Gadgets That Can Spy on You

Street Cameras -
The sheer number and sophistication of public cameras is creating an enviroment of constant surveillance, Google’s roving Street View cars… routinely capture images of houses and pedestrians… In police cars… law enforcement [officers]… run checks on thousands of unsuspecting drivers each day. “We are now seeing proposals in states to allow police to upload, record and build [cartracking] databases,” says Peter Eckersley, of Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Fight back: If you don’t want your house on Google Street View, load the offending image and click the Report a Problem link on the bottom corner. It will bring up removal instructions.

Phone GPS -
By using a phone’s GPS chip to broadcast your location–and by making it easy to find friends who have done the same–”geosocial” networking services like Facebook Places [can have] dangerous consequences. Security researchers have shown that it’s possible to hijack info from these services. “You are giving access to yourself to anyone in the world,” says Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response.
Fight back: [If you feel you must use these networking services] post where you’ve been, not where you are.

Social-Network Data Mining -
Facebook has come under fire for allowing third-party app developers to collect and sell information about users. “Google, Facebook, Myspace and others have gone beyond collecting people–they’re exposing them,” says Babak Pasdar of the security firm Bat Blue.
Fight Back: “Don’t put your age and household info out there–these are key building blocks of a profile,” says Michael Fertik, CEO of Reputation-Defender.

Stolen Databases -
Over 2000 major data breaches [have been] made public since 2005. Breaches can occur… from [a] sophisticated attack on a credit card company’s server, to a laptop lost by a health insurance employee.
Fight Back: If a company wants to use your social security number to identify you, ask them for an alternate ID number.

Cellphone Hacking -
The next big wave of cyberthreats will be aimed at mobile phones, which have the double vulnerability of being location-aware and storing plenty of personal data. There are apps that can track a phone’s physical location [and can] remotely turn on an Andriod phone’s microphone or build-in video camera.
Fight Back: Limit phone apps [to] developers you trust. If you think your phone has been compromised, a factory reset (usually found in [your phone's] general or privacy settings) will wipe away any malware.

WI-FI Hijacking -
Public Wi-Fi hotspots are often set up with no security [making] it easy for hackers to ‘session hijack,’ wherein one user grabs the browser from another after he’s logged into a supposedly secure site. The attacker then has complete access to the victim’s account , and can change the password to lock the victim out.
Fight Back: Thinks twice about what you do when logged on to a public hotspot – a determined hacker can intercept anything you send. Use networks you trust.

GPS Car Tracking -
Low-cost GPS devices for tracking kids and pets can also be used for more sinister purposes. It is illegal for citizens to secretly track each other via GPS. [Do you think a stalker will care if it's illegal?] The law is unclear when it comes to government. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that law enforcement agencies have the right to attach GPS trackers to your vehicle without a warrant–even in your own driveway.
Fight Back: A good mechanic [can] find trackers during routine inspections. Look: under the car, near the rear wheels.

Internet Trolls -
[A young female athlete posted her picture] on a track-and-field enthusiast site, the image of the pretty athlete inexplicably went viral. Within weeks, she was dealing with unofficial fan pages, fake Facebook profiles and a deluge of lewd messages and phone calls. [The] internet posting site ———-… motives its users (known derisively as trolls) to gang up on almost anyone… The site’s tech-savvy trolls have been known to find and distribute its victims’ personal information.
Fight Back: [Difficult] Trying to fight back could further provoke the perpetrators. Most reputable sites such as Facebook, Myspace or YouTube will respond to take-down requests for any material that is lewd, slanderous or threatening.

Cyberstalking -
As privacy invasions go, stalking is the most personal and intensely frightening. Keylogging software makes it possible to remotely monitor every word typed on a PC, webcam hijacking software can secretly capture video every time someone moves in front of their computer, and cellphone trackers can transmit the location of victims in real time.
Fight Back: Harassed? Contact a local group of the National Center for Victims of Crime, says Michelle Garcia. Check the info on their website – ncvc.org. Victims should document everything. “Let all… calls go to voicemail so they are recorded. Print out instant messages and create a log of the date, time and place of each incident.”

Cameras In Your Home -
Microsoft [Xbox 360] Kinect is a… camera based gaming accessory that recognizes the movements of players’ bodies. [It] has the potential to become a sophisticated digital marketing tool. Last November, Microsoft executive Dennis Durkin commented to investors that the Kinect could conceivably be used to track the behavior of people watching television. Durkin said… [we could track] how many people are in a room when an advertisement is shown; how many people are in a room when a game in being played [or when watching television].” … [The] camera can differentiate between different players, and… record sound.
Fight Back: Keep tabs on the evolution of any technology in that watches you in your home.

Listen again: “I was amazed at how sensitive and accurate the camera is” and “We are actually making it easy to connect living room [ or board room] to living room.”

Smart-grid Technology -
Smart-grid technology, already in use by some major utilities, allows for real-time monitoring of electric meters, with an eye toward eventually embedding intelligence in every appliance in the home including thermostats, washers, dryers and refrigerators. The aim is to promote efficiency, but [it] turns your home into a highly precise behavior-monitoring system.
Fight Back: Monitor how this technology is used. Data collected by these devices could eventually be used by everyone from nanny-state public officials to criminals cruising for empty homes.

Source: February 2011, Popular Mechanics, Surviving the Digital Swarm by Glenn Derene and Seth Porges

Source: Kinect’s Camera Could Record Data for Advertisers by: Molly McHugh • November 12, 2010
Full Story: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/kinects-camera-could-record-data-for-advertisers/