Chris’ note: Our goal at Daily Cut AM… Market Mission Control is to help you and your family navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, I’ve been raising the alarm about how governments and corporations are using the pandemic to ramp up mass surveillance. This includes tracking your location 24/7 using data from your smartphone.
Longtime readers know this isn’t the first time we’ve warned about location tracking. In 2018, I showed you how it was “spreading, like a virus, to anyone who uses a smartphone.”
I’m sharing that dispatch with you again today. It’s critical you understand what’s going on… and take steps now to protect yourself. (More on what those steps are at the end of today’s dispatch.)
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Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee summoned Google boss Sundar Pichai to Capitol Hill to field questions about some of the tech giant’s digital snooping [December 11, 2018].
Pichai admitted under oath that Google actively stores your name… your address… your age… your email correspondence… your phone’s serial number… your wi-fi network information… your phone conversations… your voice… and your search history.
Given that he freely admitted to all this snooping… one of the exchanges that came midway through the hearing was telling.
Holding up his smartphone, Texas Republican Ted Poe asked Pichai to answer yes or no to whether Google could track his movements from one side of the room to the other.
The Google boss didn’t give a straight answer. “I wouldn’t be able to answer without knowing more details, Sir,” was all he could muster.
It’s no wonder he was so evasive. Pichai knows folks are starting to grasp just how invasive the collection of location data is.
Big Tech is infringing on our liberties to earn a buck.
Google – along with thousands of other app makers, including The Weather Channel and AccuWeather – harvests location data on smartphone users.
This data then ends up in the hands of “monetizers.” They collect location data from different apps. Then they package it up and sell it to advertisers, who micro-target you with ads.
You probably know that already.
What you may not be aware of is how extensive this tracking is… and how fast it’s spreading.
That’s the phrase reporters from The New York Times used after an investigation they published this week [December 2018].
That’s because this kind of surveillance is spreading, like a virus, to anyone who uses a smartphone.
The Times got its hands on one database that had location data – accurate to within a few yards – of over 200 million Americans.
From your home… to your favorite coffee shop… to your office… to your favorite lunch spot… back to the office… back home… out to Little League… off on vacation… apps on your smartphone are tracking you all day, every day… and then broadcasting this data to various third parties and vendors.
In some cases, your location information is updated more than 14,000 times a day – or about once every six seconds.
Supposedly, your real identity is kept under wraps…
But reporters at the Times were able to identify one “anonymous” smartphone user – a 46-year-old math teacher – based only off the location data collected from her cell phone.
It wasn’t hard.
This smartphone user left a home in upstate New York at 7 a.m. and traveled to a middle school 14 miles away. She then stayed until late afternoon each school day.
Since there’s only one person who lives at the address AND spends a full day at that school every weekday, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who it is.
Remember, most of our location patterns are unique to us…
That makes us easy to find… and identify.
The same reporters were also able to track the path of another smartphone user from their home in Newark, New Jersey to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.
They were also able to pinpoint a smartphone user who travels with the mayor of New York City during the day – including trips to his favorite gym – and then goes back to a home on Long Island. They were even able to get this person’s home address.
Can you imagine what a criminal – or a terrorist – could do with that kind of detailed information?
Do you see a shrink you haven’t told anyone about? Do you attend regular AA meetings? Are you going fishing when you’re supposed to be at work?
If the answer is yes… and you have your smartphone with you… chances are an app company has digitally recorded, stored, and packaged your precise movements… and sold that information to the highest bidder.
And if you think the eavesdropping arm of the Deep State doesn’t also have access to this data… we have a bridge to sell you.
As Legacy Research cofounder Doug Casey likes to remind readers… large corporations such as Google are totally amoral. You can count on them to be direct conduits to the government spooks.
The level of digital surveillance today is nothing compared to what’s coming down the pike.
Here’s more from Doug, who’s been keeping a close eye on the growing Surveillance Society we’ve been telling you about…
The world has become totally digitized over the last couple of decades. Thanks to the Internet of Things [IoT], there are sensors everywhere. They’re not just on every street and in every store. They’re in your television, your car, your refrigerator, and God knows where else.
