Oddbean

I just heard the scariest story in a while. Someone told me that they had been traveling in China and, on the way out, the border police pulled up a tool that showed countless photos of this person taken by public surveillance cameras during their visit. These are CCTV cameras in public. Faces classified with AI. All data gathered in a central location. Don't even think for a second this is never going to happen where you live. That's a level of dystopia I didn't know we were already in.

Holy moly! Good to know, I really wanted to visit China in the near future and I will be aware of it while enjoying my time there. I think when you go to China you must have with you your "fiat phone", the one with Google all the KYC shit. So you just enjoy your time there, but to access the "alternative world" you bring with you a RPi Zero W with Arch and all the CLI tools (WeChat for IRC, a future Nostr CLI client and so on, Neomutt for your Protonmail/Skiff/Tuta and so on), any problem you think you might get yourself into, you just fry and destroy the encrypted MicroSD with the Arch image and all your CLI/TUI setup.

Great point! I could bring just the microSD and buy a RPi locally. Or not even the MicroSD, then buy everything locally and download the Arch image with a Nixpackage with the whole setup. I don't know whether I am getting too paranoid, but I don't know what they might do with westerners in the future if they find with you a MicroSD or a phone with GrapheneOS. Anyway, any solution for this specific situation will be valid for a future surveillance state West.

Ohh such a good question! haha I was wondering whether I could download Arch ISO with the normal Android I theoretically brought with me and flesh a MicroSD using the smartphone itself. Well, regarding to download I could use Transmission or any torrent client for Android. For checking the sha256 hash I just did a quick test here and it's possible with Termux: https://image.nostr.build/0336c498e4c5babb0627ac82e555d6cb517ee22def6c8afee1b84ad32c573984.jpg The only open question now is whether I can flesh a MicroSD using Android, I will take a look at this specific topic and bring the answer later haha

Arch ISO and Nixpackage with the complete setup in an Onionshare and Etchdroid. The whole plan is setup haha thank you Sjors Provoost to support my paranoid mental experiment haha https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.depau.etchdroid/

Every single conspiracy theory that I heard on talk radio in the '90s is coming to pass. I'm on the verge of thinking luciferian shape shifting lizards really are here doing this lol. The problem is, I don't see viable solutions to stopping it. Meteors don't count.

I live in the United States, everything will be fine 😁......... Right? 😳 nostr:nevent1qqsxw59t70jl5423p8ruhjsuus36a7duqlfyha2r5lpen6fxat4mkacpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdupzq5xeflpdskqvdq4swxj59793uvdzqzc9pzatjk3nhmcg2h0js8trqvzqqqqqqymvsac3

Almost a decade ago I was bartending in New York. A guy passed through and stole a handbag- apparently she was well connected. Cops came next day and asked for the CCTV footage. It was very grainy and poor quality but my boss gave it to them anyway. Few days later one of the cops passed through and let me know they caught the guy. They ran the footage through some new software they had just got access to and found his Facebook page. Apparently one of Obamas last acts was handing over this tech to the police. It was previously only used the three letter agencies. That was then- can you imagine what they are doing now?

I am skeptical- but could see it. Lived in China for half a decade and most of what you see is a facade. There are absolutely millions of cameras covering every inch of public space- but the question is if they work/if the tech is actually there yet. I was robbed in 2018. Police laughed and shrugged off my story until realizing that CCTV captured the ENTIRE interaction from the gang first making contact with me up until taking my money and kicking me to the curb. They had detailed images of the perpetrators faces. Absolutely nothing came out of the investigation. I see a few possible scenarios: 1. Police were paid off and working with this organized crime syndicate 2. The surveillance tech China brags about absolutely sucks (though it certainly could have improved after 6 years) 3. Police don’t care about helping foreigners. Either way… privacy is going to be all but dead everywhere on earth.

It's conceivable that this somewhat works. Even if half the pictures are the wrong random white guy. The more interesting question is what they do with the information. Does it add that much to the records they already have from your cellphone and KYC wifi use? Maybe, if you were seen talking to someone. But I also suspect much of this is theatre. The guy at customs probably enjoys showing off his fancy tools. And the CCP likes you to see them, so that on your next visit you behave. Anyway, may we live in interesting times...

