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For all of us who hate Google spying on us.....

Susquatch

Susquatch

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A man calls Pizza hut to order a pizza...
CALLER: Is this Pizza Hut?

GOOGLE: No sir, it's Google Pizza.

CALLER: I must have dialed a wrong number, sorry.

GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Pizza Hut last month.

CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza.

GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir?

CALLER: My usual? You know me?

GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.

CALLER: Super! That’s what I’ll have.

GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?

CALLER: What? I don’t want a vegetarian pizza!

GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir.

CALLER: How the hell do you know that?

GOOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.

CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetarian pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.

GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once at Lloyds Pharmacy, 4 months ago.

CALLER: I bought more from another Pharmacy.

GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.

CALLER: I paid in cash.

GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.

CALLER: I have other sources of cash.

GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your latest tax returns unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law!

CALLER: WHAT THE HELL!

GOOGLE: I'm sorry sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.

CALLER: Enough already! I'm sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I'm going to an island without the internet, TV, where there is no phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.

GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago...
 
slow-poke said:
Funny until you connect wireshark to your windows based PC and realize all the devices that are powered off are spewing data at an incredible rate.
Click to expand...
Can you in simple terms explain what wireshark can do for you? Reading the website didn't help me with understanding it.
 
essentially it lets you look at the messages between things on your computer and things outside of your computer. At very low level if needed. E'g the typical web page will have 5 to 50 or more subsections communicating with other sites to track you, provide ads, supply images for clickable links etc. Wireshark can make that visible.

This page is a decent summary: https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/ChapterIntroduction.html#ChIntroPurposes
 
gerritv said:
essentially it lets you look at the messages between things on your computer and things outside of your computer. At very low level if needed. E'g the typical web page will have 5 to 50 or more subsections communicating with other sites to track you, provide ads, supply images for clickable links etc. Wireshark can make that visible.

This page is a decent summary: https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/ChapterIntroduction.html#ChIntroPurposes
Click to expand...
That about sums it up. When I first used it I was surprised to see devices for example an Apple TV cube that was off for days according to the power LED and was just constantly sending data. smart devices with a camera (for example a TV) get covered up here, what the hell do they need a camera in my TV watching what is going on and where do "they" draw the privacy line?

I dumped gmail a while back, don't get me started on that.
 
Most routers will also let you look at what traffic is going where. It's scary.

We have started disconnecting things from the network or unplugging them when not being used. It isn't great protection but it's better than leaving the doors unlocked completely.
 
When you plug them back in however, they will work hard at catching up on lost time :)

A better solution to network security is to use VLANs to segment devices into virtual networks. Thus you can still have cameras, Alexa or Google Nests or Apple Tv and wifi controlled lights etc. They are however on different virtual networks and have rules preventing e.g. talking to other types, or printers talking to wifi lights or talking to the outside world.
I bought a Unifi Express to go with my Unifi AP, together they give me this level of control over my network of 35+ devices while blocking a lot of unwanted extrnal comms. Unifi Express has Wifi but they now have an additional device that has 4 ports. I refuse to use routers supplied by my internet provider.
 
gerritv said:
I refuse to use routers supplied by my internet provider.
Click to expand...

I am with you on that. But sometimes you don't have a choice when they hard program the access credentials. But so far I have found that you can set them to disable the router function and just pass the signal through to your own router. That's how mine is setup. I even disabled the wireless access point on it and use my own.
 
Just curious what you guys think about those little automatic vacuums that have an internet connection and a camera. Seems to me like there is no way a vacuum should need either of those to work.
 
Upnorth said:
Just curious what you guys think about those little automatic vacuums that have an internet connection and a camera. Seems to me like there is no way a vacuum should need either of those to work.
Click to expand...
While there are conspiracy thereoists out there that think it's all just part of a big government/corporate plan to take control of our lives, I blame the marketers and the stupid consumer that falls for the pitch and buys all that crap. Some people seem to think that everything is better if it's connected to your phone/internet or if it's called "smart" .
I'm waiting for them to market a "smart" toilet, one that knows when to flush itself, or can be flushed from anywhere around the world because it's connected!
 
Sort of related, or at least a smack upside of the head on their power, Google recently cancelled my you tube account. It couldn't have been a sleepier little channel, innocent and all original content. For the life of my I can't understand why.

Yet the arrogance they approach the situation with is repulsive, demeaning. They solicit videos to become their content, which takes a lot of work to produce, then a bot yanks the rug out from under you without so much as a warning or opportunity to appeal to a human. yeah its mice nuts in the grand scheme of things, but kind of feels like a dystopian era warning, all the power and zero sense of fairness or right/wrong in using it against you, and zero accountability.

Grrrr.

So now I only use Brave browser to watch you tube. Teensy weensy minuscule revenge on the gargantuan big data juggernaut, but hey, do what you can :)
 
I am running Linux Mint as my operating system and use Brave as my browser which I believe gives me a bit more security.
I also use the hosts file from: https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
It also works with windows and really reduces the number of adds I'm forced to look at.
 
Upnorth said:
Just curious what you guys think about those little automatic vacuums that have an internet connection and a camera. Seems to me like there is no way a vacuum should need either of those to work.
Click to expand...

We have a Roomba and we love it. It does a better job than a human could and also leaves pleasing patterns on carpets sort of like lawn cutting does. It learns the dirtier areas and deep cleans them. It learns about your rooms and can be told which rooms to vacuum and in what order.

Yes, it has a camera that it uses to form a map of the rooms and furniture and avoid obstacles. The camera faces the wall when it isn't vacuuming and we leave the room when it is working. Although I am a security freak, I am not concerned about our Roomba. We have nicknamed it "Molly" from the Jetsons.
 
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