Category: CRIME

GOOGLE’S ALWAYS LISTENING: NEST SECURITY SYSTEM HAS A SECRET EMBEDDED MICROPHONE

Google's Always Listening: Nest Security System Has A Secret Embedded Microphone

No surprise

Zero Hedge – FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Surprise! Another smart home device has the ability to spy on people.

I doubt anyone who is reading this will be shocked by this news, but here we go.

Back in early February, tech giant Google announced that Nest Secure, its home security and alarm system, was now compatible with the company’s Home Assistant voice-control function.

Here is an excerpt from that announcement:

Nest Secure has supported Google Assistant integration for quite some time, but with this most recent update, the product is taking that to a new level by turning itself into a Google Assistant speaker. This is just like what the Nest Cam IQ did last year. With the flip of a switch in the Nest app, you can set the Secure as an always-listening Assistant speaker. (source)

The problem?

Nest users didn’t know a microphone existed on their security device, to begin with.

In order to be compatible with a voice control feature, the device would need to have a microphone.

BUT GOOGLE NEVER MENTIONED THERE WAS A MICROPHONE EMBEDDED IN THE DEVICE.

That important detail was never disclosed in any of the product material for the device, which has been on the market since 2017.

“As recently as January, the product specs for the device made no mention of a microphone,” the Associated Press reports.

A Google spokesperson told Business Insider this was an “error.”

“The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on, and is only activated when users specifically enable the option.

Security systems often use microphones to provide features that rely on sound sensing. We included the mic on the device so that we can potentially offer additional features to our users in the future, such as the ability to detect broken glass.” (source)

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME NEST MADE THE NEWS THIS MONTH.

On February 6, owners of Nest security cameras received an email from Google, warning them to secure their login credentials with things like two-factor identification and stronger passwords.

The reason?

The routine security reminder comes after an uptick in Nest camera hacks and even the occasional hoax, many of which have been downright bizarre and creepy: An Illinois family recently had its device breached by a hacker who spewed abusive epithets through the camera’s microphone into their living room, while another criminal peered into a baby’s room in Houston, Texas, for example. (source)

Google claimed the email was sent as a reminder and said there hadn’t been a breach of the broader Nest user base. As of February 2018, Nest had at sold 11 million of the devices.

This excerpt from the email was published by Popular Mechanics:

For context, even though Nest was not breached, customers may be vulnerable because their email addresses and passwords are freely available on the internet. If a website is compromised, it’s possible for someone to gain access to user email addresses and passwords, and from there, gain access to any accounts that use the same login credentials. For example, if you use your Nest password for a shopping site account and the site is breached, your login information could end up in the wrong hands. From there, people with access to your credentials can cause the kind of issues we’ve seen recently. (source)

Google has faced criticism in the past for its location data-tracking practices, along with allowing third-party developers to read people’s emails on Gmail, reports CNET.

And, Business Insider reminds us that in 2010, Google acknowledged that its fleet of Street View cars “accidentally” collected personal data transmitted over consumers’ unsecured WiFi networks, including emails.

GOOGLE CAN APOLOGIZE AND MAKE EXCUSES ALL IT WANTS, BUT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE AREN’T BUYING IT.

“Nest’s failure to disclose the onboard microphone included in its secure home security system is a massive oversight,” said Ray Walsh, a digital privacy expert at BestVPN.com. “Despite Google’s assurances, the fact is that the device has a microphone which could potentially have been hacked or accessed by Google to perform covert corporate surveillance.”

The Register asked Google if any Nest microphones had been activated prior to the company’s announcement of their existence and whether the company could confirm that no audio data was collected during that period. “Google claims that the mics were never used prior to disclosure, which would preclude the possibility of covert data collection,” the tech site reports.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to force Google to sell its Nest division and surrender any data that was collected from Nest customers.

In a brief statement on its website, the nonprofit privacy and civil liberties advocacy group said:

Following reports that Google installed secret listening devices in the homes security product Nest, EPIC asked the Federal Trade Commission to require Google to spin-off Nest and to disgorge the data obtained from Nest users. It is a federal crime to intercept private communications or to plant a listening device in a private residence. (source)

GOOGLE ISN’T EXACTLY KNOWN FOR BEING AN ETHICAL COMPANY.

Last year, Google came under fire for its participation in a controversial Pentagon program called Project Maven, which would use AI and machines to track and identify objects using drones for the Department of Defense.

