Security and privacy at the time of the internet

29/04/14

Did you know that by turning on the television, the network of that channel could be able to collect data on the program you are watching and for how long? Some cable companies then, through the decoders are able to memorize the habits of digital customers.

Have you ever wondered when you could be monitored by a third party?

Depending on your habits and your movements, even tens of times a day. Here are some examples:

By car or motorcycleIf your vehicles (or mobiles) are equipped with a navigation system, know that your position on the map is easily traceable. Your navigation system could interface your location even if you did not request it.

ShoppingIt is now known that credit cards provide exact location information. But perhaps you don't know that both the bank and the recipient of the transaction could collect data about you, memorizing your specific habits, the movements as well as the amount that is spent on average for what.

TravelingIf you pay the motorway toll with a device that allows you to preload the money, the government through the company that facilitates the payments, could know exactly your position and at what moment. In the world's largest cities, for example, traffic cameras monitor 24 hours on 24 highways and roads. Their optical character recognition software lets you attach vehicle license plates, even at night, take pictures and convert the image into text. The license plate numbers are loaded into a database with date and time and geolocation data.

Working or walkingEvery place equipped with a video surveillance system, maps your location. Going to work, withdrawing money, taking the subway, shopping, refueling or renting a movie. Each camera stores your position and biometric features. In fact, recognition does not only take place via image. In fact, some software of the secret services are able to identify an individual by the vocal timbre, by scanning the retina, isolating the fingerprints, the geometry of the hand or recognizing the way of walking. Even according to some pathologies. Finally, even from the simple shadow (or reflection) of a subject / object in a photo, through appropriate algorithms one can go back to the position and understand where it was taken.

PhoningThe mobile phone always and exactly communicates your movements. Any use of it, even the simple switching on of the device, maps the position.

Browsing the netThe main source of information remains the internet. Worldwide service providers are known to collaborate with the secret services (as is the case in the United States for Prism). The typical routing characteristics of the network are exploited. In this way, constant flows of information are stored. Whether you are updating your pc, playing on the net or buying a pair of shoes on the web, any information could be monitored, including your location. Even material downloaded from the internet illegally, may contain a remote identification trace - most of us are tracked dozens of times a day. One wonders how many of those monitored times represent unauthorized intrusions or an invasion of privacy, but that's not all. The National Security Agency, in fact, has installed software on about 100.000 computers around the world: in this way the United States can spy on PCs using secret radio frequency technology.

Secret technology allows the agency to access computers that other countries have tried to protect from espionage or cyber attacks, even if they are not connected to the internet. Through this software network, cyber attacks can be launched through the transmission of malware, such as those used by the United States against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The NSA defines radio frequency transmission as an "active defense" used to monitor Chinese army units, Russian military, drug cartels, commercial institutions within the European Union, and sometimes US partners such as Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan.

The first target of the NSA and the Cyber ​​Command of the United States was the Chinese army. The technology used by the agency for several years, is based on radio waves that can be transmitted by very small circuits or "phantom USB" cards, secretly inserted into computers.

Franco Iacch