China's Spying Goes Far Beyond Balloons: Most of us whitewash the daily micro-intrusions we accept at a much more frequent pace

American Thinker ^ | 02/24/2023 | Brian Parsons

[SeekAndFind]

“I never said, ‘I want to be alone.’ I only said ‘I want to be let alone!’ There is all the difference.” ― Greta Garbo

 

On February 2, Americans were treated to the spectacle of a giant balloon floating over Montana wilderness that would go on to traverse the entire length of the United States.  Of Chinese origin, this giant balloon was loaded with what appeared to be potential reconnaissance or communications equipment.  Depending on what side of the political aisle observers were on, there was one of two responses from the public: First, shoot it down.  We don’t appreciate foreign adversaries using espionage tools or potential weapons overhead.  Second, Biden did the right thing by ensuring it was over open waters before dispatching it.  It’s normal, they flew over during the Trump administration as well.

For myself, I fall squarely into the shoot-it-down camp.  There is something intrusive about a foreign object the width of several school buses entering my personal space that demands a decisive response.  Given the sparse population of Montana, it seemed the appropriate time to dispatch it while above remote territory with the least risk to bystanders below.  The concern wasn’t so much that China was gathering intelligence from above as some other potential for a weaponized payload like explosives, bioweapons, or an electromagnetic pulse device.  The Chinese have no shortage of satellites or technology required to spy on Americans.  Most Americans have willingly adopted Chinese manufactured and even branded surveillance technology into their homes, myself included.

I consider myself an early technology adopter.  I was an alpha tester of Amazon’s first Echo home speaker device.  An entire global library of music on-demand?  Yes, please!  What would follow is a connected home of lights, switches, thermostats, sprinkler controllers, alarm systems, cameras, etc.

[SeekAndFind]

The convenient control over one’s home that technology allows is fantastic. But it has come at a cost. 

Take social media, for example. We traded free personal connections online for a seat at the table in our daily lives. Technology corporations performed massive data mining campaigns to paint a picture of your entire life. They know who you are, your family and friends, your interests and hobbies, your jobs and colleagues, and your daily habits from sun up to sun up. They’re even listening while you sleep.

[RedMonqey]

We not only invited “Big Brother” into our private lives, we’re making him a profit off it

[mountainlion]

China stole the personnel records of most people with military clearances a few years ago. 22 million person’s records was the release but I expect it was many times more than that.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“TikTok is basically a Chinese Communist Party Commissar that you keep in your pocket. Not only can TikTok analyze your data, but it may be able to influence your political opinion by steering you to videos it wants you to see.”

https://youtube.com/shorts/k43Pceu7fRM?feature=share

[ridesthemiles]

NOT in my home...

NOT now

Not before

Not ever

Learned how to use a telephone when it was a crank version on the kitchen wall. STILL DO NOT HAVE A CELL PHONE—DO NOT WANT ONE.

I KNOW HOW to DRIVE-—I do NOT ever wish to have ‘Self Driving cars’. Have driven over 1 million miles — TO places I could ONLY find on a paper map. NO GPS required.

Learned how to manually set my thermostats & control them daily many years ago-—actually lived for over 12 years with ONLY a wood burning stove to heat over 2500 sq ft.

Know how to water when I need to do so.

The utter laziness of handing over these chores to “electronics” is more proof of how little brain power we still use.

[RedMonqey]

The very fact you’re on a social site proves everything you claim is not true.

On ole Man Bell’s party lines you had to worry about the neighborhood buzy body. Now you have to worry about the CCP clear across the glide.