De-Googling my computer.

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
What I wrote is "this is Exchange on a private secure host". You snipped off the last part and hence that is quoting out of context. There is zero actual evidence (claims made in the Guardian with no actual support are not evidence) of secret NSA backdoors. This is actually one of the reasons Microsoft and other silicon valley companies have been suing the federal government - to get the ability to disclose the details of what they give the NSA and how it happens.

While some of what Snowden has claimed has been of concern other stuff is just paranoid internet urban legend - some not even from Snowden but attributed to him and others just stuff he said but has produced no proof of. And Exchange is far and away the best and most feature complete communications server package out there. Just don't use it in a public cloud setting if you're that concerned - use it with a private contractor on secure (as in all the ports are encrypted) servers and you're fine. Remember, what I am referring to here is a different type of email than most people use. I need it for work and use it personally too but it is not typical.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
@Overmind One - I don't really need that much storage man, at most 2 gigs. I just store some pdf files and whatnot. I don't have the demand for that much storage like your need, given your job.

@Joelist - Somehow, I think trying to circumvent spying and tracking and adsense and all that stuff just draws more attention. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, it's better to hide in plain sight? It seems to me that doing all that fancy computer stuff decreases the pool of people to investigate and draws more attention than hiding in plain sight; going that route seems more like a draw to people equally knowledgeable/well-versed in computer stuff. Nowadays with Facebook and all that junk, they can build complete profiles from profiles and convos anyways.

I think someone might have posted already, but google wants to set up satellites around the world to provide the internet to the world. But somehow I get the feeling they want all the internet traffic filtering through them so as to document all the traffic anyways.

And another thing I notice is that sometimes websites use google features (ajax, fonts, other stuff which I don't understand or have a clue about except that google hosts some things that most websites uses). So google can just keep track of people's web activity by detecting the specific features being accessed by specific sites.


Sort of. But a browser like Torch does not have the browser side hooks adsense and all the spyware need to work.
 

Bluce Ree

Tech Admin / Council Member
What I wrote is "this is Exchange on a private secure host". You snipped off the last part and hence that is quoting out of context.

Unless your "private secure host" is isolated from the public Internet and exclusively used on the LAN, my response is in context and you're delusional for thinking that somehow protects you from built-in backdoors. So, the snipped part about "private secure host" is both moot and irrelevant.

There is zero actual evidence (claims made in the Guardian with no actual support are not evidence) of secret NSA backdoors. This is actually one of the reasons Microsoft and other silicon valley companies have been suing the federal government - to get the ability to disclose the details of what they give the NSA and how it happens.

When I say "backdoors", I'm not talking about phoning home and transmitting data. There are several ways to facilitate snooping of content that don't necessarily involve mysterious transmissions of data packets to some unknown address.

Take PGP, for example. Encrypted emails using PGP are (at the moment) impossible to crack. However, a closed-source implementation of PGP can sneak in a means of decrypting such messages via a skeleton key method. If the NSA is trapping data packets in transmission at the source passively and they wanted your content, this would allow them to get it and you'd be none the wiser.


While some of what Snowden has claimed has been of concern other stuff is just paranoid internet urban legend - some not even from Snowden but attributed to him and others just stuff he said but has produced no proof of. And Exchange is far and away the best and most feature complete communications server package out there.

No one is questioning Exchange's feature set and reliability.

Just don't use it in a public cloud setting if you're that concerned - use it with a private contractor on secure (as in all the ports are encrypted) servers and you're fine. Remember, what I am referring to here is a different type of email than most people use. I need it for work and use it personally too but it is not typical.

And if your Exchange server content can be snooped via means facilitated by the developer (Microsoft), walling off your entire server behind concrete, lead and burning moats of lava guarded by demon hounds who shoot evil poison bees from their mouths at trespassers are all meaningless UNLESS you are exclusively using it inside a LAN and Exchange has no path to the public net.

Until the NSA specifics built into these pieces of software are made public, I have no reason to doubt they have the ability to (let's call it) "prevent terrorism" through these devices.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
What I wrote is "this is Exchange on a private secure host". You snipped off the last part and hence that is quoting out of context. There is zero actual evidence (claims made in the Guardian with no actual support are not evidence) of secret NSA backdoors. This is actually one of the reasons Microsoft and other silicon valley companies have been suing the federal government - to get the ability to disclose the details of what they give the NSA and how it happens.

This is just plain wrong, dude. Evidence is going to be hidden for obvious reasons, but sniffing the traffic and examining .dlls and having HARD evidence of NSA/Microsoft co-ventures is not a fantasy or a conspiracy theory.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/inves...0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

While some of what Snowden has claimed has been of concern other stuff is just paranoid internet urban legend - some not even from Snowden but attributed to him and others just stuff he said but has produced no proof of. And Exchange is far and away the best and most feature complete communications server package out there. Just don't use it in a public cloud setting if you're that concerned - use it with a private contractor on secure (as in all the ports are encrypted) servers and you're fine. Remember, what I am referring to here is a different type of email than most people use. I need it for work and use it personally too but it is not typical.

