Interesting. Note that the article describes what is possible, not necessarily that it has happened.

Link

FISA and the Second Amendment: Gun Owners Beware
By Patrick G. Eddington
February 01, 2024
Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or politically nonaffiliated person, if you're also a gun owner and use Apple products (I'm both), you should be deeply concerned about the ability of federal law enforcement agencies to get a lot of data on you - without ever having to get a warrant.

On January 25, the technology publication 9to5 Mac published an alarming piece about ads and push notifications being used as surveillance tools against iPhone users.

Reporter Ben Lovejoy provided details about a new report from 404 Media on ad spyware known as Patternz.

"Patternz strikes deals with smaller ad networks, willing to engage in shady practices, to gather the device fingerprints, and to use them to trigger surveillance," Lovejoy wrote.

Your device type, operating system, places visited (through GPS data), and other digital data is gathered by Patternz & made available for sale through a process known as real-time bidding.

"The problem is that the security services can pose as an ad bidder," Lovejoy notes, "put in a massively-specific set of target criteria – so specific that it will identify particular individuals – and then obtain a vast amount of sensitive data on that person."

Lovejoy also noted that security researchers Mysk had discovered that Apple's iPhone push notification function can be exploited by app makers to cull and exfiltrate critical data about your phone such as "system uptime, locale, keyboard language, available memory, battery status, device model, display brightness, to mention a few.”

“Such signals are commonly used for fingerprinting and tracking users across different apps developed by different developers,” the article notes. “Fingerprinting is strictly prohibited on iOS and iPadOS."

Yet it's happening, and also on Android devices.

Interestingly, more left-leaning Americans are buying firearms, a development highlighted by a National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) survey released earlier this month. Gun ownership among women and those living in urban or suburban areas showed the greatest increases, along with people 18-34. What these new and existing gun owners may not realize is with this new technology, just how easily federal law enforcement organizations can collect data on your interest in firearms.

For instance, if you’re a prospective or current gun owner and you use your smartphone to go to OpticsPlanet to look for a new red dot sight, then go to Magpul for rail and sling adapters for the modern sporting rifle your thinking of buying, then mosey on over to LWRC to look at their latest gas piston AR-15 offerings, and finally end up at Ammunition Depot to check out their latest sale on 5.56mm NATO standard rounds, unless those retailers expressly offer you the option "Do not sell my personal data" (props to Daniel Defense for doing that on their landing page), all of your online browsing and ordering activity could end up being for sale to a federal law enforcement agency.

Or maybe even the National Security Agency (NSA).

Shortly before 9to5 Mac published their piece, the New York Times ran a story about America's premier phone and internet surveillance agency buying digital information from data brokers. The man asking NSA questions about the practice is Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the same man who has a bill - the “Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act” - that would require the FBI, NSA, or any other executive branch agency to get a warrant for such data.

While Wyden's bill has not been passed by the Senate as yet, its language has been incorporated into a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform bill offered by Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)--the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (PLEWSA). Originally introduced to reform the scandal-plagued FISA Section 702 surveillance program, if enacted, PLEWSA would also close the data broker loophole described above.

The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee in December 2023 by a whopping 35-2 bipartisan vote. That just doesn't usually happen these days in a politically polarized House. It shows how alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are about executive branch surveillance outrages. It's also a reason why if you have or are thinking about purchasing a firearm for self-defense, you should let your own House member know that your browsing and buying habits should be your business, and not the government's, without a warrant.

Former CIA analyst and ex-House senior policy advisor Patrick G. Eddington is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

I would also bet that Google has been supplying that kind of information, and more, for years.

Yup, Google is some nosey bastards. All of Government uses smart devices too so party means nothing when it comes down to personal information. Hope the Bill passes.

quote:

Interesting. Note that the article describes what is possible, not necessarily that it has happened.

Hah! One of the first lessons one learns in computer security is that if it is possible, then it has already been done. Not to mention, disseminated to the entire world.

Access my 15 year old Samsung 3G phone I still use no internet go for it.

quote:

Hah! One of the first lessons one learns in computer security is that if it is possible, then it has already been done. Not to mention, disseminated to the entire world.

And it's corollary; There are those that have been hacked, and there are those that know it.

I turned my tracking off.

It didn't matter Google was selling my data anyway.

It turns out they could still track you by some nefarious means.

They got caught and fined, the money was less than pocket change for them. They were caught a few times 400+ million in fines.

A whole .0014% of yearly profits.

I am sure that slap on the wrist really hurt.

I search gay midget rodeo clown porn in google search several times a day.

I'm not kidding.

I had a visit from those sons of bitches with my whole internet history during the CRCT cheating investigation. Every post here was in a book.

I can't wait for our next encounter.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

gay midget rodeo clown porn

Thank you. I was trying to think of a name for my new WiFi network.