The perpetrators were Chinese (men and women). There was 20+ minutes of extremely clear CCTV imaging of their faces and identifying features from multiple angles. If the CCP “face scanning tech” is as sophisticated as they want to rest of the world to believe- they could have located the individuals in a matter of minutes. I suspect it is not. Still scary knowing that it will be soon (or is now).

Fascinating Doku (especially the last part) how China is using their mafia to spread chinese influence in the western world. https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/RC-024605/triaden-die-chinesische-mafia-auf-dem-vormarsch/

Rare to see a documentary this deep. Add the ideological confusion sown in the west through media/politics and the capture of traitorous elites who are naive but more than willing to pocket some dollars...... I continue to hold little respect for my western friends. Lots of confused rhetoric, big talk and a self-righteous confidence. The west isn't becoming more like ccp, it is the servant of ccp.

En fait Calle il ne suffit pas d'aller jusqu'en Chine vous avez en Europe c'est le débat actuel beaucoup de pays notamment par les Pays tout ce qui relève deu public est contrôlé par l'IA j'ai récemment regardé un documentaire suivi d'un débat avec des spécialistes de l'IA on pointe du doigt la Chine hélas dans nos pays dits libres les caméras ont pris pas sur la surveillance des citoyens sous prétexte de prévention et de protection.. De ce fait nous sommes entrain de de voir comment ds'eb servir tout en restant dans l'éthique.. Elle a ses avantages médicales en termes de sécurité... Mais la fiabilité à ce qu'elle se trompe est effrayantte s'il s'agit de catégorie les diffenced types de publics socialement en fonction de l'interprétation faussée des comportements humains.. Dans le domaine médical c'est un atout indéniable en neuradiologie par exemple mais l'utiliser pour la sécurité telle que dernièrement dans un concert de dépêche mode en vue des ' JO, afin qu'elle permette gérer les risques d'attaque terroriste peut être un danger puisqu'elle se base sur des steriotypes trop biaisés. Par exemple si vous avez la barbe il y a des chances qu'elle vous classe comme maghrébins (terroristes et c'est fort dangereux, au niveau de l'école pour les jeunes gamins d'office classés asociaux du fait de l'habillement par exemple.. Il y a la vidéo en ligne c'est en anglais et c'est la chaîne Arte qui l'a dans son programme.

Sure it's true. When I was there in 2013 there was surveillance everywhere and we had undercover people following us all the time. Love the people and the country, but wouldn't go back anytime soon.

Re: facial recognition & privacy, I’m sure you’ve seen this podcast - but if you haven’t (or missed this episode), here’s one attempted solution to the fuckery: https://fountain.fm/episode/QTSqGRKNb4PN2j861CNs

That makes me wish there was a way to piss in the data pool. Somehow spam the internet with photos of me associated with a 100 other names and photos of a 100 random or fake people associated with my name. Do it in a way that would show up on google.

Never thought i would envy Muslim ladies who can walk around with their bodies and faces covered everywhere :) even in China I think 🤔Obv they can still collect data about the movements between countries , but not in the country. Ok , still possible for them to do that but more difficult to prove anything…but tbh most of the ppl don’t consider this increasing level of gov surveillance a problem, for the last 10 years I keep listening to the stupidest argument ever - “why do you care if you don’t have anything to hide?”. And I always want to respond - “why do they need to know that much about me if they don’t plan any harm?” My family used to give me more space and privacy when I was a child than these totally unrelated to me fuckers when I am an adult.

https://i.nostr.build/qnen.jpg I just heard the scariest story in a while. Someone told me that they had been traveling in China and, on the way out, the border police pulled up a tool that showed countless photos of this person taken by public surveillance cameras during their visit. These are CCTV cameras in public. Faces classified with AI. All data gathered in a central location. Don't even think for a second this is never going to happen where you live. That's a level of dystopia I didn't know we were already in. (Edit: JStark added for attention)