--Alexa, what are you hiding from us?--

I was just about to post if anyone asked Cortana the same question when I lost connection to my server!

I am on my 4G phone at this moment.

Can they read minds now?

Weird!!

Ha! I beat them, I'm back online.

I've never used Cortana and don't intend to. Even tried shutting it out.

I have my cam blocked too.

originally posted by: Indigo5

originally posted by: fencesitter85
My god you people are paranoid as hell.

Let's say for a minute the CIA wanted to listen to you ranting over your microwave meal for one about how Obama is a Muslim - why the hell would functionality be built into alexa which makes it totally fail to respond when asked this question?

Let's say in 6 years whoever is in the WH has sufficiently exerted full authority over the intelligence community.

The Intelligence Community under the dictate to compete well in the ever emerging and ever more important cyber-war battlefield has developed and optimized it's hacks and backdoors to the "Internet of Things" apparatus....Phones, Health Trackers, Home assistants like Google Home and Alexia, interactive media browsers on TV's, home security systems and camera's etc.

At present those vulnerabilities are only being exploited for specific intelligence targets...

But as the Snowden Leak proved...there is utility in store-housing data.
The advantage to store-housed data at large is...once a potential terrorist, spy etc. is identified. You can look BACKWARDS and see what they were doing last week, last month, last year...vs. only seeing what they do tomorrow.
THAT is why the NSA was storing data on everyone in a mass-surveillance operation. Storing data is becoming ever cheaper and easier.

Apply that model to IOT (Internet of Everything)...Identify a suspect...look back at their...Health the past year? Distance walked and when? Heart-rate? Sleep Patterns? Hear audio excerpts from their home audio devices? Store: Keyword Trigger? Store video..

Let's say in an authoritarian regime...How could this be used to track, monitor and disrupt opposition? Could AI be deployed to asses public sentiment?

Paranoid?...Yes...but should we not pay attention until that paranoia is justified.

Last October...Some unknown hacking entity (Some suspect China) did the first known test run in the USA of an IOT exploit.

Hacked home devices caused massive Internet outage
The software uses malware from phishing emails to first infect a computer or home network, then spreads to everything on it, taking over DVRs, cable set-top boxes, routers and even Internet-connected cameras used by stores and businesses for surveillance.

www.usatoday.com...

Home Security Camera's?
Thinking of buying a security camera? Read this first

Security cameras aren’t all that secure

Most security cameras and their software aren’t built with computer security in mind. None of the vendors could provide me with a clear understanding of code reviews and penetration testing. In fact, most of my security inquiries were met with befuddlement.

www.infoworld.com...

Just saying...We might very well wake up sometime in the future where our government is executing an NSA collection program around our home devices...not just phones..and that data can be sourced for all kinds of political purposes, not just criminal investigations.

Great response, in hindsight. Starred for giving me a little more to think about

originally posted by: Silk
Hmmm seems spying is a little older than the USA - actually most things are (sorry guys) - its a thing that happens - if you dont accept it don't do wrong therefore nothing to worry about ?

Here is the thing...What is considered "doing wrong" fluctuates with who is doing the spying. Specifically when Governments are involved. And governments change.

Agreed that 99.9% of Americans (Not so much Syrians, Iranians etc.) should have no reason to worry about their digital world being surveilled by their government. But should we not worry about our government's emerging technical capacity to do so? When is the proper time to get checks in place? Now or after an apparatus is up and running.

Well I remember these videos years ago
and wanted to post them a few days ago
that goes along with this thread
and what i have mentioned

NSA could be looking through your Windows
www.youtube.com...

Uploaded on Dec 3, 2009
What does the National Security Agency have to do with Microsoft? Apparently, a lot. The NSA worked with Microsoft in its development of the Windows 7 operating software. And the relationship may stretch further back -- as far as the late 80's and previous operating systems manufactured by the company. Is this cause for concern for people who want to ensure their privacy? Is this another exmaple of Big Brother watching?

NSA and Google are partnering up
www.youtube.com...

Uploaded on Feb 5, 2010
Google is now in an open cooperation with the NSA, in order to counter China cyber attacks. Many other Silicon Valley companies have turned to the NSA in order to protect themselves from hackers from China and other nations. Webster Tarpley says that although Google has not been open to the government in the past, the reason it exists is due in part to the government.

There was another Video from 1998 or 99 , from some News broadcast talking
about a Programer finding NSA CIA Keycodes within windows 95 and 98 programing structure
as it was intended to work with NSA programs as Microsoft claimed .

Still looking for it .. its old and grainy and was posted on youtube way back when ..

well for some more entertainment a BIG OOPS!


Analyzing the NSA code breach in the context of recent cybersecurity events

Published on Aug 17, 2016 On Saturday, programming code for National Security Agency hacking tools was shared online. The content appears to be legitimate, but it is not clear if it was intentionally hacked or accidentally leaked. Hari Sreenivasan speaks with The Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima and Paul Vixie of Farsight Security about where this development fits in the context of other recent cybersecurity breaches.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: bknapple32

In a sense, they were correct. We're wakening to just how #ty and crooked everything REALLY is. We had suspicions before, but we're beyond suspecting.

Here's a funny one.

Nothing new to be honest. No difference to having your mobile phone with it's camera and microphone which us usual active without you knowing . If you have a phone then no harm in having Alexa

originally posted by: bknapple32

My own little experiment. She absolutely shuts down with the mention of CIA. But not FBI or something random like Mcdonalds

When asked is the CIA listening to this ...

It should power off...
Then power back on for a split second and say:
"Duuuh!"
Then power off again.

may have been discussed

potential easter egg?