Snowden: iPhones Have Secret Spyware That Lets Govt's Monitor Unsuspecting Users

LMAO. No. Until recently I worked pretty high up at the very CORE of Apple's Data Center division from which everything flows and I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty that this is BS.
Apple is doing good just to keep the services on and the email flowing..... They have absolutely zero capability nor desire to do any of this super spy BS.
I will gladly take on anyone who wishes to question my credentials or authority on what Apple can & can't and does & does not do when it comes to IOS devices & cloud.

originally posted by: bismarcksea
LMAO. No. Until recently I worked pretty high up at the very CORE of Apple's Data Center division from which everything flows and I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty that this is BS.
Apple is doing good just to keep the services on and the email flowing..... They have absolutely zero capability nor desire to do any of this super spy BS.
I will gladly take on anyone who wishes to question my credentials or authority on what Apple can & can't and does & does not do when it comes to IOS devices & cloud.

I don't think any employee is aware of it. What if its hidden in the chip, it'd only take one engineer to do it.

Wow! Another Snowden revelation revealing something we already knew about ages ago. Thanks, Ed. You’re That Guy!

Seriously, is this mass déjà vu all over again? I’d swear we’ve been over all this before. How wierd.

Personally, I have my doubts about Apple or any of the other mobile phone companies intentionally and secretly providing a backdoor for easy access into our affairs. However, Google and a number of other large corporations are quite openly telling us, in no uncertain terms, that they plan to monitor our private lives and place us under a very powerful microscope. Let me explain...

Not just in the U.S., but all over the world, privacy is a thing of the past. Whether we like it or not, it’s part of the tradeoff made for living in a hi-tech, information consuming, gadget loving, virtual reality seeking, media crazed world. I’m not singing the praises for Big Brother, or advocating for a privacy-free world, I’m just saying it is what it is. As technology advances and information gathering methods and techniques get more and more sophisticated, intrusion into our personal lives will only get easier and more prevalent. I think the genie’s out of the bottle and she’s not going back in. We’ve passed the point of no return. We can scream and holler and try our best to ensure that the personal information governments and corporations are collecting on us is not used against us. But that’s about it, because all the screaming and hollering in the world will not dissuade them from collecting it.

Talk about violation of privacy, Google and many other large corporations are quite openly advancing and promoting the development of what they’re calling “the Internet of Things”. Soon, in a home near you, each and every appliance will be equipped with a network interface allowing it access to the Cloud. In other words, a direct connection to any company or organization they see fit. These appliances will monitor your behavior at home 24/7. The refrigerator will learn your eating habits and keep an inventory of what you have in the frig at all times. It may even alert you when you’re running low on certain items, or when an item is no longer safe to eat. It will also keep you informed on where the best deals are at neighborhood markets on refrigerated/frozen items, etc. Your oven might let you know when certain components are malfunctioning, or provide you with information on the best bargains in your area for the items you bake the most. It will likely bring up a displayable cookbook, as well, that you can scan for your favorite dishes. Your toaster/oven will do likewise. You will be able to give your appliances speach commands, doing away with all the knobs. And last, but not least, it will send all this information to a corporate database somewhere so that someone can analyze it and create a very detailed profile of you. All for marketing purposes, mind you (cough, cough). They will know when you’re at home and when you’re not. They will know when you eat dinner every night, as well as your favorite food. They will know when you watch tv and your favorite programs, when you listen to music and your favorite artists. They will know when you go to bed every night and when you leave for work every morning. They will also know what brand of toilet paper you use and the exact time every day when you take a sh--. Need I go on?

Personally, I’m not crazy about the lack of privacy issue. But, I’m not sure how it can be prevented. Information technology, artificial intelligence, augmented virtual reality, networking and computing technologies are all advancing at an astronomical rate. We’re entering a new age, requiring a new identity, and we humans are being swallowed up by it. It may have a happy ending; it may not. I don’t know. All I know is, we’re just now imparting on the ride of our lives. Better buckle up!

originally posted by: netbound
Wow! Another Snowden revelation revealing something we already knew about ages ago. Thanks, Ed. You’re That Guy!

