Is MeWe a Profiling/Psyops Project?

MeWe was supposed to put an end to social media dictators who punish free speech, presume to be sole judge of what is need of censorship, practice political mind control, and market your life for fun and profit. But is that what it is really about?

by H. Michael Sweeney proparanoid.wordpress.com   Facebook   proparanoid.net 

Dateline, Oct 30, 2020, from an cluttered garage collapsing into a growing Marxist sink hole. copyright © 2020, all rights reserved. Permission to repost hereby granted provided entire post with all links in tact, including this notice and byline, are included. Quote freely, links requested. Please comment any such repost or quote link to original posting. Fair Use Law in play.

Whut?

Basic observations of MeWe for most users have been previously accepted as normal and ideal… but should be reviewed to provide context, and in fairness. At a point when other Social Media (SM) was shown at best to be a propaganda and censorship tool of the Far Left, and it became clear that millions of conservatives were looking for alternatives, MEWE came to the rescue with impeccable timing. Unlike any other SM, it features a direct MeWe management/operations dialog channel to users, a very responsive contact help feature where problems and questions can be addressed rather quickly. I have found this feature extremely valuable many times, with all due praise.

Of most importance, unlike prior SM, it did not censor, but provided user tools to limit unwanted content, putting you in control, instead of some ‘community standard from Hell’; it did not collect and market your preferences and interests to advertising sources; and it seemed devoid of automated bots and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) trolls. Seemed. Yes, they did have ‘community standards,’ but YOU had to be the one to complain, instead of a staff of snoops reviewing A.I. sniffers for keywords, phrases, names, or verboten URL inclusions. FYI, Facebook deems my propranoid.net URL verboten, despite the fact that everything there is backed up with authoritative sources, or is stated as either a suspected/possible, a claim by someone else, or a personally believed but unproven matter as of yet.

It is important that the reader understand that I am a retired privacy/security consultant and author of 8 books on that and related topics, such as abuse of power and Political Control Technology (PCT). I have specialized in helping stalking victims, some 12,000 over several decades time. One common denominator of such victim experiences is cyber stalking by trolls and others in ways intended to make their life as difficult as possible, generally reducing them to a social, financial, and political zero. This would often include professional hacking and other forms of cyber warfare/invasions of online privacy, to include the use of automated SM bots and A.I. trolls. While I have credentials some might find useful in discussing Web security and technology matters, I do not claim to be that person, today, since retirement; the field advances quickly, leaving inactive professionals behind.

Therefore, for the purpose, I define a troll as a ‘user’ (often a pack of many fake user IDs operated by a single entity) who goes out of their way to be obnoxious, start arguments with inflammatory statements, becomes childishly emotional instead of engaging in reasoned dialog, resorts to name calling and a combination of other of the 25 Rules of Disinformation. I wrote those rules, and they have been used in various college courses on psychology, journalism, and political science. Yes, anyone can use one without evil in mind, but any calculated use the Rules repeatedly, is intending to obscure or confound truth. It is primarily used by to negate the person/group attempting to present a truth deemed unacceptable to a given agenda supported by the user of the rules.

When multiple rules are in play, from multiple SM user IDs, it almost always indicates a professional disinfo or ‘wag the dog’ artist at work, and can even mean a psyops effort is under way. That can also mean the use of a bot or A.I. In the broader view of todays Marxist MainStream Media (MSM), it works the same way with talking heads pushing false narratives… they become the trolls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zxy_dScjsM

When psyops is additionally in play, as when someone is targeted by government for speaking an unwanted truth too loudly, it also usually means that surveillance and psychological profiles have been employed against the target. By such means, they know what will mentally manipulate them into a desired emotional knee-jerk response. Without knowing about these rules, a target will very likely so respond, and can then be ridiculed/shamed for it, resulting in retreat from the debate, and success for the disinfo effort. The most common online purpose of this level of disinfo, is in cover up operations, such as seen in the Flight 800 shoot-down coverup, where FBI, the DOD, FAA, and ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) all participated in a well organized disinfo effort against online truth seekers, to the point of sending FBI agents to intimidate us in person. Many didn’t cave, and we instead reached for a lawyer.

Those efforts included use of online Web bots as targeting tools, as well, which both helped to build the psychological profile, and to apply it effectively. Today, A.I. becomes the ultimate bot.

Bots can do almost anything definable as a repetive task, especially if residing an a SM server and privy to all therein.

Bots of any sort, A.I., or no, must necessarily be active within the coded framework of the SM server’s software, if to be effective against multiple targets in near real-time usefulness. This is either by covert insertion (hacking methods or site security compromise), or by the intent of the SM provider, directly (as would likely be found true of Facebook, for instance, which has partnered with Agency (Central Intelligence Agency) in various ways.

The power of today’s A.I. is that it can truly seem to be a living person, instead of some computational algorithms in play. It can be set up to scan the entire SM user base to search all posts for select criteria which define targets in need of targeting, and then execute that function. An A.I. bot can simultaneously begin construction of an automated psychological profile for best effect, all without human interaction. Because it can report back to its owner, it might result in additional profiling steps in the real World, perhaps to include a full surveillance net 24/7. While likely true only for the most important of target truth-sayers, heaven help us all when they connect them to drones and other real-World systems, a’la Skynet: the purpose of the Internet of Things (5G) and Smartmeters from your power company.

If Agency psyops teams are sent, it will usually take up to six months to insure they have a very complete profile, down to sexual practices and preferences, financial standing, and all aspects of one’s personality and belief systems. To be sure, it isn’t so common a matter that the reader should start looking over their shoulder, because if can cost as much as $250K a month to undertake… but looking over your shoulder once in awhile, anyway, is always good advice. When used, it can mean intentional events being staged in the target’s life to observe their response, anything from something as simple as cutting you off on the highway and observing your driving skills, to something as complex as a traumatic event staged against a family member, such as a bullying event or assault. In recent times, the use of A.I. systems has likely reduced that ‘manual profile’ time frame significantly. When drones, et. al, are incorporated, the costs will be next to nothing, and no one will be safe from it.

Whut the Hell, MeWe?

Again, I say MeWe seemed free of such worries, in the beginning. Not my current finding.

First clue: A private MeWe Group I established for stalking victims was itself assaulted with sexual content from a non member. Stalking victims are generally of the same mindset, emotionally, as rape victims, if not actually a victim of rape by their stalker(s). I had to ask MeWe how a Group requiring a Membership acceptance process could be targeted by a non member through the Group Chat feature. Blocking the ‘user’ involved (a stranger unknown to me) did not work. This was the first time that MeWe absolutely refused to respond to a help/bug issue. Multiple inquiries went unanswered, and forced closure of the Group.

Second clue: like all social media which must remain accessible to the public at large, it was clear some liberals were among the general MeWe population, as it should be. I welcome them, if they are willing to engage in reasoned dialog and not behave like trolls and childish snowflakes. As long as MeWe isn’t ‘part of their argument,’ its all good. If they might not so behave, the Block tool affords an easy fix, making for an even playing field… because they could block me, too, if so moved. Then came something entirely different: a team of such trolls which could not be blocked. See them here in the image:

This was the second time a block failed, and it took place almost immediately upon the heels of the first. The ‘blocked’ user still showed in my contact list, and the unwanted Troll harassment continued. A repeat Block attempt did remove the user from my contact list, but did not end the assault (details next). Once more, multiple efforts at engaging MeWe went completely unanswered, beyond the autoresponder saying someone would contact me. Meanwhile, through this period, other help/complaint inquiries were answered quite normally and to satisfaction. It wasn’t due COVID manpower shortages, or any other excuse. Also true: other MeWe Members agreed with me that George and friends were trolls; it isn’t just my take.

Third clue: the nature of the continued harassment by ‘George and friends’ is perhaps the most important clue of an A.I. bot troll in play at MeWe. I log into MeWe perhaps 5-10 or more times a day. Despite being blocked, the post consistently appears with a new anti-Trump comment at the top of my notifications every time I do so, time stamped somewhere randomly between the most recent legitimate notification in the list, and the time of log-in. The only time it might not be at top is if I was too quick in checking for some reason, but it would be there the next time I checked.

This is a statistical impossibility for anything but a code embedded within MeWe’s system. Random samples shown in a partial screenshot from a folder full of examples:

Fourth clue: the notifications are for the same original MeWe post thread which resulted in the attempt to block ‘George’ in the first place, now approaching a year ago, in time. The notification is of new comments made to the original post. It is again highly improbable that ANYONE, much less 21 such anyones, would be electing to consistently, repeatedly through a day, every day, continue dialog on a post that old. While this would not be a trait of human trolls or of any other form of bot, it would be no problem for A.I.

Fifth clue: the only exception to an update so appearing, is if there have been so few posts since the prior log in, that the last update is still visible in the first few posts in the notification list. That is to say, it was already visible in the limited viewing area of the pull-down list. Again, that is something only an in-system Bot could determine.

Sixth clue: while in dialog with MeWe Help staff on an unrelated function glitch, and finding the staff helpful and concerned, I raised once more the ‘George’ issue. That ended all communications on both topics. And, that is when I decided to write this exposition… and to prepare to leave MeWe. 

Seventh clue: somewhat synchronous with that cessation, a whole new batch of trolls suddenly appeared to comment on a variety of things I was commenting upon, even things apolitical (religious, news bits, you name it). I remind you of my definition of a Web troll, per the intro. They again came in packs or teams, and employed the exact same methods as did ‘George.’ I’m not putting up with it. I left Facebook because of it (and the other matters), and I will soon enough abandon MeWe, and suggest others might wish to evaluate their patronage, and certainly, to be alert and to evaluate any trolls they encounter against the above findings.

Because there is one more thing any MeWe user reading this should ask about it all…

Whut for would MeWe employ A.I. bots?

Call this a conspiracy theorist’s conjecture, if you wish. However, this theorist has been proven right again and again, and has put terrorists, bad Cops, criminals of all manner, and illegal CIA fronts out of action. My research has resulted in correctly forecasting (via what I call the Unified Conspiracy Theory) the downing of the WTC by false-flag terrorism and the resulting series of Middle East ‘oil wars,’ as well as a terror plot against Portland Oregon, which I thwarted (Gas Station Tasking). The WTC threats were warned of in an online posting I made in the fall of 1999, nearly two years ahead of the event, as detailed in several of my books. It also forecast with warning to Secret Service of an assassination attempt against a Presidential Candidate and his family, which took place a few weeks later and forced him (Ross Perot) out of the running the very night he won the votes to get on the ticket.

Given the mass exodus of conservatives to MeWe, and other alternatives as well, it would seem to be very useful to the Deep State to get all of us non liberals together into a fishbowl for psychological reviews. Once under water, it would help them identify ‘dangerous’ threats to leftist agenda and to target us for ‘destruction’ using the latest methods of psyops targeting. They would know who believes what, who agrees with who, and thereby, who might need special targeting consideration. At least some of those bubbles MeWe users see floating to the top of the MeWe tank disguised as fresh posts and comments, are likely signs they are now growing A.I. sponsored gills… which once dependent upon, could become an off switch.

Holding your breath hoping not to be targeted, might just result in your drowning in a pool of very fouled Marxist swamp water. But that’s just me, and my opinion. Glub. And oh, then there is also this:

A.I. is frequently unstable, unpredictable, and uncontrollable, at times. Glub, glub, g-glup…

And, just so you know: I’m not going to leave MeWe until Valentines Day, or later. If my account vanishes before that, you can check here for any report of censorship for having sought to expose the problem as I see it. ALL COMMENTS WELCOME, including MeWe staff — anonymously, if desired.

Emergency/Help Phone Numbers You Might Not Know About

Most everyone is familiar with 9-1-1, 4-1-1, and 6-1-1 numbers in America, but there are other equally valuable three-digit numbers worthy of remembrance or plugging into your contact list. And that includes the equivalent numbers in other countries, when you travel.

 

by H. Michael Sweeney proparanoid.wordpress.com   Facebook   proparanoid.net 

Dateline, May, 12, 2020, from an emergency lockdown bunker in an undisclosed location

copyright © 2020, all rights reserved. Permission to repost hereby granted provided entire post with all links in tact, including this notice and byline, are included. Quote freely, links requested. Please comment any such repost or quote link to original posting.