Even Google employees objected to the company’s involvement in that program. In a letter signed by more than 3,100 Google employees, the workers stated: “We believe that Google should not be in the business of war… We cannot outsource the moral responsibility of our technologies to third parties.” It was reported that about a dozen employees resigned in protest over the project.

The Intercept reported that Google was forced to shut down the project after members of the company’s privacy team raised internal complaints that it had been kept secret from them.

In late 2018, more than 1,400 Google staff, many journalists, and human rights organizations called on Google to halt a controversial project called Dragonfly, a highly censored Chinese search engine:

Dragonfly is a search engine specially built for China. It would unleash more censorship on a mass scale by selectively blocking certain search terms, apparently at the behest of China’s government. Human rights groups are blasting the company for aiding and abetting China’s mass surveillance and rights violations which could result in potential imprisonment. (source)

Google used to have an iconic clause in its code of conduct that said, “Don’t be evil.” Last year, that clause was removed.

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GUILTY: Top Advisor to Pope Convicted of Child Sex Abuse

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Cardinal George Pell is the highest level Catholic official ever to be convicted of sex abuse.

The highest-level Catholic official ever to be charged with child sex crimes was convicted on Monday in Melbourne, Australia.

“Cardinal George Pell is Pope Francis’ top financial adviser and the Vatican’s economy minister. He bowed his head as a jury delivered unanimous verdicts in the Victoria state County Court on Dec. 11 after more than two days of deliberation,” according to AP.

Pell molested two choirboys.

The convicted Cardinal is 77-years-old and faces up to 50 years in prison, the report said. He is expected to appeal the ruling.

“The jury convicted Pell of abusing two 13-year-old boys whom he had caught swigging sacramental wine in a rear room of Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996 when he was archbishop,” according to the report.

The Catholic Church has long been embroiled in child sex abuse scandals, which have intensified over the past year. Fourteen states attorneys general have demanded internal documents pertaining to child sex abuse from all of the Catholic dioceses within their states. In December, the attorney general of Illinois found that 500 priests had been accused of sex abuse, but never reported.

In a summit held by Pope Francis over the weekend, he vowed to confront abuserswith “the wrath of God,” and called sex abuse a “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”

“If in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse – which already in itself represents an atrocity – that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness,” he said. “Indeed, in people’s justified anger, the church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons.”

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Transgender Activist Accused Of Burning Down Own Home In ‘Hate Crime’ That Killed Five Pets

Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden

Transgender activist Nikki Joly of Jackson, IL, whose five pets were killed in a 2017 house fire, has been accused of intentionally setting the blaze, according to The Detroit News.

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Two German Shepherds and three cats died in the two-story blaze that was initially investigated as a hate crime by the FBI and local law enforcement.

Investigators found traces of gasoline in five rooms on the first floor of the wooden-frame house, according to the police report, while Joly was found to have bought $10 of gas at a local gas station the morning of the fire “so he could cut his grass,” according to the report. Joly stopped halfway through because it was too hot out, while police say the sequence of events “would have made it difficult for anyone but Joly to set the fire.”

He went to work at the church and got a call from Moore at 1:02 p.m., said the report. Moore had forgotten to pack her lunch so asked Joly to bring it to her at work. The couple share one car.

Joly returned home, which was two miles away, went inside for a minute or two, and left, he told police.

The fire was reported by neighbors at 1:16 p.m.

The sequence of events would have made it difficult for anyone but Joly to set the fire, Grove said in the police report. –The Detroit News

“The timeline shows a window of less than five minutes for another person to enter the residence, splash gasoline around, ignite the fire and then leave without being scene,” wrote police detective Aaron Grove.

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Two weeks after the fire, Joly was questioned by two FBI agents and a city police detective.

During the interview, he drooped his head, staring at the floor, not looking at his interlocutors, according to the report. He didn’t admit setting the fire and didn’t deny it, either. –The Detroit News

The arrest of Joly, a biological woman who identifies as a man, came as a surprise to the gay community in Jackson, as Joly helped open the city’s first gay community center and was a co-organizer of the city’s first gay festival – earning the Citizen of the Year award by a local paper.

Authorities later determined the fire was intentionally set, but the person they arrested came as a shock to both supporters and opponents of the gay rights movement. It was the citizen of the year — Nikki Joly.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Travis Trombley, a gay resident who fought for the ordinance. “How do you do it to the community you have put so much effort into helping?”

