Notebooks are used for surveillance by the big brothers

Have you ever thought your notebook PC is used as the tool of surveillance of your life? Here is the quotation from today's news.

A school district in Philadelphia faces a class action lawsuit after it allegedly issued laptop computers to 1,800 students across two high schools and then used concealed cameras within the machines to spy on students and their parents without their knowledge or consent.

It is not just a school district in the US. Google has been interested using the users' computers for collecting whatever the information it can get.

In 2006, Google announced that they would use in-built microphones to listen in on user’s background noise, be it television, music or radio – and then direct advertising at them based on their preferences.

Both quotations are from the same article.

I think not so many students have their own computers. Some might share one's PC with their parents as a home PC. What the school district is doing could be like checking the use of the particular computer. What if the parents use it for paying bills online? Someone can know the credit card number in the name of student's activity check. If it is about the case with Google, a couple in one room and asking another the credit card number to pay for a house goods, the person behind listening the background noise can hear the credit card number spoken.

My concern is that not so many people having the job behind such surveillance are well paid. These who are involved in the surveillance for whatever the purpose could use the information they learned for their benefits. They might sell the credit card numbers to their friends in the Third World country where strict Internet laws are not yet established.

Also, bringing in a laptop to an important meeting could be a security threat for companies and organizations. You never know who can listen or watch from the built-in cameras and phones...

CACIREMA

I created a new blog for writing a fiction. CACIREMA is the name of the country I decided to use for the fiction. Thanks to Google, I was able to check the name to avoid possible conflicts with the companies or organizations that has the same name. There are only 5 search results and none is about a fictional country nor organization.

Here is the link to the blog. I only write about the fiction there.

I am hoping that more people are aware of the knowledge gap between the civilians and those in the charge of the civilian control...

Life in an Arab country - a comparison with the misfortune from the gang stalkers

It have been a while since I have not post to this blog. I was quite busy with my studies and other personal stuffs. I just learned things do not go well if it is about a third world country where many people stand on streets selling claps or begging. For the TIs in the modern countries, their personal misfortunes might be something to think of... such as the folks around the TI mimicking or mentioning something what the one did in the past.

To think about the life of a third world country, it is not necessary to be gang stalkers who harass the TI. Unfaithful merchants would try to sell defected merchandises to the foreigners who would probably do not return to their stores because of the short stay. The merchants would try to sell things with higher price than the price tag. It is not necessary that the merchants are perps.

This can be said to the hotels and tourist agencies. They can cheat the foreigners in many ways if they lack morals.

I don't know how much of my experiences are backed up by the perps, but what I can say is that I learned strange things and misfortunes do not have to be blamed on gang stalkers directly because they happened to a TI. A TI could experience misfortunes just like the regular individuals. It would be difficult to draw a line which one was done by perps and which one was by accident. You know, some times people blindly blame on something that does not really relate to the misfortune.. like 911 and the Iraqi government. What did G.W.B. said and what was the US intelligence saying?