I have never owned a cellphone; never TWEETED or SnapChatted or Instagrammed or even texted in my life, and I have no plans to ever start. There are lots of good reasons for this.

I can look up the weather forecast myself; select my own music, and because I like to read, I own lots of books and I have a lot of facts available to me…whatever I don’t know can be easily found on the web…which I know is also surveilling me – but at least I have tools to minimize that surveillance.

Global data mining companies are run by people who view me, my life, and my doings as their personal cash cow; people who do the least possible for the most gain, and whose loyalty to company, shareholders and bonuses far exceeds loyalties to country, the public, morality, legalities – or anything else.

Wyze Labs, which makes smart cameras and connected home gadgets, has confirmed databases holding millions of customers’ information was exposed to the public.

Any techie with the slightest bit of knowledge about cybersecurity will tell you that iPhones or digital cameras or microphones with internet connectivity are absolutely subject to hacking. It’s apparently not very difficult. In the past, hackers have penetrated much more robust systems – systems monitored every second by strong firewalls and on-site technical staff. Credit card companies, banks, police departments, hospitals and entire cities’ infrastructure have been penetrated and information stolen or held for ransom.

All of these systems are easy to hack and are very desirable to cyber-criminals with a propensity for voyeurism. They are also attractive to hackers looking for dirt to blackmail people. WhatsApp  recently disclosed that it exposed the personal data of over a billion of its users following a cyber-attack. The announcement came six months after it disclosed it had discovered a vulnerability that allowed hackers to install surveillance software on to both iPhones and Android phones by ringing targets using the app’s phone function. It was unclear at that time how many of WhatsApp’s 1.5bn users were affected.

United Nations cybersecurity experts are demanding an immediate investigation by the US and others into evidence indicating that Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of AMAZON and The Washington Post, was hacked with spyware deployed in a WhatsApp message sent from the account of Saudi Arabia’s odious crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Agnes Callamard and her colleague David Kaye from the UN say they are “gravely concerned” by the information they received about the possible involvement of the crown prince in surveillance of Bezos “in an effort to influence, if not silence, the Washington Post’s reporting on Saudi Arabia.” Analysis showed that the handset began sending huge amounts of data within hours of Bezos receiving a video file from the account of the crown prince during a WhatsApp exchange. This is a concrete example of the harms done by the unconstrained sale and use of spyware. Callamard and Kaye want an immediate investigation by the US and others. Of course that won’t happen because the USA helped facilitate it…but hey, nice try.

Last year the National Enquirer published intimate details about Mr Bezos’ private life, prompting him to hire digital forensic investigators. They concluded that the Saudis had accessed his phone and gathered incriminating information about him. The National Enquirer is published by AMI, and AMI’s chief executive David Pecker has a very cosy relationship with the Saudi Prince, who is also a close friend* of Donald tRump. The president’s loathing of the Washington Post is well known.

All this occurred prior to the murder of WaPo Reporter and Saudi critic Adnan Khashoggi at the Turkish Embassy in Ankara…so frankly, tRump probably had a hand in his killing as well. No wonder he has steadfastly refused to investigate the crime. It sort of makes sense now with more context.

Next-generation smart TVs and other such devices run complex software, have Internet connections, and often have integrated sensors like microphones. These features enable things like internet streaming services and voice-commands, but they can also be subverted by hackers if the device gets compromised.

In a pre-Christmas message to consumers last year, the FBI warned that smartTVs may be vulnerable to illegal intrusion. Smart TV’s can be hacked to spy on consumers. The bureau said malicious actors can take control of unsecured smart TVs and potentially wreak havoc on unsuspecting owners.

So again: why would anyone introduce this humungous security risk into their life? You have to be some kinda moron to submit to these “1984” type devices voluntarily, and pay through the nose for them as well. It is sad that our government doesn’t want to protect the interests of the masses any more. If anything, they collude with these global conglomerates to help boost profits. Consumers enable them, too. I miss growing up in the 70s and 80s when we didn’t have to deal with all this shit. I was a lot happier and joyful, and so was everyone else around me.

Our moronic society is so enamored with novel and convenience that we tend to throw all other concerns out the window. If you own these devices and get hacked you have no one but yourself to blame.

That pretty much applies to “smart” anything. Smart doorbells, smartphones, smart watches, smart speakers, smart TVs, smart cars, fitness trackers, the IoT in general; you name it. We are the perfect target for predatory Capitalism. Advertisers wouldn’t be funding social media if it wasn’t profitable.

Voting machines have proven to be easily hacked by teenagers. Just like Diebold – the makers of these devices – they can program the machines to produce any result they want and no one can examine their software due to proprietary protection laws.

As the saying goes, “Smart people use dumb phones; dumb people use smartphones.”

 

 

*tRump has no real friends.