State's Eyes.

 

 

                                        Image courtesy of Natoinal Technology News.

           We all accept that Big Brother society is already here, and it is for ever tightening its grip on our everyday movements. Unseen, the eyes of the state are on your daily life, from shopping to work, from your leisure activities to your daily chores. Then of course there is Stingray the phone data vacuum. IMSI-catchers, also known as Stingrays, allow police forces to track mobile phones and intercept text messages, calls and other data within their radius in real time. The devices can capture the private data and phone calls of anyone who happens to be in range, whether they are a suspect or not.

                                                    Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

An interesting article from Wired.

          

           A Beyoncé gig, the coronation of King Charles, and the British Formula One Grand Prix all have one thing in common: Thousands of people at the events, which all took place earlier this year, had their faces scanned by police-operated face recognition tech.
          Backed by the Conservative government, police forces across England and Wales are being told to rapidly expand their use of the highly controversial technology, which globally has led to false arrests, misidentifications, and lives derailed. Police have been told to double their use of face searches against databases by early next year—45 million passport photos could be opened up to searches—and police are increasingly working with stores to try to identify shoplifters. Simultaneously, more regional police forces are testing real-time systems in public places.
          The rapid expansion of face recognition comes at a time when trust in policing levels are at record lows, following a series of high-profile scandals. Civil liberties groups, experts, and some lawmakers have called for bans on the use of face recognition technology, particularly in public places, saying it infringes on people’s privacy and human rights, and isn’t a “proportionate” way to find people suspected of committing crimes.
          “In the democratic world, we are an outlier at the moment,” says Madeleine Stone, a senior advocacy officer with Big Brother Watch, a privacy-focused group that has called for a ban and “immediate stop” on live face recognition, a proposal backed by 65 UK lawmakers. The EU, which the UK left in 2016, may ban the real-time use of face recognition systems, and one of its highest courts has called the technology “highly intrusive.” Various US states have banned police from using the technology.
          Cops in England and Wales can hunt for potential criminals using two main kinds of face recognition. First, there are live face recognition systems (LFR): These usually include cameras mounted on police vans that scan people’s faces as they walk by and check them against a “watchlist” of wanted people. The LFR technology is deployed for some big events and announced in advance by the police. Second, there’s retrospective face recognition (RFR), where images from CCTV, smartphones, and doorbell cameras can be fed into a system that tries to identify the person based on millions of existing photos. Police use of both systems is increasing.
          Two police forces in England and Wales—London’s Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police—have embraced LFR, using the technology for multiple years. (Police in Scotland, where policing is overseen locally, don’t use live systems but are reportedly increasing their use of RFR). So far this year, the Met and South Wales Police have used LFR on 22 separate occasions, according to statistics published on their websites.

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Beware The Cop In Your Pocket.

       This is a re-hash of something I wrote about some time ago, but think it is worth repeating. It is impossible to deny that as far as the state is concerned, we are living in glass bowl. We are monitored every where we go, with CCTV, facial recognition and cameras in every pub, shop, bus, train, shopping mall, library, etc. and so it goes on. However their is another tool in the state's  widespread surveillance, that little gadget most of us carry everywhere, the mobile phone.  

       You’re heading out the door, ooops, better not forget my phone, perhaps it should be, ooops, better not take my phone!! One thing that we should always be aware of, you’re never alone with a phone. The phone is a conduit into the nitty-gritty of your personal life, an archive of your life. In it are all those personal texts, emails, photos, contacts, personal details etc. As you walk about your business that simple little gadget in your bag/pocket monitors your movements, and can pinpoint you down to the metre. On the pretext of being able to send you all your emails and texts, the phone company keeps a very accurate record of all your whereabouts at all times, you are continually monitored. Your phone contains transcripts of years of private conversations, data on all your friends associates and partners, your phone is your personal “black-box” and can be used against you in a court of law. Your phone is a cop in your pocket.
       Let’s not forget “Stingray”, a devise that the powers that be, can set up anywhere, in a vehicle, in any street, in a public park,  and it imitates a genuine phone mast, all the phones in the area are tricked to sending all their transmissions to this phoney mast, the information from the phones is scooped up, sorted, stored then with in minutes, the original signal is sent to the nearest genuine mast to continue its journey, and you are unaware that anything has happened. “Stingray”, can swoop up thousands of mobile phone data in minutes in one fell swoop, just by a vehicle sitting quietly in a street.
      Heading out, oops must remember to take the cop from my pocket and leave the creep in a drawer. Where ever you go, what ever you do, never forget the cop in your pocket.

 Hi, I'm your friendly cop.

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Beware Of That Cop In Your Pocket.

        Probably one of the most difficult pieces of information for most people to follow, but think about it, you're never alone with a phone, your phone is a cop.

         With Stingray:(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker) you are an easy target.

The following submitted to It’s Going Down
Are you hitting the streets in support of a righteous cause?

