patrick.net

stereotomy says

I should clarify: I would turn the phone off, then measure charge after about a week. I suspect that even off, the phone is probably spying, or could be periodically woken up by the NSA to eavesdrop, who knows?

Well, I've had a phone off for months immediately return to life. I don't think you'll notice a difference.

I'm certain phones can fake being "off", I know cameras and microphones can't be guaranteed to be disabled, but turning it off, that's easy to notice.

HeadSet says

Whoa, calm down. We were talking about a specific - that you said When you are moving around with your phone with GPS and Wi-Fi on, your phone is collecting which location and wifi signals it can connect to.

The data is there, Google has collected information through their vehicles that map streets, Google is right now getting sued over the fact that "Icognito mode" on Chrome does NOTHING, they have placed microphones into thermostats - they're scum.

I'm just telling you how TRIVIAL it is to do, and I know what companies do when it's trivial to do. They don't have to add hardware. I don't think there is much reason to do it now. Everybody has a cell phone, you probably have a router, there done. They know your location when you turn your phone on, they know your router that you connect to with your phone - finished. Why would they collect this information? I don't know, but I do know all they do as a company is collect information.

HeadSet says

Just admit that you do not know if this is true instead of launching into your Special Theory of GoogleEvilty.

Let me re-iterate, they were collecting information from the Google cars on WiFi Hotspots, and they quit when they started producing phones and all Google does is collect information.

The very first Android phone was in 2008, they stopped collecting information in 2010 from their cars.

If the information is there, they will collect it, why not? I admit I cannot see it as being too useful. They can identify metadata with it, but it's a crude way of doing it. The fact they can do it, given Google's history, means they do. They have a 100% track record of this. They are a data collection company, a private intelligence firm, although not really that private.

richwicks says

If your phone is on and cannot reach a cell tower, it will expend a lot of power trying to find one. I've had this happen to me once, so I'm in the habit now when I'm in an area without good cell coverage, I just turn the phone off. Seems like a bad design, but I don't know the specifics of how modern phones work.

If you're in an area with poor signal. Enjoy it. Turn it off. With kids I need it. If I was a bachelor I wouldn't have the thing turned on outside of work hours. I don't answer the phone anyway. Lawyer in me, I'd just never answer the phone. Never say/acknowledge your name. Be a dick. I love phone arguments.

HeadSet says

Well, beam formed a little since there was no point in a tower broadcasting upward. But the mobile phones are not beamed formed at all, so the question remains - Why does the tower need 100 watts power when the phone answering back only needs well under a watt?

Look, I'm not an expert in cell technology but a tower is a lot more active than a phone. Your phone is MOSTLY doing nothing, even during a conversation.

I'm just giving you a HYPOTHESIS of why they may have been collecting data on GPS and WiFi. It could have just been research. I have thought of this myself, why not replace the vast majority of cell towers with modems? Voice data isn't large in comparison to most of what we do on the Internet now, which is video. Why not just use another frequency to handle telephone calls and let any owner of a wifi network (which is everybody now), do it?

Maybe the data is useless, but I know Google collects ALL DATA THEY CAN, because you don't know what might be useful later.

I know, for a FACT, every search and ip address associated with that search, has been stored by Google. How is this useful? Well, perhaps to build up a psychological profile of the user over time, or the IP address, or a family? Who knows? I bet Google doesn't know, but 30 years of data, maybe they can make a product out of all this information?

richwicks says

Voice data isn't large in comparison to most of what we do on the Internet now, which is video.

Ah, but remember that cable company modems now have competition from Verizon et al 5g "internet" that can deliver 100meg bandwidth. Lots of 4k video will be passed over that, it will hardly be restricted to voice. The future of the internet in many areas will be from cell towers.

HeadSet says

The future of the internet in many areas will be from cell towers.

Possibly. We use QAM for data transmission, and we're beyond where I thought we could go, and there's shaped wave forms, it's impossible to tell.

I can tell you this, if we do move to a society that only accesses the internet through cell technology, you'll be behind a NAT and you will be dependent on a 3rd party to connect to anybody. You will have to go through some sort of authority for EVERYTHING, every communication. If we go there, freedom of speech is dead.

I have my own website on my own computer, sitting away from me 2 feet away. I can't lose it because of a 3rd party says they won't host it. I have 100% control over this. That will go away if I'm placed behind a NAT router I cannot control.

Just ran across this. I have no affiliation with them and get no money for posting it. But I approve of it.

Patrick says

Are they still doing this out there in CA? I haven't seen it since roughly the end of 2022 and that was only at airports. I actually don't mind it. Having to print updated menus as items change is kind of a bitch, especially for non-chain restaurants. Passes costs down to the customer.

