Actually no, it's more like having a setuid root script that steam can modify at will on my system, so can therefore be used to run ANYTHING. If steam update got hacked (say by the NSA), millions of computers could get infected by spyware/trojans etc.
This article has nothing to do with constitutional rights and so on.
It is to do with an Oregon state law, House Bill 2371, that makes it illegal for information gained from swiping an identity card (such as a drivers license) to be stored and/or passed on. And the fact that the police are encouraging, enabling, those business to break said law:
(2) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, a private entity may not swipe an individual′s driver license or identification card, except for the following purposes: (a) To verify the authenticity of a driver license or identification card or to verify the identity of the individual if the individual pays for a good or service with a method other than cash, returns an item or requests a refund. (b) To verify the individual′s age when providing an age-restricted good or service to any person about whom there is any reasonable doubt of the person′s having reached 21 years of age. (c) To prevent fraud or other criminal activity if an individual returns an item or requests a refund and the private entity uses a fraud prevention service company or system. (d) To transmit information to a check services company for the purpose of approving negotiable instruments, electronic funds transfers or similar methods of payment. (3) A private entity that swipes an individual′s driver license or identification card under subsection (2)(a) or (b) of this section may not store, sell or share personal information collected from swiping the driver license or identification card.
Also interesting to note is that the law allows for remedies, actual damages or $1000, whichever is greater, and awarding costs to the plaintiff:
(8) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, an individual may bring an action to recover actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, and to obtain equitable relief, if equitable relief is available, against an entity that swipes, stores, shares, sells or otherwise uses the individual′s personal information in violation of this section. A court shall award a prevailing plaintiff reasonable costs and attorney fees. If a court finds that a violation of this section was willful or knowing, the court may increase the amount of the award to no more than three times the amount otherwise available.
So anyone in Multnomah County and Portland who has had their license swiped by one of these businesses could be heading for a $1000 windfall.
And any business that is sued over this should then sue the Police department for THEIR costs due to the Police departments incitement to break the law.
It's always argued that what you do in public carries no expectation of privacy,
"no expectation of privacy" is the LACK of privacy, not the OPPOSITE of privacy.
However it seems that "no expectation of privacy" has somehow morphed into the opposite of privacy, "you WILL be tracked, followed, eaves-dropped on, bugged, and collated into a database".
1) Where has the information come from? 2) What is the background of the informant? (i.e. r they a drug dealer who is seeking a reduced sentence for providing information) 3) What independant steps has the PD taken to verify this information? 4) What were the results of those steps? 5) Has the PD or any other body/individual undertaken additional investigation into the target of the warrant? 6) What were the reults of that investigation?
I know this girl who likes playing 'rape games' with her partners, and likes being choked during sex.
Are you saying that if she was actually raped and choked by some random stranger then it'd just be "embarrassment and inconvienience" because she sometimes consents to similiar acts?
If the CBP has enough 'spare' drone hours to 'lend out' drones for 700 non-CBP flights in 2 years, then they have more drones than they need and their drone budget should be audited for efficient use of government funds.
In the catalog released by Der Spiegel there are additional items that are basically boosters.
So, there's an micro transmitter that can be placed directly in things like USB cables (in the connector shroud) or tiny devices that can be placed on a motherboard or on the surface of the case itself. These all usually have a broadcast range of a few ten's of metres, e.g. 10-30 metres or so.
Then there are other catalog items, small receivers/transmitters, say the size of a disposable cigarette lighter, that can be placed within that 10-30 metre rage but outside the room/building, that can pickup the signal from the micro-transmitter and boost it for pickup by the 'briefcase' sized receiver that can be 100's of metres away. Since this booster is outside the immediate area of the device being eavesdropped on, even if the booster is detected it's unlikely to be seen as a 'bug' as the signal would be coming from outside the immediate sensitive area. It would be lost amongst (or considered a part of) all the other general background traffic you'd expect to see outdoors (cell, CBs, radio, TV etc).
If (and it's a big 'if') the patches significantly increased resource requirements (CPU/Memory) of the telco-side devices, then from a commercial perspective it is not beyond the realm of possibility that a BUSINESS-level decision overrode any techie-level decision and the business decided not to apply them due to the cost requirements in purchasing new kit/facilities space.
Re: Google Developing Additional In-home Surveillance System; Mike and minions have No Moral High Ground To Protest
Dude u have what seems to be an awesome job: Monitor and Troll Techdirt rubbishing Google at any opportunity.
That must be easy money. Read 10-20 posts a day, write one or two responses to each of them bashing Techdirt, Google and Mike. It would take, what? 2 hours a day?
How much does it pay and who should I contact for a similiar job? Microsoft? Apple? NSA/Whitehouse?
...many unconstitutional laws can be enacted and enforced until such time as a legal challenge is brought...
That is how the system works.
That is why the NSA/Government are saying that the NSA hasn't done anything illegal, because they haven't. They've acted within the law (or at least the secret internpretations of the law). Unless (hopefully 'until') the Supreme Court rules those laws as unconstitutional, then technically they are correct, what they are doing is not illegal.
On the post: Xbox One Sales Lag PS4 As Microsoft Slowly Figures Out You Can't Tell Gamers What They're Supposed To Want
Re:
Of course they don't, how else would they get you to buy new devices?
On the post: Valve: No, Our Gaming Anti-Cheat System Isn't Tracking Your Voracious Porn Habits
Re: Re:
On the post: Valve: No, Our Gaming Anti-Cheat System Isn't Tracking Your Voracious Porn Habits
Re: Re: As a Single Player Hacker
Correct.