:) Just....no. Exchange is the most popular and has the biggest segment of the enterprise market, but it is NOT the best. It is the most feature rich (as a mail server package), but it is not the most secure, not the most efficient, and not the best value.
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
And that is where companies suing to get the right to fully disclose is interesting. Anyway, this is not argument worthy.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
And that is where companies suing to get the right to fully disclose is interesting. Anyway, this is not argument worthy.

Agreed. Lets just not use the terms "Privacy" and "Microsoft" together. :) They are more interested in the substantial revenue stream from the government than the end user or even the enterprise.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member

;) but why? :confused0006:

Microsoft was the very first private tech firm to sign on with PRISM. The first. And they have been denying this from day one until the relationship was verified.
 

Bluce Ree

Tech Admin / Council Member
;) but why? :confused0006:

Microsoft was the very first private tech firm to sign on with PRISM. The first. And they have been denying this from day one until the relationship was verified.

Yeah, but wasn't all that verified by conspiracy rags like the Washington Post? Oh, wait ... :icon_lol:
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
http://www.policymic.com/articles/4...government-have-this-to-say-about-the-scandal

PRISM: The 8 Tech Companies Who Gave Your Data to the Government Have This to Say About the Scandal

(from 2013)

As you’ve probably heard by now, The Guardian and The Washington Post both released leaked PowerPoint slides that show a massive data-mining project executed by the NSA, with cooperation from nine U.S. tech giants — Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, Facebook, Paltalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL, and Apple. Dropbox is listed in the documents as “coming soon.

Microsoft, the first company to join the program, did so in September of 2007. The documents show Apple was the last, joining in October of last year. But as more details trickle forth, question are exploding — such as why the government is confirming the program as real, while the companies in question are scrambling to deny their involvement:

1. Microsoft

“We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it.”

2. Yahoo!

“Yahoo! takes users’ privacy very seriously. We do not provide the government with direct access to our servers, systems, or network.”

3. Google

“Google cares deeply about the security of our users’ data. We disclose user data to governments in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government ‘back door’ into our systems, but Google does not have a backdoor for the government to access user data.”

4. Facebook

“We do not provide any government organization with direct access to Facebook servers. When Facebook is asked for data or information about specific individuals, we carefully scrutinize any such request for compliance with all applicable laws, and provide information only to the extent required by law.”

5. Paltalk

“We have not heard of PRISM. Paltalk exercises extreme care to protect and secure users’ data, only responding to court orders as required by law. Paltalk does not provide any government agency with direct access to its servers.”

6. AOL

“We do not have any knowledge of the Prism program. We do not disclose user information to government agencies without a court order, subpoena or formal legal process, nor do we provide any government agency with access to our servers.”

7. Apple

“We have never heard of PRISM. We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting consumer data must get a court order."

8. Dropbox

“We’ve seen reports that Dropbox might be asked to participate in a government program called PRISM. We are not part of any such program and remain committed to protecting our users’ privacy.”

YouTube, named on the report, is owned by Google. Skype is owned by Microsoft. Twitter, as many have been quick to point out, is conspicuously absent altogether.

So, what’s going on? Government officials are reluctantly confirming the program, just as tech reps deny it. Mark Rumold, staff attorney at the Electronics Frontier Foundation, told reporters at ABC that these companies might not have much choice: “If these companies receive an order under the FISA amendments act, they are forbidden by law from disclosing having received the order and disclosing any information about the order at all,” he said.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Yeah, but wasn't all that verified by conspiracy rags like the Washington Post? Oh, wait ... :icon_lol:

Yeah, and that other checkout stand rag The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/us/nsa-verizon-calls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

WASHINGTON — The federal government has been secretly collecting information on foreigners overseas and American citizens for nearly six years from the nation’s largest Internet companies like Google, Facebook and, most recently, Apple, in search of national security threats, the director of national intelligence confirmed Thursday night.

The confirmation of the classified program came just hours after government officials acknowledged a separate seven-year effort to sweep up records of telephone calls inside the United States. Together, the unfolding revelations opened a window into the growth of government surveillance that began under the Bush administration after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has clearly been embraced and even expanded under the Obama administration.

:daniel_new004:
 

Bluce Ree

Tech Admin / Council Member
Yeah, and that other checkout stand rag The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/us/nsa-verizon-calls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

WASHINGTON — The federal government has been secretly collecting information on foreigners overseas and American citizens for nearly six years from the nation’s largest Internet companies like Google, Facebook and, most recently, Apple, in search of national security threats, the director of national intelligence confirmed Thursday night.

