Repeat After Me…

Anything I do or say on the internet, despite any internal belief said discussions or pictures are “private”, could be provided to law enforcement to aid in prosecution against me. Just because I don’t have Facebook, Google, or any other company in my friends list doesn’t mean they won’t monitor what I say.

You did repeat it right?  If not, go back and repeat it.

What am I talking about I hear you ask.  This is what I’m talking about.

Facebook and other social platforms are watching users’ chats for criminal activity and notifying police if any suspicious behavior is detected, according to a report.

First if you’re surprised by this, do not take this the wrong way, you’re a gullible idiot.  I have a nasty habit of being blunt and straight forward, and I do not understand how people could think something said on Facebook could be considered “private”.

Here’s the thing, social media predominately relies on servers and infrastructure provided by someone else.  Anything you send to that server can be seen by them unless it is encrypted by you before transmission.  If you encrypt your data though, only those with the key will be able to read it.

That said, even your friends list should be considered suspect.  The digital world is not like the real world.  It anonymity, which is a strength I love, can also be used against you.  Neither of the two articles linked here should be considered surprising to anyone who is really aware of how the internet works.

I’ve had some friends tell me that Email is less secure than Facebook or other messaging services.  Yes I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after that one.  The wonderful thing about Email is you can easily add encryption and signatures.  You can’t do much about any middle host that stores the email while in transit.  They could decide to store a copy indefinitely.  What’s to stop Facebook from doing the same?  Your message can be stored by any router in between, and their systems can record and permanently store the entire conversation.

Here is my final lesson on the internet for today.  The internet is a giant mesh where anyone in the middle of the mesh can see what you wrote.  Doubly so when you’re primary point of contact is a service in the middle of that mesh.  To think that they wont look at what you’re saying is not just naïve, but stupid.  Especially since they can just use software to monitor for conversations that need to be red flagged.

Nothing, I mean NOTHING, you put on the net should ever be considered private.  Even if you create a private part of photo-gallery.  If someone compromises access, those private pictures are now in the wild, and odds are some will profit off of them.

*Red Team Hat On*: Me thinks I’m going to need to have a bunch of conversations with my friends involving explosives and other “suspect” behavior.  I loves me some false positives, quickest way to destroy any system.

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About TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms. Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

2 Responses to Repeat After Me…

  1. Old_NFO says:

    I’d watch out for ‘trying’ to set false positives… “Somebody” is liable to bring you up on charges…