Seriously, is this mass déjà vu all over again? I’d swear we’ve been over all this before. How wierd.

Personally, I have my doubts about Apple or any of the other mobile phone companies intentionally and secretly providing a backdoor for easy access into our affairs. However, Google and a number of other large corporations are quite openly telling us, in no uncertain terms, that they plan to monitor our private lives and place us under a very powerful telescope. Let me explain...

Not just in the U.S., but all over the world, privacy is a thing of the past. Whether we like it or not, it’s part of the tradeoff made for living in a hi-tech, information consuming, gadget loving, virtual reality seeking, media crazed world. I’m not singing the praises for Big Brother, or advocating for a privacy-free world, I’m just saying it is what it is. As technology advances and information gathering methods and techniques get more and more sophisticated, intrusion into our personal lives will only get easier and more prevalent. I think the genie’s out of the bottle and she’s not going back in. We’ve passed the point of no return. We can scream and holler and try our best to ensure that the personal information governments and corporations are collecting on us is not used against us. But that’s about it, because all the screaming and hollering in the world will not dissuade them from collecting it.

Talk about violation of privacy, Google and many other large corporations are quite openly advancing and promoting the development of what they’re calling “the Internet of Things”. Soon, in a home near you, each and every appliance will be equipped with a network interface allowing it access to the Cloud. In other words, a direct connection to any company or organization they see fit. These appliances will monitor your behavior at home 24/7. The refrigerator will learn your eating habits and keep an inventory of what you have in the frig at all times. It may even alert you when you’re running low on certain items, or when an item is no longer safe to eat. It will also keep you informed on where the best deals are at neighborhood markets on refrigerated/frozen items, etc. Your oven might let you know when certain components are malfunctioning, or provide you with information on the best bargains in your area for the items you bake the most. It will likely bring up a displayable cookbook, as well, that you can scan for your favorite dishes. Your toaster/oven will do likewise. You will be able to give your appliances speach commands, doing away with all the knobs. And last, but not least, it will send all this information to a corporate database somewhere so that someone can analyze it and create a very detailed profile of you. All for marketing purposes, mind you (cough, cough). They will know when you’re at home and when you’re not. They will know when you eat dinner every night, as well as your favorite food. They will know when you watch tv and your favorite programs, when you listen to music and your favorite artists. They will know when you go to bed every night and when you leave for work every morning. They will also know what brand of toilet paper you use and the exact time every day when you take a sh--. Need I go on?

Personally, I’m not crazy about the lack of privacy issue myself. But, I’m not sure how it can be prevented. Information technology, artificial intelligence, augmented virtual reality, networking and computing technologies are all advancing at an astronomical rate. We’re entering a new age, requiring a new identity, and we humans are being swallowed up by it. It may have a happy ending; it may not. I don’t know. All I know is, we’re just now imparting on the ride of our lives. Better buckle up!

they won't know any of that about me because I buy old 90s junk and I'm happy that way

a reply to: sg1642
Ha!! That was funny, sg1642!! Just keep the old stuff and you're under the radar.

a reply to: MrMaybeNot

originally posted by: MrMaybeNot

I don't think any employee is aware of it. What if its hidden in the chip, it'd only take one engineer to do it.

That's a negative as well. It would take many Engineers to integrate a chip (My current job) and once again....we are doing good just making deadlines. Some super secret spy chips sneaking in? NOPE. The board would have to be designed to accommodate it which drags in another whole team of Engineers. Power would have to be routed to it, involving another team... It would have to communicate through wireless, involving yet another team. Get my drift?

originally posted by: bismarcksea
a reply to: MrMaybeNot

originally posted by: MrMaybeNot

I don't think any employee is aware of it. What if its hidden in the chip, it'd only take one engineer to do it.

That's a negative as well. It would take many Engineers to integrate a chip (My current job) and once again....we are doing good just making deadlines. Some super secret spy chips sneaking in? NOPE. The board would have to be designed to accommodate it which drags in another whole team of Engineers. Power would have to be routed to it, involving another team... It would have to communicate through wireless, involving yet another team. Get my drift?

