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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe NSA Is Spying on Your Webcam Sex
If you don't want it public, don't show your junk online.By Kyle Chayka @chaykakFeb. 27, 2014
Unless you want a public sex tape, you should probably stop using any kind of digital machine to record your intimate acts. The latest leak from Edward Snowden shows how the NSA and the British equivalent Government Communications Headquarters collaborated to intercept webcam images from innocent Internet users.
The Guardian reveals the surveillance program, the ominously named Optic Nerve. Optic Nerve collected webcam stills from over 1.8 million Yahoo users in bulk, but it only grabbed an image every five minutes. The images were filtered using facial recognition technology to find specific targets.
But Optic Nerve couldnt control what kind of material it was collectingthe documents show that there was plenty of naughty material from the haul. It would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person, the document reads. The Yahoo webcam system appears sometimes to be used for broadcasting pornography. Why were they surprised by this information, exactly?
Between three and 11 percent of the overall imagery that Optic Nerve collected was undesirable nudity. The program tried to filter by blocking images with too much flesh, but it ended up IDing images of faces as pornography, The Guardian reports. And Optic Nerve staff still had access to the pornographic imagesunder GCHQs offensive material policy, the dissemination of offensive material is a disciplinary offense, the document cautions.
Read more: The NSA Is Spying on Your Webcam Sex | TIME.com
http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/the-nsa-is-spying-on-your-webcam-sex/#ixzz2uYFToQ7c
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It's nothing new.
It's not that bad. And if you are having web cam sex, you probably shouldn't be doing it anyway, what do you have to hide?
Have I hit all the right notes, yet? Oh, I forgot. How can you expect privacy on the internet? It's not like the government would EVER use photos of people in compromising positions against them.
questionseverything
(9,659 posts)it is not the usa doing this ..it is the English doing it
and...someone is trying to make money by reporting it
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I forgot those.
appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)They only saw your genitals, they didn't see your face! !!11!
yuiyoshida
(41,861 posts)Government agency sends out agents to arrest you for indecent exposure. Think of all the NSA agents on duty who get busted for masturbating at work. (Unless of course they take it home.)
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I guess that makes it okay. We have no proof that Agent X beat off to people he watched illegally; we have no proof of anything whatsoever, which means this is a pristine plan designed to keep everyone "safe".
yuiyoshida
(41,861 posts)They should have bugs and spy cameras on all their workers, at work. They wouldn't want someone feeding information to an unlawful source.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)It's part of the five eyes network. US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)your ass that there are plenty of pervs in the NSA that diligently peruse those files...
Aerows
(39,961 posts)are people that are away from their partner and just plain miss them? Wanting a sexual connection with someone that you are in a relationship with is hardly a crime. Spying on that is no better than looking in someone's window at night. It's called being a peeping tom.
Fuck the "internet is not private" argument. When you have the curtains closed and someone manages to open them, it isn't because you threw away your privacy; it's because someone wanted to see what happens between you and another person without regard for law or decency.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)What goes on in the bedroom between two people stays between them. Fuck the idea that you can monitor it if they happen to be away from one another and want that connection.
RC
(25,592 posts)Someone needs to inform them of the 4th Amendment.
Marr
(20,317 posts)It's sort of a Schroedinger's Cat defense:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4567603
The act in question should be dismissed out of hand because it's old news, and, simultaneously, just paranoia.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)An actual Fox News personality posted that.
jsr
(7,712 posts)Besides, we have adults in charge now.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)is national security.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Of course, they're doing it to protect us....from something.
jsr
(7,712 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)captured while you were having sex. I don't know about you, but when I close the curtains, what goes on in my bedroom is my own business. I'm grown. I closed the door, and closed the blinds, the curtains, and everything else.
When you open the door to my bedroom, I don't appreciate it.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Which if you put on a web cam are they out in public?
And what could they even do with that information? On ordinary people, it doesn't give them any power.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)What could go wrong?
treestar
(82,383 posts)you put it on a web cam.
but how are they going to use it against you? Who would care?
pipoman
(16,038 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)Wanting a sexual connection with someone that you are in a relationship with is hardly a crime. Spying on that is no better than looking in someone's window at night. It's called being a peeping tom.
