Did a Hollywood actor spill state secrets on the Tonight Show?

I've been watching Leno this week, because Letterman is in reruns. Tuesday night he had the actor Shia Labeouf on the show. I wasn't really paying much attention at first, because I tune in for the jokes, not so much the celebrity interviews. But Labeouf starting talking about something that really caught my attention.

He was talking about an FBI consultant on his new movie, "Eagle Eye." According to the actor, the FBI guy told him that one out of every five phone calls is recorded and logged. Labeouf said he didn't believe the guy. He thought he was pulling his leg. Then, though, the story went, the FBI guy played for the actor a recording of one of Lebeouf's phone calls from two years prior. He went on to mention that the government can also eavesdrop into American homes through ADT security device microphones, as well as track and disable automobiles equipped with OnStar equipment.

Either this was some crazy story that was concocted in order to promote the movie, or maybe Mr. "Thank God For The Beef" dropped a big bombshell and nobody noticed. I was expecting to see some mention of this on the cable stations today, if only as a brief aside on "Oddball," but no mention of it that I'm aware.

if the FEDs know where you were and can guesstimate within like a 20 foot circle, and the time you were there- they can get your recording. They did something like this on The Wire.

But now do they have the right to do this- no, but that never stopped the bush JD.

I think it is plausible. We already know they route all internet traffic through that office in, where was it, San Francisco?

Though I suspect if they are doing this, it is more likely 100% of calls.

the ADT one is plausible but they might have to go through the company as with onstar. and the first hardly seems out of the realm of possibility though if they recorded one out of five then wouldn't they have 20% of all people calls recorded? Just seems like too much bullshit to go through. Though with the software they supposedly have that wouldn't be a problem. I guess the call has to be recorded in case the software finds something interesting. The lesson is never to discuss anything sensitive on your own phone with someone talking on their own phone and don't mention too many specifics, especially names.

The secondary lesson is that everyone needs to realize that They're getting more and more capability each day while all we have is the anonymity of numbers and the knowledge that we're always being watched and listened to.

Just think if Google had the federal government's budget on startup!

Come to think of it... nah.

Here... found one. It seems from reading the opinion mentioned in this piece that they do have to physically install the bug into the cell phone. At that point it doesn't matter if the phone is on or off, it can be used to monitor the area it is in. Aha... but I guess that's if they do it legally. They can do it illegally any time they want I guess, since I just found a story about GSM encryption being cracked.




Here's the story on legit FBI eavesdropping:

I remember reading about that Mafia case. Damn. It's all true, isn't it?

every dang thing anyone does or says in Iraq. Big secret he is not at liberty to divulge. That got me thinking.....

Either way, I don't use the phone much. With all the political calls these days, when everyone is home in the evening and weekend we let the machine pick the calls, and no one ever leave a message.

And the FBI guy wasn't talking out of school. The OnStar example actually has come up in a court case before. It is well known that virtually all phone traffic, be it text or voice or computer goes through approximately eighteen acres of computers outside of Langley where Carnivore stores them and analyzes them for key words like "bomb" "jihad" etc.(there, now this post will be flagged).

ADT hasn't been mentioned that I know of, but I don't find it surprising. I've always thought that ADT was more of a means of keeping track of the people who own the house rather than an instrument to keep intruders out. Now with their interior sensors (advertised as another bigger, better security feature) they can not only know that you're home, what you're saying, but also what room you're in and to a certain extent, what you're doing. Cell phones are another way of tracking your every move. Being marketed as a way to control traffic flow, private companies are now setting up large areas, mostly in big cities, to track your cell phone signal wherever you, and it, go.

We are becoming the most surveilled society on the face of the planet, and the sad thing is, we're actually buying the instruments of our surveillance, cell phones, security systems, Onstar, etc. Of course some of it is pushed by instruments of change like insurance companies(breaks on your insurance premium if you get a security system), but for the most part we've bought into it because it is the latest, greatest, flashiest piece of technology. Stick with the basics, go with low tech solutions. Do you really need that GPS? Get a map instead. Rather that installing that security system, get the best security going, a big dog. Whatever you do, don't help all those watchers watch you. Don't pay for your own chains.

However, I suspect the professionals would use codewords for words that would alert any system. Don't think they'd use bomb or jihad, etc. Without a doubt, though, our privacy is invaded over and over. Not that I'm involved in anything nefarious, that's not my style. But maybe I won't take my cell phone with me so much. That's creepy. Heck. I'm old enough to remember when they didn't exist and we got along fine.
Isn't it amazing that Bush is going after everybody now when he ignored a message in Aug. 2001 that said Bin Laden was determined to strike in the US. Not to mention the guy who kept reporting some student pilot wanted to learn how to fly a plane but not land it and it was also ignored by the Bush administration.