         TL;DR Leave your phone at home. It is a conduit into your entire life and all of your networks. It contains years of passively recorded conversation transcripts. It has data on all of your associates, friends, and sexual partners. It tracks your movements down to the meter. It is a black box that can be recovered from your person and used against you in a court of law.
Leave it at home. Your phone is a cop.
        If the above doesn’t make it abundantly clear WHY you should leave it at home, imagine the terror you feel when you hand someone your phone to show them a picture and they start swiping left or right. Now imagine The State swiping through your pictures. Hopefully we’ve convinced you! Information security (abbreviated to InfoSec because it sounds cooler) can seem intimidating, but it’s as easy as trading away some of your own convenience in exchange for obstructing the Panopticon of State/LEO/reactionary forces that seek to undermine your project. This document is not a deep dive into any of the topics covered. Devices and software exist in a state of flux, and what is considered secure now will likely be obsolete within months, weeks, or days of writing this. It is up to you to stay vigilant and informed.
The Case for Disconnection.

        It’s important that we come to terms here. This is not aimed at the “Hold a sign and shout some slogans” crowd. If you are attending a *Fully Permitted and Peaceful Protest* and you want to bring your phone to document what you see and do, knock yourself out. Are you in the Black Bloc? Are you engaging in “black bloc things”? Are you covering your face? If any of these conditions apply to you, you need to leave that shit at home. We understand that these devices are integral parts of modern life, but if you are engaging in “effective resistance” the presence and use of any cell phone is a risk to everyone around you. If you are compelled to carry it or would somehow render yourself critically unsafe without it, you need to consider finding a different outlet for your dissent. While documenting abuses by state security forces is important, it is necessary to leave that task to journalists covering the action. Yes, they will do a horrendous job. Accept this and move on. Additionally, cell/LTE service breaks down quickly when towers get overpopulated. At a big protest, thousands of people are texting “R U HERE?” to each other simultaneously. The network will shit the bed in short order, leaving your device crippled until the traffic storm abates. It won’t be useful to you until you’re heading home or more likely until it’s sitting in an evidence locker waiting to be processed. If your device is limping along on a degraded network connection, there is a significant possibility that you aren’t communicating directly with the tower providing your signal. The police have access to technologies, Stingray among them, which will seamlessly intercept and record cellular communications. Calls and plain text SMS are vulnerable to these “man in the middle” attacks. Lock screen patterns are insecure. Four digit codes are insecure. They can be bypassed quickly and easily. You can be compelled to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone by a court order. Encryption can be bypassed using tool kits available to law enforcement. As careful as you think you’ve been, the odds are not in your favor. If your phone is seized as evidence, the fun isn’t over if the charges are dropped. Don’t assume present legal or cultural norms are going to protect you. Your information can sit in a database until it’s useful to The State.
       We might be technical professionals, but it’s likely that you aren’t. You have fucked up when configuring something. Don’t leave things to chance, and don’t rely on some combination of official incompetence and your own perceived individual insignificance to protect you.
Leave your phone at home.

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The Prying Eyes Of The State Are Everywhere.

 

         I have often spouted off about the "Big Brother" constant surveillance society of modern living. Everybody is watched, shopping, going to and from work, attending any event, traveling by bus or train, having a coffee in town, you are monitored, profiled and logged. let's not forget Stingray, a device that can swoop up the data from 1,000 mobile phones in one fell swoop. However it doesn't stop there, if you happen to one of those fair minded people that see the injustices and inequalities around you, and speak your mind, then you will come under a more thorough and sinister surveillance. Planted bugs, hidden cameras, undercover two-faced spies, and much more from the hi-tec world, in use by the state apparatus. Anarchists have always been high on the state's list of those meriting that more sinister surveillance. Actively working against injustice and inequality, makes you a threat to their authority, a possible risk to their control over the population, so, in the twisted mind of the demented authoritarians, you need to be constantly monitored, and if possible, silenced.  

This from Act For Freedom Now:

SPIES AT WORK

           For almost thirty years, amidst investigations being opened and closed (often without the investigated ones even knowing about it), we can say that anarchists from Trento and Rovereto have been systematically spied on. Of course they were and are not the only ones, considering the omnipresence of electronic surveillance. But various investigations against anarchists, quite poor in judicial results, served to control those who disturb power’s plans in a more selective and shameless way. Bugs in homes, self-managed places, cars have been found many times since the end of the nineties. Not to mention landlines and mobile phones under control and cameras in front of houses. On one occasion a bug was found in none the less than a rucksack. For the operation ‘Ixodidae’ (which in 2012 led to the arrest of two anarchists and later to a trial against eight comrades accused of ‘subversive association with intents of terrorism’, which ended in nothing), Trento prosecutors had spent over a million euros for video and audio tapping.
        Bugs with GPS have also been recently found in two cars. But obviously all this isn’t enough for Digos and ROS carabinieri (and the prosecutors who give them authorization, if there is any). Rebel life must be spied on minute after minute. So last week a micro camera was found in the kitchen-living room in a comrades’ home. A step not to be overlooked.
       Privacy – not only that concerning words but also bodies and gestures – turned into material for investigation to be set up and dismantled at their leisure.
        We don’t want to resigned to the Big Brother (we don’t mean the TV show).
          We don’t think the problem is only ours’, but it is everyone’s.
        It is necessary to react to these attacks on freedom with solidarity.
       It is necessary to say to spies and their filthy manoeuvres, strong and clear,

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

       Tuesday 23rd January, 6pm, Piazza Pasi in Trento: public exhibition of the recently ‘found items ‘
Anarchists

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Return Fire.

