Ankle Bracelets Have Criminals Bugged

Ankle bracelets featuring GPS tracking technology can do more than allow authorities to follow the whereabouts of criminals ordered to wear them. They also can be used to eavesdrop on conversations without the wearer knowing what’s going on.

In Puerto Rico, defense lawyer Fermín L. Arraiza-Navas learned about the bracelet’s expanded surveillance capabilities after meeting with clients fitted with the technology. He told the Puerto Rico Center for Investigative Reporting (CPIPR) that clients noticed the bracelets would vibrate when having conversations with lawyers and others.

One client said authorities spoke to him through a hidden phone feature included in the bracelets, which are manufactured by a Utah-based company, SecureAlert. (more)

FutureWatch - Facebook Phone - Social Notworking Albatrose

via Larry Dignan, zdnet.com

Summary: Your Facebook phone may be the equivalent of having a KGB agent tailing you. Mark Zuckerberg will be in your pocket. You might as well wear one of those ankle bracelets for tracking.

The Facebook phone is in play—again—and it appears we have another 12 to 18 months to go before mobile and social utopia arrives. I can’t wait to see the privacy flaps that emerge from this adventure.

AllThingsD is reporting that Facebook has named HTC to build a phone with the social network at the core. The code name is Buffy because it will allegedly slay the market—or something like that. Sound familiar? The Facebook phone has been rumored forever. TechCrunch reported that Facebook was working to build a phone a year ago. CNET News also reported that Facebook was reaching out to hardware makers...

But do you really want a Facebook phone? If you think the social graph can be overdone today just wait until Facebook starts broadcasting every move to your friends. Every purchase you make. Every app you use. Every time you happen to hit the john with your smartphone in tow your friends will know. I could be exaggerating, but not by much (and you know half of you bring your smartphone to the loo). (more)

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Lyon May Put Teeth into CA Video Voyeurism Law

CA - Michael Lyon pled guilty today to what he called “criminal conduct which was selfish, impulsive and wrong.” In a deal with prosecutors, he admitted to four counts of felony electronic eavesdropping.

He was arrested last November for videotaping prostitutes in his home without their knowledge. As part of his plea deal, Lyon will have to spend a year in the custody of Sacramento County, but there is a good chance he will be placed in home detention, with an electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle. (more)

Lyon case spurs effort to tighten state's video voyeurism law
Lyons' ugly divorce battle takes a new twist

"My ankle bracelets are so good, I wear one myself!"

CA - FBI agents arrested a Mexican tycoon named Jose Susumo Azano Matsura at his Coronado, Calif. home on Wednesday as part of a political bribery investigation based on captured emails, seized banking records, and covertly recorded conversations.

The unfolding scandal is soaked in irony: Azano is a surveillance evangelist whose company won a secret, no-bid contract with the Mexican military for computer and mobile phone hacking and spying technology in 2011. He is chairman of a company called Security Tracking Devices SA de CV, and he is now chained to a tracking device—on house arrest. (more)

The "Yes Master" Bracelet

Children who end up caught in Chicago's policing and justice system are being outfitted with ReliAlert XC3 GPS ankle-cuffs supplied by the Track Group, who use them to log children's movements and to bark orders at them, as well as listening in on them. The children have to wear them 24/7 while on bail awaiting trial.

The company claims that the recording function in the tracking anklets generates a notification every time it is used, but its own technicians have testified under oath that the listening function can be covertly activated. Track Group stores all recordings of its interactions with children indefinitely.  more

Norway & Germany Call Time Out on Kiddy Smartwatches

Recently, Germany's Federal Network Agency (FNA) called foul on smartwatches that worked as listening devices — specifically those worn by children between the ages of 5 and 12, and used by parents, in particular, to eavesdrop on their kids while at school.

"Piss off."

The German regulating body said that parents would listen in on classes and teachers without consent...

These special watches, work like a baby monitor — allowing someone to tap into the device and listen in to anything happening around it. And people are being asked now to not only keep an eye out for these particular smartwatches — but destroy them, and then send proof back to the FNA....

Germany's not alone in worrying about children's smartwatches. The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) had the same type of reaction a full month before the FNA, issuing a report about security concerns around the devices.

The NCC noted that smartwatches — besides acting as listening devices — can also transmit the location of a child — presumably to parents — but have security flaws which could open that information up easily to others. more 

Glad they didn't have these forearm ankle bracelets when I was a kid. ~Kevin

Hey, kids! Want a smart watch? All right. Who said "house arrest ankle bracelet"?!?!

AT&T announced a new smart device that goes on the wrist today, but it’s not the Galaxy Gear. This is the Filip, a pseudo-smartwatch for kids that parents can use to keep tabs on their offspring with an unparalleled level of accuracy. This device acts as a phone, GPS tracker, and a panic button all in one somewhat awkward package.

The Filip plugs into an iOS or Android app that allows parents to set five trusted numbers that the watch can place calls to. The announcement glosses over the phone call functionality, but it appears to be entirely speakerphone-based. The app is also used to pull locations from the watch in real time, send direct SMS, and set up “Safe Zones.” A Safe Zone is basically a geo-fence that the watch is supposed to stay inside of. If it leaves the Safe Zone, an alert will be pushed to the smartphone app. This is truly helicopter parenting gone high-tech...

There are only two buttons on the Filip, one of which is a big red panic button. When it’s held for three seconds, the device will go into emergency mode and start ambient sound recording. It also sends text messages to all five trusted numbers and places a call to the first number in the list. False alarms will be quite the affair.

AT&T will be the exclusive network provider for the Filip, but no pricing has been announced. The closest thing to a release date is “in the coming months.” (more)

Snapchat is Now Your New GPS Ankle Bracelet

Bored Snapchat users looking for something to do should update their apps today: they'll be greeted with a new map view that shows where exactly their friends are and what they're up to. 

Snap Map, as the company is calling it, can be activated by pinching your fingers together on the camera view when you first start the app. Once in map view, you'll see "Actionmoji" versions of your nearby friends, which include their names and profile photos in a configuration that vaguely resembles the tags you might find on plants for sale at the nursery.

When you tap on one of your friends' icons, you'll see stories they've posted recently...

What if none of your friends are around or they haven't posted anything interesting recently? Not to worry: the map view will also show a heat map based on the activity of other Snapchat users. more