The Daily Show: Ears Edition - How America Should Deal with Jan 6th Rioters and RFK Jr.'s VP Pick | Byron Tau
Episode Date: March 28, 2024Jordan Klepper reports on Ronna McDaniel’s short-lived stint at NBC News and the key question it raises: How should America deal with the people who denied the results of the 2020 election and storm...ed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021? Plus, Michael Kosta travels to Oakland, where RFK Jr. finally announces mega-donor tech billionaire and surfer Nicole Shanahan as his VP pick. But Jr.'s supporters seem just as unsure about Shanahan as they are about vaccines. Also, Jordan sits with NOTUS investigative reporter, Byron Tau, to talk about his new book, “Means of Control,” which explores the culture of surveillance created through a mass market of user data to track and target people for advertising and, in some cases, more nefarious purposes. Tau also offers basic steps anyone can take to reclaim some privacy and protect their information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're listening to Comedy Central.
From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news.
This is the Daily show with your host, Jordan Clemm. Welcome to Danube, I'm Jordan Glepper, we got a great show for you tonight.
We're going to get into the big question America's grappling with right now.
If someone tried to overthrow democracy and kill the vice president, is that a red flag?
Let's get into it.
Right now there's a big story at the crossroads of media, politics, and insurrections.
Just days after being hired by NBC News, former RNC chairwoman Rana McDaniel is back on LinkedIn.
NBC News is back on LinkedIn. NBC News is now cutting ties with the former RNC chair, Rana McDaniel is back on LinkedIn.
NBC News is now cutting ties with the former RNC chair, Rana McDaniel, days after hiring
her as a contributor because of major backlash from some of its biggest anchors.
I find the decision to put her on the payroll inexplicable.
They say that it wasn't because McDaniel is a Republican,
but because she helped promote Donald Trump's lies
about the 2020 presidential election
and assisted in efforts to overturn the results.
Trump posted on true social, wow.
Ron and McDaniel got fired by fake news and B.C.
It leaves her in a very strange place.
It's called, Never, Never, Never Land.
And it's not a place you want to be. Never, Never, Neverland?
Where does that come from?
Does Trump think that's an unemployment office for Peter Pan?
I mean, maybe Trump sees a kinship in Tinker Bell in that if enough people don't clap for him, he dies?
I don't know.
Although Trump can't be too mad about it,
the only reason she was available in the first place
is that he fired her from the RNC a few weeks ago.
Yes, Rana McDaniel lasted just five days at NBC,
which is less screen time than dead bodies on law and order gets.
This is sad for Rana, but also,
I don't really give a shit.
There's a lot more important things to worry about.
I mean, P. Diddy is on the loose.
He can be anyway, you know?
But the Rana-McDaniels situation does point to a larger question in America,
which is, what should happen with the people who did January 6th. You may remember, back when January 6th, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the the th, the the the the thi, the the the the theeeeeeeeeeeeeeateeeeat, theeeeat, theeeeeeat, the th with the people who did January 6.
You may remember, back when January 6th happened, there wasn't much of a question about this at all.
Everyone who was not wearing horns agreed.
The people who did this had to be punished for it.
Even the guy who they were wearing the horns for agreed that there had to be consequences for their violent actions.
Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness, and mayhem.
America is and must always be a nation of law and order.
The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy.
To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction,
you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay.
You hear that? People who broke the law? You're going to pay for that. So says the person
who told you to break the law. It's a bit like Tim Cook coming out and being like,
who are these people wearing the Vision Pro?
You look like idiots.
Okay, so basically everyone agreed.
January 6th, bad.
And justice needed to play out.
And the good news is, justice did play out.
The fake electors were charged.
Trump's lawyers are being disbarred,
hundreds of rioters were arrested and put in jail, and it's still continuing today. Just
in the past couple weeks, a man was charged for firing a gun during the riots, and a geophysicist
who stormed the Capitol was sentenced to five years in prison. So if you ever thought
you weren't smarter than a geophysicist?
Good dude.
And you know what?