NOTICE: Fascistbook and their ilk (Twitter, et. al) blocks any URL to my blog site. SO, if you wish to POST comment in social media, you may wish to write out the url with spaces between wordpress and com (no dot), instead of supplying a pasted link.

 

Duh!

I can’t think of anyone who has not used 9-1-1 to call for help in a law enforcement, fire, or medical emergency, or to report something in need of Police investigation or intervention. Almost everyone with a cell phone knows that 4-1-1 is directory information, and that 6-1-1 is commonly used to reach their carrier regarding issues with their cellular account or the phone, itself. But what about 2-1-1, 8-1-1, and other numbers in the series? Not so much. Even more problematic, is what happens when you are in another country. What numbers do you use, then? This post will answer that, and give you all the numbers for popular North American destinations.

While there is some international cooperation in assigning such numbers, there remain vast differences. The European Union, has its own set of numbers, and while the UK employs some of them, they also have their own set, devised before the EU had existed. Yet Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are slightly to vastly different from England, Canada almost identical to America. Asia and the Middle East is a hodge-podge, while South America is a bit of hodge-podge, but like Canada, also employs 9-1-1 for the main number. Some countries, like Mexico, have sort of ignored the issue (both the government, and citizens – see note), though they are at least using 9-1-1, as of late. Africa is just plain behind the times, you will need a different number everywhere you go, in most cases.

Fortunately, it’s not at all hard to find out what emergency numbers are available when abroad, and it can be done online easily before you travel, at WikipediA, where almost every country is cited. One can also search on ‘emergency phone numbers’ + (country name). Travel agents, airline and cruise ship firms, State Department offices and any Embassy (any nation), will generally have the answer. If already in the country, any citizen should be able to at least give you the key-most emergency number for fire/police/medical… if you both speak a common language.

You can see why programming them into your phone beforehand might be a good idea.When abroad, you should always program the local US Embassy or Consulate number into your phone, as well. And, btw, before you travel, check with your phone company about how to avoid huge phone bills while abroad. It is easy to run up bills into the thousands of dollars, if unaware. There are several things you can do, including purchasing a temporary sim card with a foreign carrier, or special temporary rate plans from your carrier. Just know that your cell carrier may not be interested in telling you about options they can’t make money on, if they do not have partnership arrangements in place, overseas. So your travel agent and the like may be a good second-opinion resource. Image: WikipediA.

 

Dial!

The American system would seem to be far more robust than many other three-digit systems. The list shown here also includes Canadian numbers, which do not necessarily apply outside of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan:

America   Canada     Service
2-1-1         2-1-1         Community health and social services: suicide prevention, welfare programs, access to free services such as for food, housing, legal aid. Includes State, County, public/private entities. An operator will inquire as to need, and provide suggested local contacts.
3-1-1         3-1-1         Frequently available in larger cities, similar to 2-1-1, but Municipal.
4-1-1         4-1-1         Directory Information or ‘operator.’
5-1-1         5-1-1         Available in many areas: automated road condition reports, and a means to report accidents and road hazards not require 9-1-1 help.
6-1-1         6-1-1        Direct contact with the cellular carrier’s customer support.
7-1-1         7-1-1        Reserved, not in use.
8-1-1                           In most locations, connects to a centralized information system for utility services, principally to locate underground lines. It is currently not used to report problems, but that may change in the future.
aaaaaa.aa8-1-1        Tied to the national health care system for urgent care requests.
9-1-1         9-1-1        Police, Fire, Medical emergency ONLY. Also good in Mexico*, Bermuda, and the Bahamas.

 

*Mexico is began implementing 9-1-1 in 2017, but may not be in service in less populated areas, and the person answering may not speak English and a transfer to someone who does may not be very fast. Previously, Mexico had separate 8 digit numbers for fire, police, and ambulance, and those numbers remain in place. The Military has its own phone number for crime-lord response, but Citizens tend to have no faith in any such services, there, because help seldom responds, or they do not trust Police/military. A group called Angeles Verdes (“Green Angels”) offers roadside aid and travel advices, tourist helps, answering in English: dial 0-7-8.

 

Doh!

I almost forgot the handy ‘star codes’. It’s amazing how many people don’t know them… or have forgotten them (like me, almost). Star codes are also a three keystroke ‘number’ made up of two numerals preceded by an asterisk keystroke, found just left of ‘zero’ on the dial pad. They are also known as ‘Vertical Service Codes’ (VSC), Custom Local Area Calling Codes (CLASS, or LASS). They allow the you to directly interact with the digital telephone switching system, telling the hardware how to handle a given call situation differently. They can provide improved privacy/security or added feature-benefits in how you use your phone. Like the previous 9-1-1 numbers (save 6-1-1), they generally apply to both cell phones and land lines, though some function only on one or the other.

There are some 33 different codes in all, many in the form of paired codes, one to turn a feature ‘on’, and another for ‘off.’ Many are special functions tied to the type of phone account the subscriber has, or to optional features for an extra charge, and some would seem unlikely to be used very often. Some smart phones internally employ star codes such that the user is unaware, and does not need to know the code, such as when blocking a number. Because of these various variables, you should visit your service provider’s Web site to see which codes are specifically available to you under your service plan, and review your phone’s handbook to see how it might be handling such provisions.

However, there are several very important star codes which apply to everyone, which you should commit to memory, because all phones will work with them, and you don’t always end up using your own phone. Too many of them to detail, here, but there is  a handy list at WikipediA. Scan the list and take a bit of time to mouse over the blue (hot link) text on their page, for a popup explanation, as the short description may not prove as useful in your evaluation. Click it if more text than will fit the box is apparent.

Take note of things like anonymous call rejection, call blocking, caller ID controls, and call trace. That last one is used when calls involve threats or are in some way malicious to you, your phone, or the phone company; it reports it to the phone company and can result in a notice being sent to Police and/or a joint investigation through the phone company. If particularly threatening or criminally harmful, you should also file a Police Report, and include the time/date along with the fact that you did use star 57… because Police will not otherwise contact you from just punching in the code, and just pushing the code alone won’t give Police the full story. I use it when I get calls from impossible phone numbers (scammers), and I let an appropriate agency know about it, if warranted.

 

Datum!

WARNING:  Phone Apps for TV a Bad Idea

Smart Phone EMF App No Value to TIs

Your Cell Phone is a Government Agent Spying on You

 

TOP 5 Reasons for, Signs of, Methods of, and Solutions for the Internet Spying On YOU

TOP 5 Reasons for, Signs of, Methods of, and Solutions for Internet Spying On YOU

The threats are many, sophisticated, and endless. Solutions need not include PANIC (usually), and are largely simple and inexpensive, though nowhere near being fun.

Copyright 2012, Proparanoid Press, H. Michael Sweeney — All rights reserved. Permissions to reproduce granted on request, only.

Top five reasons for Internet spying

 

This article is especially useful to the TI — the political control technology Targeted Individual, and any person who has reason to believe someone is actively trying to snoop their Web activity or who deals in Web activity of a highly sensitive nature.

My approach to addressing security and privacy is not merely talking about the threats to educate, but how to detect if one has a problem, and then to provide a functional solution. It’s one thing to educate, another to illustrate, and yet another to resolve. Only by all three, is the end result adequate, provided there is no failure along the way which impedes.

Reading this (lengthy, but in outline form so you can quickly navigate to areas of interest) article, you will learn:

• There are 5 basic kinds of privacy compromise/targeting to worry about;

• There are (often) 5 symptoms or clues targeting is taking place (when not blatantly clear);

• There are (often) 5 basic methods of carrying out such targeting;

• There are (often) 5 things you can do in defense or response;

• There are some very reliable and free Open Source tools which can help reduce risk;

• There are some new and potent tools for those more concerned or more at risk of targeting.

By way of introduction, I write as published author and consultant, lecturer, on privacy and security matters, abuse of power issues, and political control technology. My purpose in writing goes a bit beyond the obviously important educational issues, or even the somewhat obvious self-promotion of my books. That is because I, with the help of others, have subsequently developed some specific tools and services which additionally address the threat to privacy and security inherent in daily use of the Internet.

One of these is a completely secure email alternative called NeVir Spies, and a new concept I’ve temporarily called Web Walker which provides a totally secure Internet alternative with some very unusual features and capabilites which go well beyond the topic at hand. More on these tools at article end — very informative.

That said, there are many people much more savvy than I on WEB security (as opposed to real-world security problems). So, if after reading this, you want to know more, there is likely better advice than mine out there, especially if you prefer it more technical in detail. This post, however, I’m betting, is the most centralized one-stop reading resource you are likely to find, and it therefore covers more bases, more comprehensively, in general.

And, speaking of ‘general,’ some general advice applies to all Web security issues, ‘in general.’ It’s all common sense, of course, and you’ve heard (most of it), before, but I’d be remise if I didn’t include it here in case you have not:

• Frequently change passwords and if anything odd is going on, change ALL passwords.

• Do NOT use simple to remember passwords based on ANYTHING about YOU, and DO NOT use answers to security questions ABOUT YOU. If you must use simple to remember passwords and face security questions, base them and the answers on someone famous who died long ago, someone random. Then all you have to do is remember their name, and go look it up on the Web if you forget the hard part.

• Avoid writing passwords down, because you should…

• Remember that your computer security is only as good as security of access to your computer. If anyone can get to the computer, there are many things they might do to compromise its security, obtain passwords, etc. If it does not stay with you or reside on the other side of a pickproof lock, it is at some risk.

• REGULARLY run your Norton’s or similar.

• Never respond directly to an ‘official’ email from any account requesting verification of information or asking you to log in using a link unless you were expecting that exact email to arrive. Manually use the Browser to go to the site and log in.

• Never undertake financial transactions or fill out informational forms involving personal information at a Web site unless the url starts with https:// instead of http://. That little added ‘s’ tells you it is Secure by means of several means not present in general surfing.

• Avoid downloading files or programs from unfamiliar sites of questionable repute, especially when they are in other countries and the topic is something you wouldn’t want people to know you were interested in (i.e., porn, drugs).

• Never put a long list of email addresses in the To: or Cc: blanks unless those people are already conversant collectively (do not assume just because you got an email with that long list that this is so). Instead use Bcc:, or you violate THEIR privacy. Tell everyone you email to to never include your email on such a list unless Bcc:

• Never give out someone else’s email contact unless you get permission for the introduction — just as if it were a phone number. Offer instead to pas the email addy of the inquiring party along to the person in question.

• Here are ten more technical things which you should be aware of explained more fully at georgedillon.com, (linked for you, here) as they deserve their own explanations (I especially endorse ‘Do not trust Microsoft products,’ including their operating systems. Historically and almost consistently, in addition to select spying instances of actual on customers by Microsoft itself, they are poorly designed with respect to security issues and hackers/attackers take advantage. They are the primary source of the great weakness of PCs compared to Macintosh for security and reliability, and the reason so many security steps and layers are advised: 

 

Keep your patches up-to-date Keeping your virus scanner up-to-date Be cautious of attachments Install a Personal Firewall Some essential system settings Test your defences Spyware detection and removal Other security issues Don’t trust Microsoft products Stay informed

Top five reasons for spying on you

5 Top Reasons For the Internet Spying on YOU (etc.)

It happens to us all, every time we use the Web. Most of it is undetected, and generally harmless. Too much of it eventually bites us in unexpected ways beyond our control. Some of it is dangerous, even beyond the draining of checking/savings accounts or total identity theft.

Most of it we volunteer unthinkingly, especially with what we do on social networks like Facebook, which is a giant spying mechanism of great social usefulness to us, and a goldmine of information to corporations and government. Every single mouse click, almost, is giving away information.