Fuck the "internet is not private" argument. When you have the curtains closed and someone manages to open them, it isn't because you threw away your privacy; it's because someone wanted to see what happens between you and another person without regard for law or decency.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)http://boingboing.net/2008/10/09/nsa-enjoys-eavesdrop.html
Bunch of goddamned perverts. Shame on then and their apologists both.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)You should laud them. If they violate the Constitution and your privacy, big deal. They are doing you a service you didn't know you needed.
treestar
(82,383 posts)and so we don't get any national security?
pipoman
(16,038 posts)having some success in the area of "National security?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It's an entire institution of people doing the wrong things. When crossing the line becomes normal, it doesn't suddenly get better without people putting a stop to it - more lines get crossed with the excuse of "well it was okay to do X, so Y and Z seemed like it would be okay to do, too".
You harp about people being naive, but if you think this isn't systemic abuse, it's you that is naive.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)Glad to see that my party thinks that is a perfectly good line -- as long as they are in charge.
Sunshine is the best disinfectant. And it's been cloudy too long.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)I work on the road. I am away from home for weeks and months at a time. What you are saying is if I want to have a private "dirty" chat with my wife I should expect it to be recorded and watched?
Why? Give me one good fucking reason I should expect my privacy to be invaded. And "National Security" is not a fucking "good" reason. It's a paranoid fantasy.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)anyone who does is ignorant.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)that watching citizens having sex behind closed doors is legal.
Tell me I'm ignorant.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)If someone misses their mate and they have a sexual moment via webcam, it is completely obvious that their neighbors, the NSA and everyone can view it.
Obviously, if you have sex whatsoever, it should be open to EVERYONE to view it. You aren't a peeping tom, you are a federal agent that can look behind every curtain.
neverforget
(9,436 posts)DCBob
(24,689 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)is that this is a gross invasion of privacy, and it needs to stop.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)as having sex becomes fodder for intelligence bureaus, the problem isn't that people are having sex - it's that intelligence bureaus are tracking it.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)My little joke wasn't meant to imply otherwise.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)and believe everything that is published on the Internets!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)When they believe that their government protects them.
I guess the scales fell off of my eyes. You aren't going to be able to put them back on.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)of the liability you have opened on the internet. I have that awareness, and that argument is doomed to fail with me, and just about everyone else. But go for it.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)program.
In this picture there are eight servicemen appearing to be actively working, the guy in cammo is taking a picture of the naked men who have been manipulated into a compromising position.
The government consultant said that there may have been a serious goal, in the beginning, behind the sexual humiliation and the posed photographs. It was thought that some prisoners would do anythingincluding spying on their associatesto avoid dissemination of the shameful photos to family and friends. The government consultant said, I was told that the purpose of the photographs was to create an army of informants, people you could insert back in the population. The idea was that they would be motivated by fear of exposure, and gather information about pending insurgency action, the consultant said. If so, it wasnt effective; the insurgency continued to grow.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/24/040524fa_fact?currentPage=all
Disappointing that LGBT groups have been silent on this exploitation of gay shame.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm not sure how any group can say anything different. They exploited their fears of humiliation in front of women, too, forcing them to masturbate in front of them, be naked, etc.
So many horrible things happened there that exploitation of gay shame is just the tip of the iceberg. I agree that the LGBT community should speak out about it. I agree that everyone with a soul should speak out about it. The people that ordered all of that never faced any consequences, either, which is the harshest crime of all.
God only knows who is being manipulated, humiliated and forced to do things against their will with this huge surveillance apparatus in place. It's a farce to call it "security". They've gone so far, no one is safe.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)I can only imagine some of the same abuses have been/are occurring there.
ellie
(6,929 posts)The perverts.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and I'm pissed about that, because it is private.
2banon
(7,321 posts)I just don't get that.. weird.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)Not everyone enjoys sexless relationships and marriages.
