Facebook, Project LifeLog, Mass Government Spying, and You

Last week we took a look at everybody’s favorite social media website and the fact that absolutely nothing that you do on there is ever truly “private.”

And just now, believe it or not, other articles have come forward informing us that the massive surveillance conducted by Facebook isn’t just contained within Facebook.  It turns out that other apps on your phone and tablet have been transmitting data to Facebook, whether you like it or not.

Now let’s take a look at some of Q’s recent postings and see just how deep that rabbit hole goes concerning the world of Facebook.

Last night Q made a posting comparing DARPA’s Project LifeLog and Facebook.  Like I mentioned in my previous article, the Department of Defense created LifeLog as a way of tracking people’s thoughts, movements and actions, from where they go every day to what books they read, which TV shows they enjoy, etc.  Its purpose was to catalog and monitor EVERYTHING possible relating to average, everyday people.

LifeLog officially ended on February 4, 2004.

Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004.

So why was Project LifeLog cancelled?

Perhaps the question we have to ask ourselves is, was LifeLog really cancelled?

As Q mentions in this posting, how do you think the general public would approve of such a massive government surveillance program that was targeting regular people?

Easy.  The people wouldn’t stand for it.  People would intentionally find ways to keep their private information as far from such a surveillance program as possible.  Since it’s being collected by the government, people would naturally distrust it.

But as Q also mentions, what happens if people are under the impression that the program was created by a single person (Mark Zuckerberg), and that its purpose is just for people to express themselves and to reach out and stay in contact with friends and organizations?

Present it like that, make it “cool” and popular with celebrities (How many of you “follow” celebs or sport teams?), and let it run wild from there.  As we’ve seen since its early days, Facebook has been wildly popular and it seems that people just cannot let go of the whole “Hey! Look at me!” craze as they keep posting every little detail about themselves on the website.

But what if this whole time Facebook has been nothing but a front for The Powers That Be to collect information and keep spying on everyday people?

Wasn’t it kind of odd the way that MySpace suddenly crashed and burned as soon as Facebook began gaining momentum?  MySpace was very popular and seemed to have a strong following.  How could Facebook seemingly rise up out of nowhere and easily crush MySpace?  Later, what happened when Google+ tried to take on Facebook?

We’re not talking about how RedBox and Netflix destroyed Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.  While those have the same customers, they operated completely differently.  But MySpace and Facebook were very similar to how they operated, and so was Google+.

I had a MySpace account a long time ago.  So did a bunch of my friends.  The only reason I started a Facebook account was that all of my friends switched social media companies, so I was just keeping up with them.  It was the same thing earlier going from the ICQ chat program in the late 1990s to AIM.  Everybody I knew made the switch, so I changed as well.  In both cases I was still fine using the previous version, but since nobody I knew stayed with the old version, there was no reason for me to stay as well.

Continuing with Q’s recent postings about Facebook, Q implies that the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, was chosen specifically to be the public figurehead for the company.  I’m guessing that his wife, Priscilla Chan, has some sort of importance as well.  Anons are still digging and researching all of those connections in those two family trees, and I’m sure there will be some interesting connections.  Those two did seem like a rather odd couple when they were first presented to the public, just like John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

So why has China banned Facebook?

An obvious answer is that the communist government does not want its people to learn the truths of capitalist countries and the freedoms they enjoy, much like how the Soviet Union kept its people in the dark as well.  By controlling the flow of information, it makes it that much easier creating propaganda and, thus, keeping your people under control.

But in today’s modern times, I’m willing to bet that it’s fairly easy for people in China to learn all about the rest of the world and how it generally operates.  China has really opened over the past couple of decades, and it seems like it practices a much looser form of communism than the hardcore totalitarian days of Mao Zedong.

What if there’s another reason why China does not want Facebook in its country?

What if the Chinese are well aware of the massive spying done by Facebook (i.e. DARPA), and they going to keep it out of their country as much as possible?  After all, the Chinese are well known for their spying abilities, and it stands to reason that they would be able to recognize when it’s being used against them.

The last part of this Q posting is perhaps the most intriguing.

Did you know that in addition to all of the information that you give it through its website (Facebook), and all the data submitted to it through third-party apps, allegedly the program also has access to the camera on your device as well as the GPS router and the microphone?

It can look at you, it can hear you, and it knows where you are at all times.

This final posting really isn’t a surprise.

Although we own our phones and tablets, it’s been surmised for a while that our data on those devices could be compromised by third-party apps, similar to how viruses and malware can attack and compromise a computer.  Some viruses attack the system (and even hold it hostage in the case of ransomware) while others simply listen and track your keystrokes to learn your website IDs and passwords.  There are steps you can do to minimize those risks, but the threat is always out there.  That’s why you never keep anything truly private on your phone or tablet.

In the case of Facebook and how so many apps are connected to it in one way or another, it’s almost mind-boggling knowing just how little privacy we really have on our electronic devices, even if you don’t have a Facebook account.  Data is still being sent to them, and from there it’s processed and sent in an unknown number of directions.

Why is Facebook automatically installed on so many Android phones these days?

Just for convenience?  Yeah, right.

Can you *really* delete it?

Just like “jailbreaking” a device to fully unlock it, I’m sure there are ways to truly wipe a smartphone’s operating system and install an alternate one.  Of course, the average person is most likely not able to do such as task (the risk of critically damaging a system and “bricking” it are very high) without help from a pro.

But what’s an average person going to do?  Are we to simply follow Facebook’s instructions and check all of the privacy settings like we’re told?  We know that the company has been lying and spying on us for a long time.  Just because a box is checked does not mean that it’s no longer taking your information and collecting it.  All the box does is to make you, the average person, feel better.

Now how do you feel?

The bottom line here is simple — DO NOT TRUST MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

If there’s a camera on your laptop, your phone, or your tablet, then assume that somebody has the ability to turn it on and look at you.  The same goes true for anything with a microphone, and any device that uses GPS and/or cell phone towers to get its position.

That’s just the starting point.

Credit cards, customer loyalty programs, facial recognition software, etc, tracking people for one purpose or another is a serious business, and companies have been doing it for years.  It was just a matter of time until computers were fast enough to compile the sheer volume of information, and to have storage systems large enough to house all of that data.  Take all of that, add in so much more, and there you go.

Privacy is a thing of the past.

So what can the average person do about that?

That depends on how you feel about the government knowing so much about you and your daily lifestyle.

Chances are likely that all of your information is just a drop in the bucket compared with everybody else, and yours in particular is almost meaningless.  Is it worth it for you to go out of your way and to keep as much of your private life as private as possible?  That depends on you, your anger / paranoia, and how much you truly understand modern technology.

Perhaps the most important part is just being aware of how much of your data and information is not only tracked, but used by various organizations for whatever purposes.  And the fact that you so willing gave Facebook so much personal information – for free – and it’s secretly being used against you.