wraggster
March 1st, 2014, 22:51
http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/adam/c0c19d0cf0cb2bf467e2fcbf402135a1/kinect.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/28/uk-agency-violated-privacy-of-webcams-explored-kinect-surveilla/)Classified documents published by The Guardian reveal that British surveillance agency GCHQ surreptitiously gathered webcam images from more than a million Yahoo user accounts, while also evaluating the surveillance potential of the Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral.
"In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally," the Guardian reports (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo), before noting that this operation (codenamed "Optic Nerve") was only one of the agency's attempts at biometric recognition via consumer camera technology.
A separate GCHQ project explored the possibility of gathering images from the Kinect peripheral. "[O]ne presentation discusses with interest the potential and capabilities of the Xbox 360's Kinect camera, saying it generated 'fairly normal webcam traffic' and was being evaluated as part of a wider program." It's unclear if GCHQ ever attempted to intercept Kinect data on a large scale, but as The Guardian points out, the idea isn't entirely novel. Earlier documents published by the paper detail similar exploratory efforts by the American NSA.
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/28/uk-agency-violated-privacy-of-webcams-explored-kinect-surveilla/
"In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally," the Guardian reports (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo), before noting that this operation (codenamed "Optic Nerve") was only one of the agency's attempts at biometric recognition via consumer camera technology.
A separate GCHQ project explored the possibility of gathering images from the Kinect peripheral. "[O]ne presentation discusses with interest the potential and capabilities of the Xbox 360's Kinect camera, saying it generated 'fairly normal webcam traffic' and was being evaluated as part of a wider program." It's unclear if GCHQ ever attempted to intercept Kinect data on a large scale, but as The Guardian points out, the idea isn't entirely novel. Earlier documents published by the paper detail similar exploratory efforts by the American NSA.
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/28/uk-agency-violated-privacy-of-webcams-explored-kinect-surveilla/