? 
Liked by
Backdoor spyware module allows state, corporations and hackers to listen in
Prison Planet | July 20, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
An
alarming white paper concludes that the Apple iPhone contains a
backdoor spyware module that allows hackers or the government to conduct
secret surveillance of the user, part of an established trend of
corporations and the state working hand in hand to eavesdrop on citizens
via widely-used software and hardware products.
Earlier this week, a technology group in Russia released the results
of their attempts to reverse engineer the iPhone, concluding that the
product has "A built-in function which sends all data from an iPhone to a
specified web-server. Contacts from a phonebook, SMS, recent calls,
history of Safari browser - all your personal information can be
stolen."
The module could act as a backdoor for trojan developers
or AT & T, said the report, adding that "government structures"
would have access to the information.
Since AT & T displayed no hesitation in handing over
information about their subscribers to the U.S. government as part of
the controversial and illegal NSA wiretapping scandal ,
it would be no surprise to learn that included in the trendy new
must-have gadget is a spyware module that allows the government to
listen in to your conversations.
AT & T were chosen by Apple as the exclusive service
provider for the iPhone, at present all other cellphone companies are
blocked from offering any kind of service compatible with the iPhone.
The revelation is also not without precedent - a plethora
of companies now include backdoor access in both software and hardware
products that allow the state to step in and conduct warrantless covert
surveillance, a blanket violation of the 4th Amendment.
Digital cable TV boxes, such as Scientific Atlanta, have
had secret in-built microphones inside them since their inception in the
1990's and these originally dormant devices were planned to be
activated when the invasive advertising revolution arrived - 2006 marked
that date.
 Yeeaah! I just got my ass wiretapped by the government! |
The advent of digital video
recording devices such as TiVo (Sky Plus in the UK) introduced the
creation of psychological algorithm profiles - databases on what
programs you watched, how long you watched them for, which adverts you
liked or didn't like. This information was retained by TiVo and sold to
the highest bidders - an example being
Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during the 2003 Super Bowl
half-time show - TiVo were able to compile lists of how many people had
rewound the clip and how many times they had replayed it.
Two way communications systems like OnStar also have the
ability to tap into private conversations as Americans become
increasingly conditioned, by means of the private sector, to having
their every movement, web session and conversation tracked and
catalogued by big brother.
Last year we reported
on how Google were planning to use microphones in the computers of an
estimated 150 million-plus Internet active Americans to spy on their
lifestyle choices and build psychological profiles which will be used
for surveillance and minority report style invasive advertising and data
mining.
"The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen
to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going
off or the TV turned down. The PC then identifies it, using
fingerprinting, and then shows you relevant content, whether that's
adverts or search results, or a chat room on the subject," reported the Register .
The report cites the inevitability that the use and abuse of this technology will eventually be taken over by the state.
"Pretty soon the security industry is going to find a way to hijack the Google feed and use it for full on espionage."
The Echelon program
has collected information in violation of the 4th Amendment from
American citizen's phone calls since the early 90's at least. In
addition, a 2001 European Parliament report stated that "within Europe all e-mail, telephone and fax communications are routinely intercepted" by the NSA.
The fact that Echelon barely even merited a mention
during the recent furore created by the original USA Today NSA spying
piece goes to show how utterly useless our media are in recalling what
has already been admitted and proven.
In 1999 the Australian government admitted that they were
part of an NSA led global intercept and surveillance grid in alliance
with the US and Britain that could listen to "every international
telephone call, fax, e-mail, or radio transmission."
The use of the iPhone as another means of carte-blanch
invasive surveillance underscores the fact that corporations and
government are joined at the hip when it comes to their disregard of the
right to privacy as enshrined in the 4th Amendment to the Constitution.