The confirmation of the classified program came just hours after government officials acknowledged a separate seven-year effort to sweep up records of telephone calls inside the United States. Together, the unfolding revelations opened a window into the growth of government surveillance that began under the Bush administration after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has clearly been embraced and even expanded under the Obama administration.

:daniel_new004:

Ya know, it's shit like that which makes me dislike the Obama administration sometimes. They expanded the surveillance program and he recently appointed the former head lobbyist for the cable companies to the FCC, which is suddenly supporting the 2-tier Internet idea that aims at ending net-neutrality.

I gotta ask. Is he on crack?
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Ya know, it's shit like that which makes me dislike the Obama administration sometimes. They expanded the surveillance program and he recently appointed the former head lobbyist for the cable companies to the FCC, which is suddenly supporting the 2-tier Internet idea that aims at ending net-neutrality.

I gotta ask. Is he on crack?

I completely agree. And I am still pissed they traded that filthy deserter Bergdahl for 5 dangerous terrorists. Bergdahl will return to America a perpetually distrusted individual, with those who want him tried and executed, and those who somehow think he is some kind of hero (excuse me while I vomit). Obama is making some very questionable moves right now.
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Veering to a topic less likely to get the thread moved to FH, Overmind how are you liking or not liking Torch?
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Veering to a topic less likely to get the thread moved to FH, Overmind how are you liking or not liking Torch?

OMG OMG OMG...

It is the best piece of free software anybody has ever shown me! Im serious...built in torrenting, built in video downloads from websites, a small footprint, no Google bits. ITS AWESOME! It kicks the shit out of Iron, hate to say. Iron is a good browser, but none of the extras I value are included in it. Thanks to your introduction to Torch, I no longer need FreeYoutubeDownloader or uTorrent.

THANK YOU!

carlton-colours-cool-dancing-hard-as-fuck-Favim.com-234627.gif
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
google-glasses-banned.jpg


As expected, Google Glass is being banned in an ever expanding number of venues. This time, ComicCon:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2461354,00.asp

People will not be allowed to wear Google Glass during panels, viewing events, or in select booths who choose to not allow GG to view their wares. I am all for this. I already mentioned earlier that I am banning them in my own home. Many bars and hospitals have banned them.

But so what? More wearable tech is coming which will do much the same as Google Glass. Google and Novartis now want to bring us smart contact lenses:

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/529196/what-else-could-smart-contact-lenses-do/

Now THAT is truly exciting/disturbing because smart contact lenses equipped with recording capability and display capability could enable people to have night vision, infra red vision, or overlay data on what (or who) you might be looking at. The first versions will be used to measure glucose levels in diabetics (so they say...and that means they will need more diabetics!). I think this sort of tech has crossed a line. The way to handle it is with legal restriction on state or local levels, or even on the federal level. When I see somebody wearing Google Glass, I see this:

camerman.jpg


Would you invite a camera crew and reporter into your home on a regular basis? Already, every smartphone owner can set up their device to automagically upload pictures and video to YouTube and Facebook minutes after taking them. I really think that not enough people will take this threat seriously until scandal arises from being exposed to breaches of privacy because of somebody stealing data or snooping or just plain invading your personal or business privacy.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
This is one reason I am happy that OS X Yosemite is De-Googled.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
This is one reason I am happy that OS X Yosemite is De-Googled.

Sadly, I am finding that I see a need to de-Technosaurus my entire personal cyberscape. :( I no longer feel comfortable with the private tech giants because all of the top 10 of them have become tools of the NSA and the global intelligence agency. That may mean that a Linux phone is in my future...they are coming. I no longer trust Microsoft, Google, Apple, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, Dropbox or any of the acquired companies these firms have. I will not ignore the list of companies who signed on to PRISM and I am working actively to eliminate them from my cyber future. The list:

Microsoft
Yahoo!
Google
Facebook
Paltalk
YouTube
AOL
Skype
Apple

These companies will be pushed out of my personal space.
 
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heisenberg

Earl Grey
Brilliant solution with that CoPilot! I will investigate. But I can tell you right now, Exchange is far from secure. ESPECIALLY Exchange 2013 because of the integrated cloud component which went way way beyond ActiveSync with their new hooks for Office 365 and One Note and SharePoint. You might as well CC the NSA on your emails. :) Im not saying that Microsoft routinely scans your emails (like Google definitely does). But if you ever blip the radar of the NSA and they open you up, they can read all your emails and see all your calendar entries. I wont even get started on Skype :facepalm:. If you use Skype, take a look at Vsee.
With Vsee , can I link my skype contacts with it? Got any free alternative to gmail?
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
You can do your phone right now. Just root and then wipe Android off and use a different ROM. For example:

http://cyanogenmod.com

It is AOSP not Google so no hooks.
 
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