"And it seems like the misunderstanding is that yes, some Flash apps can use your Cam and Mic but it only uses it to display on YOUR computer. It never transmits (and may not have the ability to) this data over the internet. I may be wrong"

Yep, you're wrong. The Flash Player can stream your mic / camera to the Flash Media Server, or other servers like the open source Red5 project.

Again, this only works if the user OPTS-IN. If you click Deny your mic and camera cannot be used by the code running in the Flash Player. If you click Allow, then it can.

MORE EAVES-DROPPING SYSTEMS IN THE WORKS
Published Sunday 3rd September 2006 08:02 GMT

*Comment* The first thing that came out of our mouths when we heard that Google is working on a system that listens to what's on your TV playing in the background, and then serves you relevant adverts, was "that's cool, but dangerous".
The idea appeared in *Technology Review* citing Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, who says these ideas will show up eventually in real Google products - sooner rather than later.
The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going off or the TV turned down. The PC then identifies it, using fingerprinting, and then shows you relevant content, whether that's adverts or search results, or a chat room on the subject.
And, of course, we wouldn't put it past Google to store that information away, along with the search terms it keeps that you've used, and the web pages you have visited, to help it create a personalised profile that feeds you just the right kind of adverts/content. And given that it is trying to develop alternative approaches to TV advertising, it could go the extra step and help send "content relevant" advertising to your TV as well.
We suspect that such a world would be rather eerie, with a constant feeling of déjà vu every time anyone watched TV. *Technology Review* said Google talked about this software in Europe last June, and that it breaks sound into a five-second snippets to pick out audio from a TV, reducing the snippet to a digital "fingerprint", which it matches on an internet server. Given the furore caused when AOL released searches on the internet, there might be more than a few civil liberties activists less than happy for Google to put this idea into practice. Also, given that Google provides the software link between its search software and the microphone, it's a small step to making the same link to any webcams attached to the PC.
Pretty soon the security industry is going to find a way to hijack the Google feed and use it for full on espionage.
Google says that its fingerprinting technology makes it impossible for the company (or anyone else) to eavesdrop on other sounds in the room, such as personal conversations, because the conversion to a fingerprint is made on the PC, and a fingerprint can't be reversed, as it's only an identity. But we should think that "spyware" might take on an extra meaning if someone less scrupulous decided on a similar piece of software.
The Google program converts sound into graphs, weeds out background noise, and reduces the graphs to key features that can then be translated into just four bytes of information, so that the fingerprints for an entire year of television programming would add up to no more than a few gigabytes, the company said.

Meanwhile, in an unconnected announcement this week, Google said it has signed a multi-year agreement with online auction giant eBay, to provide text-based advertising outside the US. The companies also plan to launch a "click-to-call" advertising function on eBay using Skype and Google Talk.

FBI's Current Surveilliance Techniques Could Even Surpass Carnivore

Over at CNET News.com, Declan McCullagh says that the FBI may be using
an invasive new surveillance technique that goes far beyond its abandoned Carnivore surveillance system. Apparently instead of just recording the online activity of a particular subject or suspect, agents are using "full-pipe" surveillance -- sucking down all the online traffic that goes across a network's router or switch -- when they or an ISP can't isolate a particular IP address or user to monitor. Only after more information can be divined that allows the agents to isolate a particular user's traffic do they (supposedly) throw out all the other information they've collected. This means the FBI could be collecting the activity of all kinds of people who have done nothing to merit surveillance, and it's a technique that was apparently too invasive for Carnivore. McCullagh also explores the legality of the technique, since it would seem to fall foul of the "minimization" demands of federal wiretap laws which require investigators to limit the amount of information they intercept that's outside the scope of their investigation.

33 Comments | Leave a Comment...

From Melissa:
They don't throw out the illegally obtained information!

See these links for proof:

Online News Hour: Debate

FBI Accused of Patriot Act Misuse - PBS.org

Justice Department: FBI acted illegally - U.S. Security

DOJ: FBI understated Patriot Act use

Audit: FBI's Patriot Act snooping broke rules

Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests

FBI Illegally Used Patriot Act, Audit Says, Justice Department

Audit Slams FBI Use Of Patriot Act, Justice Department Report

EPIC Bill Track

Tracking Privacy, Speech, and Cyber-Liberties

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

works to protect fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and freedom of expression in the arena of computers and the Internet.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center,

a project of the Fund for Constitutional Government, is a public-interest
research center whose goal is to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and
constitutional values.

Junkbusters Privacy Link

What information is your browser / OS revealing?

Gibson Research Corp.

Similar to above, but more Windows focus

FBI Pamphlet - Who's a Terrorist?

For more information and more pamphlets, see Terrorism category

TOMMY THOMPSON: THE "CHIPPER" PRESIDENT?
Election Bid Raises Specter of RFID Implant Threat -

He is on the board of Verichip Corporation

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Propaganda - Exposing Propaganda

Save The Males -Feminism & The New World Order

Henry Makow, Ph.D.'s Site

Daily Kos:
CIA Engineered Controlled Opposition?
I’ve never had any problem with the CIA.
I’d have no problem working for them.

Shocker! FOX reporter says one thing...facts say another

Done: Dow Jones, Murdoch ink deal

The Evil Empire Grows

Giuliani finds Fox News welcoming

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Property Rights / Eminent Domain

The Institute for Justice

Eminent Domain: Being Abused?
New 'Interpretation' of "Eminent Domain" - Local authorities can now seize property for 'PRIVATE' Development if the new owner can generate greater income from it (no home is safe!). This will typically translate as stealing
private property (for way below value compensation) to give to corporations.

Cities across the country have been using eminent domain to force people off their land, so private developers can build more expensive homes and offices that will pay more in property taxes than the buildings they're replacing.

Dana Berliner and Scott Bullock are attorneys at a libertarian non-profit group
called The Institute for Justice, which has filed suit on behalf of the Saleets against
the City of Lakewood. They claim that taking private property this way is unconstitutional.

“This is a nationwide epidemic,” says Berliner. “We have documented more than 10,000 instances of government taking property from one person to give it to another in just the last five years.”

“It is fundamentally wrong, and contrary to the Constitution for the government to take property from one private owner, and hand it over to another private owner, just because the government thinks that person is going to make more productive use of the land,” says Bullock.

“Everyone knows that property can be taken for a road. But nobody thinks that property can be taken to give it to their neighbor or the large business down
the street for their economic benefit,” adds Berliner. “People are shocked
when they hear that this is going on around the country.”

FBI Pamphlet - Who's a Terrorist?

For more information and more pamphlets, see Terrorism category

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