Some information we have stolen from us despite the care we think we have exercised, and that would seem to most of us to be rather rare, but I happen to know that more of it goes on than we hear about, and we are often victimized in ways which we do not detect, and do not realized have harmed us, or their potential to do so. Some information is used against us in ways that are part and parcel of further assaults on privacy and security. Read on…

1)   Criminal Financial Gain. Everyone is a potential victim, and we all get shot at in hopes it will be us. Before you can be Phished (tricked into revealing confidential information), they have to know you are an Netizen (a WWW user) and where on the Net you are (your email, social network and Group memberships, etc.). So they snoop you out, and then snoop you for vulnerability (i.e., lack of paying full attention or even gullibility), and then phish you or attack with a virus or similar technical assault; Signs, Methods, and Solutions:

a. You get email from someone you know which promotes (something) which urges you to open a file or take an action, but which is not quite like what they would normally send, and the message accompanying it is overly simple so you can’t tell if it ‘sounds like something they would say.’ This likely did NOT come from them, and means yours or their email account has already been hacked or, far less likely, both theirs and your email addresses were obtained from someone else who was hacked. If you open the item or take the actions urged, you risk your email account or computer being hacked, infected with a virus or similar, or becoming a Scam victim via participation; What to do about it:

i.   Do not take the actions suggested, therein. Natch!

ii.  Contact your friend and advise them their system (or a friend’s) has likely been hacked, with explanation. They should change their Web passwords and run their Nortons or similar. You should do the same (do it regularly, at least). Macintosh users may yawn at this notion, but we are not completely impervious from suffering system issues resulting from failed virus attacks and eventually resulting in unwanted operational inconveniences.

iii. Delete the offending message, unless your friend confirms they really did send it, and you care to follow up with it knowing it actually safe.

iv.  Advise your friend that they should notify everyone on their email list of the situation to insure they do NOT respond to the described message, with apologies if they should have been a recipient.

v.   Contact all your other friends via all avenues (email, social networks, groups, in person) with similar warnings that such a message is dangerous and should not be acted upon regardless of who it seems to be from.

 b. You get email from a stranger (as if they know you or perhaps accidentally reached you through a typo) or a ‘company’ similar to the (a, above) in nature. Often, it will be a message indicating some action or obligation has been taken on your behalf which you do not want, such as confirming an order for Pizza, an airline reservation, subscription, etc. Or, it may simply be annoying SPAM. This is likely a snooping expedition and may be a phishing attempt, as well; What to do:

i.    Do not respond, not even to unsubscribe to SPAM (unless you repeatedly get the same offer from the same address). Such risks confirming your Netizen existence and defines you a working target, or worse, directs/redirects you to a phishing experience.

 ii.   If concerned the obligation really did take place, go directly to the Web site of the entity involved and research it there. Often, you will find they have options for reporting fraud, phishing, etc. Document (screenshots, copy/paste/witnesses) what you find/do, so you can get out of any wrongful obligation the turns out later to be existent, after all.

iii.  Create a filter in your email Client or Web mail options to block similar messages based on key word content and sender information.

iv.   Keep the message for a period of 90 days in case of unexpected consequence to be used with your documentation from step (ii), above.

v.    Same as step (v, item a), above.

c. You get a message from a stranger who wants to help make you rich, is sexually or romantically reaching out, or has some kind of deal too good to be true;

i.   Same as steps (i, iii and v), above.

ii.  If the message names a legitimate business or agency, consider step (ii), above. The Secret Service has a Web site for such complaints as well. However, IMO, they simply gather statistics and seldom do much more with the information. I have more information about how to detect and defend against this type of fraud at my Web site than do they — and in glorious color to make it easier to absorb.

iii.  Same as step (v, item a), above — but you need not do so every time, you simply want the general warning out there as an educational exercise.

d.  You get the famous Nigerian Scam (aka 4-1-9 Scam). Someone rich died or some other event has caused millions of dollars to be in limbo and someone who just happens to have access to it also just happens to come by your email address and wants someone to help share that money with him through some simple sounding and fail-safe scheme. They always ask for information about you. There are many other clues and signs, as well as the link (above) to my Web site.

i.     Same as all steps in (c) above.

e.  Variations of the above (a through d) delivered not by email, but via a social network or Group posting;

i.  Same as if from email source, except that the social network or Group may have special reporting options as well; such as a moderator to whom it should be reported.

Figure from actual Google Patent Application; Providing digital content based on expected user behavior.Got it?                                      I knew you would understand. My job here is done.

2)   Commercial Financial Gain, at your expense in a quid-quo-pro sort of way. Everyone IS a victim in that same way, or worse, but it is completely legal. There is zero information about you which is not valuable to someone for this purpose, and it is therefore a commodity almost every major player seeks, uses, trades or sells to make money based on the definition of ‘You’ and your preferences, likes, dislikes, and habits; Signs, Methods, and Solutions:

a.  You get SPAM email or Web pop ups or ad banners which reflect your general interests, either at the moment (e.g., you are searching for something the ad relates with), or overall interests;

i.   Web search engines use predictive marketing analysis (aka predictive analytics) about your search terms and what they know about you already through prior uses or shared information to ‘guess’ which of their advertising clients will most likely earn your business with an ad;  consider using a Web Anonymizer  (see separate dialog at article end) which veils your identity altogether . However, this will mean that your favorite Web sites will not know it is you and will not support auto-log in for account information, custom settings, etc. That does not mean you cannot manually log in and continue normally from there, unless an extremely secure site such as a Bank.

ii.   Many Web sites use analysis of what pages you visit and how long you stay on a page, and what buttons you click or roll the mouse over… also in predictive marketing analysis; not much you can do about that short of not going to the Web site — but it’s a matter of quid pro quo. You get something about them from their Web site, and they get something about you for your having done so.

iii.   Each Web site you visit may exchange ‘cookies’ with you, which are data bits which allow that Web site to recognize and acknowledge you as a prior visitor to when you next return, which in turn can further reveal what you like for predictive marketing purposes; consider turning off your Cookies option in your Browser Preferences. However, doing so will mean your favorite Web sites will no longer recognize you when you return, and auto log in, custom features, etc., again won’t work properly. So you have to remember to turn them back on if you want quid pro quo benefits.

iv.   Some Web pages may contain ‘pixel bugs’ (aka Web bugs, picture tags, pixel tags) which sense your presence on the page and reports that information (to someone). Pixel bugs are sometimes covertly placed without the page owner’s being aware, but more often, they arranged for it as partners with some third party. This works like cookies for marketing purposes, but can be more powerful. They are built into the graphics which make the page visually or informationally attractive. Often, a graphic thought to be popular is ‘bugged,’ and placed on the Web for others to copy and use, greatly amplifying its value; learn more, including some technical defensive options, here.

v.   VERY DANGEROUS in some cases: Many software downloads and some purchased software contains back door reporting routines to monitor what you do on your computer (may be limited to a given type of activity, such as Browsing, or specific matters related to use of the software, or may be more invasive, including obligating you to things against your best interests, sometimes with a financial impact). This has in the past been especially true of certain free games, on-line TV watching utilities, select computer utilities, and even major purchased software packages and operating sytems (yes, even big firms like Microsoft); READ the fine print in the user agreement and know what you are letting yourself in for (the nature of what they consider quid quo pro). Note: some illegal use of this method has been encountered, where the compromise of privacy/security was NOT mentioned in the user agreement, essentially converting the package into a virus in function. Know the reputation of the source, search the Web for complaints (but remember, no one makes a product that does not generate complaints from someone about something, and that often, problems arise which are user/user system specific because of unique configurations of their system or usage — so READ the complaints for relevancy to your use and privacy concerns).

From Excellent Network World article (click): ACLU Report: Spying on Free Speech nearly at Cold War Level

3)   Political Gain, often in opposition to your best wishes. Identical in nature to Commercial Financial Gain, but used for political purposes to sway opinions, most often with disinformation calculated to target what defines ‘You.’ Your opinions are shaped for you in subtle ways. It is a form of Political Control Technology. This often leads to item number 4, below, where you fail to bend and your bending is deemed extremely important; Signs, Methods, and Solutions:

a.  Also the same as Commercial Financial Gain, except that you can more easily be aware of and control your interaction with political topics most of the time. The tricky stuff is the disinfo built into what should otherwise be nonpolitical in nature. Everybody has a belief structure, and it easily finds its way into whatever they write with or without their conscious intent, but there are people paid to write things ‘off topic’ in ways which infect on purpose, and with great scientifically calculated psychological impact;

i.  In addition to thoughtful reflection (be wary, think logically and critically), it may help you to read up on the 25 Rules of Disinformation at my Web site (my most popular document with tens of millions of downloads).

b.  In Groups and Social Networks, you can count on ‘packs’ of members or friends participating in calculated diatribes, often staged arguments egging you to join in to get your views and or to alter your opinion. Often, the group is actually one person, a trained specialist (cyber troll) who has multiple fraudulent identities for the purpose, any one of which can troll for people to suck into more focused dialogs sans any need for staging an argument, but they usually join in at some point to ‘confirm’ the ‘validity’ of the preferred message;

i.  Same as (a, above), but actually, its easier to detect, even laughable.

4)   Political Paranoia, outright spying on you out of fear of what you believe or might do in their wildest nightmares of potentials. If you are an activist or outspoken in ways not in synch with the mainstream (politically incorrect) on ANY TOPIC, have participated more than once in a given topical protest movement, visited an activist’s Web site or site of the politically incorrect, YOU ARE A POTENTIAL TARGET. Governments (all of them) so covet their power that (most of them) feel any dissent or opposition must be presumed a threat and dealt with before it can actualize. This all too often leads to item 5, below; Signs, Methods, and Solutions:

a.  You find a sudden burst of requests for new social network friends or members to your group, and the dialogs/posts resulting soon thereafter tend to be inflammatory or inquisitive on political beliefs. Or, you find them somehow magically added without requests, or the requests read ‘secret request’ or some other no-such-thing-exists. You may also find others simply seem to dovetail perfectly with your beliefs with continual favorable commentaries to your own, someone trying to get close enough to you to pump you for information, later. These efforts can be as insidious as agent provocateur in nature, and/or attempting to build a comprehensive psychological profile of you for further targeting (item 5, next); What to do about it:

i.  Same as (a of item 3) above (be wary, reflective, and think critically);

ii. Do not REACT instinctively to inflammatory matters. Stop, Think (what is really going on, what to they really want), ACT (according to your best interests) — ACT, don’t React. This is a good habit to employ in ALL DAILY MATTERS as it will keep you out of needless arguments which harm relationships and impede daily progress. I wish I would follow this advice!

b.  You have a sudden explosion of SPAM and Phishing email, and the like. This may be an attempt by an Agency or Military cyberwarrior to infect your system with a spying virus for their own unique purposes. It can happen for other causes, too, of course, and is not a conclusive symptom in and of itself. But it is often coupled with curious events in your life and environment which imply some form of snooping in the real World; surveillance, following, surreptitious entries, odd telephone behaviors, etc.  This would be an escalation step less frequently employed — a preparation for (item 5, next), and most certainly part of it;

i.  Please consider my book or ebook (ProparanoidPress.com), The Professional Paranoid: How to Fight Back If Stalked, Surveilled, Investigated Or Targeted by Any Agency, Organization, Or Individual.

ii.  Review some of my other blog posts based on the book:

1. In the Rearview Mirror: When You Think You’re Followed;
2. Your Cell Phone is a Government Agent Spying on You.
3. You find more sexually related outreach or SPAM than normal, or PORN related popups at the oddest times and places. Someone is trying to develop a psychological profile on you. See item 5 for a very caustic example of how dangerous that can become;

iii. Consider a one-time adventurous response to determine if it is targeting of this type, or generic SPAM/marketing outreach unrelated to spying as such. You WILL encounter unpleasant material by prurient standards. If it is spying related, there will be subtle signs. Again, see (item 5).

iv.  Do NOT respond at all (and for any such event where you elected option (i), above), delete or block sources where possible, as well as the specific message. Complaints may be in order if there is a means of contact, such as the Social Network or Group moderator.

