Sen. Warner blasts Google for hidden Nest microphone: Federal agencies and Congress 'must have hearings to shine a light on the dark underbelly' of the digital economy

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 4:03pm

Hmmmm. I have absolutely no trust in or respect for this Dossier collaborator so to see him pop up and be outraged by Google surprised me. I wonder what’s in it for him? Maybe trying to make the plebs thinks he gives two shits about our ‘right to privacy’.

Sen. Warner blasts Google for hidden Nest microphone: Federal agencies and Congress 'must have hearings to shine a light on the dark underbelly' of the digital economy

On Tuesday, Google apologized for not disclosing to consumers that its Nest security system - specifically, its Nest Guard device - contains a microphone that when enabled, can listen to users' voices and sync with its Assistant product

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"This is totally at odds with consumer expectations," Warner, a Democrat, told Business Insider in a statement on Wednesday. "The standard talking point that consumers 'don't care about privacy' has been increasingly disproven, as we learn that consumers and policymakers have been kept in the dark for years about data collection and commercialization practices."

The Nest Guard has been on the market since 2017, but news of the microphone's existence only surfaced when the company announced the Assistant integration in early February.

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Last December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke before the House Judiciary Committee, answering questions about the tech giant's secretive efforts to build a censored search engine for China and allegations of conservative bias in the company's search results.

Months earlier, Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page was called to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee along with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, though Page declined to appear. The move drew criticism from a number of Senators, including Warner, who said at the time that he was " extremely disappointed" in Google's decision not to send a representative

https://apple.news/AF5GzN6oMRBGs2mY6MjFFDw

It’s Mark Warner. By this time next week he’ll probably have figured out a way to blame RUSSIANS!!! for Google’s hidden speaker fiasco.

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I suppose this comes under what my Grandma called “be grateful for small favors”.
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Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 4:26pm
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microphones are everywhere! Dash 1

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 02/22/2019 - 4:18am

@Raggedy Ann isn't Cyrillic pretty?
Серге́й Миха́йлович Брин
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin

Brin immigrated to the United States with his family from the Soviet Union at the age of 6. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland, College Park, following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by studying mathematics, as well as computer science. After graduation, he enrolled in Stanford University to acquire a PhD in computer science. There he met Page, with whom he built a web search engine. The program became popular at Stanford, and they suspended their PhD studies to start up Google in Susan Wojcicki's garage in Menlo Park.[4]

PU Menlo Park
dot dot dot
forbes:

  • Sergey Brin works as president of tech giant Alphabet, the parent firm of Google.
  • He previously ran the secretive Google X division, which made the ill-fated Google glasses.
  • Brin cofounded search engine firm Google with Larry Page in 1998.
  • Brin and Page met at Stanford University while studying for advanced degrees in computer science.
  • Google went public in 2004 and changed its name to Alphabet in 2015.

You can't really get any more Boris than Sergey, cannya? That is what long-term planning looks like over there. Over here we have no such plans, or maybe Snowden will become oligarch and take over there one day. lol

over here
over there
shrug

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Submitted by travelerxxx on Thu, 02/21/2019 - 1:04am
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So Google put a secret mic in a Nest "security" system. I'm sure they'd never add a secret ability to listen in (or report on your goings-on) in an operating system like Android or Chrome OS.

Nah... Not them... Not Google. Surely not.

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Submitted by k9disc on Thu, 02/21/2019 - 9:40pm
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Cameras (with mics) in your bedroom to pick up the book on your nightstand: with pictures and diagrams. It's sick shit. Panopticon is an understatement it's not just watching - it's intercepting and shaping behavior. It's like jujitsu against the brain. Smothering, hyper-vigilant, overwhelming, predictive, and always looking to sink in the hooks for 'the finish'. Trip you up while walking down the sidewalk or using GPS, or wake you in the morning to intercept your day. Which ideas are yours? It's terrifying.

Do you have any idea what I could do with that kind of power? I mean, I'm just a dog trainer and i could use that information and timely reinforcement to completely shape and augment human behavior.

My personal social skills would probably make for solid strategic shaping of group dynamics too. I could make you and him fight. I could make you and them fight. No problem.

The future they have in store for us is completely horrifying. It's a complete stripping of humanity. It will probably go down much like that shitty dystopic novel arendt wrote about today too - it will happen that way because it is stupid, dysfunctional, and primed for fraud and abuse. Like Black Box voting for fucking crying out loud...

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 02/22/2019 - 12:17am
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@k9disc
you wrote. And if you want to see something really freaking nuts...

Nike’s self-lacing sneakers turn into bricks after faulty firmware update

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Nike users are experiencing some technical difficulties in the wild world of connected footwear. Nike's $350 "Adapt BB" sneakers are the latest in the company's line of self-lacing shoes, and they come with the "Nike Adapt" app for Android and iOS. The app pairs with the shoes and lets you adjust the tightness of the laces, customize the lights (yeah, there are lights), and see, uh, how much battery life your shoes have left. The only problem: Nike's Android app doesn't work.

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One user writes, "The first software update for the shoe threw an error while updating, bricking the right shoe." Another says, "App will only sync with left shoe and then fails every time. Also, app says left shoe is already connected to another device whenever I try to reinstall and start over."

"My left shoe won't even reboot." writes another. One user offers a possible solution, saying, "You need to do a manual reset of both shoes per the instructions."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/02/my-left-shoe-wont-even-reboot-fa...

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by k9disc on Fri, 02/22/2019 - 2:51am
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@Amanda Matthews

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu