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GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

theguardian.com

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Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#91

Post by dTal »

kartikkumar wrote: post #75

"Rather than collecting webcam chats in their entirety, the program saved one image every five minutes from the users' feeds, partly to comply with human rights legislation, and also to avoid overloading GCHQ's servers." Ummm, "comply with human rights legislation" ... what? Are they implying that they was a human rights watchdog involved that confirmed that their approach was "legal"? Or, is the more likely case tha…

As I'm pretty sure there is no "human rights legislation" that states that indiscriminate capturing of private video streams is bad unless you only capture an image every 5 minutes, it's likely that technical restrictions are the only reason for the intermittancy - they even say how nice it would be if they could capture everything. Oddly, the primary sources we've been shown don't mention any human rights justification.

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#92

Post by buro9 »

touristtam wrote: post #87

What's the purpose of founding this kind of spying program? Do they expect to find Al'Quaida' sbire among the average joe?

Facial recognition technology, combined with every camera on earth.

They are laying the foundations for a 24/7 ubiquitous and always-on surveillance and tracking system.

The ultimately goal might be to use very little resources (humans, drones, etc) yet achieve a near-omnipotent level of power and influence.

If they are able to conflate many such methods and systems into one sense of intelligence, then their ability to target their resources effectively is increased significantly.

Their priority isn't necessarily "you" as an individual, but it's "everyone" so they can make sure nothing slips through their net.

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#93

Post by Lagged2Death »

efuquen wrote: post #79
Lagged2Death wrote: post #54

ISTR that in the futuristic dystopia depicted in V for Vendetta , there are government spy cameras everywhere, including in people's bedrooms. And it turns out that's not so futuristic. We're already there. The moment it became technically (Edit: and really, economically) feasible to spy on people's bedrooms, our governments leapt at the chance. I wonder what Alan Moore would have to say about that. We didn't have to…

>We didn't have to experience a crisis of social, governmental, or financial instability. September 11th and the London train bombings? No argument against how disturbing this all is, but don't feel it's accurate to say this increased surveillance wasn't caused by a crisis. It's all being done in the name of preventing terrorism, significant acts of which have occurred in the last decade both on US and UK soil. So if…

September 11th and the London train bombings?

I don't think so. I did once, but I don't anymore.

Huge, bloodthirsty, spectacular acts of terrorism were older than those attacks, and those attacks didn't threaten the stability of the societies or governments in question in the slightest.

The tendency of English-speaking governments to use sweeping, untargeted surveillance to curb political activism or otherwise mold public opinion and behavior is older than those attacks, too. They spied on MLK and peace activists during Vietnam, not because they were threats to security but because they were threats to the spies' own political convictions, more or less.

What has really changed in the last 15 years or so is that its now economically feasible to spy on everyone, all the time, partially because the spied-on voluntarily fund the most expensive part of the equipment (their own webcams, cellphones, cars, laptops, ISP connections, etc). So governments are doing it. Something like 9/11 provides a handy excuse, maybe, but I've come to think it's naive to accept that as the real reason. I believe we would find ourselves in this position with or without 9/11.

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#95

Post by oakwhiz »

rdl wrote: post #76

This is from people actively webchatting, but in general, for passive collection, I'm a lot more worried about my microphone than my camera. Even without tape over the lens, my laptop usually just sees my face or a blank wall, or a closed cover. It's not like I have my webcam aimed and lighted at my bed or shower or whatever, and in general, the level of compromising information from text or audio would be higher (su…

What we need are hardware switches which physically disconnect power and data from the camera and microphone.

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#96

Post by tzakrajs »

samstave wrote: post #65
dmix wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I'll cite a source for you: "If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#98

Post by forgotAgain »

StefanKarpinski wrote: post #19

This 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.

This really isn't any worse than the other invasions of privacy that have been revealed

I think you're incorrect on this. The level of intrusion here is much greater. There is a reason why video phones never really replaced voice: they are too revealing. This borders on voyeurism.

Remember the stories of TSA agents joking about what they saw on full body scanners? I don't believe it is credible to think that these types of photos aren't used in a similar fashion here even though it's a different country and agency. And that's actually the least damaging way they could be used.

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#99

Post by nobbyclark »

flexie wrote: post #44
StefanKarpinski wrote: post #19

This 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.

Whether it's worse or not, it's violating our privacy to an extent where there is barely anything left to be exposed. I assume they do the same with Skype, Lync etc. I hate the thought of being photographed by these creepy "intelligence officers" every time I'm on a webcam. Probably it also happens when we don't use the webcam.

It's also something more tangible for non-geeks than other revelations so more likely to provoke a public reaction.

"GHCQ has pics of your teenage daughter ..."

Re: GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

#100

Post by joyeuse6701 »

nobbyclark wrote: post #99
flexie wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether it's worse or not, it's violating our privacy to an extent where there is barely anything left to be exposed. I assume they do the same with Skype, Lync etc. I hate the thought of being photographed by these creepy "intelligence officers" every time I'm on a webcam. Probably it also happens when we don't use the webcam.

It's also something more tangible for non-geeks than other revelations so more likely to provoke a public reaction. "GHCQ has pics of your teenage daughter ..."

now THAT would rile up the public.
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