NOTE: Any of (items 4, above, or 5, below) may additionally mean the FBI, CIA, DOD, or NSA (and variously other agencies of government, both foreign and domestic, as well as corporations, and criminal groups they partner or compete with) are specifically targeting your entire Internet activity (and beyond) by any number of means:

1. All have admitted to or have been reported as employing signal capturing and analysis methods. A van can park near your home and capture router signals, or even just the RF (radio frequency) signals generated by your computer, in which case whatever is on your computer screen is on theirs. If you have a Cable or Satellite, or Microwave ISP source, those signals can likewise be intercepted and analyzed, either at your home, or at the ISP’s location. There will be varying success levels with the analysis attempt, and not everything will get through. Your phones and fax systems are subject to like attack capabilities, as hinted at in the above linked blog post.
2. Most of these government bodies are not above employing virus attacks by conventional means. Just because you get a virus or were phished, does not mean it came from a criminal. It might be Men in Black, with or without legal authority, with or without official cause.
3. FBI (and others with like tools) can obtain a warrant to install Carnivore or similar software at your ISP to gain complete access to your email, directly (and as many fear, everyone elses’ email going through the ISP). These warrants are incredibly easy to obtain. The new unconstitutional blanket warrants are even easier to get, and cover (everybody, more or less).
4. Often warrants are not even necessary, especially with the larger ISP firms of the telecommunications industry flavor (think cellular), who give away information just for the asking if it comes from ‘the good guys.’ Many of these firms consider themselves extensions of the Federal Government for all practical purposes, and many (including Facebook, Google, et. Al) are invested in heavily by the intelligence community (CIA, most notably) who, in exchange, is granted unusual access to information and system control (ergo, they become weaponized when desired).
5. The Internet was created by the military and ‘given’ to the public for use. However, the handful of key firms which constitute the bulk of infrastructure tools needed for the Internet to even function are essentially military-intelligence community contractors, which provides yet one more tool in the government’s spy arsenal.
6. Internet 3.0 (a nickname for the effort to ‘improve’ the Internet by Congress) in the name of cyber security is eventually going to get past Constitutional roadblocks in Congress and will become a major censorship and spy tool for all government levels and agencies. If you have no clue, learn about SOPA and CISPA. See the closing section of this post for a breath of fresh air and relief.
7. The Internet Kill Switch (another nick name — each government on the Planet wants one, including the United Nations) is likewise such a tool, one likely to be thrown whenever government does not like what we are doing (e.g., Occupy, especially after seeing what the Internet did to help overthrow Middle East tyrants), or want us to know what bad things government is doing (e.g., Martial Law, military takeover, extreme blunders that kill or destroy massively, etc.). The closing section addresses this, as well.

5)   Political Control Targeting, where you are deemed a viable threat to an agenda or cyber-powerful governmental (hey – I got hate mail from the Clinton White House and enjoyed much Web sabotage and other fun things while he was in office… and while Bush before him… and Bush after him… and Obama, now).

This means they fear you and feel they must deal with you more proactively, typically because their spying has revealed that other people listen to what you have to say and believe you, or your opinions are thought simply too dangerous to be heard (like many of mine, nasty truthsayer ‘terrorist’ that I try to be). Truth is oft seen as a thing too dangerous to be allowed free expression which might enable and empower a fully informed public, and must not be allowed to contaminate the lies of an errant government and/or a controlled media;

a.  Your social network starts having a lot of unfounded complaints against you resulting in curtailed services or functions, having to repeatedly provide your password, etc.;

i.  There is usually no recourse whatsoever, though I tend to ask my friends if any others are having the same problem, and complain so they understand the Social Network in question is infiltrated by government spying and engages in political control targeting (Facebook, that means YOU).

ii.  See this blog post for more detail on Social media infiltration and solutions.

b.  You start getting denial of service BOMBS — posting bombs to your social network or group, and/or email bombs to your email, which make it next to impossible to actually make good use of them for their intended purpose. I can get over 100 posts a minute, so by the time I see one from a legitimate friend to which I’d like to respond, and finish my current activity that I might do so, it’s scrolled off pages and pages away from access and very hard to find, and puts me thousands of posts behind in any attempt too keep  up. In email, it will be SPAM bombs (and watch out for that especially when it comes time to renew your Web domain name or other key matter — this is a tool to get you to fail to see the advice notices that you must act soon before the expiration date, and is how Web sites are hijacked by Men in Black;

i.  Same as (a), above.

b.  Porn redirects, where you find yourself unexpectedly at a Porn site, or by intention, end up experiencing the phenomenon referenced in item (4) above, which IS a psychological profile being run on you. A variation may be porn content or links magically appearing in your own Web content, or other signs of criminal hacking. Its not that uncommon, actually — just ask yourself, who benefits to figure it out;

i.  Consider running test to see if it is a psychological profile attempt (WARNING, if so, it should prove to be a disgusting experience). I suggest documenting the effort as described in (b of item 1), above, for your own protection. I’d tell you to use an anonymizer, except that if detected to be in use (easy to do), the test will fail:

1. A step you may need to repeat six times or so before the answer is revealed: arbitrarily choose a link at the porn site to access specific content offered (a pic or vid). OK if that’s where it takes you, return and try again. But…
2. If it instead takes you to yet another Porn Site, it may be a profile attempt. Now undertake step one at this NEW site. Again, repeat up to six times.
3. If by the sixth new site you still remain conscious from the visual assault on your moral sensibility, and you have thus far encountered nothing but ‘normal porn,’ with nothing seemingly illegal, you are NOT being profiled, but simply a (would-be) victim of PORN scammers who make money off of redirects. The kind of site a porn addict would abhor but puts up with when encountered and abandons after experiencing multiple redirects.
4. To make clear, if you INSTEAD start to see bestiality, torture/rape, pedophilia type images, congratulations: you have reached a CIA operated Web site (by some accounts, they have thousands of such sites). Don’t worry, it won’t land you in jail. That’s not their agenda. But if you continue to click on images, your sexual profile starts to be built. Once it is in hand, it may be used at some point to manipulate you or to target you with blackmail, etc, or sexual outreach intended to compromise you. So naturally, you shouldn’t click on those images. Hey, shame on you for even being there in the first place, right? Um… what was that URL, by the way?
5. IMPORTANT. You cannot trust these and many other porn sites. Just visiting one can result in attacks on your computer’s security and your privacy, such as makes running Norton’s or similar IMMEDIATELY after the test a wise step. Again, Macintosh users should DEFINITELY take this advice regardless of the reliably resistant nature of their system. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, undertook a special program evaluating the security of the Macintosh Operating System looking for ways to exploit it. I’m thinking they didn’t find any, given that no one else really has in the last three decades, but what does that tell you about governments potential intentions to spy and capabilities?

c.  You discover that at times, you can’t locate Web content that used to be there, can’t reach people by normal means, or you hear people can’t find your content, or reach you. It could be a Web glitch, or it could be that your Web activities or content is being selectively blocked, a form of sabotage known as black listing. This, too, can spill over into the real World — welcome to the daily life of being a TI.

i.  Its usually done at the Server level, so it can be at your ISP or the host ISP to your intended destination or recipient, or an intervening ISP between the them (most Web activity will relay the data through a daisy chain of a number of ISP servers making up the ‘Internet’). Start by contacting your ISP, and asking the destination/recipient to check with theirs, if you can find a way to make contact. Any decent whois service (enter whois in your search engine) can help with finding a way to reach someone.

ii.  You can employ a tracking utility to see where the series of relays between ISPs comes to a screeching halt, and contact them. I like VisualRoute because it is highly functional without requiring geek knowledge, but supports geek use, too. It can also help spot eavesdropping in the data stream and address other Web technical problems. Learn more here. There are a lot of other good ones out there, and computers have some built-in capabilites, per this video lesson.

d.  You should, with confirmations of any of the above, consider yourself under a full surveillance net, even though it may not yet be true — you need assume it true or soon to be true. Your home has been or will very likely be entered into covertly, bugs and or cameras placed, and you may eventually become targeted with electronic weapons (that is another topic altogether);

i.  Contact me immediately for a free Helps Kit and some free online consultation (its what I do). Do not outreach to authorities of any kind, as it is intended you do so that you might officially earn the label of paranoid, or worse. It is a means of discrediting you and part of an organized effort at making you a political, social, and ultimately, financial zero.

ii.  Increase your levels of awareness and review and improve security at home, work, and your vehicle. Talk to your family.

iii. Get my book, The Professional Paranoid. Natch!

iv.  Install a Primus pick proof lock, a lock designed for government needs and so good that government does not want you to even know it exists, and thus, the manufacturer (Schlage) does not talk about it, and their dealers (well established Locksmiths, only) try to sell you an alternative when you ask for it, even though they make more money on the Primus. Also, not all dealers are authorized to sell it. I have a long dialog on this topic with clients.

v.   Keep up whatever you are doing, because it surely must be Good in the Face of Evil, or you would not be targeted in the first place. Unless you continue to fight it, Evil will only get bigger and stronger — and worse for you, others like you, and our future generations. Do not fear them and their cowardly tactics. Remember it is THEY who FEAR YOU and your BELIEFS, and what you have to say or do about it so much that they are willing to risk revealing themselves as the true sociopathic fascists they are.

Top five solutions for Internet spying

Other Privacy Solutions Available

I mentioned Anonymizers (not to be confused with or thought affiliated with the group, Anonymous). This is a tool which can be free or for fee, can be undertaken by simply visiting an Anonymizer Web site and ‘activating’ anonymization per instructions found there, or by use of software they provide to turn it on or off at will on the fly. What it does is it strips away all elements of your basic user identification information, such as cookies and much more, and replaces it with their own, generic version. Thus when you subsequently visit ANY other Web site, it cannot possibly know anything personal about you other than you may volunteer once you arrive. You can play with one to see what it is like with and without use at anonymouse.org.

They don’t always have desired results, because a given site may refuse access for cause, or fail to function fully, or slow down a notable degree. Not a huge problem. The real problem is not that, but trustworthiness. There are a lot of anonymizers out there to choose from, some with very slick Web sites and marketing programs, which in my book, does not mean anything regarding trust, and if anything, is a mark against more than for trusting them. Perhaps I’m just living up to my name, and being ‘paranoid.’

But within a year or so of their first appearing on the Web by nobodies anyone ever heard of, and their popular use, they started going by the wayside and being replaced by newcomers, or merged or were taken over by other firms, and ‘improved’. To my way of thinking, governmentals and other smart people with agenda of their own, have sought to replace them or compete with bogus anonymizers which allow only THEM to see what you are doing.

Think about it… and how easy it would be to arrange, and in realization that if you don’t want others to know what that is, then that information may reflect something extra valuable, or which dovetails with someone’s agenda or political concerns. So they bait you, seeing you as perceived bad guys or as potential targets for (some agenda-driven purpose) to use their service that they may spy on you effortlessly. I’m especially wary of those based on downloaded software, which could afford additional backdoor access to sensitive information. I know there are good ones that can be trusted, but I have no way of knowing one from the other, for sure. Ack!

There is only ONE clear-cut exception I’m aware of, though any of the original firms going back to the 90’s in dating are likely OK, today, unless taken over or merged by some other firm, in which case I get nervous, again. The exception is called TOR (The Onion Router), which is Open Source. Open Source means public code that anyone can read (with some technical skill), and that being the case, it can’t be tampered with or contain threats to security without being detected and reported (that’s one advantage, the other being that it is FREE).

Yet TOR has its own inherent problem which should ALSO be addressed if used to send secure information such as an email message: you should additionally provide some form of adequate encryption of that content. This is a bit of a non issue with respect to simply visiting and using Web sites, however, though using a regular anonymizer AND Tor should likely make such visits even more secure. Learn more about anonymizers,  here, and more about TOR and the encryption issue, here.  Then there is also the greater issue of anonymous email, which you can learn about, here.

With regards to Encryption, that topic also deserves some comment. Your email service provider, likely your email client (e.g., Outlook) and Web mail (e.g., gmail), almost always provides for some level of encryption for security, much of it essentially functionless to sophisticated spying groups like government. I suggest that if you truly fear compromise of very sensitive data transmission over the Web, that you employ some heavier guns. There are numerous commercial products out there, but like anonymizers, I worry about built-in back doors with some of them. Once more, Open Source to the rescue: PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) continues to be a very popular and thus far quite reliable and easy-to-use solution. Learn more here.

