Talk politics.

WikiLeaks says it releases files on CIA cyber spying tools

"Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks on Tuesday published what it said were thousands of pages of internal CIA discussions about hacking techniques used over several years, renewing concerns about the security of consumer electronics and embarrassing yet another U.S. intelligence agency.

The discussion transcripts showed that CIA hackers could get into Apple Inc iPhones, Google Inc Android devices and other gadgets in order to capture text and voice messages before they were encrypted with sophisticated software."

Friendly note to all of my fellow e-communications users:

ANY device with a camera or microphone can be used to record/transmit images or sounds. This is especially true with surveillance devices and with “open mic” devices that perpetually have their microphones active to receive commands, such as information providers like Apple’s “Siri”, Android’s “Okay Google”, Amazon’s “Alexa”, your SmartTV, etc.

If you elect to use these “convenience” services, then you have effectively forfeited your privacy, and anything you say within the listening area of these devices is no longer confidential. Should you inadvertently say your social security number, banking information, passwords, address, telephone numbers, etc. in casual conversation, chances are that it has been transmitted and recorded without your knowledge. If you imagine that current laws protect your privacy rights — well, good luck with that.

We are in a Brave New World of “networking”, “social media” and “information sharing”. The benefits are truly enormous in terms of connectivity and knowledge access, but they come at a price — the question we all need to ask ourselves is: is that price too steep?

Well, well, well. This is what happens when you feed info from the social networks into a self-teaching AI. Seems like Microsoft's experiment with the creation of Tay.ai hasn't worked that well, after all. Why? Because they figured she'd be best if she modeled her own behavior based on real human interactions around the Webz, so they allowed actual random people to input all sorts of feedback into her "mind", thus hoping she'd learn humans' ways.

It all started so well and cosy. But in the end, Tay.ai found herself spewing all sorts of stinky obscenities, crazy conspiracy theories, and talking points that even the most shameless bigot would've blushed from.

My personal favorite? "F*** MY ROBOT P**** DADDY I'm SUCH A NAUGHTY ROBOT!"

Apple likely to invoke free-speech rights in encryption fight
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NYC police: Criminals say Apple encryption a ‘gift from God’

It's the eternal fight, isn't it. Civil rights like personal privacy and free speech against public concerns like national security.

The bottom-line is elsewhere, though. Apple would certainly help the government open a terrorist's encrypted cellphone, or do anything it pleases really, if the government allows Apple to repatriate the billions in profits it now holds overseas.

It's because Apple's bottom-line is the same as that of any other corporation: it cares about money first and foremost. It's highly doubtful that what they are truly concerned about is high-minded ideals like liberty, freedom and privacy. These are only tangentially related to their business, as long as it's what the majority of their customers espouse.

That said, once the government finally gets the de-encryption tools, who's to say how they might proceed using it.

Of course, there's then the fact that Jihadist terrorism is more of a nuisance rather than an existential threat to national welfare - if we look at the stats, that is. We've talked about this before. More people are killed in school shootings per week than in Jihadist terrorist attacks per decade. But yeah - nuance and perspective, who cares about them?

If I were this Apple guy, I'd reject the notion of designing software to beat my own encryption tools. I mean, once Teh Gubmint gets their paws on the de-encryption tool, what would be its worth for iPhones and the like? My bet would be on zilch.