On the post: Oregon Police Push State Law-Violating ID Scanners On Nightclub And Bar Owners
Re: Good arguments, but...
This article has nothing to do with constitutional rights and so on.
It is to do with an Oregon state law, House Bill 2371, that makes it illegal for information gained from swiping an identity card (such as a drivers license) to be stored and/or passed on. And the fact that the police are encouraging, enabling, those business to break said law:
https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2009R1/Measures/Text/HB2371/Enrolled
Also interesting to note is that the law allows for remedies, actual damages or $1000, whichever is greater, and awarding costs to the plaintiff:
So anyone in Multnomah County and Portland who has had their license swiped by one of these businesses could be heading for a $1000 windfall.
And any business that is sued over this should then sue the Police department for THEIR costs due to the Police departments incitement to break the law.
On the post: The DHS Sends Out The Call For A National License Plate Database
"no expectation of privacy" is the LACK of privacy, not the OPPOSITE of privacy.
However it seems that "no expectation of privacy" has somehow morphed into the opposite of privacy, "you WILL be tracked, followed, eaves-dropped on, bugged, and collated into a database".
On the post: Claims About Snowden's 'Harms' Based On Two Assumptions Unlikely To Be True
Re: Re: Re: Snowden's documents
"mad, insane, paranoid cocks"
On the post: Drug Task Force Officer Denied Qualified Immunity For Violating Citizen's Rights With Illicitly-Obtained No-Knock Warrant
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lessons learnt
1) Where has the information come from?
2) What is the background of the informant? (i.e. r they a drug dealer who is seeking a reduced sentence for providing information)
3) What independant steps has the PD taken to verify this information?
4) What were the results of those steps?
5) Has the PD or any other body/individual undertaken additional investigation into the target of the warrant?
6) What were the reults of that investigation?
On the post: Honesty Policy: Russia Making No Bones About Spying On Everyone During The Olympics
Re:
Does Russian law/constitution recognise/enshrine civil liberties?
If not then they can't be violated in Russia as they don't exist.
On the post: Homeland Security Is An Embarassment With The Way It Treats US Citizens At The Border
Re: Re: Welcome to the US
On the post: Man Subjected To Multiple Rectal Searches And Enemas By Police Officers Receives $1.6 Million Settlement
Re: Re: Re:
No, what ths guy suffered was:
1) Wrongful arrest
2) wrongful imprisonment
3) Assault
Let's take your analogy to an extreme.
I know this girl who likes playing 'rape games' with her partners, and likes being choked during sex.
Are you saying that if she was actually raped and choked by some random stranger then it'd just be "embarrassment and inconvienience" because she sometimes consents to similiar acts?
On the post: Woman Gives Nigerian Scammer $500k After Meeting Him On ChristianMingle.com
Re:
On the post: Woman Gives Nigerian Scammer $500k After Meeting Him On ChristianMingle.com
Re:
― Tennessee Williams, Camino Real
On the post: CBP 'Discovers' An Additional 200 Drone Flights It Didn't Originally Include In Its FOIA Response
On the post: NSA Spying Includes Wireless Transmitters To Get Data Off 'Air Gapped' Computers
Re: Re: what would be the power requirement
So, there's an micro transmitter that can be placed directly in things like USB cables (in the connector shroud) or tiny devices that can be placed on a motherboard or on the surface of the case itself. These all usually have a broadcast range of a few ten's of metres, e.g. 10-30 metres or so.
Then there are other catalog items, small receivers/transmitters, say the size of a disposable cigarette lighter, that can be placed within that 10-30 metre rage but outside the room/building, that can pickup the signal from the micro-transmitter and boost it for pickup by the 'briefcase' sized receiver that can be 100's of metres away. Since this booster is outside the immediate area of the device being eavesdropped on, even if the booster is detected it's unlikely to be seen as a 'bug' as the signal would be coming from outside the immediate sensitive area. It would be lost amongst (or considered a part of) all the other general background traffic you'd expect to see outdoors (cell, CBs, radio, TV etc).
On the post: Court Rules That Woman Wrongfully Placed On No Fly List Should Be Taken Off The List... We Think
Re: Re:
On the post: South Carolina Senator Aims To Criminalize The Recording Of Criminal Activity
Re: Re: Re:
It's a safety camera to monitor the 'safety' of people in case they hurt themselves so you can call an ambulance.
Or it's an 'auditing' camera to keep a log of all who enter/leave the premises.
Or it's a 'historical' camera, so it can be included in my memoirs/family video library.
On the post: Researcher Says Simple Security Fixes From Carriers Would Have Prevented NSA Collection Of Cell Communications
Re: Re:
But I do prefer the conspiracy theory ;)
On the post: India Developing Additional National Surveillance System; US Has No Moral High Ground To Protest
Re: Google Developing Additional In-home Surveillance System; Mike and minions have No Moral High Ground To Protest
That must be easy money. Read 10-20 posts a day, write one or two responses to each of them bashing Techdirt, Google and Mike. It would take, what? 2 hours a day?
How much does it pay and who should I contact for a similiar job? Microsoft? Apple? NSA/Whitehouse?
On the post: Many In Congress Opposed To Fast Track Authority: An Obsolete Concept For An Obsolete Trade Negotiation
Re: Re: Re:
That is how the system works.
That is why the NSA/Government are saying that the NSA hasn't done anything illegal, because they haven't. They've acted within the law (or at least the secret internpretations of the law). Unless (hopefully 'until') the Supreme Court rules those laws as unconstitutional, then technically they are correct, what they are doing is not illegal.
On the post: Shia Labeouf Brilliantly Parodies Intellectual Property With Plagiarized Apologies And Defense Of Plagiarism
Re: Re:
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