Top five internet spying symptoms

New Solutions from Proparanoid

My approach to addressing security and privacy (de javu), to educate on the problem, provide a means to detect the threat, and find a means to resolve it. And also, again, I’m not particularly a Web technologist. So what follows are the results of a lot of thinking not just by myself with my approach in mind, but also with the help of people who know more than I do about Web security. We hope to advance the state-of-the-art in privacy and security.

NeVir Spies is nothing terribly new in the World, except with respect to how it is implemented and made available. It is in the category of a Virtual Private Email Network (VPEN), such as normally employed by large companies for internal email communications in an Intranet (a closed Web like construct for private corporate network connected computers). A VPEN is combined (for Web hopping between distant sites) with HTTPS, the secure form of Web servers (as opposed to HTTP, which are far less secure), to provide a truly secure email service with superlative features.

NeVir Spies is a variant on this theme with some added compenents which allow levels or layers of security and flexibility as the client may deem important. Like all commercially available VPENs, it is more costly than the free email accounts available with Web mail and through your ISP, who includes email with their monthly billing charges. It typically costs about as much as a good ISP, so using it effectively doubles your monthly outlay, but it gives you something the ISP cannot: assured email confidentiality, and some extra features in most cases. There is a lot more to know. Learn about it, here.

Now, this may sound strange… but don’t rush out to sign up for NeVir Spies right away, unless you have an urgent need. That’s because its about to get a whole lot better, thanks to my newest notion, now becoming a project in works… Web Walker:

Web Walker is a completely new and ultra low cost, fully wireless alternative to the Internet, itself, one which is ultra secure and private because it completely bypasses the ISP and telecommunications companies, and thereby, government. YOU become the ISP as well as the communications medium, in a very real way — and of course, you have no need of government involvement in that which you can legally undertake on your own. Even so, it remains compatible with, and is not intended (yet) as a complete replacement of the current Internet. Yet it affords a reliable replacement should the WWW be shut down or be compromised due to sabotage or natural disaster.

As an Open Source Project (OSP), it means free access — no ISP bill, though some nominal expenses can be involved in some cases for select users, and it can represent an income source for others, or the same select users. It does have some up front investment costs for some, but not all, because they might need to upgrade their equipment’s capability or perhaps have more of it if wishing to have more direct involvement.

That cost can be spread out among other users so as to seem negligible, which is where the nominal expenses and income are derived. As intended to be implemented, it will include NeVir Spies as an option, and do so in a considerably more economical fashion, and with a portion of the income going to offset select operational expenses to help keep Web Walker free to most users. In fact, some users will qualify for free NeVir Spies, and that’s why I’m not urging you to jump into NeVir Spies directly. However, it will be many months before Web Walker is available for general use by the public, so if your security need can’t wait… contact me now, anyway — especially since there will be ways to access Web Walker ahead of public availability in its testing and debugging phase. Guinea Pigs needed.

Web Walker, which will also need a new name, addresses EVERYTHING in this post one way or another, though it may not seem like it with superficial review. Its unique design will mean that even those users who might be deemed as system operators will not have access to the actual information transmitted (unlike an ISP or telecommunications system), and therefore, there will be no place for government to go with a warrant to access said information. It addresses all forms of spying and privacy concerns on the Web, especially political spying and targeting, and specifically addresses Internet 3.0 and the Kill Switch. Take a look at it.

If Hilary Clinton fears she and her governmental friends are loosing the (dis)information war (with citizens) because of the Internet, today, wait until they see what we can do when there is no way to use eavesdropping, tampering, or censorship to counteract it. Truth (the Pen) is mightier than Lies (the Sword). That’s Web Walker.

Related articles

• Netcraft Warns of Rise in Phishing Attacks That Rely on HTML Attachments (news.softpedia.com)
• Phishing Scams Are Out to Steal Your Identity (creditrepair.com)
• It’s Easy to Protect Yourself from the “Phishing” Net Ally Bank Works to Keep Your Money Secure (ally.com)
• Simple ways to secure your online banking (fidelity.com)
• Over 90 Percent of Targeted Attacks Derived from Spear Phishing Emails, According to Trend Micro (virtual-strategy.com)

Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Even a Total Web Shut Down

A simple solution: establish a Web Walker, your own Internet emulation to totally bypass the existing system — and its snoops

By H. Michael Sweeney, Copyright REMOVED. Permissions to duplicate granted provided it is reproduced in full with all links in tact, and referenced to the original article here at proparanoid.wordpress.com.

Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

Updated Nov 26, 2012: Removed copyright and some text changes which do not impact conceptually, other than it is in preparation for creating an Open Source project to make a real operational Web Walker network available World wide. Additions introduced with RED TEXT.

Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

This is  a serious discussion of modest technical complexity which will take about fifteen minutes to read. If you bore easily with technospeak and are just curious, don’t bother yourself. Read this short, fun piece, instead, as it has more entertainment value. And then come back when you are more serious about preserving your freedoms in the face of the NWO.

The FBI, CIA, DIA, DHS, NSA, and dozens of other agencies including the Federal Reserve spy on internet users, and it is going to get much worse, SOON — perhaps to include martial law and suspension of the Constitution in the major next terrorism wave.

For example, CISPA and other legislation continues to threaten to remake the Internet into a completely transparent spying mechanism, or worse, it seems logical to expect government to shut these systems down altogether in a Martial Law or other declared emergency, or if there is a 99% Occupy on Steroids event, or worse. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, the government has created more than 260 new Agencies, the bulk of which are geared up for or in support of spying on you and me, what we do, say, and think.  King George-style Sedition laws cannot be far behind, and have already been proposed by some Congressionals, though defeated if actually reaching the Floor. Currently, offering this advice is legal, but you can bet government snoops don’t want you to know about it.

Survival in the future, more than ever, will depend on access to key information, and when government actions shut down or seek to have unlimited access and control of communications… you don’t want to be just another person without a clue while serious risks to your safety unfold nearer and nearer to you; if they shut down the Web, you can bet TV, phones, and radio will also be curtailed except for ‘official’ propaganda. And when it comes back on line, it will be a totally new Internet in terms of the threat of surveillance. Read this review of what to expect under Martial Law and you will better understand the concern. I WILL NOT GO PEACFULLY  INTO THAT DARK NIGHT, for it is born of pure evil, that yet more evil may be undertaken, and I am not willing to live within an evil construct with no way out. How say you?

Hillary Clinton: “We are loosing the (dis)information war (with our citizens, thanks to alternative media outlets).”

These Hitlerite Police State tactics are being undertaken by a paranoid government in the name of combating terrorism, but the simple truth is, they do not fear terrorists, but the actual truth itself, and those who seek and share it. Terrorism is an invented enemy of political-control convenience that does less harm than unrighteous violence dished out by out-of-control Police. As clue this is true, very few of the hundreds of Federal Agencies and new weapon/surveillance systems/laws are aimed directly at Terrorists. No, the focus is ALL on citizens.

What better way to combat truth and free exchange of ideas and information than through the Internet, and by it, back doors into our computers, phones, and game systems by that same digital interface? You can no longer depend on the Military-Industrial-Intelligence-Media Complex to maintain such systems, provide you with protections of your privacy, or even uninterrupted access. Its time to become your own Island of communications safety. Become a Web Walker ‘Node’ (WW node). Not just because of privacy concerns, but also in case the government moves to shut down or replace the Web with a snoop friendly version… or even a natural disaster which disables whole portions of the current WWW.

There’s nothing particularly novel about the idea (but by all means, feel free to credit me with accolades).  It is not patentable, but even if it were, I would freely put it in the public domain. Also feel free to come up with better solutions; I claim no superior skills or knowledge which cannot be surpassed by the likes of an Anonymous hacker or a software or hardware engineer, or every day super geek. It is merely a nuts and bolts solution to insuring privacy and continuity in the face of an overbearing Big Brother mentality.

To effect solution which protects privacy, truth, and unbroken access requires three things. Some hardware you probably do not already have, but may easily obtain; some like-minded people willing to work with you within a defined geographical boundary; and a willingness to take a little more trouble with your communications than you may be currently used to dealing with, though much of that can be addressed by those who know how to create automated scripting. Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

Web Walker Equipment:

Most of us employ a router in our home to service more than one computer, game system, or a laptop that roams throughout the house and perhaps even the yard, etc. A typical router can service four or five such devices to a distance of a couple of hundred feet. When the signal goes through walls and furnishings, the maximum distance drops notably, but some of us may have purchased booster antenna systems to compensate the signal loss. What we need to do is think bigger, and more powerful, and to establish cooperative communications ‘nodes’ to extend range beyond our individual capabilities.

As it happens, Apple Computer has our back; visit the Apple Store for more information and technical description. Their Airport Extreme router is reasonably priced (can be purchased refurbished from Apple for as little as $130, and new for about $120 more — I’ve bought used ones for as low as $50). Take care not to confuse with the Airport Express, a lesser unit.

The Extreme does not care if you are using a Macintosh or a PC, a game system, a smart phone, or anything else you might want to hook up to it, including Apple TV, a shared printer, or a hard drive for automated backup for all connected users. Unlike most systems which operate in just one frequency (2.4 Ghz), it also uses 5 GHz, where there is less signal clutter in the radio environment. That improves both range and prevents data errors that slow things down.

But what makes it especially useful is its power and capacity, and it offers a built-in range extending feature.  As it sits, it can handle up to five times the data throughput of most routers, and does so for twice the distance of the best of them (802.11a/b/g standards), and is less subject to interference from other RF sources. As an example of range, I’ve enjoyed a useful signal at nearly 500 feet away, in my car, with several homes and lots of trees and power poles between us. Best of all for our purposes, it can accommodate up to 50 users simultaneously.

And, like Macintosh computers, it has superlative security features to prevent unauthorized access, which will be critical. It is indeed extendable with the ability to add up to four ‘bridges’ (more routers) in daisy-chain fashion (or a radial layout) to essentially quadruple what is already an impressive operating envelope, or to resolve difficult signal penetration issues within a building. Bridges become range extension nodes in your WW network; a Bridge Node (B node) to allow roughly 50 more users. Lesser Apple routers also could be used, or perhaps competing units, but with reduced performance/capacity. Here is a YouTube video on setting up wireless bridging.

Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web 

Booster antenna systems

When you couple any node to a booster antenna, you can enjoy phenomenal range. Apple has designed these units with an internal, concealed omnidirectional (all directions) antenna and provides software that controls the gain and other aspects which can improve nominal performance. Some Extremes feature a jack for adding an Apple made booster antenna, but it is also possible to modify any model using instructions found here, and a $20 adapting cable that works with any standard booster system. By itself, the unit has a 20 db rating, though apparently offering better performance than competitor units with similar ratings. Were you to double or triple that with a booster, you theoretically double or triple the distance. Only the surrounding or intervening environment dictates resulting performance (e.g., trees, structures, hills).

Boosters come in two flavors: omnidirectional to boost coverage area around you in all directions, and directional, to extend range through an arc of about 15-30 degrees in a given direction.  I am told you can actually use both omnidirectional and directional boosters simultaneously with a simple signal splitter. They are available for both indoor and outdoor placement (outdoor increases reach), but an outdoor unit can be concealed inside and aimed through a window or attic vent, which is highly suggested to avoid visual detection by Men in Black.

Because networks can be ‘named’ and selected by name for use, you can have any number of WW nodes, each with or without bridge nodes, each with or without their own booster for a given directional or omnidirectional need. Any one of these can be simultaneously connected to an existing ISP for ‘normal’ use, or can be operated as de facto Web Walker ‘ISP’ in a closed network, and easily be reconfigured (plug and play, or in this case, plug and share) at will.

Directional systems usually rely upon what is called a Yagi antenna design, which may or may not be enclosed in a can or tube, or small triangular housing. Where the signals going into or coming from a Yagi are additionally passed through an amplifier, phenomenal range can be achieved, though if building your own ‘black box’ solution, you must be aware of FCC guidelines and limitations on signal strength. But by way of example, an amplified Yagi system can be so powerful and precise that it is best used on a tripod with a rifle scope to center it on target destinations miles away. That is how the WW can be made to reach users well into the countryside, where line-of-sight access is available. By such a method, it would even be possible to link nearby communities in daisy-chain fashion.