No offence to you but, you are wasting your breath on theses folks. No amount of common sense or proof will make them believe otherwise. Some of these folks live for this type of "doom-porm"... Me I just come to listen to all the crazies babble on and on about this kind of stuff.

a reply to: AprilFooseball

Roger that!

originally posted by: Fermy
a reply to: MrMaybeNot

I bought a Chinese phone from Amazon or some such, it's doubtful the NSA have tampered with that.

I wouldn't count on it. Probably makes you a double agent. Lol

originally posted by: bismarcksea
LMAO. No. Until recently I worked pretty high up at the very CORE of Apple's Data Center division from which everything flows and I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty that this is BS.
Apple is doing good just to keep the services on and the email flowing..... They have absolutely zero capability nor desire to do any of this super spy BS.
I will gladly take on anyone who wishes to question my credentials or authority on what Apple can & can't and does & does not do when it comes to IOS devices & cloud.

Is that the whole story though? It's all a matter of words really isn't it? Had you said any Apple products can't be hacked for instance, that would be a need to be substainable proof, no matter what.
Put it this way, why did so many articles appear about Jonathan Zdziarski in so many credible newspapers, and many many, not so credible tabloids, and it was Jonathan Zdziarski who talked about secret tech..and Apple in the same byte, where he might have just talked about general vulnerabilty already there..in any system, but he didn't. Government responses in published items are just as weird, as if they are looking for some magic key by legalities to open Pandora's box, which is already open, and they know it!

Remember that voice on AOL that said "you've got mail"?
Turns out it was the NSA.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

My other post got borked and didn't post, doesn't really matter.

But abridged, "The United States of Secrets" is a probably one of the best docs I've seen. Goes from 911 to Obama, concerning the NSA/Snowden. Insider interviews, really good interviews, from the people that were directly involved. I laughed at parts because of how shocking and absurd it was. The way it's portrayed, throughout the doc the word that came to mind was, "Clusterf***".

Might have to start a thread, don't think there is one.

Also, it's from a good source, it's not advertently conspiracy-theory-tinged.

originally posted by: ghaleon12
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

My other post got borked and didn't post, doesn't really matter.

But abridged, "The United States of Secrets" is a probably one of the best docs I've seen. Goes from 911 to Obama, concerning the NSA/Snowden. Insider interviews, really good interviews, from the people that were directly involved. I laughed at parts because of how shocking and absurd it was. The way it's portrayed, throughout the doc the word that came to mind was, "Clusterf***".

Might have to start a thread, don't think there is one.

Also, it's from a good source, it's not advertently conspiracy-theory-tinged.

I will check it out. I see it's on Netflix.

originally posted by: AprilFooseball

originally posted by: bismarcksea
a reply to: MrMaybeNot

originally posted by: MrMaybeNot

I don't think any employee is aware of it. What if its hidden in the chip, it'd only take one engineer to do it.

That's a negative as well. It would take many Engineers to integrate a chip (My current job) and once again....we are doing good just making deadlines. Some super secret spy chips sneaking in? NOPE. The board would have to be designed to accommodate it which drags in another whole team of Engineers. Power would have to be routed to it, involving another team... It would have to communicate through wireless, involving yet another team. Get my drift?

No offence to you but, you are wasting your breath on theses folks. No amount of common sense or proof will make them believe otherwise. Some of these folks live for this type of "doom-porm"... Me I just come to listen to all the crazies babble on and on about this kind of stuff.

Can you please elaborate on "these folks"? I'm basically reporting on an article written on a credible site (alternet). Might be about time you chew the red pill...

originally posted by: sg1642

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
And I'm sure it's going to get even worse with the IBM-Apple alliance on the new iOS.

Fun times.

that's quite interesting by the way because someone who I worked with told me to be wary of large communications companies merging under the pretext of multi billion dollar/pound deals because it could be an effort to unify and control all the relevant sources of information and the benefits that come from owning these corporations under easier to manage and more powerful groups.

First off that is just what someone told you which may or may not be true.. speculation is fun right?

