Cable TV Workers Trained To Spy On Citizens

One of the largest cable TV companies in the United States is training its employees to look for suspicious behavior and report it to police under the guise of a neighborhood watch initiative. Since according to law enforcement and Homeland Security guidelines, suspicious behavior includes owning guns, being politically active, and having bumper stickers on your car, the cable guy’s next visit to your house may turn out to have more interesting consequences than you originally anticipated.

Source Link: www.infowars.com...

I remember watching a local new report in San Antonio, TX. that a home came really close to becoming another victom of a false swat team police raid due to a incident report filed by a realitor who thought the seller of the home was making drugs in his down stairs basement. The police cheif happened to know who the DEA was referring to when he heard the name and insisted that he accompany the swat team to the home and went as far as also insisting on speaking with the home seller pror to them inspecting the home. "I'll bet you all a steak dinner" that he isn't making, cooking, selling drugs out of his home so please let me talk to him first..Okay, here's the kicker, the home owner was a antique restoration specialist that works out of his home and also a gun owner and it would have gotten really ugly if they would have busted in on him as he would have fired on they and people would have been killed. It was a good thing that the Cheif decided to step in first, but come to find out Realitors are being trained to report anything suspicious to the DEA/Police regardless of the situation on they're own clients.

So look out folks, even if you have nothing to hide, your privacy rights are going, going, gone!

[edit on 06/03/2009 by Rams59lb]

reply to post by Rams59lb


Lets not forget to add your local librarian to the list of government trained spies.

Passports, snitches, police abuse, police shooting citizens in the back while lying face down, police roughing up old people, police shoting unarmed teen 32 times, police breaking a guys neck for nothing more than suspecting he had drugs in his mouth, police tazering people to death, police genrally acting like thugs and getting away with it, strip searches at the borders....on and on.

Acts like a Nazi, must be a Nazi.

This is the biggest bunch of balogna I have heard in a while.

I worked at a cable company for nearly 8 years. If these guys are being trained to spy on people and turn them in, well then, most of them would have to report themselves for suspicious behaviors that include things such as stopping for liquid lunches while on the job.

Secondly, they grumble that they are not getting paid enough as it is, from installers to maintenance technicians.

I highly doubt anybody who does this kind of work for a living is going to go an extra mile to turn somebody in.

This is nothing new. Many of you should remember the campaign shortly after 9/11 but before the Patriot Act that was recruiting Postal Workers, UPS Drivers, Cable and Internet Installers, Repairmen, and Neighbors to watch their neighbors for suspicious activity and report them.

Is this just an old news article or did someone jack up that old campaign for a second go.

(And as far as Librarians, most of them aren't going to narc on you for your reading habits. Most Public Libraries refused to honor the Patriot Act, and many of them went to such pains as to obfuscate or delete reading history, or to allow anyone to use a pseudonym when getting a Library Card. Not a month goes by that you hear of yet another Public Library refusing yet another DHS/FBI inquiry.)

When neighbors start spying on neighbors it is a sad day indeed for Liberty in America. I'd rather live in Northern Ireland under the daily threat of every cafe or bar I go to being bombed to enjoy my privacy than surrender my liberty for a false sense of security.

People seriously need to get a grip on their own lives and not concern themselves about everyone elses'.

reply to post by Blanca Rose


I appreciate your OPINION "Blanca" but I guess we should simply dismis the story simply because your company hasn't started training you. It is a fact that Realtors are being trained in class rooms every other week, tested with questioniers, Computer repair shops are being asked to report suspicious documents, photos and files on they're customers computers and now (read the links provided within the thread) Cable companies themselves are admitting that they are being asked to spy. I'm switching to decaf because these kinds of comments get me worked up. This thread is posted as a discusion peice and also mostly to inform those who wish to listen.

reply to post by fraterormus


This is a continuation of the campaign, it has to be implimented in stages and secretly within the companies once they start them but lke the police and other's that don't agree "it's being leaked out by employes to the MSM and if they don't report the story then it is getting to the Alt News Sources.

Originally posted by Rams59lb


I appreciate your OPINION "Blanca" but I guess we should simply dismis the story simply because your company hasn't started training you. It is a fact that Realtors are being trained in class rooms every other week, tested with questioniers

Why thanks for allowing me my OPINION.

As for the other hooooooooey you are spewing, funny how I have friends that work for national real estate companies, and none of them have been to these so called classes.

Considering your source which is run by a complete nut job, alll I have to say is all you are doing is fear mongering.

Now, carry on with your so called discussion, which is based on a pack of lies!

reply to post by Blanca Rose


Not to involve myself in your fray, but since you posted your OPINION, could you please provide some proof that your company does not, has not, nor will not be involved in syping? Thanks.

reply to post by Hazelnut


Why would I need to supply proof of something that hasn't even been discusssed amongst employees?

If there was even a suggestion of employees spying on customers, I'd be more than happy to supply it.

How can I show you something that doesn't exist?

This is just ridiculous. About as ridiculous as threads that pop up saying people are spied on through there cable boxes!

reply to post by Hazelnut


LOL "Hazelnut" I appreciate all points of view when I post a thread, I don't appreciate opinions based on emotions and feelings instead of posting facts to back up their claims that my source isn't creditable. Those who claim that I am fear mongering while knowing nothing about who I am and how I am are simply the ones who are scared to hear things like this. They just don't want to believe that things like this are possible. It totally messes up their thought process. Great point made about "instead of knocking down my source or thread" post evidence that it isn't true?

