If it is real, it seems that it is not on any mainstream site like Wikipedia. Which seems to put it in the realm of conspiracy theory. However, I believe that many conspiracy theories are closer to the truth than the official stories. Who are you more likely to believe? Alex Jones or Anderson Cooper (or Zuckerberg for that matter)?
Qanon implies that the CIA is a rogue agency which manipulates the entire world to stay in power, and in the process of doing so it has delved into many bizarre and downright immoral practices. Some of which are declassified.
Interesting . . . . I thought I have been careful . . . but I wonder if it would be prudent to shut down everything when you are not using it. Of course, the problem is . . . "what is everything"?
The entire house . . . . from propane levels, lights, garage doors, heat, A/C, garage doors, locks is controlled by bluetooth or WiFi.
It would be interesting if there were some sort of an "outgoing audio scrambler" . . .
How do you keep your digital information safe? I know there are some smart guys here on Badweb who could probably share some advice that could help the community keep their info (more) secure.
I'm not an IT guy and I'm not smart on this stuff.
A while back I started using a VPN, and do the majority of my browsing in Chrome Incognito mode. I downloaded a TOR browser but I haven't really seen any reason to start using it.
For keeping prying eyes off of my files, I use Truecrypt. I know there's some debate about this but I can't find any guide to cracking truecrypt other than brute force attacks.
Obviously the basics are important. Disable location tracking services, disable WIFI when you're not connected to a trusted network. Set user profiles to Private.
I don't have a smart house, but I do have a wifi thermostat. I refuse to use the "vacation" setting on it - if someone has eyes on my home network, I don't want them to see "oh, the thermostat is on vacation so nobody's home...and the end date for vacation is the 23rd...".
Nope, uh-uh, not for me.
I like some of the appeal of the "automated" home, and the smart-house...but I don't like how it opens the real, physical home up to virtual hacking which could turn into real, physical breaches.
Example - gun safes. Which is easier to breach - a physical-key lock, as in picking? Or a fingerprint sensor? Honest question. But I suspect, if you "know tech", you'll know a way to get around a bio-lock just as easily as a locksmith knows how to pick tumblers.
And we have a lot more techie-baddies out there today, and they don't even have to be in the same STATE as the homeplace to start causing problems.
I don't think it has to be that extreme (nor tin-foil-hat...)...but using common sense is key. Just like in analog days!
"If it's online, everyone can see it".
Keep that in mind as you automate stuff that, really, doesn't need to be automated. That goes for your thermostat settings, your doorbell camera feed, your security cams, your garage door status, your vehicle GPS/Nav location, your phone's nav location...
Example, where it pertains to the automated house, in the "why bother with a smart house" column: For $4.98 you can unscrew a light bulb, put in a light sensor, put the light bulb back in, and you now have a dusk-to-dawn light. No computer required, no timer on the outlet that needs to be reset a couple times a year, just an old-school security protocol for "someone's home, move to the next house". And no cyber-footprint about it either.
Location tracking, I don't care about. If you're not doing anything wrong... Data and information about home security and stuff like that? Yea, that stuff worries me. Hell, Alexa can be hacked and used to record conversations, and it looks like Google listens now too! I just don't put anything out there that would cause problems if/when it became common knowledge.
Common sense.
(which, as we know, is no longer commonplace...just like common courtesy).
How many people didn't do anything wrong, and were mysteriously suicided with "coincidental" ties to the Clintons? Or in connection with the Las Vegas Massacre (google that one, it will blow your mind).
How many people didn't do anything wrong and had their business "audited" by the IRS and had their whole lives shut down?
That's the first few examples I can think of in America.
Let's look at nations that the left wants to imitate.
How many people didn't do anything wrong and yet mysteriously died and had their organs harvested in China? How many had their churches bulldozed? How many ended up shot in the head in a Russian basement? How many are in North Korean labor camps? How many have been arrested in London and Stockholm for saying that it's not OK for Muslim men to rape nonmuslim women?
"Anything you say can and will be used against you". In a court of law if necessary. In a dark alley or basement, all the same to marxist careerists.
It's at a point where pretty much anything with a microphone is suspect. Alexa and similar devices are obvious. Of course, your phone and your PC. Newer TV sets. Your car. Home security systems. The list is likely to explode in the next couple of decades. To think that all of this won't be abused is to live in a land of fairy dust and unicorns. This is only touching on a single sort of technology, though a particularly invasive one. It's bad enough to be tracked every where you go outside of your house, which by default has you tracked when you are home. This is opening the door for flagging you for a secret list because of the words you have spoken. Pretty frightening when you look into the future.
My father in law has an Alexa device. He doesn't actually use it for anything important, it just came with the cable service. Out of curiousity, I plan to one day, after a few minutes of conversation with him, ask it "Alexa, can you identify who is speaking to you right now?" I half expect expect it probably will.
I like youtube, but I don't like them tracking me and I don't like giving views to videos if I end up not liking them.
Enter hooktube.com.
"Share YouTube videos without giving them views. Bypass country blocks and age restrictions. Download YouTube videos and music. Keep your data private from the G."
You just replace "youtube" in the address with "hooktube.
