Time to invest in a stick-on sliding webcam cover. Fortunately, terrorists would never think of such a thing.
GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
61–70 of 323 posts
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, because for political purposes, a compromising photo has far better blackmail value than other data.
But you can't use that blackmail tool without revealing that you were spying illegally. Revealing that would be worse for the blackmailer than the blackmailee.
Revealing that would be worse for the blackmailer than the blackmailee.
Isn't that a bit optimistic? As things typically work out today, no official would ever be personally identified and held to account in court if something like this "accidentally" leaked. Meanwhile, the subject of the leak could have their life destroyed any number of ways, even if the image that gets leaked was taken out of context or otherwise not an accurate reflection of the person in question.
We've seen far too many cases recently where innocent people have been severely harmed, on rare occasions even literally killed, by some part of the government, and yet remarkably often no-one is ever held responsible. Until the authority for these kinds of actions must be tied to a named individual, and the identity of that named individual can never be concealed from a court, and that named individual faces meaningful consequences for any abuses that happen on their watch unless they can show that their subordinate did not follow a proper direction (in which case responsibility transfers to the identified subordinate), and any ultimate subordinate involved in such an action who can't identify the responsible individual gets no more legal protection than any other citizen who did the same thing, this problem will continue.
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
> webcam stills may be the least important (or useful) spying the US and UK have been doing It ties individuals faces to online accounts and computers and possibly addresses. Especially combined with increasing amounts of CCTV it removes further anonymity. I was also disturbed by the "dissemination of offensive images is a disciplinary offence" statement which implied that was not the case for other images and that i…
You ever wonder why every device has a front facing camera when they're known to be one of the least used parts?.
Because they only cost $1-2 and people feel like they add value to the device (to use it with Skype, Yahoo!, Google+ Circles, and so on).
There is no evidence right now that the intelligence services can remotely activate webcams on any device of their choosing. They would likely need to first install malware on most devices to accomplish that.
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#64Technically this means that GCHQ likely have the single largest archive of child porn in the world. It isn't exactly news that people from the ages of 12-17 are using video chat to share erotic images (e.g. SnapChat), and if GCHQ is storing one snap every five minutes, they likely have billions of nudes of people below the age of 18.
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#65This really isn't any worse than the other invasions of privacy that have been revealed – but it's much easier to point at it as an egregious and visceral violation of privacy. Even though webcam stills may be the least important (or useful) spying the US and UK have been doing, this may be some of the best fodder for arguments to limit such activities. So thank you, UK, for being so dumb.
> Even though webcam stills may be the least important (or useful) spying the US and UK Blackmail. Polticial, economic, and spying-related informant-turning blackmail. The CIA's primary business is getting informants and agents all over the world. Usually via some threat. This is perfect fodder for it. Using cheating and sex (ie homosexuality in the 50s) against people is one of the most classic examples of recruitin…
I'd wager that this is one reason homosexuality has been held as taboo for so long: it can be weaponized against your enemies for leverage and power.
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#66Disgusting. A new low. Who the fuck do you think you are, UK & USA? You do not have the right to intrude the way you do.
It's our governments, it's not us. I'm disgusted too, which is why I'm reporting them to the police.
Can you report back on the results? I'd be very interested in finding out how they respond. I think they have to register a crime and give you a crime number if you ask for one.
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
> webcam stills may be the least important (or useful) spying the US and UK have been doing It ties individuals faces to online accounts and computers and possibly addresses. Especially combined with increasing amounts of CCTV it removes further anonymity. I was also disturbed by the "dissemination of offensive images is a disciplinary offence" statement which implied that was not the case for other images and that i…
Obviously, it's not a good thing, but is it really worse than recording all phone call metadata and phone call content?
Its additional. I haven't put thought into which I'd most want them to stop but the combination is worse than either on their own. It also allows the possibility of automated face recognition and social graph tracking in public places via CCTV (if not now then in the future).
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You ever wonder why every device has a front facing camera when they're known to be one of the least used parts?.
Because they only cost $1-2 and people feel like they add value to the device (to use it with Skype, Yahoo!, Google+ Circles, and so on). There is no evidence right now that the intelligence services can remotely activate webcams on any device of their choosing. They would likely need to first install malware on most devices to accomplish that.
They would likely need to first install malware on most devices to accomplish that.
They can easily do that, that isn't really in doubt, though of course that's not why things have cameras, as you say, cameras are cheap and quite useful, no need for a grand conspiracy.
I'm sure they wouldn't bother to exploit a machine unless they decide to target you specifically, but if they do decide to, given the resources they have available and the imperfect security on almost every OS, network and hardware you might use, they can easily use your phone or computer to record by installing malware. It's really very straightforward, all they need is a zero day in any of the network connected applications you use, baseband of your phone etc.
William Binney (worked on Stellar Wind) and Edward Snowden have gone on record confirming these capabilities are used routinely - in particular I remember Binney confirming mobiles used as mics, even when turned off. For him this is a matter of fact capability, not at all as dangerous as mapping all our activities at once from metadata and content sweeps on a broad scale - I tend to agree.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000001733041/the-pro...
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#69Potentially GCHQ could be sat on one of the largest private collections of indecent images of people underage. The age range is liable to be 14-50, the article says around 7% were of people doing naughty things on camera, even if that tails off at the age extremes that's still a worrying thought. Keeping a creepy eye on your junk, just in case you're a terrorist.
> GCHQ could be sat on one of the largest private collections of indecent images of people underage
Most likely yes.
It has been pointed out that under the UK's tough anti-child-porn laws, there is no way that this is legal.
Edit: more details on that from Mr. CStross: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2014/02/rule-34-...
Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide
#70The document estimates that between 3% and 11% of the Yahoo webcam imagery harvested by GCHQ contains "undesirable nudity". Discussing efforts to make the interface "safer to use", it noted that current "naïve" pornography detectors assessed the amount of flesh in any given shot, and so attracted lots of false positives by incorrectly tagging shots of people's faces as pornography. So, if you have to hide something,…
Statistically speaking, it is now very probable that the GCHQ has collected a huge collection of materials classified as "pornography" (as in, naked people showing themselves on webcams to each other, believing that this is a private session; apparently this is a thing). Again, statistically speaking, a significant percentage of this is likely to be classified as "child pornography" (as in, teenagers doing the above)…
NSA/GCHQ's tactic of discrediting someone by exposing his porn browsing habits can now be used against the NSA/GCHQ.