2banon
(7,321 posts)missing sex with one's partner is a fact of life during times of separation, but also makes it all the sweeter when physically re-united.
But if you're into public sex play, then that's a completely different thing all together. Phone sex, and webcamming, video taping - that's all about something else entirely and nothing to do with genuine intimacy, the way I see it.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)This has not a single thing to do with "public sex play", you do get that?
2banon
(7,321 posts)I'm a privacy advocate. What I do in my bedroom is no one else's business. But If what I do in my bedroom is being webcasted - then I've just allowed the public into my bedroom.
Whenever my computer is on I have to always keep in mind every keystroke I make and every image I upload is now public, and that I'm leaving my self vulnerable to all sorts of entities, Government, hackers, Big Business etc.
Regardless of our policy positions on privacy. We just don't have it. That's the reality.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)genuine intimacy is? Who appointed you grand arbiter of what adults do in the privacy of their own home? If I somehow manage to pry the curtains apart in your bedroom, who is in the wrong, you for doing something private, or me for being a peeping tom? I can certainly tell you what the law says about that.
2banon
(7,321 posts)It would be the same thing if you and your lover decided to engage in sexual intimacy in the middle of the town square or on the street in front of my house. That's the point.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Normally no one could see what they weren't supposed to but with high optical enhancement it's possible to see beyond normal eyesight.
2banon
(7,321 posts)nothing we do on line has ever been private from the onset of the internet. The only exception might be strongly encrypted security measures in place, but I've never given that component absolute trust/confidence in terms of privacy. your mileage vary on that aspect..
But in terms of common knowledge, we've always known that anyone with any nefarious interest (government, hackers et al) can easily access, so everything done should be assumed by all users that we're being spied on. always. Personally, I think it's outrageous that we can't expect on line privacy.
But we don't, and never have. Don't expect that to change anytime soon.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)n'est cest pas?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)But you don't expect to every time you get in the car or people would never drive.
2banon
(7,321 posts)if you dig performing sex in public, have at it. I think that's sort of weird.. but hey, that's just me.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)that something is going on between people in private, then violating that privacy is a crime. Just because your blinds are closed doesn't give me the right to pry them open. Just because you use a public restroom doesn't give someone the right to film you going to the bathroom - even though you are well aware that everyone has cameras. Tell me, if you try on close in a dressing room, would you feel violated if you found out there were two-way mirrors in it? You KNOW that two way mirrors exist. You KNOW that cameras exist - so I guess you should just assume that upskirt videos are highly likely and people filming you in the bathroom is easily possible. So no one should be held liable for that, either?
You can try to spin this anyway that you want, but it's wrong. Even little children know that spying is wrong. Hell the law arrests people for being peeping toms, what makes you think this is any different than being a peeping tom? Answer: It isn't.
2banon
(7,321 posts)Look, I am a PRIVACY, ANTI-SPYING Advocate. I have weighed in on numerous Edward Snowden threads supporting the dissemination of his reports, right here on DU. Snowden (among others) is someone I appreciate for revealing/exposing what I have either known or intuited for over a decade, which the M$M has blithely ignored despite numerous whistleblower reports from others who have revealed similar NSA activities, until Snowden interestingly.
I agree we SHOULD live with the assumption that our internet activity is private, but we HAVE KNOWN that it is NOT PRIVATE for years and years. I'm not spinning anything. It's just a fact. Bush took our nation to war based on Lies of WMD etc. That's a fact. That's not a spin. And neither is the fact that everything we say and do online is NOT PRIVATE with the exception of high security encryption protocols.. it's all out there and always has been. You may have assumed your blinds were drawn, but it just ain't so. sorry to be the one to break it ya.
opiate69
(10,129 posts)And their spouses/SOs.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)Hi. Roadie here. You ever go weeks or even months without seeing your spouse?
I work a job that is invisible to most. 4,5,6 days a week, 18 hours a day, a new city every morning. It is one of the most thankless jobs on the planet. The work is hard, the hours are long and you spend extended time away from your family. And you do all this work so someone else can get all the credit, and all the perks.
