Privacy - this is getting ridiculous (1 Viewer)

[Sand]

Also reported here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/26/social-security-data-cloud-whistleblower
And archived here: https://archive.ph/FKBq0

The U.S. DOGE Service uploaded a copy of Americans’ Social Security data to the digital cloud, risking the security of critical personal information for more than 300 million people, a whistleblower in the agency alleged.

Chief Data Officer Charles Borges raised concerns that DOGE staffers bypassed safeguards, circumvented a court order and created a copy of the Social Security Administration’s entire collection of data on the U.S. public on the cloud. Borges said the SSA had no oversight of who had access to the file.

Borges did not allege that the cloud had been hacked or compromised but warned that hosting a copy of one of the government’s most sensitive datasets on a cloud without security controls substantially threatened the safety of Americans’ information. The data includes people’s names, birth dates and other information that could be used to steal their identities.

From what I have read elsewhere, their end result is so they can use our personal data for their AI so they can better advertise to us. However, could you imagine the fallout if their database gets hacked and all of our SS numbers and personal info is out there for any bad actor to use.

This could cause catastrophic harm to us, but it is an afterthought in the media.

The Chinese already have all this, including my fingerprints. Not sure what else I have left to leak.

I am more worried about ransomware groups from india, Russia, Nigeria, or other countries with large ransomware operations getting the data.

The country of China probably already has a database on us citizens.

not probably

I believe you, but do you also have a link? It’s only for further reading and not to inconvenience you or cast doubt upon your assertion.

Just off the top of my head:
They hacked all OPM information
They hacked equifax

Yep, they got my SF_86 in the process. That document has more information about me than I could probably recall today. Not to mention a good amount of information on family, friends and neighbors.

same

same same

 

[fatness]

Americans traveling to most of Europe will have fingerprints scanned under new regulations set to take effect

Americans traveling to Europe will soon have their fingerprints scanned and picture taken when they arrive in countries like France, Italy and Spain under new regulations being rolled out across the continent starting next month. Those who don't provide such biometric data will be told au revoir, arrivederci or adiós.
The change comes as the European Union rolls out its new Entry/Exit System for not just Americans but all visitors from outside Europe's Schengen Area, a group of countries that allows people in the zone to travel across borders freely without going through customs checks. The new system will be introduced gradually over a roughly six-month period starting Oct. 12. It will eventually replace passport stamps, according to the EU.

In addition to the fingerprint scan and being photographed, Americans will have to provide details from their passports like their full name and date of birth. The system will also collect when and where they're entering and leaving the Schengen Area. "U.S. citizens traveling to most European countries should expect new automated border checks and to have their biodata digitally collected upon arrival and departure," the State Department said in a social media post.

 

[Sand]

Reason #364 to have dumb housewares. AWS outage has smart mattresses overheat and get stuck upright.

Schwing!

 

[Riffraff]

AT&T reached a $177M data breach settlement.​

AT&T has reached a combined $177 million settlement over two data breaches. And impacted consumers have a little over a month left to file a claim for their chunk of the money.

Several lawsuits emerged across the U.S. — and were later consolidated — after AT&T notified millions of customers that information ranging from Social Security numbers to call records were compromised in these breaches last year. Plaintiffs alleged that the telecommunications giant “repeatedly failed” to protect consumer data. While AT&T has continued to deny wrongdoing, it opted to settle earlier this year.

---

Pet peeve: These global comm beasts crazy overpriced services can still afford (multiple) sports arenas off customer's dimes. $177mil is just a bump in the road, doesn't hurt them much. And prices go up each year to improve the customer experience (yeah right).

 

[Sand]

Samsung with ads on their (expensive) fridges. That would drive me up the wall. If folks haven't followed this story, Samsung unilaterally, after folks had already bought these fridges, decided to inject ads into the fridges. Just did it.

 

[Riffraff]

Samsung with ads on their (expensive) fridges. That would drive me up the wall. If folks haven't followed this story, Samsung unilaterally, after folks had already bought these fridges, decided to inject ads into the fridges. Just did it.

Gotta love some of the comments on the link.
Pay a monthly fee FOR ads.
Pay a monthly fee to keep it cool or within a temperature range.
Pay a monthly fee or the doors won't open.

LOL

I just hope the ads aren't like gas station pumps - I can just imagine the fridge yelling random stuff (okay ads on a cycle) in the middle of the night.

OR you had to wait for a 30 second ad before you can open your fridge door. AND another 30 second ad in order to close it!

 

[rockaction]

Samsung with ads on their (expensive) fridges. That would drive me up the wall. If folks haven't followed this story, Samsung unilaterally, after folks had already bought these fridges, decided to inject ads into the fridges. Just did it.

I don't think anybody will be surprised when I suggest we do tons of stuff that is questionable should they seek to make these things standard. I'm not sure we will and I'm not sure what the punishment will be but this strikes me as less than funny and more like a provocation that entails a legitimate Charlton Heston response.