[edit on 06/03/2009 by Rams59lb]

Hey, I am as paranoid as the next ATSer but the cable guys that I have met and quite a few in the last year, were not spying. They probably feel about TPTB as we do. However they could plant spy's if there was someone they wanted to spy on, it would be a clever ruse.

reply to post by cindymars


Okay, let me explain the articles use of the word "spying".
“Operation Bright Eyes is designed to maximize the eyes and ears of Bright House Networks field service representatives and other employees to easily identify suspicious behavior and to quickly report criminal activities to police,” Reported by their local news station.

They are being trained to note things about the consumer during customer service calls if they hear stuff like Babies crying, to ask questions about why the baby might be crying. If the customer is very upset, ask questions to see if the customer is possably going to do somehting that might require the police and so on. So going through your home looking for things to report is not what this thread is saying about the cable companies. But it's true that realitors in some states are being trained in class rooms how to look for things about sellers and buy's of homes to report to the DEA/Police.
www.infowars.com...

reply to post by Rams59lb


I got it, and it is possible and some employees may well go along with that program but not all would. IMO

If you read the entire article you see this..

“Operation Bright Eyes is designed to maximize the eyes and ears of Bright House Networks field service representatives and other employees to easily identify suspicious behavior and to quickly report criminal activities to police,” according to a Fox 35 report.

Suspicious behavior and Criminal activities. If youre a cable guy and you walk into a house and there is a kilo of coke on the table with kids around.....wouldnt you call the police whether you had this special training or not?

I highly doubt they are training their employees to call police because someone has a bumper sticker touting their love of their Smith and Wesson.

Tying up phone lines at the police department over trivial matters such as bumper stickers would result in the cable company getting a call from the Chief instructing them to modify or end their "program"

They can also call all they want, the police are not required to respond to such incidents. As calls like these start coming in you would be more likely to find them ending up on a Tonight Show sketch rather than resulting in something sinister.

reply to post by cindymars


I totally understand your POV, I would hope 'once it does" go nation wide that most employes don't go along with it and I am sure those being asked today are not all going to take part in this. I guess I am most greatful for the info getting out by employees who don't agree when they pass memos, company emails and so on out to the media so that we at least know this is being asked of them.

reply to post by SwatMedic


I'm sorry but your bumper sticker statement dismisses your entire arguement now. Stick to the facts of the thread. It wasn't a question if somebody see's a kelo of coke, it's about people not trained in law enforcement being asked to report things that can be misunderstood and could cause inocent people to get shot by swat teams like your Avitor based on ignorant abservations and misunderstandings. Stick to the facts. If the GOV needs snops then hire more trained police but to recruite companies to spy on they're customers is wrong! It's none of their busniness what I do "Legally" just fix my complaint issue or simply install my cable and leave!

reply to post by Blanca Rose

Bingo! Whoever mentioned the Nazi tactics, nice try but these types of activities have always been common in law enforcement. The Internet just makes it easier to disclose them.

Originally posted by Rams59lb
reply to post by SwatMedic

 

I'm sorry but your bumper sticker statement dismisses your entire arguement now. Stick to the facts of the thread. It wasn't a question if somebody see's a kelo of coke, it's about people not trained in law enforcement being asked to report things that can be misunderstood and could cause inocent people to get shot by swat teams like your Avitor based on ignorant abservations and misunderstandings. Stick to the facts. If the GOV needs snops then hire more trained police but to recruite companies to spy on they're customers is wrong! It's none of their busniness what I do "Legally" just fix my complaint issue or simply install my cable and leave!

The facts of the thread clearly state Suspicious or Criminal behavior which I addressed with the coc aine scenario therefore the analogy was appropriate.

I like how you jump from someone reporting something to an interdiction by SWAT. This clearly shows you have no idea about how such things work and that you are jumping to wild conclusions with no basis in fact.

So youre concerned that these employees have no training to make such observations.....yet that is exactly what they are receiving!

Are you also aware that MANY states have some type of law based on "duty to act" which requires, even civilians, to act when lives may be in danger?

Youre so concerned that a cable guy is going to go through your medicine cabinet yet programs like this are instituted to spot egregious behavior that can result in people (most likely children) getting hurt. Similar to the training that EMT's receive to spot possible child abuse when tending to a hurt child.

reply to post by SwatMedic


Here is where I am coming from "Swat".
I am a 12 yr vet of the US Army, my mos was 95c and I am very knowledgeable of what really happens which by the way is now being reported more and more with people carrying around video cameras and cell phone cameras catching these mistakes and misunderstandings all of the time... I respect that you have good reason to keep throwing "Children" in your reasoning to back up your agreement with these techniques but here is another thread that show's why no matter how much training civilians get about how to report things that they see or hear aren't prepared for the worse case scenario that do take place. www.infowars.com... and www.infowars.com...

There is no disagreement, if I saw a child being hurt I would report it BUT if I saw a child with a bruise, it isn't my place to ASSUME that it was because the parent did something wrong! If I see a kelo of coke on the table, it is none of my Freaken business but if he was high on the job where I work and I can prove it then I would report it. That is the difference of invasion of somebody elses privacy. I don't do drugs, my only bad habbits are cig's and coffee so bring them on. I have nothing to hide but they are not cops and shouldn't be asked to spy in any way what so ever on their customers! We PAY for a service, I don't recall paying for that additional service that invades on my privacy....

Your the kind of cop that people are scared of, if you are even a cop at all! But they don't scare me, I know the law and am very glad to know that these things are being reported in newspapers and MSM or how ever it gets out. People have the right to privacy!

Their are great cops out their but it's funny how they get offended by reports like this to where they need to defend these kinds of actions, it makes me wonder how good these cops are. My dad was a cop, he wasn't liked because he didn't back up his brother officers when mistake and false reporting are done but he was respected and honored when he passed!