According to some reports United States citizens are caught
on camera approximately 75 times per day. Cameras have become such a common
feature in society that we no longer pay attention to them. It does not end
there as there are many other areas of our lives where our privacy has
vanished. This article will briefly cover some of the area in our everyday
lives where our privacy has been eroded. And, the reality is that there is not
much that we can do about it unless we choose to not use everyday technology.
Even then we are being tracked and record oftentimes with our knowledge or
permission.
Cameras – Still
Photos and Video
Following is a brief list of cameras that record each of us
on a daily bases:
+ Department of Transportation street cameras on highways
and commuter road
+ Private businesses
+ Government facilities
+ Schools
+ Public events such as stadiums
+ Private cellphones and cameras
+ Hospitals
+ Grocery stores
+ Fast food restaurants
When it comes to all of the cameras that record you on a
daily basis do you ever wonder what is happening with the recorded information!
For example:
- How long is the information recorded?
- Is it recorded in a secure format?
- Is facial recognition software being used to
identify you?
- If the information sold to another entity? If
yes, what do they use it for?
- Is the information being uploaded to webpages
such as: YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Instagram, Pinterest, Vimeo, etc.?
Cell Phones
We are now so accustomed to having a cell phone with us all
of the time. If we forget our phone we feel naked and vulnerable. We wonder how
we ever survived pre-cell phone. Yet, cell phones have been a major factor in
our eroding privacy. As long as you carry a cell phone and the battery is in
the phone you can be tracked. Your cell phone is constantly pinging cell phone
towers. If you take out the battery you can prevent this from happening. The
problem is that many cell phones such as the ever popular iPhone prevent you
from removing the battery. In essence, you can be tracked at all times that you
carry your cell phone and there is very little you can do about it unless you
carry your phone in a Faraday bag or cage which is typically not practical if
you want to receive service. You may not think that this is such a big deal but
think about what information a cell phone can reveal about you. It tells where
you have been, how long you have been there, who you have called, who called
you, length of phone calls, all text and digital information can be recorded
not to mention voice data. Your contact list and calendar is also available. Cell
phones provide a very clear pattern of your behavior. These patterns reveal a lot of information
especially if you break from your patterned behavior. As you can see this is not so innocent. Also
remember that many phones now allow you to download apps which may collect
personally identifiable information on you without your knowledge.
Additionally, law enforcement and government agencies have the capability of
remotely using your phone as a listening device even when the phone is turned
off! Cell phones also have the ability to geotag photos which provide very
specific information on where and when the photo was taken. If you then upload
photos to Facebook it is possible for anyone who can view the photo to obtain
this information. Let’s face it, many people “collect” friends who they don’t
know in the real world. It is possible for an individual to obtain a photo of
your new T.V. or pet that you took in your house. At a later date you write a
post stating that you are so excited about your upcoming vacation. Now the bad
guy knows exactly where you live and that you are going on vacation. In case
you are wondering, it is not difficult to obtain the geotag information from
your photo. It can literally be done in minutes.
Vehicle
Information
Your vehicle can also reveal information about your habits.
For example, every time that you register your vehicle your mileage is being
recorded. This allows the government to monitor how many miles you travel a
year. This can be combined with debit or credit card information to determine
how much money you spend on gas which can then
be compared to how many miles you drive. When you own a vehicle you are
typically required to have insurance on the vehicle. Now it can be determined
what your driving habits are, the amount of accidents you are in, tickets that
you receive, if you got a DUI/DWI, etc.
Combine all of this information with the traffic cameras that record
your vehicle. Vehicles that have OnStar
can also be tracked and law enforcement has that ability to eavesdrop on your
conversation without your knowledge. Many people departments are also using
license plate scanners that record your license and the location you were
recorded. The license plate scanner is often used as a law enforcement tool to
see if a car is stolen. Yet, your information may be recorded. Many police
departments do not have policies on how often this information is kept.
Traveling on planes is tracked.
Bank Accounts and Credit/Debit
Cards
It is now common for many employers to direct deposit pay
checks into your bank account. This leaves a trail of who you work for, how
much you get paid, how often you get paid, and what types of accounts you are
putting your money into. Even if you withdraw cash to make many of your
purchases you are still creating a profile of your routine and habits. Even if you don’t have a bank or use direct
deposit you still need to cash your paycheck either at a bank or other location
which leaves an electronic trail.
Many people rely on the use of credit or debit cards. This
leaves an electronic trail of your spending habits to include what you buy,
where you buy it, when you buy it, and how often you buy. Many banks and credit
card companies are able to provide specific details in their statements on how
you are spending your money.
Medical
Information
If you have medical insurance all of your medical
information is collected in numerous places such as your physician’s office,
insurance company, medical billing company, third party payers, etc. One of the
obvious concerns is how safeguarded is this information. Far too often the level of security for you
medical information is less than adequate. Think about what your medical
information says about you and your habits: are you a smoker, drinker,
overweight, medical conditions, mental health diagnosis, rare disorder, etc.
How can this information be used or used against you. For example, how can this
information be used to prevent you from gaining employment or life insurance?
But you say there are rules against this! Yes, there are and there are rules
that state the NSA is not supposed to engage in domestic spying yet they are
doing it anyway.
Utilities
Most of us pay for some form of utilities such as
electricity, water, gas, etc. The amount of consumption can tell how many
people live in your home, if you have guests, if you are using more or less
than normal, etc. Again, your habits are easily identifiable. Entertainment sources can be tracked as well
such as what you watch on cable T.V., Netflix, Amazon, etc.
