Forget about drones. For more than a decade now, some SmartTVs have been equipped to spy on any activity within earshot of the microphone and in line of sight of the camera surreptitiously mounted within the bezel. And they’ve been selling the information via the WiFi interface to whoever’s web address is programmed into the firmware. When it was discovered in a big-name TV, the manufacturer issued a brief apology for not revealing that the camera and mic were installed, but strenuously maintained that they were not spying on you. And people laughed it off, nobody really cared. Congress’ performance has been cringeworthy compared to the EU when it comes to protecting the citizen’s privacy, but no surprise there… data is big money and money comes attached to the lobbyists that line Congress’ pockets and reelection campaigns.
The U.S. is waking up to China’s sinister plans too late and doing too little about it. Not that they CAN do much about it. When Congress holds “hearings” (at which they do all the talking) on IT issues, before the session has ended snippets of the proceedings are on YouTube, the abject ignorance and confusion of members of Congress on even the most elementary concepts providing both comic relief and mounting alarm that these people are entrusted with developing the strategic plans for our nation’s security.
It’s been years since social experts realized that TikTok is a highly effective psychological weapon, designed to destroy people insidiously and indiscriminately, especially young children and the young adult working population that keeps America’s economy humming—or used to. It should be treated like a Schedule I drug, yet Congress has handled it with all the enthusiasm of a tranquilized sloth. That it is banned in China should have been a huge red flag, but voilà Congress—finally taking a stance, but arguing that it is skimming citizens’ data, which isn’t likely to stick in the courts.