If you buy a new appliance today, it’s extremely hard not to end up with something that will monitor you. Of course, the argument is made: “Well, if you don’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” I suppose that’s true. Here’s a tip: You definitely shouldn’t commit a murder within purview of one of these devices.
It’s a radical step. But Doug reckons you should also get rid of your smartphone and any other Big Tech devices in your home…
I now have a cell phone. But I only use it when I’m traveling; pay phones have ceased to exist. Cell phones are the most dangerous monitoring device because they’re ubiquitous. You may think you’re safe when your cell phone is turned off. But the things can be hacked.
In Sweden, people are getting chips implanted in their hands to save themselves the inconvenience of having to swipe their cell phone to pay for things, use a card to gain admission to buildings, or whatnot. I’m not a Bible person, but this is really the modern incarnation of the Mark of the Beast.
We’ve said this before… But we’re going to keep saying it as long as this kind of stuff is going on. If you want to shore up your privacy online, consider “going dark.”
Follow these four simple steps Dan Denning over at The Bonner-Denning Letter has laid out to shield your privacy.
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Delete your Facebook account – We think we have to be connected all the time. But by staying on the platform, you’re sharing massive amounts of personal data about yourself with the world. You can’t be a private citizen and be on Facebook. Find out how to permanently pull the plug here.
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De-Google your life – The way to stop Google – and the NSA – tracking every web search you type and every webpage you visit is to ditch Google search and the Google Chrome web browser. DuckDuckGo won’t track you like Google does. And it offers a decent search service.
There’s also the Epic Privacy Browser. It works just like Chrome, except it doesn’t store data on you. You can also try StartPage for a search engine that doesn’t track and store your search queries. Firefox is the least intrusive of your browser options (Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer).
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Buy a “dumb” phone – This is the only way to stop broadcasting your exact location 24 hours a day. An unlocked phone with 16 megabytes of memory and a 2 megapixel camera will set you back about $25. You won’t be able to play Candy Crush while you’re standing in line waiting for your caramel latte at Starbucks. But a dumb phone will relieve you of the urge to constantly fiddle with your “smartphone.” Result: more free time and a less cluttered brain.
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Download an encrypted messenger app – Conversations on WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) are encrypted for the moment. But the feds recently requested that Facebook allow them to spy on peer-to-peer conversations on its messaging app.
WhatsApp has over 2 billion users (mostly foreign), making it a prime target for wiretapping by U.S. security services. Skype (owned by Microsoft) isn’t much better. Wickr, Telegram, and Signal are much more secure alternatives.
Chris here – As part of these coronavirus-focused morning editions of The Daily Cut, we’re putting together a “community center” for you and your fellow readers.
This is where you can share your updates and personal stories about how you’re getting through this crisis. It’s also where you can put your most pressing questions to our analysts.
I’ll get to as many of your emails as I can.
Then I’ll publish answers from the Legacy Research team, including Jeff Brown, Bill Bonner, Doug Casey, Teeka Tiwari, Jason Bodner, Dan Denning, Nick Giambruno, Tom Dyson, E.B. Tucker, and Dave Forest, in these pages.
We’re also interested in updates on quarantines in your area… stories from frontline medical staff… and your views on the response by the authorities to the crisis.
So send your questions and stories my way. You can reach me and the rest of the Daily Cut team at [email protected].
On Wednesday, our tech expert, Jeff Brown, revealed how all new smartphones will have “contact tracing” software built in.
This means your phone will track not only where you are… but also, who you come into contact with. The system uses the same Bluetooth connection you typically use to connect your smartphone to a remote device such as a speaker.
Jeff’s update set alarm bells ringing…
Hell no, it’s not OK for the government to be tracking us under the guise of coronavirus tracing! Next thing we know, if we happen to be in contact with someone the government “deems” a terrorist or a criminal, we could be prosecuted by association.
I will never download that app. Slippery slope? We’re already halfway down the slide!
– Judyth H.
It’s way too dear a price to pay. I hope that the “sheeple” will shed their blinders and rise up against an increasingly oppressive government.
– Carolyn E.