Internet
The Internet is the ultimate double edged sword. It provides
so many useful benefits while eroding our privacy oftentimes through our own
willingness to provide private information. It is probably a good policy to
assume that anything you do and every web search you conduct on the Internet is
tracked, recorded, and linked to you. Regardless of what type of software you
use to protect your privacy or I.P. address, just assume that the government
has very powerful capabilities to defeat whatever methods you use. Is this
giving the government too much credit? Maybe, but never underestimate the government’s
capabilities. Also, don’t confuse the
capabilities of law enforcement verses the National Security Agency. Their
capabilities are vastly different.
Many municipal and state governments are putting more and
more of your information online in what they call an effort to be
“transparent.” With a few clicks it is now possible to find where you live, how
much you paid for your home, when you bought your home, how many square feet
your home is along with other characteristics, the mortgage company you use, a
copy of your signature, etc. If you know where to look you can obtain all of
this information in less than 5 minutes.
Now, plug your address into a host of Internet mapping software such as
Google Maps or Google Earth and you can obtain relatively high quality
photographs of your house and property from an overhead view and a street
view. Just think of all the possibilities
that a criminal can use this information. And it is all free on the Internet.
Then there is social media such as Facebook, MySpace,
Twitter, LinkedIn, and a host of others where we “willingly provide personal
information” for the masses to consume and use as they see fit. Think about
Facebook and how people put all of their personally identifiable information,
likes, tastes, photographs, videos, comments, etc. Think about all your friends
and the pages that you “Like” and what it says about you. With many social media websites you are
essentially providing a “profile” of yourself.
But they have privacy settings! Do you really trust privacy setting from
any website especially Facebook? Facebook’s privacy settings are like the soup
of the day. They change so often and can be so confusing that the typical user
cannot effectively control their privacy setting. Remember, Facebook and all of
the other social media websites are a business. They are in business to make a
profit which is their primary focus; not your privacy. Hmm, what does the Survival Skillcraft blog or
Facebook say about us!
Emails are also a common tool that offers no privacy. Again,
assume that all of your emails can be read regardless of the email service you
use or any encryption that you use. Even
if you use PGP or GNU Privacy Guard assume that the government has a way to see
your information. Also, any type of Cloud computing or online storage back-up
is probably not safe from prying eyes.
Drones and Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Over America
Lately there has been a lot of talk and concern over the use
of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) domestically, without gathering
any warrants. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has used drones
for domestic surveillance purposes in the United States at least ten times
without obtaining warrants.
DARPA has revealed the ARGUS-IS its mega digital camera with
a 1.8-gigapixel resolution. The
camera can take clear images of objects as small as 5.9 inched from an altitude
of almost 4 miles high. The ARGUS-IS array can be mounted on unmanned drones to
capture an area of 15 square miles.
It would be safe to assume that drones and UAV will, someday
in the not too distant future, be a common as Department of Transportation
cameras. In fact, there are estimates that by the year 2020, there will be
approximately 30,000 drones flying over the United States.
Employee ID Cards
Many employers now issue employee ID card that have an RFID
card. The employer can easily know where you are at all times while at work.
These cards are often used for security purposed and to permit you to access
restricted building areas. These are especially common in secure facilities and
government buildings.
National Security
Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is one of the most
secretive organizations in the world. Much of what they do is classified and
well beyond the reach of average citizens.
Recently, Edward Snowden has released classified information on the
NSA’s spying programs, such as Prism and XKeyScore, along with some of their
capabilities.
It would be safe to assume
that the NSA has some of the best and most advanced technology on Earth capable
of collecting information on billions of people worldwide. It seems that all of
the major phone companies have been supplying the NSA your phone information
for at least the last seven years. This includes everyone that you have call
and that has called you. With all the information and metadata it is not
difficult to determine a lot of information about an individual through the use
of linkage. To see what the NSA is capable of according to whistleblower
William Binney read the following document:
http://info.publicintelligence.net/NSA-WilliamBinneyDeclaration.pdf
Conclusion
The purpose of this article is to briefly show how your
private information is far from private and can be obtained and used without
your knowledge. This article is not to
make you paranoid but more informed on how information can be collected, used,
aggregated, profiled, linked, and analyzed. I don’t delve into methods to reduce or
eliminate how your information is used because in all practicality you can’t
stop this from happening. So much information has already been collected on you
that it is virtually impossible to eliminate what is already collected. And,
trying to reduce your electronic footprint in the future is an exercise in
futility. Yes, there are methods to do so but most people are not willing to
give up some of the tools they use on a daily basis such as the computer or
cell phone.
Some people will argue that they “have nothing to hide” and
that they don’t care if the government or other entities are collecting
personal information with or without their knowledge or consent. Technically,
this statement would apply to most citizens who are law abiding individuals.
Yet, the problem is not that you are doing anything wrong it is that your
information may be collected illegally or for purposes that you do not control.
If you are not against this on principle then you are complacent and part of
the problem.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Those
Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.”
- We live in a dangerous world where terrorist want to kill
us.
- We live in a criminal world where criminals want to steal
from us.
- We life in a profit based world where marketers and
advertisers want to sell to us.
- We life in a curious world where people want to be a voyeur
into our world.
Technology is generally good for progress but like any tool
it can be used for good or bad. Chances
are you do not have anything to hide and you are a law abiding person. Yet,
this does not mean we should sacrifice our liberty or privacy. Laws should
protect us be they oftentimes do not. Benjamin Franklin was correct when he said,
“Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.”
Stand up on principle; not the fact that you have nothing to
hide.