        The autumn 2016, 4th volume, of the excellent magazine, Return Fire, is available to read or download for free. It comes accompanied by a supplement. Once again, 100 pages of passion, commentary, proposals and interview material. The supplement, Caught in the Net, is a survey of critical perspectives on what information age technology is doing to our cognitive abilities, our health more generally, and our capacity to rebel. It comes as a separate document, of another 28 pages. Both colour and greyscale cover options are available, for further reproduction and distribution. 

Magazine Return Fire, can be read and/or downloaded HERE:

Supplement, Caught In The Net, can be read and/or downloaded HERE:

       The following is a copy of one article from Return Fire, of local interest to us here in Scotland. 

        The Scottish Prison Service, [SPS] has confirmed that it used IMSI, International Mobile Subscriber Identity catchers (aka “stingrays”) at two prisons in Scotland. This is the first confession of official stingray use by UK authorities, though they are almost certainly being used elsewhere in the country as well. The SPS are using both mobile and static stingray devices at HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire and HMP Glenochil near Alloa. The SPS spent more than £1.2 million spying on both prisons. It appears that the SPS were trialing stingray tech at Shotts and Glenochil before potentially rolling it out to other prisons. While stingrays can be used to snoop on conversations or otherwise gather intelligence, it appears that in this case the SPS were using IMSI catchers to stamp out mobile phone use at the prisons (it’s supposedly a crime to use a mobile phone in prison). IMSI catchers work by tricking nearby mobile devices to connect to them, rather than an official base station. The stingray can then be used to triangulate the user’s location, or to simply block the connection [ed. – or record calls]
       Somewhat amusingly, despite the rather expensive roll out, it seems the system wasn’t all that effective at finding phones or blocking calls. “Prisoners have developed innovative countermeasures to current Arrangements. The SPS recovered significantly fewer mobile phones at HMP Shotts in 2014 (282) than in 2013 (352). “Some of this decline is due to the increased introduction of smartphones which use 3G technology, these 3G smartphones transmit on very low power levels and so are more difficult to accurately detect and locate.”
        Back in 2010, when the prisoner phones only used 2G, 1417 handsets were tracked down at Shotts alone. The report notes that the SPS wanted to use stingray tech at HMP Edinburgh, but it lost out to the rural prisons for two reasons. First, the UK’s mobile carriers had already started rolling out 4G in Edinburgh. Second, if they had used IMSI catchers at HMP Edinburgh, which is within Edinburgh’s urban area, there would’ve been a “high risk” of interfering with mobile users outside the prison. There have been various reports of stingray use by the UK authorities as far back as 2011, but this is the first time that it’s ever been confirmed.
       Last year, the mainstream media reported that it had found widespread use of IMSI catchers across London, after fake mobile masts where discovered. Over in the USA apart from the usual monitoring of criminal/terrorist elements, it is now becoming common for major protests to be spied upon in case of an outbreak of disorder.
         Obviously the fear of uprisings such as those which occurred around the UK in 2011 [ed. – see Return Fire vol.1 pg 61] & in Baltimore & Ferguson [ed. – see Return Fire vol.3 pg 76 ] in the US are on both governments minds. The state might try justify the use of IMSI to tackle crime or terrorism but increasingly this technology can be used to quell disorder ed.[– and has been noted so far at demonstrations in Germany and Turkey as well, including a body­worn type for agents walking amongst the crowd]. What is also apparent from the information gathered by the media is that the technology can be used not only to track but to listen into phone calls, not just of the specific targets but also the general population in the vicinity, as can be seen when HMP Edinburgh was rejected for Stingray tests. Surveillance technology is vastly increasing around prison island, it does not shock us that they would be tested in actual prisons first, the most concentrated form of oppression, the testing ground for many forms of control through out society.
         The prison system was the first place to test the idea of unpaid work, then it was rolled out into society for jobseekers. New glass apartment blocks resemble more a prisoncomplex with security doors and CCTV in every corner, the difference is that the gullible upstanding citizens imprison themselves. It will not be long before IMSI becomes a norm just as much as CCTV did, further limiting the possibility of dissent in this corner of the world.

        What is clear is that there needs to be a backlash against the prison be a backlash against the prison society, that it can never be society, that it can never be reformed and will involve a reformed and will involve a complete eradication of the technology that makes it possible. The ultimate culprits are those companies that make it possible.
       In the mean time, attack the prison society at its sources and maintain a vigilante security culture with phones. The police state is tracking & listening, let’s claw out their eyes & cut off their ears!

How Stingray works, HERE and HERE.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk