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Pentagon wants to spy on MySpace
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Good news for aspiring dictators, not so good for the rest of us.
The Pentagon has started funding a research program that aims to "harvest" information about people en masse from social networking sites (like Myspace, facebook, friendster).
This is after they've been discovered to be tapping people's phone calls illegally.
Bloody scary.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025556.200
"New Scientist has discovered that Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals."
The Pentagon has started funding a research program that aims to "harvest" information about people en masse from social networking sites (like Myspace, facebook, friendster).
This is after they've been discovered to be tapping people's phone calls illegally.
Bloody scary.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025556.200
"New Scientist has discovered that Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals."
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Comments
We really won't be able to hide anything soon, will we? This probably means they are actually monitoring it already - Just as it says, they are pumping in more money into "mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks.".
Well, that and the NSA tapping the web - you are aware that MSN is monitored there days too? A little test - check IP address connection to your PC before typing some keywords into MSN. Then if you get their IP... have fun.
And how precisely does one do that?
Just a thought ...
And on top of that, they're going behind our backs and violating our integrity, without our acknowledgement.
Cland:
Click start, then run, then type in "command" and press OK. When the program comes up (essentially DOS) type "netstat -x" (Just to bring up the help list.) Then you can use the netstat -# commands (usually -n and -a prove most useful) to check who's connected and soforth.
So, just head to MSN, plonk in some keywords... and see if any new connections appear... then see if you can find out who from.
so how do you find out who any connections might be?
we all know it's for our safety and security and increasing happiness.
welcome to the new world order.
Public information is public information, anyone can use it, it's just that government is gonna have more money to do it.
The IP resolves to Microsoft (obviously) - 207.68.183.32
Pretty much all US network traffic is routed through Langley which is home to Echelon. Setup a packet sniffer and just see where your data is really going.
What specific program would be considered a "packet sniffer" and would that be freely downloadable from the web or must one purchase it?
It's on a private website. The internet is public only in the sense that some websites give you nominal permission to view their content.
It's the same principle as the government filming a party on private property in order to "harvest" information about everyone at that party.
It's not like they will be looking at private friend locked sections, just public pages - which is actually more like someone standing on a soap box in speakers corner - shouting for an hour and then being surprised someone heard what they said.
Someone speaking in Speakers Corner with the intention of being heard is totally different. So is casually browsing through profiles on a social networking site, it is quite different from a government spying agency using taxpayers money to "harvest", on a massive scale, information from a privately owned website.
It's not about people looking at your profile, its about a government agency collecting information and profiling people.
Why do they want this information? Not so they can find out that you like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but so they can start building a big database of everyone's details. Doesn't that bother you?
The main Echelon system is in Langley but the UK as well as other countries are also involved.
You can find a free packet sniffer at @ www.ethereal.com
Well in the sense of it being a waste of taxpayers money it does... As a database its a bit flawed in only having the details of people who put stuff MySpace, which a) may not be accurate or updated b) only covers a small segment of the population.
Its a bit like having an Inland Revenue database which only covers people born in March and can't cope with people getting payrises and then using that system to calculate what tax they're going to pay.