Why Joly, 54, would allegedly burn down his home remains a mystery. He didn’t own the house, which was insured by its owner, police said.

His attorney said the lack of a motive cast doubt on the case. –The Detroit News

The police report suggests a motive, however; two people who worked with Joly at St. Johns United Church of Christ, where the Jackson Price Center is located, said the trans activist was “frustrated the controversy over gay rights had died down,” and that the Jackson Pride Parade and Festival – held five days before the fire, “hadn’t received more attention or protests.” 

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Barbara Shelton questioned the police’s version of her statement, telling the Detroit News “Not sure I said that,” in an email, adding “I have no idea about anything, never heard Nikki comment in any fashion about anything like that.”

According to Joly’s attorney, Daniel Barnett, “It doesn’t make sense,” adding “He was citizen of the year. There was plenty of media coverage already before the fire.”

While Joly was stoic in public, he could be abrupt, even combative in private, said acquaintances. He was headstrong, unwilling to have his views challenged by others.

He also could be deceptive, Shelton and James said in the police investigative report.

One year after the pride center opened, Joly broke it away from the church. Unknown to church officials, Joly had secured nonprofit status for the center, Shelton told police.

Shelton said she felt betrayed because she was the one who secured the original funding for the center by applying for several grants.

“Shelton and James both described Nikki as very deceptive and stated that when it comes to Nikki there are ‘layers of manipulation,’” police detective Aaron Grove wrote in the report. –The Detroit News

Local drag queen Jeff Graves said that he was alarmed by the details of the investigation, and said that if Joly is found guilty, he will try to claw back donations raised for the transgender activist’s legal defense.

“I feel as though I was used for a money scam,” said Graves. “It hurt and it still does.”

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GAY MUSLIM MIGRANT WHO TRIVIALIZED TERROR ATTACKS TO REPRESENT FRANCE AT EUROVISION

Gay Muslim Migrant Who Trivialized Terror Attacks to Represent France at Eurovision

Another stunning victory for “diversity”

 | Infowars.com – FEBRUARY 25, 2019

A gender-bending gay Muslim migrant who trivialized terror attacks that killed 300 people over the last few years is to represent France at this year’s Eurovision song contest.

The choice of 19-year-old Bilal Hassani to perform his song “Roi” at the annual music competition is being hailed as a victory for “diversity” because Hassani wears feminine wigs, is homosexual, a Muslim and has Moroccan migrant parents.

However, he has come under scrutiny due to previous tweets and videos in which he supported anti-Semitism and joked about jihadist terror attacks on France.

In a 2014 tweet Hassani defended comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bal, a convicted anti-Semite. He has also repeatedly accused Israel of war crimes, a factor that might not help him as Eurovision is being held in Tel Aviv this year.

According to the Times of Israel, a video also “surfaced in which Hassani and two friends declare “France suffered a lot, attacks here, attacks there. Oooh!” to hoots of laughter.”

130 people were killed during the Paris massacre in November 2015, while a further 86 were killed in Nice the following July when a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people by an Islamic terrorist.

A Republican senator wrote a letter to Eurovision organizers demanding they withdraw Hassani’s nomination for “trivializing” the jihadist attacks.

However, Hassani claims that the criticism all stems from his sexuality and his migrant background.

“It bothers some people a lot that my parents were born in Morocco and that I’m gay. There’s no denying that,” he told Le Parisien, adding that the insults made him “even more determined to respond to the haters.”

What Hassani thinks about the fact that gay people are still routinely incarcerated, tortured and in some cases executed in some Muslim countries and how this is compatible with his faith is not known.

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MAXINE WATERS WARNS FOES: ‘A BLACK WOMAN HAS THE GAVEL NOW — WILL HEAR THE SOUND ALL OVER THE WORLD!’

Maxine Waters warns foes: ‘A black woman has the gavel now — will hear the sound all over the world!’

“This is a new day and we’re not simply begging, we’re not simply pleading

American Mirror – FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Congresswoman Maxine Waters is now chairwoman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, and she vowed Friday she would use her power to right what she sees as wrongs committed due to race.

While addressing Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project, Waters praised Jackson, and warned there’s a new financial sheriff in town.

