Facial Recognition Is Being Used At Stores Near You

Did you know stores like Wal-Mart are already using facial recognition on customers like you? If you live near a larger city or you frequent larger chain stores like Wal-Mart, your face is probably already in a database somewhere. But what’s really frightening is not that your local Wal-Mart has your face in a data base – it’s what may happen in the future with your data. And I don’t recall being notified by the store that my face was being photographed and catalogued. Hmm….welcome to the dystopian future of 1984!

Read more at The Hill: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/273489-business-eyes-facial-recognition-guidelines

Tech Privacy Will Soon be Back-Doored by Government

Recently pressure for tech companies to relinquish their hold on encryption has increased. Government agencies are growing more and more impatient with the designers of devices that allow users to communicate “in the dark” without fear of being monitored.

The repeated cries of the agencies is that dangerous terrorists like ISIS and other gangs are able to go dark and plot their evil. The proposed solution is for the government agencies to be granted a back door access by the tech companies who create the devices. This alleged back door would supposedly be used only in the most extreme cases of suspected wrongdoing and would only be accessible by approved government officers.

This all sounds good but you have to remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn’t true. This is where my take on things turns aside from the rest of the herd. This is all a big show in my opinion. I believe the back door on your device is already there and if you are someone of interest you are being watched and listened to right now. In fact, you can gather most of what I told you in the first couple of paragraphs from Fox News, but I am writing about it to warn my readers. Don’t be stupid. Don’t do illegal stuff, but also don’t think you are safe just because you are not doing anything illegal. The back door can also let burglars in. It can let foreign spies in as well. As far as only government employees having access to the back door, I will just say I hope you know how that goes.   Consider the last job you had. Did you lose the skills you learned at that job when you quit or got fired? Neither will government employees when they get fired or quit.

Be honest with yourself. This modern technology is only going to make life easier for you and if you don’t keep up you will feel left out. I understand all that but don’t make decisions that are going to compromise your privacy.

Does ISIS Have a Stingray?

Recently I was contemplating the threat level of the international terror group known by most people as ISIS and by patronizing politicians as ISIL and the Junior Varsity.  The group, whatever the name, has risen from suppression to the most well funded terror organization in the world and continues to conquer land in the Middle East killing everyone in their way or with dissenting beliefs.  They are funded the typical way any mob organization would be, but just imagine the mafia on steroids.  If there is a revenue stream they take it.  From stolen oil being sold under the table to toll roads all over their conquered territory to illegitimate tax collections, this organization is well organized and gaining momentum.

Now, you may be asking “who cares?  It’s the Middle East!”  The only problem here is that t ISIS has its sites set on America.  Many young men and women in the united states have fallen prey to the glamorous forecast offered by ISIS and are joining in droves.  Whether contrived or grass roots this movement has become a real threat to national security and now they have already struck in Texas and are planning to strike more targets.

When a well funded group with ill will and operatives inside America begin working against us the threat level is the sky.  This is where the question in the title comes along.  Does ISIS have a Stingray?  “What is a Stingray?” you ask.  There is plenty of documentation about it but in short, a “Stingray” is the brand name for the most popular of the spying devices that can jam radio and phone signals, check phone data, and identify people by mimicking their phone signals as well as listening to phone calls indiscriminately.  If it sounds familiar you may remember that police and sheriffs around the country have been buying and using them secretly against their own citizens.  Recently we even blogged about airplanes equipped with the item to fly over you and pick you out of a crowd by mimicking your cell phone signal.

(One quick tip about a stingray type device:  It can strengthen your phone signal, so if you find yourself in a known dead zone and your phone signal is working great, you may be under attack by a device.)

So, how much does it cost?  The price starts around half a million dollars and goes up as you add accessories.  Do you really think the best funded terror organization in the world can’t afford a $500,000 item?  This is the concern I have always had.  I know most of the time these guys trying to fight crime won’t misuse the item, but the product is available to criminal organizations as well.  Even if they are made illegal well funded terror groups can still get them.  Never under estimate the power of these evil organizations.  Never trust your cell phone.  I believe wholeheartedly that ISIS has a Stingray or at least something similar to it.  There is no need for them to have anything generic.  They can afford the best equipment to bring you down.  Don’t be a victim!