Zuckerberg Denies that Facebook Uses your Phone’s Microphone to Spy on you…Hmm

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress again today to finish off a second day of questioning on Capitol Hill. His appearance was voluntary and came as a result of the recent Cambridge Analytica data breach that saw the loss of 80 million plus Facebook users’ data.

Zuckerberg was questioned on a number of issues challenging Facebook including data usage, selling user data, privacy, the societal value of Facebook, Facebook’s political stance and how they censor outlets based on their political stance.

One of the longest running theories about Facebook was that it would collect information from your verbal conversations via your phone’s microphone while you have your phone on or around you. You likely experienced the following before: You are having a conversation with friends about a very specific brand, specific product and so forth. Then suddenly you hop on Facebook, having not searched for that product or brand at all, now there is an ad for that very product in your newsfeed.

Logically one would think the only way for this to happen would be that they are analyzing trigger words in your conversations. That, or they are somehow tapped into your consciousness and gathering data that way.

Congressman Larry Bucsh asked Zuckerberg on Wednesday whether or not Facebook does in fact mine data via your personal conversations using your phones microphone.

“My understanding is that a lot of these cases that you’re talking about are a coincidence,” Zuckerberg told Congress. This answer did not seem to go over so well based on the look on Bucsh’s face. Not just that, how could this truly explain the frequency and incredible accuracy of this phenomenon.

Zuckerberg was asked the question on both days of questioning as it has been one of the major questions surrounding Facebook spying. Still Zuckerberg stated that it was a “conspiracy theory,” and denied the practice with a flat “no.” He went on to say that he doesn’t know of any company using this tactic. Except for maybe the NSA? We know this tech exists, the question is does Facebook use it and are they willing to admit it?

Was he telling the truth? Does one even need to tell the truth during these types of hearings? While some of us think yes, in fact they don’t. And in many cases people have lied for us only to find out the truth a short time after.

Let’s not forget that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress the NSA does not “wittingly” spy on Americans. And yet only a few months later whistleblower Edward Snowden showed the entire world that the NSA was doing just that.

When it comes to news and information censorship, Facebook routinely does this to protect their own political position. We have seen this first hand when we share content that challenges Facebook’s own ideologies. Regardless of the fact our journalistic process uses facts, sources and proof that are well founded, Facebook views this as threatening information. Censorship has been intense from our perspective.

Reflecting On Why This Is Important

In December of 2017 I released an article stating Facebook would go through a deep awakening in 2018 due to the fact that their platform seems to be in need of a shift. Users are clearly unhappy and the social media giant has been using manipulative psychological tactics to prey on its users in order to keep them using the platform.

During a time where humanity’s consciousness is shifting so dramatically, this type of behaviour from companies won’t go unnoticed and people will begin to figure out what’s going on. Not only that, in a natural course of action companies will in essence ‘be outed’ for the things that aren’t in alignment with humanity truly thriving.

I feel this spotlight on Facebook is actually inspiring to see. While on one hand we can say it’s politics and congress trying to decide if they need to step in and help regulate, and on another hand dirty dealings, lies and deceit are coming to the surface in what is like a great unveiling where humanity can now reflect upon itself and what it does.

Is Facebook still of value to our daily lives when they do only what’s in the best interest of their business and not the user experience? Should we be spending so much time on a platform using tactics to manipulate us?

The barrage of ‘bad press’ for Facebook has been tough as they are losing users in the millions every month. In the end we learn another valuable lesson from this, when we, or companies, do things that don’t benefit the whole, our day or ‘reckoning,’ if you will, comes. What I mean by this is, as humanity we have to learn to do things that truly favor all involved or that do not harm nor take advantage of others simply for our individual benefit. This is a lesson being seen on the macrocosm but applies to the micro as well.

In your day, do you find yourself taking advantage of others? Running your business or your plans to benefit yourself more so than others? Why do you find yourself doing this? I believe we can all turn what we see in the ‘real world’ into an internal reflection for ourselves as well.

The post Zuckerberg Denies that Facebook Uses your Phone’s Microphone to Spy on you…Hmm appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

"What The F*ck!": Rescued Woman Blasts CNN For Exploiting Hurricane Harvey Victims

Earlier today, CNN anchor Rosa Flores apparently chose the wrong mom to exploit in her futile effort to boost CNN ratings.

While it"s unclear exactly what happened off-air in the moments leading up to this interview, it became clear very quickly that this "shivering cold" mother of two exhausted children had no appetite for Flores shoving a "microphone in her face" to get a couple of sound bites for Jim Acosta"s show.

"We walked through four feet of water to get food on the first day.  Yeah, that’s a lot of shit.”