Booster systems start in the 9 db range but you can find them up to 49 db, which can mean up to 1,500 feet between bridges, give or take. That’s well over a mile in total distance if employing four bridges, and about 3 million square feet of user coverage. Claims of distances for Yagi systems of up to 4,800 feet are out there, but don’t get sucked in by anyone who sells a product specifying distance — it’s a disreputable tactic that usually involves a sham. Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

Like-minded people to connect with:

That’s the whole point, right? Such a system is not intended to replace the Internet for everyone who is currently subscribed to an ISP. That would cause bandwidth issues beyond the current state of the art’s ability to inexpensively cope. It is to allow people of common need and support to stay in truly confidential touch and securely share critical information which would otherwise be deprived of them, or obtained from them surreptitiously without permission. So you pick and choose friends, family, coworkers, compatriots, and patriots whom you think best meet your needs. That does not mean you cannot also have others join the network to enhance functionality. Here’s how you reach them…

First, map out the locations of people who should be logical participants and who are interested in joining your WW.  Some may already be ‘in range.’ For those further away, consider directional antenna or bridge solutions, or a combination. For bridges used to fill in the distance gaps with useful signals, seek out the most logical locations for placement of bridges, and see if you know someone there, or could make friends with someone in the area. Explain your goals and see where the dialog goes. Hopefully you would find them kindred Constitutionalists or Activists at heart, or otherwise willing to house your bridge unit and keep it powered up in exchange for benefits, and perhaps join your WW node or even contribute toward costs.

But bridges merely render you and up to 50 other persons within range into a relatively small private local-area WW network, and may still fall short of enough range to reach intended persons at greater distance. But there is even more we can do. Because each individual node operator/user can have multiple named routers and select which is in use, any user can establish their own WW node and serve as a relay station from one such node to another… and if needed, to another, and another, ad nauseum.

By this means, a whole city can be encompassed. Multiple routes or paths from point A to D via B and C are also advised so that system integrity is maintained if a node is lost. There are additional security-related route redundancy considerations discussed shortly.

I’d suggest an ideal WW operator’s site would look like this: three Web Walkers with directional boosters just for distance in three differing directions, and one omnidirectional for those around you, perhaps a system you make available to all neighbors who apply, over time (a move considered a security risk, at best). I think of it as being triads of node triads in a pattern which blossoms outward like some kind of Dandelion seed puff covering the whole of its core being. But there are many environmental reasons an actual geometric pattern is not likely to result.

And at the end of those routes, that is where you want your most loyal of kindred spirits, because they should do the same, and likewise at the end of their otherwise completely separate routes.  Keep in mind, too, that a bridge operator can likewise add additional units and establish their own WW node while remaining a bridge element in yours. It is completely free form to need for each individual node operator/user. Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

Changes in how you communicate:

Each WW node operator/user would be key to facilitating communications beyond their own node’s connected users (other nodes). Everyone on their own node (also true of B nodes), which functions with the ease of a local network, would become a peer-to-peer communicant party with others on that node; it is a local Intranet. They would be able to easily send information and files to anyone else in that same network, or even make portions of their computer files directly available to select or even all other communicants, with or without password requirements.  That is, in fact, how they could mount a personal Web site for access by others, essentially serving as their own Web host system. Nothing new in that.

Google Earth Image: An excellent resource for planning WW layouts as it can show terrain and building heights to the planners advantage.

Martial law, Police State, revolution, natural disaster, Internet shut down, CISP, PIPA

Add some Intranet email software clients or peer-to-peer clients and you get some ease of communications which would seem rather normalized to the way one uses the Web, currently. But as for Web Walker-based user Web sites, the actual Internet would be out of bounds, or should be, to prevent assault from spyware or worms designed to discover and track Web Walker activity.

One simple solution is to buy a used Macintosh, which is generally impervious to externalized attacks of this sort, and which would be safer for use on any compromised Internet government might control. Go ahead and mount Windows and your PC software on it so it behaves like a PC if that’s what you are more comfortable with. In a way, a Mac is often more ‘PC compatible’ than many PCs, anyway. Protect Web Walker best by complete dissociation from the WWW by use of a dedicated router for the actual Internet. You can easily bounce back and forth between WW and WWW sources with a few mouse clicks, and copy and past may prove useful.

But where an elaborate WW node (e.g., multiple routers in multiple directions) is employed, the potential exists to relay information (email or Web site data) between any two adjacent WW locations. And there is no end of relays possible. All that is required is a localized addressing scheme, which is easy to come by because each server has a name, and each user an intranet IP address unique to the router. So whomever is the central-most party of a Triad (the designer, if you will), would determine the name of the WW router for addressing purposes, and track THAT node’s user IPs. So to send data or request data to/ from an outside Web Walker, would only require that you knew the address;  IPnumber@router name.  Thus whenever a new router (node) is to be added to the greater WW network, a proposed router name should be submitted to the network to allow people to indicate if it was perhaps already in use at their end.

As in the real Internet, you should never share addresses, as that could compromise user privacy expectations. That means no one knows exactly where on the greater WW network a given user is located. So to send a request for a ‘Web page’ on the WW network, or an email, one uses email (I suggest using PGP – Pretty Good Privacy encryption because it employs a sender/recipient decryption key scheme so that only the recipient can access) to send to the WW node operator. When the operator gets it, he compares the address to those listed on his own node(s), and sends it on if the recipient is one of his ‘flock.’ This could be automated with minimal software.

Otherwise, he switches his computer over to each of the other WW nodes which link to other, distant WW nodes, and forwards the file (also subject to automation). In this way the message goes everywhere until it finds the right operator, and is forwarded to the specific recipient. If a Web page request, the recipient sends an email back containing the Web markup language code for the file, along with all embedded images, videos, etc.  This may require an email client which has no file size limitation, such as a virtual private network email client, which is a good choice, anyway, for management of email by a node operator.

The flaw in this plan is that the designer would need to spend a considerable amount of time looking at data flows and switching routers and forwarding as needed from one node to another. That could prove a severe issue in a major City environment well connected to large numbers of individuals. Therefore, two additional bits of advice are offered. Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

1) to some degree, restrict membership to those persons of value to the localized network. That means people who truly are kindred spirits, or who have useful resources or skills, such as weapons, food, or whatever is appropriate for assuring mutual survival. This is not our Children’s Internet;

2) Users should limit communications to serious needs, only. You don’t go ‘surfing,’ and you don’t send spam, or watch movies, porn, play games, etc.

3) Employ scripting, utility software, or write custom software to handle as much of the work load as possible. Macintosh has system-level scripting built in, as do many kinds of Web utilities, and Linux/Unix systems are also quite flexible in this respect.Web Walker: How to Bypass Internet Surveillance or Defeat a Total Web Shut Down

Men in Black

Naturally, the government will not like this idea very much. Who knows? They may label me a terrorist any moment for having published this idea. Welcome to do so if they want a bit of bad publicity.  I’m sure I’m already on their list, anyway. But their concern means that you would likely want to hide your units and shield your rooms to prevent so many strong signals from screaming, ‘Here I am!’ Better they should see only one signal at a time, if possible, and not easily ascertain its point of origin. Ask me about Primus Pick Proof Locks for your home, if truly worried about Men in Black snoops.

Again, it would be wise to establish multiple routes between critical or important users or resources in case one route is compromised or suffers technical failure. Any two adjacent WW Node operators would know each other and would become aware of any such loss of service (again, to play safe, shut down any signal to it) and investigate carefully before deciding what to do about it (e.g., replace the route, help repair, etc.)

Unless they specifically passed a law or edict against, even if discovered, you should not likely be in too great a danger except from confiscation of equipment and questioning. Likely, the files on your computer would be a greater risk of getting you into trouble if they felt like pressing a given matter. Spare equipment, secret locations, and escape tunnels may be called for in the worst of times.

And should revolution come, I have heard it said regarding one such revolution, “It was the best of times, and the worst of times…” But in such a case, being able to communicate can make a bad time the best possible.

Update: Due to popular response and interest, I’m going to attempt to launch an Open Source Project to make Web Walker real. The first order of business will be to come up with a new name: at the time of first posting just a few months back, there was only one Web Walker out there, a Web authoring service, and one product  (a one word trade name). Now, however, there are nearly a half dozen Web Walkers of all manner since then, for some reason. Why, if I was paranoid, I’d think it on purpose~ 🙂 Ideas anyone?

Click the FOLLOW button at very page top to learn more about the Open Source Project, or better yet, especially if wanting to learn about the may options or ways in which you can participate, use the CONTACT link at page top to express your interest. There will be more posts on the Project, to include many enhancements such as an inherent mechanism to simulate social networking and search engines free of advertising, spying mechanisms, and useless distracting fluff. THANK YOU for taking the time to learn about Web Walker!

PLEASE: Comment (page bottom, or contact me), Rate (at page top), Share/Tweet this article. Visit my Reader Forum to promote your own cause or URL, even if unrelated to this article.

Related articles

• Would you give the government remote control over your router? (arstechnica.com)
• Ron, Rand Paul: Get Government Away From Internet (personalliberty.com)

 

FascistBook, Part II

FascistBook:

The Growing Case for Government Targeting via Social Media

by H. Michael Sweeney,

copyright © 2011, ProparanoidPress, all rights reserved

permissions to reproduce available on request to pppbooks at comcast (net)

In two parts.

 

Dateline Portland, OR Sept 8, 2011 (part II)

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Part II, The Scope of the Threat

in Social Media Spy Partnering

fascistbook Read Part I, here

Very detailed map (click for full size) of all the clicks needed to use Facebook, each such click useful in gathering/sorting information collected about you. From restoretherepublic.com

Again I remind you that I write this as an activist, investigative writer with seven books generally on abuse of power, privacy, and security matters, and as a consultant to targeted persons. If I make any errors in the remaining presentation, it is likely on the side of underestimating capabilities rather than overstating. The technology involved is all powerful and all-too easy to manipulate for nefarious purposes, and evolves to new levels of capability faster than can be learned of.

The threat goes far beyond the simple image most people have in mind when you talk about social media privacy issues. The threats are quite real, but should be tempered against cause and effect realities and personal strategies as discussed in the closing section. Actual threat levels vary according to the individual, and to the individual’s concerns as may be fostered by circumstances. The threat can exist and be employed against one individual without their ever sensing consequence, but for another individual, it could result in catastrophic injustice. I remind you that where just one citizen is victimized by tyranny, all remain under its yolk and subject to its whims.

The threats come about naturally enough; the very things which allow social media constructs to function are the very things which pose a threat if abused. In and of themselves, a reasonable company operating with reasonable business sense would not deem to abuse any power inherent, lest their getting caught should damage their credibility and ruin a good thing. Yet it is true that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and thus, in time, even the most honest and well meaning entity can cross the line at some point in time. Yet even so, such threats are relatively minimal given that some logical constraints would yet remain in play. We can hope, anyway.

The real threat is in the context of the thrust of  this article; involvement of intelligence community, military, or other government agencies in any access to or sharing of your information. For the purpose of such consideration, it may be helpful to think of them simply as themselves being the folks actually managing the social media in question or, at the very least, having the same functionality as their advertising and promotional partners. That is to say, that anything that is true for a social media network or one of their partners, is true for the government snoops with respect to ability to access and abuse information. Actually, MORE is true, as we shall see.

Unlike the folks who found and operate a social media network, they observe no constraints on abuse because any abuses they undertake remain covert in nature, and thus, the existence of the abuse is not likely to be uncovered, and certainly not likely to be proven. Thus the social media entity has little risk in such partnerships, no fear of damage caused by some scandalous revelation. This fact, alone, makes the threats that much more serious. Because if you give a government an inch, it will take a foot, then a yard, then a mile, and on and on until it does get caught. By then, it is far too late and the greater damage has been done than can be known, than can be undone. I doubt Facebook and the like understand this, or they would see how illogical it is to prostitute themselves to Dracos dominatus (draconian rule).