But I do get it's one more layer of tracking. I'm clearly indifferent on it. If I know a place has slow service, sometimes being able to put in the order directly to the kitchen is better. Especially flying as they're notoriously slow and black service wise.

richwicks says

The_Deplorable says

This seriously happens. If you have an Alexa or a Google Home, or possibly even Siri - fake a discussion about a pet you'd never own with your family, and see what ads you start getting.

They are 24/7 listening devices. This is a simple test. I've gotten a FEW people to try it, but not with Siri. It's the 1984's telescreen. I'm giving you a test so you can verify it's true, if you don't do the test, whatever. We've been trying to warn you for years.

I have had this happen. Not talking about a pet I'd never own, but about something obscure; a few days later... Ad for said I secure thing. And I don't have an Alexa or Siri or any of that crap. Just my android phone and a couple of laptops.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13579885/Americans-ditching-smartphones-dumbphones.html

A growing number of people are ditching their smartphones for 'dumbphones' that only call and text to avoid being in 'zombie mode.'

The simple devices have skyrocketed in popularity, as 2.8 million were sold in the US last year with people proclaiming they feel calmer and more present in their ordinary lives.

A California woman told DailyMail.com that she made the switch after realizing she spent the entire summer on her smartphone, saying she barely remembered the time - she even forgot where she walked her dog.

Caroline Cadwell explained that switching to a dumbphone was impractical at first, but then became freeing.

'Space and time, is how I'd describe it. It's amazing how much your relationships can gain from giving it up,' she said.

And dumbphones can't spy on you as effectively.

Sheeee-it!

The phone we are looking for has been found!

Some 20yr old wackjob who tried to kill Trump had it all along!

Is anyone here using any of the phones discussed here? I have to use my company phone can't do anything about that but considering switching to dumb phone for my personal, or some other privacy centric phone.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/alice-in-spyland-wednesday-september

It is perfectly impossible to exaggerate the off-the-charts freakishness of this next fantastic, over-the-top, literally explosive 2024 story. Yesterday, Israel’s spy agencies apparently killed, maimed, or wounded up to five thousand Hezbollah enemies without firing a shot, using exploding pagers. The Wall Street Journal covered the story under its headline, “Hezbollah Pagers Explode in Apparent Attack Across Lebanon.”

Iranian-connected, Lebanon-based Hezbollah is a well-equipped Muslim militia and U.S.-designated terror group that has been skirmishing with Israel since last year’s October 7th Hamas atrocity. Recently, following Israel’s assassination of a high-profile Hezbollah leader, the group switched from using high-tech smartphones to lower-tech pagers for communication.

They switched for safety.

Yesterday, up to 5,000 Hezbollah militants all simultaneously received a highly unwelcome message on their pagers. Seconds later, the tiny devices spontaneously detonated, seriously injuring the users, blowing off their hands, violently severing even more delicate body parts, and overwhelming Lebanese hospitals with the wounded. So far, a dozen Hezbollah fighters have died from the trauma and that number will probably increase.

Nobody knows how the mass-assasination was done. Israel hasn’t even confirmed it was involved (but hasn’t denied it, either). Speculation is running rampant, with corporate media doing its best to cover and reassure everyone that all our devices are perfectly safe, this is not an undocumented feature of lithium battery technology, and don’t worry, it cannot be deployed against any inconvenient personage, like you.

Theories abound. Maybe Israeli operatives somehow intercepted all the pager shipments, and cunningly injected explosives that were then somehow triggered by a single pager message. Or maybe the Taiwanese pager manufacturer cooperated or was infiltrated by Israeli spies. Or maybe the Israelis figured out how to blow up lithium batteries in certain devices on command.

We don’t know. And it’s likely we will never know.

One thing is certain though. Now, every intelligence agency in the world has learned a nifty new trick. Not just for one-off assassinations, like the CIA’s infamous exploding cigar, but for mass-marketed, high-precision weapons of mass destruction. We have indeed raced down the rabbit hole.

Ready to retire your smartphone yet?

Patrick says

Ready to retire your smartphone yet?

This remote detonation trend may put a serious hurt on new phone sales. After all, why but a new phone that may have this modification installed? People are complaining that the iPhone 16 lacks any real new features, so why is Apple releasing a new version? Just need one viral rumor of some bomb sniffing dog alerting on an iPhone 16.

The Jews are wily - I remember the Bible story about how the Israelites were overmatched on the eve of battle. They heard the revelry of the opposing troops anticipating victory, so they sent their wives and daughters to the enemy camp to have sex with the drunken enemy troops. While the troops were asleep after an all-night fuck session with these women, these whores of necessity proceeded to cut off the balls of the soldiers so that "they were weak" on the day of battle.