“But y’all sit here, y’all trying to interview people during their worst times — like that’s not the smartest thing to do. Like people are really breaking down and y’all sitting here with cameras and microphones trying to ask us what the fuck is wrong with us."

"And you really trying to understand with the microphone still in my face? With me shivering cold, with my kids wet, and you still putting the microphone in my face."

Not surprisingly, Kellyanne Conway immediately took to twitter to shame CNN for the failed interview.

Watch this clip to end.Shames @CNN to get the mike out of her face, notes her kids are shivering & in need of things other than an interview https://t.co/jGbvfJGecx

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) August 29, 2017

Of course, even though Conway"s tweet will be dismissed as a cheap shot, it does seem somewhat obvious from the jump that this mom is exhausted beyond belief and probably slightly more interested in finding some dry clothes for herself and her children than sharing her feelings with CNN.  That said, maybe we"re just really good at picking up on subtle social cues...

Meanwhile, the whole episode left Jim Acosta noticeably "triggered"...

Q&A: How Can I Stop My TV Spying On Me?

Following today"s publication, by WikiLeaks, of documents exposing the CIA"s secret hacking program - describing tools that can turn a world of increasingly networked, camera- and microphone-equipped devices into eavesdroppers, AP"s Frank Bajak answers the public"s biggest questions. Bajak warns consumers, there"s "not much you can do if you don"t want to sacrifice the benefits of the device," but offers a silver-lining of sorts for the average joe, the "tools that appear to be targeted at specific people"s (devices).. and many intrusion tools are for delivery via "removable device"."

Smart televisions and automobiles now have on-board computers and microphones, joining the ubiquitous smartphones, laptops and tablets that have had microphones and cameras as standard equipment for a decade. That the CIA has created tools to turn them into listening posts surprises no one in the security community.

Q: HOW WORRIED SHOULD CONSUMERS BE?

A: The intrusion tools highlighted by the leak do not appear to be instruments of mass surveillance. So, it"s not as if everyone"s TV or high-tech vehicle is at risk.

"It"s unsurprising, and also somewhat reassuring, that these are tools that appear to be targeted at specific people"s (devices) by compromising the software on them — as opposed to tools that decrypt the encrypted traffic over the internet," said Matt Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania computer scientist.

The exploits appear to emphasize targeted attacks, such as collecting keystrokes or silently activating a Samsung TV"s microphone while the set is turned off. In fact, many of the intrusion tools described in the documents are for delivery via "removable device."

Q: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT A COMPROMISED INTERNET-CONNECTED DEVICE FROM COMMUNICATING WITH SPIES?

A: Not much if you don"t want to sacrifice the benefits of the device.

"Anything that is voice-activated or that has voice- and internet-connected functionality is susceptible to these types of attacks," said Robert M. Lee, a former U.S. cyberwar operations officer and CEO of the cybersecurity company Dragos.

That includes smart TVs and voice-controlled information devices like the Amazon Echo, which can read news, play music, close the garage door and turn up the thermostat. An Amazon Echo was enlisted as a potential witness in an Arkansas murder case.

To ensure a connected device can"t spy on you, unplug it from the grid and the internet and remove the batteries, if that"s possible. Or perhaps don"t buy it, especially if you don"t especially require the networked features and the manufacturer hasn"t proven careful on security.

Security experts have found flaws in devices — like WiFi-enabled dolls — with embedded microphones and cameras.

Q: I USE WHATSAPP AND SIGNAL FOR VOICE AND TEXT COMMUNICATION BECAUSE OF THEIR STRONG ENCRYPTION. CAN THE EXPLOITS DESCRIBED IN THE WIKILEAKS DOCUMENTS BREAK THEM?

A: No. But exploits designed to infiltrate the operating system on your Android smartphone, iPhone, iPad or Windows-based computer can read your messages or listen in on conversations on the compromised device itself, though communications are encrypted in transit.

"The bad news is that platform exploits are very powerful," Blaze tweeted. "The good news is that they have to target you in order to read your messages."

He and other experts say reliably defending against a state-level adversary is all but impossible. And the CIA was planting microphones long before we became networked.

Q: I"M NOT A HIGH-VALUE TARGET. BUT I STILL WANT TO PROTECT MYSELF. HOW?

A: It may sound boring, but it"s vital: Keep all your operating systems patched and up-to-date, and don"t click links or open email attachments unless you are sure they are safe.

There will always be exploits of which antivirus companies are not aware until it"s too late. These are known as zero-day exploits because no patches are available and victims have zero time to prepare. The CIA, National Security Agency and plenty of other intelligence agencies purchase and develop them.

But they don"t come cheap. And most of us are hardly worth it.

Source: AP