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And since we know that SnapChat doesn't actually delete the photos people send with it, it's probably safe to say that the NSA now also has the largest boob and dick recognition system in the world.



GCHQ has specific exemptions in legislation to cover them if they scoop up images of child sexual abuse or other images of naked children.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/1/crosshead...

> (c)at the time of the offence charged he was a member of GCHQ, and it was necessary for him to make the photograph or pseudo-photograph for the exercise of any of the functions of GCHQ.

("Make" here includes "download from the Internet" becuase that causes a local copy).

Looking through all the legislation is a bit worrying. Perhaps it's all just exemptions asked for but not used as a way pf covering what they actually do; or maybe it's asked for because they might do it in the future but don't do it now; or maybe they ask for it because they do it?


What is your take on this:

"Pentagon declined to investigate hundreds of purchases of child pornography"

[0] -- http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/pentagon-declined-investi...


You can just imagine how the conversation goes:

"Sir, he burned off half his face to resist identification."

"...Have him drop trough."

Serious note though, it's similar to how the kinect is sitting in households across America, and I think the new one with the XBOX One can't be turned off. A microphone and camera system right into people's living rooms.

And of course, the government now wants a database of consumers credit information.

I try to not be a conspiracy theorist but when you hand them this much information, it's hard to trust people to do the 'right' thing.


Or the Nest, which is constantly sending proximity information to Google (and the NSA).


There will be a Nest in every Google self-driving car. I don't have any concrete evidence of this, but it's not that far-fetched.


Why would a car need Nest ? I am curious.


Wait, there's a proximity sensor in the Nest (thermostat, I'm assuming you're talking about)? What function does the sensor serve? And what is its capability exactly - it can detect a person within 10 feet - who happens to be in the same room as the Nest thermostat? Or?


It turns on the display when you approach (normally it's dark), and also tries to detect when no one is home so it can go into "away" mode automatically.


>XBOX One can't be turned off

you are only half a year to the party

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/08/12/microsoft-re...


Of course it can be unplugged. You can also unplug the whole thing from the wall outlet. That's not the point. The point is it works even when you are not playing games.


Turn off whole console then, with a physical switch.


Thinking like this is a problem. The question isn't "is it possible for people to X". It's "will average citizens have the knowledge, time, and energy to X".

99% of XBox owners will not physically unplug the XBox every time they are done using it because of hazy privacy concerns. Suggesting that a few people could is worse than doing nothing. Those with the knowledge and skill to understand the problem will be inclined to solve the problem only for themselves. A bunch of others will use the "they could just unplug it" line to blame the average user for being insufficiently dedicated/savvy. It dissipates the energy for solving the problem properly. And if the NSA is using the Kinect cameras, then they'll be perfectly happy with photos of 99% of users.

As an example, consider the iPhone. Smartphones existed before it. But by packaging the tech in a way that anybody could use it, they made smartphones mainstream. If we want to make privacy mainstream, we need to do something similar, not fall back on blame-y non-solutions like telling people to unplug things.


You shouldn't have to engage in combat against your appliances, even if it's easy to win.


Even if SnapChat deleted stuff, the NSA would have grabbed it all off the wire anyway. Not that it makes it right, but if it transits, it archives.


That didn't happen. Except in the fantastical magical world of the conspiracy theorist.


> That didn't happen.

Are you saying that thus far it has never been the case that NSA or some other US Governmental agency has intercepted Snapchat images off the wire? How would you know whether or not it has ever happened? I think it is very reasonable to assume that NSA can do this.

> Except in the fantastical magical world of the conspiracy theorist.

This is an outright insult. Vent your frustrations elsewhere.


Wait what? The parent OP said that every snapchat was being intercepted and archived by the NSA.


I feel like you're trolling, but this[0]

[0]http://vr-zone.com/articles/nsa-tapped-fiber-backbone-spy-go...


The article says that theoretically it is possible that the NSA hacked internal server traffic at Google. Therefore they are intercepting and archiving every snapchat ever sent? This is not intelligent discourse.


You joke about it, but with the betterment of facial recognition and Facebook, just imagine 1 scenario...

All those folks who share selfies of themselves anonymously online both of them clothed and unclothed, we are starting to see the ability to pinpoint who they are, just because they keep an online facebook.




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