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Ten Different Threat Areas to be Considered:

The remainder of this article will deal with several separate, yet interlocking areas of concern. Some may share properties and elements of others and yet remain their own form of threat with a unique set of additional, unique concerns. These are:

• Marketing (You are a commodity)
• Beliefs (Real and esoteric)
• Contacts (You are who you know)
• Profiling (Labels and lists)
• Tracking (Web and real World)
• Predictives (Thought Police)
• Reward/Punishment (Carrot and Stick)
• Spying (Dataveillance, physical surveillance)
• Trading (Interagency Networking)
• Targeting (Dirty tricks)

fascistbookI

The Intelligence Community and Social Media

I would normally focus on ‘what to do’ in response to such threats, as is the construct of almost all of my books on privacy and security issues. However, in the case of someone who is choosing to participate in social media, the options are few… outside of the obvious choice of rejecting participation altogether. What few choices may exist beyond that drastic alternative will be mentioned as we go. Generally speaking, my books in The Professional Paranoid series do offer useful advice in many of these categories, but were not written to specifically address social media, which did not yet exist when they were penned.

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1: Marketing

Everyone knows that information on consumers is Gold when it comes to marketing. Almost all Web sites participate in marketing to one degree or another, especially if they themselves have something to hawk. But even ‘non commercial’ sites may participate in one form or another of advertising, or in information gathering and sharing arrangements with one or more Web partners. In the old days, information was pretty much limited to contact information and perhaps the kind of things purchased from those keeping the information. It’s now way out of hand thanks to the digital age. Anything about you is fair game if it allows predictive marketing, which is a fancy term for insuring that the ads you see on the Web are more likely to interest you.

The larger and more powerful the dynamics of the (.com, etc.) and the greater their resulting Web traffic, the more likely it is they will be engaged in some form of partnering with other firms to share information about you. Thus it behoves us to read the privacy statements of the various sites we visit BEFORE we engage with the content at the site. Few of us do, of course. Those of us who do, often wish we hadn’t, because it unmercifully kills countless brain cells trying to translate lawyer-speak to plain English. You can lose a first-born if you don’t do it right.

The following is a collection of some scarier parts of Facebook’s privacy policy and user agreements (each of which consists of many pages). An ellipse (…) or double tilde (~~) means I have snipped non relevant passages. Bold text highlights a potentially problematic issue. Parens contain material added by me:

• For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacyand application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License).
• We receive data about you whenever you interact with Facebook, such as when you look at another person’s profile, send someone a message, search for a friend or a Page, click on an ad, or purchase Facebook Credits.
• When you post things like photos or videos on Facebook, we may receive additional related data (or metadata), such as the time, date, and place you took the photo or video.
• We receive data from the computer, mobile phone or other device you use to access Facebook. This may include your IP address, location, the type of browser you use, or the pages you visit. For example, we may get your GPS location so we can tell you if any of your friends are nearby.
• We receive data whenever you visit a game, application, or website that uses Facebook Platform or visit a site with a Facebook feature (such as a social plugin). This may include the date and time you visit the site; the web address, or URL, you’re on; technical information about the IP address, browser and the operating system you use; and, if you are logged in to Facebook, your User ID.
• Sometimes we get data from our advertising partners, customers and other third parties that helps us (or them) deliver ads, understand online activity, and generally make Facebook better. For example, an advertiser may tell us how you responded to an ad on Facebook or on another site in order to measure the effectiveness of – and improve the quality of – those ads.
• Games, applications and websites can serve ads directly to you if they have your User ID. (Ergo, do not stay logged into Facebook when you surf if you do not wish your User ID logged, which is exactly what points directly to YOU).
• Advertisers (and Facebook) sometimes place cookies on your computer in order to make their ads more effective. Cookies are small pieces of data that we store on your computer, mobile phone or other device… we may use them to know ~~ when you are interacting with our advertising or Platform partners.
• We may also ask advertisers to serve ads to computers, mobile phones or other devices with a cookie placed by Facebook… You can always remove or block cookies (such as by using the settings in your browser), but it may affect your ability to use Facebook.
• Sometimes we allow advertisers to target a category of user, like a “moviegoer” or a “sci-fi fan.” We do this by bundling characteristics that we believe are related to the category. For example, if a person “likes” the “Star Trek” Page and mentions “Star Wars” when they check into a movie theater, we may conclude that this person is likely to be a sci-fi fan.
• We sometimes allow businesses or anyone else to sponsor stories like the ones that show up in your News Feed, subject to the audience set for that story… Your friends will see these stories even if you have opted out of the “Show my social actions in Facebook Ads” setting.
• We use the information we receive about you in connection with the services and features we provide to you and other users like your friends, the advertisers that purchase ads on the site, and the developers that build the games, applications, and websites you use.

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2. Beliefs

Consider that every time you post something… every time you ‘like’ or ‘share’ something… you are making a statement about what you believe, or at least what you believe to be valuable or important. It is not about ‘likes,’ it is about beliefs. Yet Facebook does not have a good way of looking at that aspect of information beyond any marketing related elements which may be present, because it is not quite part of their data construct.

However, the intelligence community DOES have a way of looking at it. Be it real (like a political stance) or esoteric (like spiritual matters), you reveal much about your belief structure in every such action. It can become very useful in spying operations because it helps paint the psychological profile of the individual, which is actually its own threat better described below. But it also can be used to flag their attention.

Everyone has heard about NSA’s ECHELON monitoring system which essentially seeks to monitor 100% of global communications on the lookout for useful intelligence. It is essentially an automated key-word sensitive system that electronically listens into information on the fly looking for a set key word or phrase, or perhaps a target audio sequence or voice pattern. Thus it can scan effortlessly for utterances of words like ‘bomb’ or ‘assassinate’ as well as for sounds associated with specific activities or individuals of interest. On any match, the entire communication is recorded for human examination.

We can debate the legality all we want, but Congress has elected to ignore any violation of Constitutional rights represented by the warrantless intrusions which happen by the hundreds or even hundreds of thousands every hour. Worse, it seems, the system can be politically and corporately aimed, it being discovered that ECHELON was being used for industrial spying on behalf of U.S. corporations who were heavy financial contributors to the Democratic National Committee. As defining clues go, that is huge one, the quintessential essence of a fascist government (see my blog 33 Axioms of Fascism) being to function as a corporate state.

But the point is, a social media being watched by the intelligence community can easily be made to work the same way. In point of fact, it can be done without the permission of the social media, though it is greatly facilitated by such cooperation. Every post, every like, every share… the content is all monitored against keywords and then shuffled off for human review if deemed appropriate. Once flagged, you become a person of interest for possible political spying, or even political targeting. You can find yourself on a list… but will more likely be unaware of it for some time.

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3. Contacts

You are indeed who you know to the intelligence community. I assure you that guilt by association is the number one guideline in the overzealous world of counterintelligence, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism (what FBI, CIA, etc., do to protect against espionage, etc.). Thus if you have among your social media ‘friends’ just one person who is suspected of having involvement with what can be loosely (very loosely) defined as a ‘suspect,’ then you, too, are automatically suspect.

In fact, FBI and CIA, and others, use ‘rings of influence’ as an excuse to spy on hundreds of people where only one actual suspect may exist. A suspect, and anyone the suspect is in contact with (one ring), and anyone the contacts are in turn in contact with (second ring), and anyone they are in contact with (third ring), and so one, for some arbitrarily set limit as to the number of rings… anyone within those rings is also suspect, and fervently spied upon on the presumption of likely guilt.

So abusive has this policy been, that just dialing a wrong phone number can get you involved in a ring, and has in more than one case caused innocent persons to be hauled in for relentless questioning and put under a five-year full surveillance net (the standard minimum ‘investigation’ period for FBI types). Spy agencies LOVE this system because they get to report to Congress that they are investigating on a given quantity (untold tens of thousands) of ‘suspects’ to justify their massive budgets, and to paint the problem as being bigger than it really is in order to justify requests for more abusive power and more exotic spy technology.

Thus the problem spirals out of control based merely on conjecture that person A who knows person B who knows person C who knows someone who MIGHT be a criminal, might therefore also be a criminal. So, if you only have a few very close personal friends on Facebook, you probably won’t be targeted for this reason, but if you have 1,000 more casual followers, I can guarantee you a significant chance exists that at least one of those people is in a ring, somewhere – and therefore, so are you, and all of them, too.

So if this makes you afraid to read anyone’s politically incorrect viewpoints, your fear is justified… and is also proof positive that you are a victim of a fascist police state where such fear is an element of political control. Welcome to the New World Order. But not to worry… they fear you more than you fear them. Keep in mind that lists are meaningless if everyone is on the list. We outnumber them millions to one.

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4. Profiling

We hear a lot about profiling as being a ‘no no’ when Police use it to hassle someone because they have the ‘profile’ deemed to increase the likelihood that a person may have a given criminal involvement. For example, if you are stopped on a North South freeway near the Mexican border and the cop sees a ton of McDonald’s trash in your car, you ‘fit’ the profile to be a drug runner. Thus some family man who regularly stops with the kids for Happy Meals and just happens not to keep his car clean, can be hassled to manipulate him into a search of the car.

The unfortunate thing about profiling, is that it tends to get you identified as (something you are not) based merely on the initial suspicion, and thus you get added to a list just as if guilty, and that tends to lead to all manner of problems down the road. Some lists, therefore, are completely bogus, such as the infamous ‘non existent’ No Fly List, where anyone with the same or similar name will rue the day they bought an airline ticket. Profiling is wrong, as are target lists, but we can see why they might want to use them. The problem is, they don’t ‘use them,’ they abuse them, and thereby abuse everyone so identified.

The intelligence community profiles all the time, and because the victims never know about it, they get away with it. But they also engage in another form of profiling – the psychological profile. On the assumption you do get targeted for human review of your on-line activities, I can assure you that a psychological profile will be part of their information gathering goal. Called Q-Methodology when first developed, computer analysis has advanced to the point that a good psychological profile will enable the predicting of how you would react to any given specific situation. In reverse manner, should they desire a given reaction, then can computer what specific situation would most likely generate it, and then work to create that situation by means of dirty tricks (its own section, below).

In my Professional Paranoid series of ‘how to’ books on protecting privacy and security, I spend a great deal of time on this topic, and how to thwart the psychological profile. Thwarting it is very important if you are truly targeted, because any use of it against you can have devastating results, if that is their intention. And in final summary of the threat, it should perhaps also be mentioned that profiling (the sum total thereof), can also predict your future actions and activities (also a threat detailed below), often useful for setting up or arranging advanced surveillance or other operations against you as you wend your way through life. Very dangerous to the politically incorrect among us (e.g., anyone who thinks for themselves and expresses opinions contrary to main stream sheeple).

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5. Tracking

There are two kinds of tracking which might come to mind. Certainly, social media can track your Web activity, as seen in the first section on Marketing. But the greater threat to the politically incorrect is real-World tracking in real time. Think about it: the latest additions to Facebook have been all about tracking:

You now have the ability to ‘tell your friends’ where you are at any given moment, and what you are doing. OK, but you are also telling Big Brother. The same provision now lets you say who you are with. So now, Big Brother can, if having profiles and data files on you and your friends, along with information about the location, deduce WHY you are there and what you are potentially doing which may be completely other than you have described. Thus if you were putting out false information to conceal some other activity, they will likely figure it out. On the other hand, if you really are doing the benign thing, they will still be suspicious you may be doing some less ‘nice’ thing.

But the problem is far more serious than just what you volunteer, because the investigative agencies partnering with social media can do so much more. If you have linked your cell phone or portable laptop to your social media, they can know EXACTLY where you are at ALL TIMES those items are with you and powered up and connected to a network. Remember, in the first threat, above, we learned that Facebook knows your GPS position in such cases. Further, even if your cell phone is not GPS equipped (the newer it is, the more likely it is to use it, even if not advertised as a ‘feature’), or you are using a wifi connection on a laptop, your location can be ascertained through information inherent in the network’s connection with you. Everyone has heard of cell phone tower triangulation, for instance — which was used to capture O.J. Simpson while he was driving on the highway and using his cell phone.

Again, in my Professional Paranoid series, I offer solutions and advice on how to protect against or reduce this kind of threat.

