Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/23/the-brink.html
…
4 Likes
Bannon couldn’t go into the churches himself to do the research, lest his face melt more than it has already.
20 Likes
I guess it’s a dumb question to ask why the Catholic church is doing data collection on church goers in the first place?
I mean, what’s the alleged spiritual or religious purpose that they give for spying on their members or anyone foolish enough to step into one of their churches?
9 Likes
Catholicvote != Catholic Church, they appear to be different orgs.
There are likely a thousand other PACs and scumlords geofencing your and my data for targeted ads anyway.
5 Likes
That’s great and all; please note that I didn’t say nor even imply that they were.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that the former must have needed the latter’s permission in order to set up the necessary equipment in and on the latter’s properties in the first place.
A) That doesn’t even remotely make it ‘okay.’
B) You know what they say about assumptions; you have no idea what precautions I may take to protect my personal data.
2 Likes
This isn’t the church doing it. It’s just geolocation combined with address databases. Your cell manufacturer can do this. Your carrier can do this. The data is worth money and is just sitting their otherwise. Being “illegal” is only a problem if someone cares enough to prosecute, and how many people think the Trump DOJ is going to go after Steve Bannon? Plus the law is nebulous enough that a successful defense is far from impossible and prosecution would take years and probably millions of dollars to attempt.
9 Likes
THIS is a step too far? Everyhting else is ok, but this is too much?
I guess it’s important to have boundaries, and we all have different perceptions, but it’s still a shock when you come face to face with just how wide the bell curve can be.
5 Likes
I’m not even sure that is entirely illegal? And if not, then the Dems and progressives should be doing the same 10X (obvs not breaking any laws, which DOES put us at a disadvantage… )
The Russians helped the Rs cheat in the last election using data and some smart algos and finely targeted ad spending. This go round in 2020, the Rs are basically signaling they’ll cheat to any degree as long as they win. Would not be surprised if our voter tabulation systems are comprised in key states. Hope there are a ton of honeypot traps, but the fox is running the frickin henhouse…
3 Likes
If only. Sadly, the world we live in does not require permission for this kind of tracking anymore.
FWIW, American Catholics are more likely to register as Democratic than Republican. Probably in part because of the Republican Party’s xenophobia toward immigrants.
7 Likes
OK…where did I say it was ‘okay’ or that you, specifically you, are being tracked because of your infosec practices? Could those be assumptions? Hmm…
why the Catholic church is doing data collection
This, from my reading, implied that the Catholic church was the one doing, or authorizing, data collection. Sadly, as things stand, this is data that the Catholicvote PAC could gather without anyone’s permission. Simply scrape a list of GPS coordinates of Catholic churches from Google Maps and then add IMEI #s to the list when GPS pings match up. The same process is very likely being used by unaccountable shadow ad profile marketers on all of us, which I don’t like, support, or want, but am nonetheless tired of being in a rat race to evade.
1 Like
I thought they are gathering from cell tower data not gps?
I’m pretty dilligent about GPS perms but selling of cell tower data makes that irrelevant:
3 Likes
No special equipment or even going anywhere near the properties – they’re talking about data-mining phone-company records. The normal cell towers we all use are the surveillance devices.
7 Likes
Have I mentioned that I hate this reality recently?
See my reply to @Brainspore.
Annnnd… we’re done here.
Have a nice day.
5 Likes
This is just so drippingly ironic: the predators predating each other, right in front of us. I can barely stand it.
6 Likes
Holy crap! On any given day ad execs usually have racism and fat shaming way back in the rear view mirror, and are less than two and a half steps away from human sacrifice. So for one of them to say something like this, that means it’s pretty despicable.
3 Likes
Nope, even without GPS data, (which most phones do provide to the carrier), cell tower triangulation alone is accurate enough to place the person on church property with a fair degree of certainty.
4 Likes
Glad I don’t go to church, then.
O_o
Seriously, where the fuck is that dimensional rift, so I can get back to a timeline that isn’t so incredibly fucked up?
6 Likes
Obvs, that sentence can be restated as “cell tower triangulation alone is accurate enough to place the person at [location(s) of interest] with a fair degree of certainty.”
Whether it’s at the bar, or the library, at church, on the ferry, in the airport, at a crime scene, at home, at work, on the beach, in a cafe, shopping, or driving down the interstate … where you were, when you arrived, and how long you were there for is already known information.
3 Likes
Obvs.
I just meant that’s one bullet I’ve dodged; I wont be getting spammed by the people seeking to manipulate Catholics or other church goers.
It has nothing to do the rest of the barrage of ‘ammo’ that’s being fired by everyone else.
( I really, really hate this reality.)
Hence the reason I’ve started ‘forgetting’ to take my phone with me, on purpose.
4 Likes