We have already given up our right to privacy. And I don’t believe we have a chance to ever get it back as long as we participate in our society. The governments are in complete control of society worldwide. Some see it as progress, and it has benefits, depending on who has the power.
If the history of past human behavior is a source of future projections, we cannot ignore the fact that a despot somewhere in our world will gain forces and try to control our world, which will be in a lockdown state with very rare avenues of escape. Freedom and privacy will not even be a memory to the coming generations.
– Michael S.
I do not want the government spying on me. They are corrupt enough already. I prefer to deal with a greater level of “risk” in my life than deal with the government’s “security and safety.” They are not even capable of offering security and safety.
Think of all the locked-up prisoners, who are raped, beaten, abused, and stabbed on a daily basis in our nation’s jails and prisons. How is the government’s guarantee of safety working out for them?
We all need to look out for ourselves, our families, our parishes, and our chosen team mates. The government ain’t here to help. Gold, guns, and gardens are the answer as far as I am concerned, not government. Live Free or Die!
– Devin S.
Some of you feel like the only option left is to go back to using 20th-century technology…
Re: the new cellphone-tracking tech being fielded by Apple and Google. I wonder how this affects the Luddites who do not have a cell phone, only a landline. Will we soon be required to own and keep a cell phone in our possession at all times? What if we keep it in a Faraday cage [which blocks electromagnetic fields]?
– Raymond S.
You can do as I did. Toss that “smart” phone and get a nice little clamshell phone that lets you make and receive calls but doesn’t do anything else, like track you.
After all, isn’t that really what you have a phone for? You can use that nice computer on your desk for the fancy stuff. Glad to report that here in rural Texas, the cows are doing fine and so are the people.
– Amy D.
All cell phone tracking is easily stopped. Just go back to the time when the only phone you had was the house phone. In other words, leave your cell phone at home. Cell phones are a convenience, not a necessity. The world got along fine without them for centuries.
– Kirk A.
But some of your fellow readers say it’s possible to have smartphone contact tracing without having to give up your freedom…
Contact tracing is necessary and important to combat this crisis. That said, the software can be designed for Big Brother or for the collective. Here are the requirements in the collective’s interest:
1) The software must be open source so that the source code is freely available and examinable by anyone. This avoids ulterior motives.
2) The software must be voluntary. We must be able to turn it on or off; we must voluntarily report our condition and voluntarily seek status. This keeps us in control.
3) The software must be encrypted and anonymous; only the keyholder can know the contents of the information and only the keyholder can reveal their identity. This keeps us hidden.
4) The software must be decentralized and peer-to-peer. That is, only people immediately local to you need to know your anonymous status. This limits data propagation.
5) The software must be simple and well documented so that it may be easily investigated by non-programmers.
Of course, this is not what “they” intend. But perhaps with your connections, you can make this known and someone may listen.
– Michael S.
Maybe you distrust Apple and/or Google. Maybe you have reason to. But if their tracing app works as it is described, it will preserve privacy.
It is stated that if two phones are close to each other (within Bluetooth range of 300 feet) for a period of time, the phones will exchange anonymous IDs. Your phone will get the other phone’s ID and vice versa. No database will get either.
So your phone will store, for instance, that your phone was near phone 176087. You won’t know where or when or who was involved. Now suppose the owner of phone 176087 is diagnosed with COVID-19. That person will, presumably after safeguards against falsely and intentionally spreading panic, enter that fact.
The ID will be broadcast, your phone will receive the broadcast, check its internal IDs, and alert you that you were close to someone who now has COVID-19. You can see a doctor or take any other action you find appropriate. No authority will be able to send a police cruiser for you since no authority will know you were near a COVID-19 carrier.
It’s possible the app could upload the time and place of every encounter to a server or send an alert when a phone finds a match. If that were the intention, why not just secretly do it without saying anything about an app?
– Bob B.
Will you be downloading the new “contact tracing” app? Do you agree with Michael and Bob that it’s possible to pull off without infringing on your privacy?
Write us with your thoughts at [email protected].
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Chris Lowe
April 17, 2020
Dublin, Ireland