Be careful about what you say or enter into any internet connected device

Thursday, April 24, 2014
Tisdale
by: Timothy W. Shire

I realise this message might seem alarmist and more than a little paranoid, but damn it all, these times are what they are. All of us who have come to rely so heavily on the use of e-mail, messaging, voice mail, FaceTime and the telephone, would be completely silly, not to accept the fact, that any and all communications, no matter how harmless, or seemingly mundane, the message could potentially be very dangerous. The chance of your communication not being monitored is extremely remote.

The world of the NSA and it's Canadian counterpart, CSEC, is now a reality. The more denial that comes from the official world, the more we must recognised that they and all government agencies in general are simply no longer able to tell the truth. This not deception by by decree.

You will recall a recent story of an Ontario women, one of many, refused entry into the United States because she was bipolar and at one time attempted suicide. Her medical records were distributed and available the US customs people. So I am not talking about something that might happen in theory, it is a known reality.

What brought this to my attention was when I overheard a conversation about the discovery of a somewhat hidden compartment in a vehicle and they joked about what could be hidden in such a compartment. Sounds completely innocent but in the era of Stephen Harper, danger lurks in innocent places.

Most of us know how this stuff works, but just in case you have let this slip from your mind, this is a refresher. The way government agencies monitor communications does not involve humans. Robot monitoring systems constantly monitor communications at all levels and though they proclaim they do not, they do and no court orders are involved. The robot systems are watching for "hot" words and phrases. If the word or combination of words occurs in a communications, that message can be flagged and passed on for closer examination. Closer examination means that humans will be checking it out, will log it and spider all communications to and from the source.

All this was set up out of the fear of terrorism, but also had been part of a much earlier hard asses secret police program wanting to see the expansion of a police state.

Therefore, as of now, watch what you say, watch what you put in a message. Assume that you are in the same situation as when passing through security at an airport. A joke about an explosive devise could get you put on a no fly list. The same goes for all other communications. We all know that when passing through customs humour is not an option. In a communications monitored world words are converted to text where there is no humour and if you get identified only casually it could come back to haunt you applying for a job, volunteering to be a coach, even expose you to criminal investigations.

You will notice this message does not have a list of "hot" words or phrases. That list would jeopardise this message. Do not for a second think I am kidding. I am not.

Until you get a list, or work one out for yourself, do not playfully joke about some illegal medication, weapons, some political phrases and more. You have been warned!