It's in the Old Testament - Look it up.

https://www.itechpost.com/articles/105677/20210518/iphone-spying-taking-invisible-photos-disable-face-id-infrared-camera.htm

Is Your iPhone Spying on You by Taking Invisible Photos? Apple Explains Infrared Camera

The short answer is YES, your iPhone takes invisible photos of you all the time. The device takes an infrared image of your face every five seconds while it is turned on. The pictures taken are used for your Face ID to unlock your smartphone device automatically. ...

The details were first shared by a TikTok user named Brie Thomason. She is a photographer who managed to film an iPhone snapping infrared photos every five to 10 seconds. The iPhone continues capturing images, even when the camera is blocked or the screen is locked.

And car accidents!

Make sure Attention Aware Features is turned OFF.
Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode >Attention Aware Features>Click to toggle Off

Patrick says

Patrick says

How about denying access to groceries because you are FAT?

I wouldn't think that phone or any are any safer. Back in the day when everyone thought landlines were safe and private? That was pure bullshit many people were listening in on dozens of conversations all at the same time and listening to you, I witnessed it several times in the 70s and 90's. With modern tech they might be using humanless methods to capture stuff. Best to use that device as least as possible. Don't drive around with all your location direction apps turned on all the time shooting video. People get stupider and stupider as time goes on.... unbelievable.

https://michaelyon.substack.com/p/pocket-spies

(from 2011)

And so, with my iPhone4s using a Facebook app, I touched the tab called “Nearby.” An incredible amount of “actionable intelligence” scrolled on. One friend was at the Sheraton at the Pentagon. Another was at the Pentagon. I emailed to her and she confirmed. Another was at the VA Hospital in Long Beach. Ruby Tuesday. iHop. Starbucks Fort Polk. Times Square. Pacific Grill. Home sweet home. Octapharma Plasma. China Café. FBI Academy. Tahlequah Dialysis Unit. Columbus State University. AJ’s Pizza. Farelli’s Pizza. Palladium Theatre. Home. Crossroads Christian Church. 24 Hour Fitness – Mission Valley California. The Exchange Hotel.

And on and on. With my iPhone, I could track their smartphones in real time.

Some people were also typing entries (just got on the train) and they were being tracked. One young Thai woman was typing entries and finally posted she was home at her condo in Bangkok. At the same time, another was 12 time zones away at X-treme Rockclimbing Gym in Miami, Florida.

Touch one button and GoogleMaps instantly appears showing the precise location. Touch one more button and there is a choice: “Open in Maps,” “Get Directions,” “Cancel.”

I scrolled down the list. Numerous people said they were home. Their locators pinpointed their locations. I touched the buttons and saw their locations on Google Earth. And there was one Afghan friend. I could see exactly where he was in Kabul. He is an avowed enemy of the Taliban. They have threatened to kill him. I emailed at once saying to turn that thing off. I know where you are. If he did not email back very quickly, I was going to call. He emailed back, confirmed his location and turned it off.

It’s not enough that we are careful ourselves. If we are tooling around Afghanistan together, and only one of us has not turned off the location service, we are both trackable by anyone. No special gear or warrant is needed. If someone’s child has this option switched on, the whole family is trackable, not to mention that the child is easily trackable in real time everywhere he or she goes.

Related to a claim I made on another thread about how fucked up things are at the southern border, from the same blog:

Finally, onto a different topic. I published this yesterday:

What is Your Vote?

The United States faces greater threats at home than we face in Afghanistan. The Mexican border, for instance, is being described as a war zone. People have been warning about it for years. Over time, I have seriously considered changing focus to the more proximate and bigger threats.

stereotomy says

The United States faces greater threats at home than we face in Afghanistan. The Mexican border, for instance, is being described as a war zone.

Since the threats we face in Afghanistan is zero I do belive that the threat level at the Mexican border is higher than that. As for war zone... nah, not even close. There are plenty of war zones you can view right now almost live. Mexico border ain't it.

This thread is perfect as illustration as to why Waltz, Hegseth, Tootsie and Witkoff are stupid cunts: they used phones that spy on them to discuss sensitive national security matters, one of them while literally sitting the the Kremlin waiting room. :facepalm:

https://x.com/amuse/status/1911797391201542438



Snowden showed that the NSA is in fact spying on all of us without a a warrant, in violation of the 4th Amendment (no searches without a warrant issued for a specific crime).

So yes, the Europeans should assume that their phones are being monitored at all times by us as well as by their own governments.

Eric Holder says

This thread is perfect as illustration as to why Waltz, Hegseth, Tootsie and Witkoff are stupid cunts: they used phones that spy on them to discuss sensitive national security matters, one of them while literally sitting the the Kremlin waiting room. :facepalm:

What was sensitive? We could have given Yemen and the Houthis the exact game plan, which we basically did. What in the flying fuck could they do? Outside of nuclear powers we could give anyone our battle plan and destroy them.

Sure it was a mistake, but it didn't much matter.