Also Apple is not a communications corporation. They are a computer and consumer electronics company. They are partnering with IBM (a multinational technology and consulting corporation) to help make better enterprise geared iOS applications.

originally posted by: bismarcksea
LMAO. No. Until recently I worked pretty high up at the very CORE of Apple's Data Center division from which everything flows and I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty that this is BS.
Apple is doing good just to keep the services on and the email flowing..... They have absolutely zero capability nor desire to do any of this super spy BS.
I will gladly take on anyone who wishes to question my credentials or authority on what Apple can & can't and does & does not do when it comes to IOS devices & cloud.

THANK YOU!!

It is nice to have someone who can back things up from having been involved. These threads irritate the living bleep out of me when I see people who have no idea what they are talking about.

originally posted by: bismarcksea
LMAO. No. Until recently I worked pretty high up at the very CORE of Apple's Data Center division from which everything flows and I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty that this is BS.
Apple is doing good just to keep the services on and the email flowing..... They have absolutely zero capability nor desire to do any of this super spy BS.
I will gladly take on anyone who wishes to question my credentials or authority on what Apple can & can't and does & does not do when it comes to IOS devices & cloud.

They were hacked was it, by a user on...4chan?

Erm....

originally posted by: MrMaybeNot

originally posted by: AprilFooseball

originally posted by: bismarcksea
a reply to: MrMaybeNot

originally posted by: MrMaybeNot

I don't think any employee is aware of it. What if its hidden in the chip, it'd only take one engineer to do it.

That's a negative as well. It would take many Engineers to integrate a chip (My current job) and once again....we are doing good just making deadlines. Some super secret spy chips sneaking in? NOPE. The board would have to be designed to accommodate it which drags in another whole team of Engineers. Power would have to be routed to it, involving another team... It would have to communicate through wireless, involving yet another team. Get my drift?

No offence to you but, you are wasting your breath on theses folks. No amount of common sense or proof will make them believe otherwise. Some of these folks live for this type of "doom-porm"... Me I just come to listen to all the crazies babble on and on about this kind of stuff.

Can you please elaborate on "these folks"? I'm basically reporting on an article written on a credible site (alternet). Might be about time you chew the red pill...

How cute....you trying to draw me into an argument and all. I will have to pass though, as I said; Just here for the giggles!

Ta Ta for now sweet heart

a reply to: MrMaybeNot

I found a more informative article here: Snowden accuses Apple of secretly spying on users. Also one with Apple insisting they never agreed to allow NSA to install software.

It's possible that Apple and Ed Snowden are both telling the truth. The NSA developed dropoutjeep as a trojan. Going off the leaked documents, it would have required direct or remote access to 'implant' it on the target iPhone. This could be achieved in the same way any of us can get malware infections - clicking on files, social engineering etc. The text of the leaked slide doesn't suggest that Apple were in collusion with the NSA.

Just because the NSA developed a nifty piece of spyware for Apple devices doesn't mean Apple agreed to install it.

Snowden's reported concerns about iPhones may have been misreported to appear like he's saying *all* iPhones when he actually meant targeted (infected) devices. As far as I know, Snowden's been a very straight arrow in these leaks and has backed up every claim with documents. If he says Apple have played along with the NSA, I'd expect some documents to be forthcoming.

Of course, it isn't always the device where the bulk of surveillance occurs - it's all the ISPs, Googles, telecoms, GPS and websites.

originally posted by: rbkruspe

originally posted by: sg1642

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
And I'm sure it's going to get even worse with the IBM-Apple alliance on the new iOS.

Fun times.

that's quite interesting by the way because someone who I worked with told me to be wary of large communications companies merging under the pretext of multi billion dollar/pound deals because it could be an effort to unify and control all the relevant sources of information and the benefits that come from owning these corporations under easier to manage and more powerful groups.

First off that is just what someone told you which may or may not be true.. speculation is fun right?

Also Apple is not a communications corporation. They are a computer and consumer electronics company. They are partnering with IBM (a multinational technology and consulting corporation) to help make better enterprise geared iOS applications.

Well for one I never mentioned Apple buddy and no it may not be true I never claimed it was. His speculation not mine. The man isn't some tinfoil hat put it that way he spent two years working with military and government intelligence groups gathering information on terrorism suspects in the UK and overseas and is a lot smarter than I'll ever be but that doesn't make him correct.