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Thread: Does Having Live Mics in Your Home Bother You?

  1. #16
    I don't have any problem with cameras and recognition equipment used in public spaces. So equipment on a police car that reads license plates and automatically checks for warrants and stolen cars is fine with me. I don't have a problem with the data from those license scans being kept. If a crime is reported, that data can shed light on who was in the area when the crime was committed. Someone who is having an affair might not like that data getting to his/her spouse so access to that data should be controlled, perhaps with a court order.

    Cameras in public spaces that can do face recognition is also fine with me. When I go out in public, I don't have any problem with being photographed. Those cameras can photograph criminal acts and deter those who might commit those acts. Again, access to that data should be controlled.

    Cell phone cameras have brought a lot of "light" to acts that would have gone unpunished or unreported in the past. Look at the Rodney King beating that was videotaped. The cops would likely have said that he fell down while trying to escape.

    If you're being tracked by your cell phone, it's likely because you allowed location tracking for one or more of your applications, even when you're not actively using the app. If you have Alexa in your home, it's because you brought it there.

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 01-15-2019 at 5:57 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #17
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    You don't have to use a Smartphone, there are dumb phones that only do minimal stuff like texts and voice calls or just turn the data off, that stops everything dead. A phone is for talking on in my life, nothing more or less. I love technology but I absolutely refuse to have a Smartphone or join social media. As a for instance I am about to build a router table fully digitised to illustrate my view on technology but eschewing Smart phones and social media has meant I see none of the stuff spoken of here. If you don't take the steps to stop it then I can't see why you would complain.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I love technology but I absolutely refuse to have a Smartphone or join social media.
    Ummmm, Chris? SMC and similar sites are forms of social media.
    (It's the only form of social media that I participate in though. No FB for me.)
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  4. #19
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    Yes you are right Fred but I regard social media as the Facebooks of the internet not forums which pre dated what we now regard as social media. I do take your point though.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  5. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    You don't have to use a Smartphone, there are dumb phones that only do minimal stuff like texts and voice calls or just turn the data off, that stops everything dead. A phone is for talking on in my life, nothing more or less. I love technology but I absolutely refuse to have a Smartphone or join social media. As a for instance I am about to build a router table fully digitised to illustrate my view on technology but eschewing Smart phones and social media has meant I see none of the stuff spoken of here. If you don't take the steps to stop it then I can't see why you would complain.
    You're right, but with an iPhone you don't even need to turn data off. You can go to Settings/Privacy/Location Services and turn off GPS. You're also right that you can take steps to keep certain kinds of technology out of your life. But I think it might become harder and harder to do so in some areas. As it sits today, the selection of non-smartphones is ever dwindling. At some point you could imagine that it won't be worth the manufacturer's time to offer them anymore and they will just become obsolete. At that point your choice might be a smartphone or no phone.

  6. #21
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    Julie
    We try not to keep any of that invasive technology enabled on our devices. It's a losing battle though.
    Sometimes I use it to my advantage also.
    If I want to research something like say, shaper cutters. I'll google it once, log onto some site like, daily mail, and let their advertising search engines do the work for me. I used to use Facebook, because no other site was as invasive as FB. They have an incredible search engine. I've been off FB for over a year now.

  7. #22
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    What i hate is the way the shortend mike to Mic. Actually I have red hair but I have never lived with a person from Ireland.
    Bill D

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    Julie
    We try not to keep any of that invasive technology enabled on our devices. It's a losing battle though.
    Sometimes I use it to my advantage also.
    If I want to research something like say, shaper cutters. I'll google it once, log onto some site like, daily mail, and let their advertising search engines do the work for me. I used to use Facebook, because no other site was as invasive as FB. They have an incredible search engine. I've been off FB for over a year now.
    Google probably has the most expertise at "connecting the dots" in a person's life. There are competent search engines that still respect one's privacy. Duck Duck Go and startpage.com are two. I use Firefox as my primary browser and have the NoScript add-on. It was 'enlightening' to me after installing NoScript to go to a site like ESPN.com and see how many sites want to run scripts, there are at least two dozen that we would not normally know about. Some of those - not all - collect personal data. Google, gstatic and other google related sites want to run scripts on most sites and some sites are not fully functional without gstatic enabled. It's no surprise that "google knows all".

