My phone, when Im at work, is in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. That means that only calls/texts from people on my approved list (‘whitelist’) will get through. Unless, of course, youre the fedgov and you’re testing your nationwide emergency alert notifications. In short, every cell phone in my office erupted at 12:20 this afernoon.
I recognize that there may be a circumstance under which your benevolent and generous .gov wants to inform you of something. But if they’ve got the juice to ring every cellphone in North America and override your ringer settings to do it, you can bloody well believe they can do a few other neat tricks with your phone. Turn on the speaker remotely and eavesdrop? Cut off your incoming calls? Redo your Location setting so your phone pings your location? All that and more, my friend.
Remember, .gov almost never gives itself a power (or authority) and then never uses it. Heck, we’re the only nation that ever opened a can of sunshine on other human beings. You really think that technology was going to be developed and never used?
Look, I love me some smartphone. I have, literally, all the collected information of mankind in my pocket. I can communicate with anyone on the planet. I can watch gun videos. But I never forget that technology like that can be used against me by the same folks that license and regulate it.
Be impressed with today’s demonstration of tech, but be concerned about what it implies.
Word.
You have an FBI agent in your pocket, and you pay for the privilege monthly.
But, like all enemy agents, it can be turned.
Make sure you’re running it, rather than let it run you.
If a nuclear blast was expected in less than 20 minutes, would I want to know about it ? Probably not in the ‘Big City’ – communications would quickly be swamped and fleeing vehicle traffic would quickly come to a standstill. About all you might have time for is fixing yourself a drink and toasting yourself to the Next Place.
I think the reason like you said was to embed some information in each of our phones. Governments know how reliant the average citizen is on their personal phones. They will not be left behind (even if uncharged) and a lot of information can be gleaned by LEOs from them.
mine, nor my wife’s went off. mine is n old flip phone. i had been thinking of giving in and upgrading. maybe not. the misses has a newer smartphone, no idea why that one didn’t go off. glad though. a couple of ladies at the vet office put their phones in a metal can outside the door a few minutes before the test. they said theirs didn’t got off either, lol. just when you think you know people…
Technology is definitely a two-edged sword. There was a case with a leader of an International Motorcycle club where .gov ‘allegedly’ loaded underage porn on his computer with a backdoor trojan program then arrested him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_(software)
And the thing that you just can’t get people to realize, is that for Siri or Alexa to respond to you at any time, they have to be listening to you ALL THE TIME.
If you have one of those things, and you value OPSEC, get rid of it RIGHT NOW.
Well, I turned Siri off on my iPhone, or thought I had, but when I forgot that I had turned it off and tried using Siri a few times, without any response, I yelled very loudly HEY SIRI – and Siri responded, “You turned me off, dammit!!”.
Just kidding, I think.
very good thought
thanks !
Everything you said about ‘smart’ phones can also be said about newish TVs, appliances, vehicles and many watches.
Well it’s been sufficiently proven that IPhones can be used in the manner you describe. As can any Chinese made Smart TV. Man that’s right out of Orwell’s 1984.
Not only the Mic system but the cameras can be activated remotely as well.
Typically government thinking. Get people so dependant on these devices then start building in the tools and features that Uncle Socialist can use to spy on the untrustworthy citizenry. The Government that does not trust the people will eventually find ways to abuse the people. And will overtime begin to not only mistrust the people. It will create additional systems to abuse and control the masses.
See China. That’s coming here. Unless they can boot old broken brain.
There are all sorts of cool toys out there.
https://youtu.be/9fa9lVwHHqg?si=SB7_GIdKxdP-HJnR
Not sure if you’ve mentioned this before, but the technology exists to use captured images of your home’s interior (from a Smart TV, for instance) and couple those images with your wifi signal to “see” inside your home. The algorithm maps reflected signal from an empty room and looks at any differences when people are in the room to determine your position.
The concept was initially developed in 2013 and 2018 by MIT and upgraded substantially using AI by Carnegie Mellon University in 2023. They’re calling it “WiVi”.
Article link here: https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/technology-articles/computer-science/wifi-router-sees-people-through-walls/
Demonstration video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3ZPFE4zHfk
Ref Riverrider’s comment, above: a while back I placed TDW-Mark II’s phone in an empty coffee can, covered it with aluminum foil, Covered/secured THAT with the plastic lid that came with the can, and then attempted to phone the telephone.
No ring-ey.
Same phone, outside of the coffee can, good signal, rang every time.
And, ya know, a coffee can is portable.
I checked with a friend who is “very close” to the workings of an I-phone
here’s his response–
—-
“ Do Not Disturb keeps all lines of communication open, but quiets the notifications you’d normally receive when getting a call, text, email, or other message.”
“quiets notifications” – – that’s all.
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-do-not-disturb-6751527#:~:text=Do%20Not%20Disturb%20keeps%20all,%2C%20email%2C%20or%20other%20message.
Now, If you want to prevent unsolicited notifications like the one the Feds just sent, you either have to switch on “Airplane Mode“, or switch your phone off. ”
—-
So, it looks like “do not disturb” doesn’t keep them away from your phone
That said — I’ve long believed the PTB can get inside your phone remotely — regardless of what you do
Only way out it to remove the battery (not possible on many phones today) or put it inside a very strong Faraday cage (strong meaning high anti-signal penetration rating)
ANY Network-Connected Device (even a Dishwasher) can be Hacked – and not just by the ‘government’. ANY Network-Connected Communications Device (even a Wire-Connected Telephone) can be Monitored.
I use a cheep chineseium ‘flip-phone’ that seldom is directly upon my Person. Knowing in Advance about the “Test of the Emergency Broadcast System” (anyone remember That?) when the ‘Alarm’ went off, I immediately began dialing 911, to see what would happen… No Response. After the ‘Test’ was over, I called 911 again, and asked them if their System had ‘Locked Up’. Interestingly, the Dispatcher said some of it still wasn’t Right. A few hours later I got a Call from the County’s Communications Officer, who asked me what led me to try that “Test”. I said, “Curiosity, nothing Else. Now, you realize that your Emergency Comms System can be Hacked, right?” He said they were Not Informed that the “Test” would override their System.
Another Red Pill handed out….
In its simplest terms, .gov just pinged nearly every cellphone in the US, and the majority of them dutifully returned that ping with their exact location and who knows what else.