“I want this day to go down in honor of Rev. Jesse Jackson,” Waters told attendees, “in ways that is described as this is a new day.

“This is a new day and we’re not simply begging, we’re not simply pleading. A black woman has the gavel now,” she said as the crowd cheered wildly.

“And I’ve lived too long, experienced too much, struggled too hard not to use it. They will hear the sound of my gavel all over the world!” she said.

ust days before the Midterm elections, Waters warned she would use her committee power for paybacks.

“We have an election November 6th,” Waters said. “This is big. This may be the most important one that you’ve ever had to experience.

“This is the midterm election and often times people only vote in the presidential election because they don’t think this is important enough. But this is absolutely important,” she lectured.

“First of all, if we take back the House, most of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be chairs of the committees of the Congress of the United States of America,” Waters said, waving her fingers as the audience applauded.

“I will be the first African-American, the first woman to chair the powerful Financial Services Committee.

“That’s all of Wall Street. That’s all the insurance companies, that’s all the banks. And so, of course, the CEOs of the banks now are saying, ‘What can we do to stop Maxine Waters because if she gets in she’s going to give us a bad time?’” she said.

“I have not forgotten you foreclosed on our houses,” she warned.

“I have not forgotten that you undermined our communities,” she continued with the tone of a preacher.

“I have not forgotten that you sold us those exotic products, had us sign on the dotted line for junk,” she yelled, “and for mess that we could not afford.”

“I have people who are homeless who have never gotten back into a home. What am I going to do to you?

“What I am going to do to you is fair. I’m going to do to you what you did to us,” she vowed.

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MSNBC ANALYST: ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’ TO DENY U.S. RE-ENTRY TO ISIS TERRORIST

MSNBC Analyst: ‘Anti-American’ to Deny U.S. Re-Entry to ISIS Terrorist

“If she’s willing to come back and face whatever consequences she faces for being a part of a terrorist organization that’s declared war on the United States, that’s perfectly fine.”

Newsbusters – FEBRUARY 23, 2019

Appearing on MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle Friday morning, analyst Jason Johnson, Politics Editor for The Root, blasted the Trump administration for refusing to allow ISIS terrorist Hoda Muthana from returning to the U.S. after she left to join the violent death cult. The left-wing contributor even argued it was “anti-American” to deny her re-entry to the nation she declared war against.

After a clip ran of an exclusive NBC News interview with Muthana, Ruhle turned to her panel of guests for reaction. Real Clear Politics Associate Editor A.B. Stoddard agreed with the Trump administration: “This country is a gift and I think she’s relinquished her privilege and I’m kind of in agreement with the President that she, you know, may not be allowed – shouldn’t be allowed to come back here.”

https://www.infowars.com/msnbc-analyst-anti-american-to-deny-u-s-re-entry-to-isis-terrorist/

Moments later, Johnson chimed in to complain: “There are white domestic terrorists who get radicalized online all the time in America who are out shooting people, threatening to kill people….And we’re not deporting them. They’re allowed to be here.” He argued that Muthana was “an American citizen” and that any attempt to block her return was somehow antithetical to American values:

If she’s willing to come back and face whatever consequences she faces for being a part of a terrorist organization that’s declared war on the United States, that’s perfectly fine. But this idea that this administration has been promoting that we can pick and choose who citizens are and determine citizenship based on if we like somebody and their ideology is anti-American. She is still an American citizen, she should be allowed to come back.

Even Philippe Reines, a former State Department official under Hillary Clinton, was wary of allowing Muthana back in country:

So, yes, if she wants to come back, I think she should be allowed to come back. I would feel a hell of a lot better if she were facing charges before she came back….she should know that she is facing X charges in X jurisdiction, X felony for X amount of years….But it can’t be this vacuum of everyone gets to come back no matter what they do to our country.

Johnson defended his argument by seeming to downplay her involvement with ISIS: “And just being a part of ISIS, we need to determine exactly – we’ve had people flee and join ISIS. Before you had somebody do that a couple years ago. We need to – ”

Ruhle interrupted him: “Let’s not give ISIS excuses, okay?”

Johnson insisted:

I’m not giving ISIS excuses. What I’m saying is, people have left and joined these kinds of terrorist organizations before….And just because she was a part of ISIS, I would like to know, similar to you, look, “Did you help in any bombing? Did you help in any planning? Did you give people information about America?” Because that determines what kind of punishment you should receive.