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6. Predictives

We’ve touched on this in the prior dialogs. But the various aspects discussed can be combined in ways which amplify the abilities beyond those already mentioned. Remember the Total Information Awareness Office, renamed Terrorist Information Awareness Office once it was revealed that it represented wholesale spying by the military on every citizen’s every ‘transaction’? They tried to conceal a lot of sins by renaming things and altering artworks, but the truth got out, anyway, thanks to yours truly, and others.

A transaction meant not just purchases, but any event where trackable information could be acquired by use of RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification Device) which are to be found on virtually every product sold… thereby meaning that ANYTHING on your person, including your clothes, can be used to identify you by means of an electrical scan. So just passing through a doorway or turnstile could be rendered a transaction by simply placing a covert sensor to read the RFIDs as they pass by. I’ve lectured on this (video).

I bring this up only because TIAO’s chief tool was an escalated version of profiling software employed by CIA. Based on the sum grand total history of your transactions, it can predict future transactions. When and where you will go, and what you will do, and why. By additionally interfacing the sum total of one’s social media activity, and general Web activities, this ability is amplified many times over. And don’t you believe it for a minute that TIAO is after terrorists. WE are the ONLY terrorists the system is designed to monitor. While they might actually be able to net a terrorist eventually by use of this system, that represents less than 1/100th of one percent of the people it will be spying on. It is a tool intended to maintain political control, only.

But more than all this, TIAO’s thrust is also to predict what you are thinking about and planning to do which they might object to seeing come to pass. Terrorist events, sure. But why stop there? If they see you might be likely to organize a local protest when the next international financial summit is scheduled to be held in your home town, don’t be surprised to find unmarked black vans trolling your street and sings that things have been moved in your home. I assure you they are more likely to take action to stop that than to stop some guy from blowing up his underwear in a public venue.

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7. Reward/Punishment

When you join in a social media you can expect that certain actions will be tracked and have certain consequences. You will be rewarded for ‘good actions’ as judged by the firm running it, things which represent using the system in ways which generate useful information about you. So if you post, share, or like something, it is useful and appreciated, and can result in subtle rewards, such as promoting you to others who then may invite you to friend them. Usually, the rewards are so subtle you don’t see them. Punishment, on the other hand, can be quite visible.

There are indeed actions they would prefer you not engage in. Inviting too many strangers to join your social network, for instance. Why is that a no no? Because to track information about you and your activities, as far as the intelligence community is concerned, is far more manageable and meaningful if they know that those people on your friends list are truly your friends. Remember the rings when you consider that. Punishment usually comes in the form of warning messages or even temporary inability to exercise certain options, typically with threats that your continued use of the network is in jeopardy. But as we will see in yet another section (threat 10), it can be far more serious than just that.

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8. Spying/Dataveillance

Well, of course, that’s what this whole article is about, isn’t it?  But it is listed as its own threat because when the intelligence community is involved, there are whole new levels of spying which can result when their snooping of your activities is determined to make you a person of interest (your politically incorrectness). Depending on why they take an interest, all manner of escalation is possible. Dataveillance is the soft core spying on a soft target, the relatively easy access through back doors to all your personal computer files everywhere of importance. Banks and commercial accounts, insurance companies, medical records, law enforcement, IRS, etc.  All of it can be compromised by cyber warriors to one degree of penetration or another. Then we have the hard core variety:

Your phones, car, home, and workplace could be bugged, with or without a warrant. There are whole new kinds of warrants which have been added to the arsenal in post 9-11 hysteria which essentially makes the word meaningless. There is a FISA (the so-called Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which really means DOMESTIC intelligence) Warrant which is issued by a secret judge in a secret court and allows the government cart blanch surreptitious entry into your home, wholesale spying to include cameras in your bedroom, and accessing and taking whatever they wish from your home without your knowledge… and putting things back, if they wish, perhaps even planting evidence since no one is looking. And there is the new ‘roving warrant’ which allows them to target one person and then another, principally through the rings phenomenon earlier discussed. And there are now whole new classes of warrantless actions which are deemed ‘probable cause’ justifications by Presidential order, completely bypassing Congressional law and constitutional considerations altogether.

If they are going to do any of that, you can also bet they will consider a more traditional full surveillance net, which means surveillance posts nearby to watch your entrances, windows, monitor your conversations, who comes and goes, and record everything. You will be followed, perhaps by car, by foot, and even in the air. That can mean aircraft or even micr0-sized robotic camera ‘toy’ planes that can be small enough to fit in your palm. You probably won’t see them, if used.

Then there is smart dust, which are literally small enough to free float in the air (again, my lecture topic), and which work in ‘swarms’ or ‘hives’ to collect and relay information by laser beam to a central monitoring point. Each little ‘mote’ is designed to do a single specific task, but as a collective, they can provide information as useful as if having someone standing there. This is the kind of technology I lecture on, and I assure you it is far more capable than the sci-fi like description implies. Once more, I do write about all these surveillance concerns in my books, and how to deal with them.

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9. Trading

I’ve already written in part one of this post about interagency trading of spy files, using as example the well-known case involving the Anti Deflamation League, B’nai B’rith (both arms of Mossad with respect to spying operations), CIA, and the Police Criminal Intelligence Divisions of San Francisco, Portland, and four other cities. Tens of thousands of citizens of the United States who were targeted for political spying to include surveillance, financial snooping, and personal matters such as friends, beliefs, etc… much like we’ve been talking about, all along.

Agencies all-too often illegally collect and trade files like this at all levels. Local/State agencies share with other locals, federal agencies with other feds, and with locals, and internationally. What one agency is forbidden by law or charter to do, another might be willing to do in exchange for like favors. Reasons for spying are moot. In point of fact, such spying may uncover wrongdoing and do absolutely nothing about it, even if as serious as murder. Agencies simply want information that may be useful later (perhaps as a blackmail tool), either because a given person might come under scrutiny (remember the rings), or because they may be seen as a useful resource for oblique reasons, such as where they work, or a special skill.

Too, I’ve mentioned in other articles that CIA maintains two fronts pretending to be marketing research firms (and more), one in the U.S., and one in Europe. These firms, Locate Plus, and Metro Risk Management, are part of the 1,001 CIA fronts and infiltrated entities I list in The Professional Paranoid Defensive Field Guide. They boast they have and will sell information (a marketing information arm, and an investigative information arm) to anyone on 98% of U.S. citizens (and also happen to market RFID-based tracking bioimplants by Verachip, aka Digital Angel, or the Mark of the Beast).

Excuse me, but I would raze Langley to the ground for this one sin alone, were I President. But these firms are only symptomatic. Social media has revolutionized this aspect of the problem, allowing any agency integrated into the machinery of a Facebook or the like a superlative access to information it can barter to other agencies or sell to fund their illegal black operations being run ‘off the books.’

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10. Targeting/Dirty Tricks

O.K., so you made for yourself a place on someone’s watch list AND you are ‘hip’ to it. You probably don’t like it, and figure you will let people know about it and complain. So you actually dare to post something ‘offensive’ to the system… and I mean by ‘system,’ either the social media folks (verbally assail their policies) or the government or one of its agencies (verbally assail their activities). In other words, you wax even more politically incorrect. Been there, done that.

And what I can tell you is that it certainly feels like targeting and dirty tricks result. For example, I and many of my activist friends on Facebook have had many situations where a negative post seems to have resulted in some form of punitive response such as described above (7), and below, next. But it can easily go beyond that, especially if at the hands of a spy agency or the military, who have whole armies of cyber warriors at their beck and call, all ready, willing, and able to serve up any mischief deemed useful.

My experience in the hours and days following the posting of part one of FascistBook:

Within hours of the blog post and subsequent Facebook/Twitter posts that it had been posted, every Facebook post, share, or like action suddenly required me to answer the silly little pop ups with the scrambled text ‘security phrases.’ Six times in a row, until I became so frustrated that I logged out and gave up for the evening. Normally, these pop up very randomly and infrequently. A normal user might have it happen once a month.If you are an activist, it seems like several times a week. If you are like me, every single transaction, apparently.  And not just any scrambled text. Virtually every one of them was completely unreadable, and required as many as six attempts to figure out what they wanted me to type in.

Within one day, which was the next day I logged in, the matter had escalated. Now I had to re enter my email address and password with each post, like, or share. Again, I logged off. When I came back the second day, things seemed back to normal by comparison. I was still had to log in multiple times and was getting a lot of pup up scrambles to solve, but they were easier and far less frequent events to deal with. Perhaps they backed off because my Facebook posts were mainly about this experience. I don’t know. But additionally, now my posts would not take. There would be a kind of ‘hang fire’ where after I hit return, the window stared at me as if I had done nothing. No error message, and no way to redo. Had to log off and back on, and re enter my post. Three or four times per post.

On day four, my browser suddenly started telling me when it fired up that in order to see this page (my home page) I needed to enter my .api user name and password. Mind you, there is no such thing on my computer or associated with my Web activities. Additionally, a second pop up informs me that my browser is not compatible with a particular function I again have nothing to do with in my computing experience. As I work on this post, my browser will simply crash without warning even in the middle of a period of no activity (no action to trigger it). About every ten minutes, on the mark — at least until I typed in this part, after which, it seems to have ceased. Clearly reason to wonder if some cyber warriors might have been having some fun at my expense.

Add to this the fact that in attempting to add new friends at Facebook, I am warned that ‘I am going to fast’ and my ability to add friends is being curtailed for a week as punishment. Gee, that’s funny, because I’m talking three people, here, and I normally add up to twenty at a time or more without such warnings. And one final thing to note… select of my posts seem to have vanished. But of course, none of this proves anyone at Facebook or in government is doing anything in retaliation. That’s the beauty of their system; you can’t prove anything if you are being targeted. All you can do is bitch about it. Guess I’m being rather bitchy, eh?

Just another fun day on FBIbook, I guess. Please feel free to share your own experiences here using the comments.

But this is nothing. If you really do something to upset these folks, you can count on real-world targeting and dirty tricks. They could start messing with your financial situation, your job, or start altering digital information on you such that you are suddenly a dead beat in arrears on your mortgage and car payments, find your insurance policies cancelled, and that you suddenly have a Police record a mile long and outstanding wants and warrants. You’ve seen it all before in the movie, Enemy of the State. And I must tell you that in the past I have been victim of even more unusual antics, which I fortunately overcame and which was the basis of my first book. It is what made me the politically incorrect person I am today.

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Cause and Effect, Personal Strategies

Where does all this leave YOU. It is a matter of cause and effect, I suppose. If you are just another dumbed down citizen happy with mainstream media and government explanations about major events other people tend to call ‘conspiracies’ and ‘cover ups,’ then you are not generating a ’cause’ for which to worry about any ‘effect’ of government spying. You are, instead, simply another idiot who things that ‘if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear from government spying.’  Excuse me, but if that’s the way you feel then get rid of your shades and blinds and let the government watch your wife changing clothes, because they are engaging in that kind of activity against people they THINK have something to hide. And given how loosely they define things now days, the likelihood of YOU getting on one of their suspect lists grows daily.

But if, on the other hand, you are already politically incorrect, then it is your precise situation which should be analyzed regularly for any signs of spying or targeting. It will be subtle if such evidence exists, because they do not want you to know they are there in the woodwork like so many termites. If you do not know how to spot the signs of being followed, surveilled, or of having your home entered and snooped, being bugged, etc., then you need my books. If you do already know these things, or are simply thinking there is even the slightest clue they are true in your case, then you need to be emailing me for some free consultation: proparanoid at comcast (net).

Regardless of where you fall in the above spectrum of possibilities, even if one of the idiots, you need to have a personal strategy in place about how you use your social media. There are simply some things you should not be posting, liking, or sharing, or saying, unless you also are willing to deal with the consequences, or have a strategy in place to thwart them. That, however, is a far more complex dialog than will fit this space. It is the kind of dialog that involves a lot of  variables and which is best addressed on a personal basis… so go ahead and email me if that sounds like you.

Related articles

• Facebook Security and Privacy Issues (ritcyberselfdefense.wordpress.com)
• 15 tips for social media security in libraries | LISNews: (lisnews.org)
• Social Media Devolution (uncommonsensesecurity.com)