My sons 18th birthday was yesterday, I was 2000 miles away. I wanted to see him so we chatted in a private room.
Last night I wanted to see my wife, it's been over 8 weeks, and I wanted to see my wife. You may think it's weird, but for some of us it's all we have.
Get it?
WillowTree
(5,325 posts)grasswire
(50,130 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)If you think this isn't used for political purposes ... I can't explain stupid.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Our Brave Internet Heroes, Valiantly Trying To Stop an Oversexed Forninculture in Fornicrisis!
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)However many billions we spend for the NSA to snoop on internet porn, it's money well spent. They're doing a bang-up job too. You can barely find porn any more!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)having virtual sex because they miss the person they love. Of course it is legal to intrude upon that. Some terrorists might be coming out of those orgasms, and that just is not responsible to fail to monitor them. Heaven help me if I have sex with someone I love. If someone peeps in on that, well, I didn't close the curtains tight enough to protect us from a peeping tom. Who is entirely within his reach to peer into every bedroom he can part the curtains into.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Why do you Fornihate Fornifreedom?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)I really thought this sort of behavior would offend more DUers than it has.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It's okay because it is for national security and if you have nothing to hide, what are you worried about?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Perhaps we should move along to something more fundamentally important to society, like athletic magazine covers for instance.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)today. I know, it's going to end the US.
Privacy violations where they see you and your partner having sex? That's fine. They are doing it to protect you. But God Forbid you see a nipple.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)at least that time. And it was so incredibly beautiful that I kissed it. And then other things ensued.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)so many on a liberal board who find sex between 2 adults "exhibitionism".
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)That's pretty much the definition of it.
Obviously there are quite a few DUers who are fine with having their sexual exploits watched by others even if they don't know it's being done at the time.
Just close your eyes and think of England.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)Main Entry: ex·hi·bi·tion·ism
Pronunciation: \-ˈbi-shə-ˌni-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1893
1 a : a perversion in which sexual gratification is obtained from the indecent exposure of one's genitals (as to a stranger)b : an act of such exposure 2 :the act or practice of behaving so as to attract attention to oneself
Applying such a definition to 2 people who know each other separated enjoying each other's company is truly twisted.
And who said they liked strangers watching them in this thread?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)This thread is remarkably snark filled and remarkably free of real argument.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Sometimes it is best not to know too much.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)http://boingboing.net/2008/10/09/nsa-enjoys-eavesdrop.html
What a bunch of professionals, interested only in defending us from "Terra."
Webcams are just one step deeper in the sleaze pits.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)when intimacy between partners is stored away, recorded and kept for "research" purposes. It's not like people's sexuality has ever been used to humiliate, detract, degrade or destroy them.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)Certain elements of the USG have always wanted to know who is sleeping with who. Just in case its useful later.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/athan-theoharis/j-edgar-hoover-sex-and-crime/
From the book description:
Was J. Edgar Hoover a homosexual? And did organized-crime leaders, knowing this, blackmail the FBI director into leaving them alone? These charges won almost instant popular acceptance when they were aired in a sensational biography of Hoover in 1993. But Athan Theoharis, the foremost authority on Hoover and the FBI, here shows that the accusations are spuriousand not nearly as intriguing as Hoover's real attitudes toward sex and organized crime. Theoharis takes apart the argument for Hoover's homosexuality, then goes on to paint a chilling portrait of a moralistic bureaucrat who would not hesitate to use sex-related information against his political enemieswhen it could not be traced to FBI investigations. Theoharis explains why the FBI's ineffectiveness in pursuing organized-crime leaders stemmed from the same political priorities that gave Hoover broad authority during the cold war years to use illegal investigative techniques and to focus on political activities. Punctuating his narrative with case materials from the FBI's secret fileson presidential candidates, senators, congressmen, artists and writers, college presidents, and othersTheoharis unravels the brilliantly devious means that Hoover used to accomplish his political ends. And he shows how they contributed to a culture of lawlessness within the FBI itself.
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2014, 11:19 PM - Edit history (1)