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Julie Moriarty View Post
    Why do I keep thinking of Big Brother?
    I wish you would speak up, it is hard for all of us to hear you.

  10. #25
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    I had a particularly annoying issue related to this subject lately with facebook. A couple weeks ago an ad showed up there for some software that looked interesting, so I clicked on the ad to go to the website. Not what I thought it was, so I left. Later in the day, I get a call from the software companies sales department. I use another of their products so it didn't register how they got the lead, until a week later the same thing happened again with a different company. I never asked for info, just clicked through to their website, and they called my mobile number to "make sure I found the information I wanted". I posted an ad on facebook a few months back and the we're promoting their ability to generate leads. I guess this is how they do it. Sleazy.

    As for the open mics question, no I won't have them. I've nothing to hide, but I do have the right to privacy, and I find this type of marketing to be an invasion of that.

    Question for you guys that are ok with this for the sake of security, what if the cameras catch you breaking a law you didn't even know existed? There are so many, I'll bet we all break one periodically. Add an ideological enemy in control of the camera, and you just became a criminal. Don't commit a crime? With all the data, it'd be simple to make anyone appear to be a criminal with a little selective editing. Pretty easy to go full Orwell from there...

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    Ron, cover the camera on the laptop with blue painter's tape. That's what I did.
    Fred
    Black tape blends in better with my the black bezel on my laptop.

  12. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    The other day I saw an Amazon Echo device that had an old school desk phone housing. The only time the mic is connected is when the handset is lifted.
    And you believe that?

    I hate having all the microphones and cameras everywhere you go. There is no privacy anymore. It has for the most part become non-existent.

  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    Black tape blends in better with my the black bezel on my laptop.
    I just use a black marker on the blue tape.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  14. #29
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    I too am of the Orwellian mindset. Makes me good at my job ;-) Having been in data communications since computers were too big to carry I have gotten to watch industry, and then the public, become aware of just what computer networking can do . . . and the risks.

    Because of my 'inside' view I am a bit over the top when compared to most computer users. Until recently, my passwords pushed the limits of security mechanisms for length and complexity, I don't answer unrecognized cell phone calls, I do not accept random email unfiltered. I tape over unused cameras, disconnect microphones and am a card carrying member of the Air-Gap-is-your-Best-Security alliance.

    Seriously, computer and network security often comes way too late. If you use Facebook, you have little to worry about, you're already "out there". If you do not closely control your location services on your phone and car, you're "out there". Participating only in specific social networking like bulletin boards and targeted forums reduces your exposure profile but, you're still "out there".

    We have grown a good couple of generations of humans who will automatically agree to anything to get to the next level of Candy Crush, get to that website or whatever. Know your exposure, use your head, no one gives products away; you are giving them something for agreeing to use their product. Yes that includes the free email you have been using since the 90's.

    Hang on a minute . . . someone's at the door . . . It's the Thought Police!!!
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 01-16-2019 at 9:28 AM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Harms View Post
    Google probably has the most expertise at "connecting the dots" in a person's life. There are competent search engines that still respect one's privacy. Duck Duck Go and startpage.com are two. I use Firefox as my primary browser and have the NoScript add-on. It was 'enlightening' to me after installing NoScript to go to a site like ESPN.com and see how many sites want to run scripts, there are at least two dozen that we would not normally know about. Some of those - not all - collect personal data. Google, gstatic and other google related sites want to run scripts on most sites and some sites are not fully functional without gstatic enabled. It's no surprise that "google knows all".
    I've run NoScript for years now. And running it is a chore. Most sites won't run correctly without some scripts running and sometimes you have to choose between letting them run or leaving the site. I've been saved by NoScript at least once that I know of from a pretty bad virus that made it through the advertising feeds on another site. Many people had big troubles and some lost computers and had to start fresh because of it. I never even knew it was there because I was protected.

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