Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by MWil on Saturday March 01, 2014 @07:58AM
(#7324083)
I asked about and then proposed what you call a data fuzzer about 3 years ago. Instead of not using Facebook, get your computer to use it when you're not and muddy the data collected on you. Friends would know the relevant period to ignore. Same with other sites where user content is allowed.
I haven't actually seen a "consumer" data fuzzer though outside of Twitter and Twitch bots.
Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by dredmorbius on Saturday March 01, 2014 @08:09AM
(#7324100)
There's a Firefox plugin Google search generator, TrackMeNot: http://trackmenot.org/
Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by dredmorbius on Saturday March 01, 2014 @03:42PM
(#7326009)
It's also available for Chrome, turns out.
Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by jeangenie on Saturday March 01, 2014 @12:23PM
(#7325128)
Firefox 1.5 to Firefox 3.6 compatibility.
Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by garfelnagel on Saturday March 01, 2014 @08:18AM
(#7324121)
Destruction of government property would cover the nano bot wars. Seriously, how many traffic cams are destroyed in the US?
Re:At the RSA Security Conference, Things Get Testy
by dredmorbius on Saturday March 01, 2014 @08:49AM
(#7324186)
Large and widespread bug dispersal is different from traffic cams. And there are countermeasures (e.g., an in-car camera laser which would target surveillance cameras within line-of-site) which could nondestructively counter surveillance equipment.
Similarly, I was suggesting defenses which might simply emit signals or project a cone of silence where bots are detected.
I'm also not aware of any case being made for destruction of government property, say, where tracking devices have been found on vehicles (there are a few news stories concerning this), though I recall at least one in which the US government agency involved (the FBI) wanted its tracker back.
No. It is not.
Simply because something is technically possible doesn't mean that it must happen.
Simply because a thing does happen doesn't mean it must be allowed.
Legal protections can be created. Governments and corporations can be legally obliged to turn over or destroy records. Failure to do so can be subject to audits. The operating presumption is that the surveillance is happening, which should oblige a tremendous benefit of the doubt to anyone challenging or refusing such surveillance.
At another level: surveillance countermeasures will become more prevalent and effective. Small-scale tools such as data fuzzers (running a constant set of quasi-random Internet searches and traffic from your IP, generating white noise to frustrate microphones, laser-blinding cameras, whatever). If you've read Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age, the nanobot wars he describes are likely to become a reality -- your own personal defense devices seeking out and destroying surveillance bots. People realizing that a principle of least privilege and of least capability should apply to technologies: "smart paper" may be nifty and keen, but one of the advantages of plain old dumb paper is that it's not electronic, and doesn't have arbitrary programmatic capabilities. When we've got a record of microprocessor bugs being placed in electric teakettles and irons, the benefits of solid cast-iron cookware or other dumb-as-rocks tools are clear.
http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-accuses-china-spying-imported-...
At the government level, pushing back against elected officials (hey, California, when are you going to dump DiFi?). Massive lawsuits against corporate spies can have similar chilling effects on them, as well as loss-of-business. There remains considerable power in collective action, so long as people are willing to use it.