 

[belljr]

Samsung with ads on their (expensive) fridges. That would drive me up the wall. If folks haven't followed this story, Samsung unilaterally, after folks had already bought these fridges, decided to inject ads into the fridges. Just did it.

There's a great bit on silicon valley TV show about this exact topic.

 

[fatness]

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

apnews.com

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement. Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over — often for reasons cited such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar.

Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years.

This active role beyond the borders is part of the quiet transformation of its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, into something more akin to a domestic intelligence operation. Under the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement efforts, CBP is now poised to get more than $2.7 billion to build out border surveillance systems such as the license plate reader program by layering in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
The result is a mass surveillance network with a particularly American focus: cars.

 

[The Z Machine]

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

apnews.com

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement. Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over — often for reasons cited such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar.

Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years.

This active role beyond the borders is part of the quiet transformation of its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, into something more akin to a domestic intelligence operation. Under the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement efforts, CBP is now poised to get more than $2.7 billion to build out border surveillance systems such as the license plate reader program by layering in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
The result is a mass surveillance network with a particularly American focus: cars.

Terrifying, truly

 

[The Longtime Lurker]

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

apnews.com

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement. Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over — often for reasons cited such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar.

Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years.

This active role beyond the borders is part of the quiet transformation of its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, into something more akin to a domestic intelligence operation. Under the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement efforts, CBP is now poised to get more than $2.7 billion to build out border surveillance systems such as the license plate reader program by layering in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
The result is a mass surveillance network with a particularly American focus: cars.

Read this yesterday. I don't see a world we don't look back on the beginning of this and regret nobody could be bothered to nip it wnen there was still a chance.

 

[Sparky Polastri]

Careful. Talking about stuff like this gets some of us a timeout. Best stick to a fridge that forces ads on you.

 

[Sand]

On the bright side of privacy news.

The international Association of Cryptologic Research had an election. One of the officers lost a cryptographic key - now the results of the election will never be known because it can't be unlocked.

Private forever.

Cryptology Group Held an Election, but Can’t Decrypt the Results

A global group of researchers was unable to read the vote tally, after an official lost one of three secret code keys needed to unlock a hyper-secure election system.

www.nytimes.com

 

[fatness]

Over 120,000 home cameras hacked in South Korea for 'sexploitation' footage

Four people have been arrested in South Korea for allegedly hacking more than 120,000 video cameras in homes and businesses and using the footage to make sexually exploitative materials for an overseas website. Police announced the arrests on Sunday, saying the accused exploited the Internet Protocol (IP) cameras' vulnerabilities, such as simple passwords.

A cheaper alternative to CCTV, IP cameras - otherwise known as home cameras - connect to a home internet network and are often installed for security or to monitor the safety of children and pets. Locations of cameras hacked in the country reportedly included private homes, karaoke rooms, a pilates studio and a gynaecologist's clinic.

 

[Scoresman]

Over 120,000 home cameras hacked in South Korea for 'sexploitation' footage

Four people have been arrested in South Korea for allegedly hacking more than 120,000 video cameras in homes and businesses and using the footage to make sexually exploitative materials for an overseas website. Police announced the arrests on Sunday, saying the accused exploited the Internet Protocol (IP) cameras' vulnerabilities, such as simple passwords.

A cheaper alternative to CCTV, IP cameras - otherwise known as home cameras - connect to a home internet network and are often installed for security or to monitor the safety of children and pets. Locations of cameras hacked in the country reportedly included private homes, karaoke rooms, a pilates studio and a gynaecologist's clinic.

We have pet cameras for when we are away from home, but they are only connected when we are away. Another example of where a little bit of common sense fixes the problem.

Also is it normal for gynecologist offices to have cameras?

 

[fatness]

Also is it normal for gynecologist offices to have cameras?

I don't know. I could see any office having cameras in the waiting area, front desk area, entry/exit area. But cameras in exam rooms would be another matter entirely.

The article does say they obtained video, then altered it and put it up on a porn site.

 

[Scoresman]

Also is it normal for gynecologist offices to have cameras?

I don't know. I could see any office having cameras in the waiting area, front desk area, entry/exit area. But cameras in exam rooms would be another matter entirely.

The article does say they obtained video, then altered it and put it up on a porn site.

So what's happening in the waiting room or front desk area that is viable to be put on a porn site, even altered?

With deep fakes being a thing now, anytime a camera of any kind is pointed at you, it can be altered into porn. You have to be a shut-in luddite these days to 100% protect yourself which isn't realistic.

 

[fatness]

what's happening in the waiting room or front desk area that is viable to be put on a porn site, even altered?

I was answering why a gynecologist might have a camera in their office.

As for how the hackers made the footage into porn, I guess you'd have to find the porn videos to see that

Are you saying the victims shouldn't have gone out in public?

 

[Gally]

Are you saying the victims shouldn't have gone out in public?