It would be Laurel, Maryland and the agency would be the NSA, not the CIA.

say "Enough!", and demand that this whole "watching you wherever you are" thing get sent to the scrap heap? . . . for one thing, the costs have to be far in excess of whatever useful information might be obtained . . . and for another thing, it's just god-damned un-American to spy on citizens 24/7 on the pretext that it has something to do with national security . . .

or does Obama agree with what's going on? . . . only time will tell, but my hunch is that the forces that established this system and keep it operating are probably far more powerful than even the President of the United States and Congress combined . . .

I met a man in'96 who claimed to work for the CIA, he told me that there were certain "code words" that when spoken on the phone automatically would be recorded. He also said that Clinton would be the last legally elected President and to be very wary of China.
When he spoke to me he had my hands in a very secure grip and his eyes were very intense almost pleading me to understand what he was telling me.
In 2000, I contacted the mutual friend that introduced us, she said that he committed suicide, shot in the back of his head.
I get such an eerie feeling when something like this stuff happens, then feel like I am a conspiracy theorist...oh well.

when Will Smith did "Enemy of the State," i read a very interesting interview from him (or maybe it was one of the filmmakers) finding out how deep surveillance went while researching the film...

Funny how the words of John Gotti are not only ironic in his case, but sad in our case. There was a time that this type of possibility was reserved for the mafia and the like.

That ADT snooping sounds plausible, if the alarms are using sound detection (which doesn't make much sense to me).

Make no mistake. If the 'spooks' wanted to keep a secret, there's NO WAY a Fibbie would say such things. Further, it makes little difference whether what was said is an exaggeration, totally untrue, or a gross understatement. What IS important is that "our government" WANTS such information disseminated like this.

Why?

There can be only one reason. Intimidation. (Low-key terrorism of the People.)

This is how TYRANTS keep a population under control. This is how a tyranny survives and tightens its grip. Make "the people" afraid to object, dissent, organize, or even revolt. Most people, of course, will comfprt themselves wiht the delusion that it's about "the other guys" and they're OK ... 'cause they're the "good guys." After all, that's what it means to be a "Good German."

The evidence is clear. If you're not outraged AND afraid ... then you're a delusional idiot. (Such is what cowards and criminals are.)

I just heard about that last night I think, on Countdown or Rachel Maddows I think. Must have been RM because she did a story about how BushCo is not allowing our military from the first Gulf War sue the Iraqi government for torture. That it would stress Iaq financially, but they aren't stopping companies from doing so. Gee I wonder why that is.

:grr:

(second post today and I used that same emoticon in the other one. maybe I should go back to bed. ;) )

the Stazzi only had files (active) on one in ten East Germans, the rest of the population was pretty compliant as they believed they had files

I Assume all I say and speak is recorded

Now I also choose NOT to be afraid

Funny 'bout that. Funny that I'd recognize it. Funny that we READ the same, too, huh?

(I've always wondered if I was a twin.) :rofl:

Sadly, I mostly agree.

If the technology is there it will be used. If you have the cash or political access you can avail yourself of these services for a price. Believe it. The ownership society is a rich man's fantasy come true. Check it out. Ethics, laws or civic duty never stopped a robber barron from exploiting control of every available resource for personal gain (i.e. us/people among other "things"). We're way past the Constitution now. More will come out about this in the future, I'm sure.

Even recording 20% would be a massive task. Theres no way there is enough people to listen to them. The onstar thing, thats scary. I dont use it. Can they still activate it if you dont use it?

Just because you don't pay the bill doesn't make the machinery stop working.

would tell a Hollywood Actor ANYTHING even remotely classified. FBI Agents like CIA Operatives are very very self disciplined and highly trained individuals. Anything that he might have told the Actor might not be well known but is NOT something that is a secret.

I think this is overestimating the FBI's skill. The government and the FBI are mere humans, not the Borg or the machines from the Matrix. This is right up there with those conspiracy theories about recorded history being made up, IMO. Besides, if the FBI recorded and logged one out of every five phone calls, there would be A LOT of people suddenly vanishing and/or turning up dead. And if they do log the calls but do nothing about the "dangerous" ones, then what's the point for them to do it?

Hell, I could do it with a little research, if you gave me access to that secret room in San Francisco, and a virtually unlimited budget.

is that for the most part the FBI's program is so huge it makes them inept. There is such a thing as too wide a net and too much information. Or more simply, having the tech tools doesn't make up for brains. Brains would not have put such an inept system into place. IMO, this is just more cya on a very expensive and massive scale. I do hope this gets dismantled in the next administration.

edit to add: Got that Agent Mikey? :hi: