victor809 wrote:There's actually a lot of suspicion right now in the groups that were protesting that government agencies have been tracking the protesters. It's pretty easy from cell phone data (thus a lot of groups recommend getting a burner phone specifically for the protests). I don't know if there is any truth to it, nor do I think we've seen any fallout from it.
Apparently the FBI has used a spy plane on the protests recently, and has also been trawling social media and has apparently arrested people for "inciting violence" because of facebook posts:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/federal-agents-monitored-facebook-arrest-protesters-inciting-riots-court-records-n1231531
This article describes how they can do it, but does explicitly state there isn't any evidence it is used against protesters at this point:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/06/quick-and-dirty-guide-cell-phone-surveillance-protests
There's some really hard hitting and in depth critical thinking right there: "suspicions" and "explicitly state there isn't any evidence." Wow, good stuff!
Tracking via cell phone. It happens everyday with everyone who carries a cell phone. It's called GPS. Don't want to be tracked, shut your phone off. You choose to allow yourself to be tracked by enabling these features on your phone. It's not some government bug that has been secretly placed on your person. You freely opt in to allow your data to be tracked and shared on the cell network. By the way, this data is used quite frequently to crack criminal cases. Look up the trial of Aaron Hernandez, the Patriot's TE who was convicted of murder as one example. It will also help you locate nice restaurants within walking distance of your current location.
Monitoring social media posts: Another thing that is used quite frequently by not only the government but anybody who wants to learn more about you - prospective employer for example. If you're looking for a job, employers often look into your social media information and posts to see if you are the type of character they want to employ. Nothing illegal or revolutionary here. You chose to have this information shared and put out publicly.
FBI spy planes: You are out in public. An overhead plane snaps some pictures or videos of you. Nothing illegal or questionable about this. Again, overhead aircraft routinely capture footage of things going on in public. Any outcry of news films with the eye in the sky above a scene of an accident, a sporting event or even a traffic jam?
You are really on some super sleuthing conspiracy stuff here. Maybe Mr. Jones could learn a thing or two from your in depth critical assessments of government conspiracies.
When I say that it would make me uncomfortable, I'm talking about cataloging and creating profiles of random people who don't openly share their personal information and movements.