He reiterated: “But again, she’s an American citizen. And if there’s anybody that should punish her, it should be us back here because she’s an American citizen.”

The U.S. State Department has adamantly refuted that assertion. “Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday.

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CNN’s Symone Sanders in Denial over Jussie: ‘Very Concerning’ Police Leaked Smollett Was ‘Staunchly Believable’

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By Tony Lee

CNN commentator Symone Sanders insisted on Thursday that things are still not adding up in the Jussie Smollett case, saying that his story was “staunchly believable” as of two days ago.

She said it is “very concerning” that the leaks all came from the Chicago Police Department and insisted that Smollett’s claim that he was attacked by two President Donald Trump supporters in near sub-zero temperatures in Chicago who were yelling “this is MAGA country” and hurling racial and homophobic slurs was “staunchly believable” as of two days days ago.

On February 19, when Sanders said she thought Smollett’s story was still “staunchly believable,” news reports had already surfaced that indicated that Smollett had paid two Nigerian-American brothers to orchestrate the attack after the the hate letter that he allegedly mailed to himself on the Empire set did not get enough attention. Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Dave Chappelle had already mocked Smollett for his alleged hoax while Cardi B had declared that Smollett “f*cked up Black History Month.”
“I have spoken with Jussie Smollett’s team. I’ve heard Jussie tell his account in his own words. And I want to tell  you… When I had this conversation about two days ago, I believed him,” she insisted. “It was staunchly believable.”

Sanders said she only changed her mind when the video of the two Nigerian-American brothers buying ski masks and a red cap surfaced. Smollett reportedly paid the brothers $3,500 to stage the attack and gave them an additional $100 to buy supplies.

“When the video came out today of the two gentlemen buying what I’ve referred to as a hate crime starter pack, I, like everyone else, had questions,” Sanders said. “At this point, my thoughts are…. we need to see some of the evidence… I think it’s very concerning that all of these leaks came from the Chicago Police Department… So frankly all we have is leaks from the Chicago Police Department… now what they’ve said at this press conference and what Jussie Smollett and his team have said.”

Sanders insisted that “things do not add up here” and “this just doesn’t seem right” because, in reference to the $3,500 that Smollett reportedly paid to the brothers to stage the attack, “$3,500 won’t even buy a round-trip ticket to Nigeria.”

“So I, like many people in America, are confused… even though I’ve heard, I’ve seen what the police department’s said,” she said. “So at the very least I think we should see the police report.”

Sanders said Smollett has lost in the court of public opinion, adding that “this is not a good day for Jussie Smollet” and “frankly it’s a terrible day for folks who have not come forward who have experienced hate crimes and who now are maybe hesitant to come forward if something does actually happen to them because of this.”

“So it’s just not a good day,” Sanders said. “It’s still a terrible Black History Month.”

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HILARIOUS! CHARLES BARKLEY SAVAGELY MOCKS JUSSIE SMOLLETT, TRIGGERS ESQUIRE

Hilarious! Charles Barkley Savagely Mocks Jussie Smollett, Triggers Esquire

Esquire Magazine ratioed on Twitter after calling Barkley’s rant ‘bizarre’

 | Infowars.com – FEBRUARY 22, 2019

NBA legend Charles Barkley, who is known for refusing to bow to political correctness, went off on Jussie Smollett for hoaxing a hate crime during a Thursday night segment on TNT.

“America, let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks. If you’re going to break the law, do not write a check,” Barkley said, mocking Smollett for leaving a paper trail.

Barkley also poked fun at Hollywood actor Liam Neeson who recently admitted an urge to kill a “black bastard” after learning his friend was raped by an African American.

“Jussie, you wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you should have did? Just went up to Liam Neeson’s neighborhood. That would have solved all your damn problems,” chuckled Barkley.

Barkley’s co-host Shaquille O’Neil couldn’t stop laughing during the segment as Barkley relentlessly slammed Smollett’s poorly planned hoax.

Esquire Magazine called the rant “bizarre” and said the Liam Neeson joke was “turrible,” a shot at Barkley’s pronunciation of the word.

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“In a word, it’s brutal. In a few more? It’s random, weird, and will make you uncomfortable,” Esquire wrote.

When Esquire posted the article to their Twitter account, the post was ratioed by users who slammed the fashion magazine.

Check out a sample of reactions from Twitter users below:

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