Privacy is dead (Read 2308 times)

passivekinetic

Privacy is dead
« on: March 23, 2017, 08:53:22 AM »
https://phys.org/news/2017-03-secrets-smart-devices-path-legal.html

"The net result of these technologies is that we are forgoing our personal privacy and our personal autonomy and even sovereignty as humans and relinquishing that to a combination of state, harvesters of big data, omnipresent institutions and systems."

https://phys.org/news/2017-03-wikileaks-cia-hacks-apple-mac.html

The Central Intelligence Agency is able to permanently infect an Apple Mac computer so that even reinstalling the operating system will not erase the bug, according to documents published Thursday by WikiLeaks.
"The sheep fear sheepdogs, because they fail to see the wolves."
- Anonymous

whynow?

Re: Privacy is dead
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2017, 01:30:50 PM »
Which is why I'm not on any kind of social network.   With the eventual long predicted cashless society, it will be worse.  Do whatever you can to remain anonymous now, pay cash, and try to put a veil over yourself.   They have to prove something, you don't have o prove your innocent, not yet anyway.   Based on the politicians like Clinton and Obama deny everything even if 10 people saw you.   

eyeeatingfish

Re: Privacy is dead
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2017, 08:43:23 PM »
On the plus side, it creates jobs for programers to make and sell software that will block these new types of spying!

Eric808

Re: Privacy is dead
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2017, 10:43:12 AM »
If you need to reinstall your operating system, a short term solution, if available,is to use the system restore feature. It would be better to wipe or just format your drive and do a clean (new) install. It might be even better to get a new hard drive, hopefully increasing your storage space.

Flapp_Jackson

Re: Privacy is dead
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2017, 10:53:42 AM »
If you need to reinstall your operating system, a short term solution, if available,is to use the system restore feature. It would be better to wipe or just format your drive and do a clean (new) install. It might be even better to get a new hard drive, hopefully increasing your storage space.

According to the article, CIA is infecting the firmware.  Replacing the O/S or hard drive won't circumvent that.  The only way to avoid the bug is reload the firmware code.

Flashing the firmware is an option, but how would you know if the version you're loading is safe?  It may have the bug embedded, too, and all you are doing is replacing a bugged system with another bugged system.

You would have to obtain the firmware from a very trusted source who certifies the code is not compromised.  You would then have to only get OSX updates from them as well, as OSX updates can also contain firmware patches!!
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world;
the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-- George Bernard Shaw