I think he is saying that there is video taken of you almost anytime you go out in public so if someone wanted to make a deep fake using your likeness there really isn't any way of avoiding it other than never going outside so you aren't filmed.

 

[massraider]

“Surveillance Pricing” Hurts Consumers, Incentivizes More Corporate Spying on Them | ACLU

Those hurt the most are those who can least afford it

www.aclu.org

Surveillance Pricing, for those who don't care if they being spied on....,.

 

[Scoresman]

what's happening in the waiting room or front desk area that is viable to be put on a porn site, even altered?

I was answering why a gynecologist might have a camera in their office.

As for how the hackers made the footage into porn, I guess you'd have to find the porn videos to see that

Are you saying the victims shouldn't have gone out in public?

No, not at all, the opposite, in fact. It's not something I spend a lot of time worrying about mainly because a lot of privacy concerns can be mitigated with a little common sense. The rest you cant really control. You have to weigh the benefit of the gadget/service you are considering with the small risk you may become a victim.

 

[tymarsas]

India now requires all phone manufacturers to pre-install government spyware onto all phones. And it can't be deleted. https://www.reuters.com/sustainabil...overnment-app-ensure-cyber-safety-2025-12-01/

I saw a post that showed the permissions this app requires, which is all of them. It can read your messages, call logs, contacts, everything.

I also read that India has stepped it back slightly and may allow people the delete it, but it still has to be pre-installed. Hopefully Apple and Google stand up to this.

 

[Sand]

“Surveillance Pricing” Hurts Consumers, Incentivizes More Corporate Spying on Them | ACLU

Those hurt the most are those who can least afford it

www.aclu.org

Surveillance Pricing, for those who don't care if they being spied on....,.

Is there such a thing as a browser or browser extension that randomizes the fingerprinting so this can be avoided?

 

[fatness]

“Surveillance Pricing” Hurts Consumers, Incentivizes More Corporate Spying on Them | ACLU

Those hurt the most are those who can least afford it

www.aclu.org

Surveillance Pricing, for those who don't care if they being spied on....,.

Part 2 of that article is pretty good also.

"A world with surveillance pricing will create all kinds of gamesmanship. On airline ticket pricing, that gamesmanship might run like this:
YOU: If an airline’s prices seem high just when you need a ticket the most, you try to look at their flights without signing in to their site.
AIRLINE: Uses cookies or your IP address to figure out who you are.
YOU: Clear your cookies, and use a VPN to disguise your IP address.
AIRLINE: Use device fingerprinting to identify you nonetheless.
YOU: Switch computers to defeat such fingerprinting.
AIRLINE: Refuses to show you prices at all unless you provide the actual, government-mandated identity that you will use when you fly (“Log in to see price”).
YOU: Ask a friend to look at prices for you, and possibly buy you a ticket (currently permitted).
AIRLINE: Obtains your contact list — a common set of data grabbed by companies — figures out what’s going on (perhaps aided by AI), and charges your friend the high price too.
YOU: Try a more distant friend.
People could even organize online so unrelated strangers can check prices for each other. Or formal services to facilitate that might emerge."

 

[fatness]

I've been asked by a couple websites (don't remember which) to fill out an Opt-Out form in addition to clicking their Opt Out box. I've never filled it out or even looked at it, until now
This is the form I'm asked to fill out to "protect my privacy":

Privacy Web Form

privacyportal.onetrust.com

No ****ing way.

 

[Sand]

I've been asked by a couple websites (don't remember which) to fill out an Opt-Out form in addition to clicking their Opt Out box. I've never filled it out or even looked at it, until now
This is the form I'm asked to fill out to "protect my privacy":

Privacy Web Form

privacyportal.onetrust.com

No ****ing way.

Just like those texts that spam you and ask for you to reply to opt out. Replying just confirms there is a human there and the spam goes nuts.

 

[fatness]

I've been asked by a couple websites (don't remember which) to fill out an Opt-Out form in addition to clicking their Opt Out box. I've never filled it out or even looked at it, until now
This is the form I'm asked to fill out to "protect my privacy":

Privacy Web Form

privacyportal.onetrust.com

No ****ing way.

Just like those texts that spam you and ask for you to reply to opt out. Replying just confirms there is a human there and the spam goes nuts.

It's funny how they need no direct input from you to follow you, build up a profile, aim marketing and political messaging at you.
But if you want them to stop, suddenly they need all your personal information before they can do so.

 

[fatness]

Also is it normal for gynecologist offices to have cameras?

Sadly some gynecologists do have those cameras and abuse their use. This guy got away with it for years. Finally there was a complaint against him, there are criminal charges and a lawsuit, and as of earlier today there were at least 70 reports of his abuse.

Army gynecologist is charged with secretly videotaping patients at Fort Hood

Dr. Blaine McGraw had been under investigation since October, when a patient complained about him to Fort Hood officials.

www.nbcnews.com