote: post #12

[flagged]

I've always hated the phrase 'ACAB', and I say this as someone whose username is Emma Goldman. It's the institution, and its functional role in society, that's the structural problem. There are many well-intentioned, conscientious individuals in the police force. It is somewhat similar to the question of the attribution of moral blame for unjust wars. It is almost universally recognized that unjust wars are the fault…

> There are many well-intentioned, conscientious individuals in the police force

That's the issue though, I don't think this is true. Everything I've experienced personally and heard from others has shown me that cops will either 1) treat people like human punching bags or 2) stand by and laugh (or politely look away). Every single account I've seen from cops who've tried to stand up against police brutality has ended with that cop being retaliated against by their peers and fired.

If your premise were correct, then I agree that the slogan would be inappropriate. But I think the reality is that the police, as an institution, are extremely good at either excluding or converting otherwise well-intentioned, conscientious individuals.

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#257

Post by michael1999 »

cm2187 wrote: post #105

I am confused. Are they mandating a backdoor, or is there already a backdoor, or are they allowing the police to exploit zero days? If it is the latter, it is sad that the authorities assume weak security as a given.

They are already doing via exploits, or via carrier injection, but this might have been illegal given the various anti-hacking laws around. So the legislature is granting explicit permission for the police to do this.

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#258

Post by michael1999 »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #199
tiedieconderoga wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They may have access to backdoors in the baseband firmwares. The baseband is an opaque binary blob that operates outside of the phone's main OS, and its contents are usually considered a trade secret by the manufacturer since it handles low-level hardware interactions with the main radios/etc. Personally, I would be surprised if those systems weren't compromised by agreement. It's already common to see criminals and…

Do the cameras/microphones need to be controlled by the baseband? Naively they seem like they should be at a slightly higher level than the main radios, and should be controlled exclusively by the OS. I'm guessing from your comment there's some reason that's not the case though?

The microphone does need to be connected to the phone. Not so much the camera.

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#259

Post by someplaceguy »

rtkwe wrote: post #49
hinata08 wrote: post #34

I regret getting a pixel, and not a fairphone with a removable battery With the current level of oversight on the police (police of police is a meme by now), and the level of cybersecurity at the government, everyone's phones will be activated within a few months. At least some government agent will have fun watching what ppl visit on the internet during their spare time, and can enable the camera to watch what they'…

There's always the faraday bag or simply not taking it to your meeting/activity that have been the recommended options for opsec even when phones had removable batteries.

Regarding the Faraday bag, as I mentioned in another comment, that is not useful because the phone could be recording your audio anyway and then just transmit it later when you take it out of the bag. What you'd really want is some kind of soundproof box, but I'm not sure if an effective one exists because microphones can be sensitive and audio recordings can be amplified.

Re: France passes bill to allow police remotely activate phone camera, microphone

#260

Post by atlantic »

I keep my phone stored in a pouch, so the mic is muffled and the camera blocked, when not in use. If I want to go somewhere without being tracked, I leave it at home. I've done this for years. I always act on the assumption that I'm under surveillance.
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