If you don't mind, if you don't, I might indulge, to that geophysicic
fluvial sequence to analyze remnant magnetization. Now you're locked up up bitch. It's been pent up for a long time.
As the wheels of justice turned and life moved on,
most people moved on to other things, which makes sense. Other shit happened.
We had the rest of the pandemic, there was inflation.
Two famous people decided to date each other. How could we focus on anything else? We can be forgiven for moving on. But Trump and the
MAGA movement didn't forget about January 6th. In fact, they've been rewriting.
And I have no problem saying that these January 6th defendants are being treated like
political prisoners of war.
The DOJ is harassing, har harassing peaceful patriots across the country.
They're not destroying the capital.
They obviously revere the capital.
They're there because they believe the election was stolen from them.
They believe in the system.
Convicted January 6th, rioter is free this morning, and now they own an honorary
American flag, a gift from a Texas Republican congressman.
Dr. Simone Gold was released from prison on Friday and Congressman Louis Gohmert was there
to present her with the flag.
You know, I'm no history buff, but she was in the, she was the loser in a failed insurrection.
If you, if you were going to present her with the flag, it probably should have been
this flag. I think. I think.
I think.
No one has reversed his position on the Trump mob as hard as Donald Trump himself.
He went from demanding that these criminals go to prison to promising that he's going
to get these heroes out of prison.
Trump called those now serving prison sentences hostages and patriots.
You see the spirit from the hostages and that's what they are as hostages.
Suggesting he'd pardon them as soon as he gets back into office.
The first day we get into office, we're going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots and they were unbelievable patriots and are,
release the J6 hostages, Joe.
Release them, Joe.
You can do it, Joe.
You can do it, Joe.
They're hostages, Joe.
Come on, Joe.
I wouldn't call convicted criminals hostages.
Although if MAGA wants to treat them as hostages, we can have a hostage exchange. I'm happy to release them to release to release to release to release to release to release them them them them them them the to release the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their they they they they they their their the J. Release they they they they the J. Release the J. Release the J. Release they the J. Release they the J. Release the J. Release the J. Release they the J. Release they they they they they they they they they they they. Release they. Release they. Release they. Although if MAGA wants to treat them as hostages, we can have a hostage exchange.
I'm happy to release them if they can give us the, I don't know, old Kanye back, you know?
Just spitball in here.
Well, that's how far Trump is gone.
He's turning these January 6 rioters into victims and patriots and innocent choir boys.
I mean, literally choir boys. There is a group
of January 6 rioters in prison who have started a choir and they released a
version of the Star Spangled Banner that Donald Trump features on. And now Donald
Trump's rallies begin like this. Ladies and gentlemen please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6 tosstages.
Oh, they can you see it?
That's a dramatic way to kick off an event.
At the next Super Bowl, I want to hear,
ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly
and unfairly treated Kelly Roland.
She's just as talented as Biance.
It's not her fault.
She wasn't as strategic with her career.
I mean, look, we can't normalize this.
Do you remember when he wasted three months of our lives being mad at Colin Kappernick
for kneeling for the National Anthem?
Now he's saluting rioters, insurrectionists, and even worse, a cappella singers.
And the f-f-dler didn't even take off his hat.
But that's where we are now.
And Rhonda McDaniel, trying to get a job at NBCC, isthe latest example of Jan Sixers trying to get back
into the mainstream.
Remember the guy with the horns, the Shaman?
Guess what he's up to now?
He's been known by many names, Jacob Chansley, Jake Anjaly, and Q&Amon, among others.
But now, Jacob Anjaly chanseli hopes to be known by a new name, congressman. As a congressman, I will have a platform to highlight not just
these problems, but the real solutions that we have to solve them. Real solutions!
What solutions could you possibly have? Social Security is in trouble? Have you tried beating it with a flagpole?
Here's the point. This is not just a fight for how to remember the
past. The people who did January 6th are trying to get back in power. If they lose, they'll
do January 6th again. If they win, they'll probably still do January 6th again, just for old
time's sake. And the rest of us need to decide, are we just going to let them? Are we going to draw the line at treason and tell them that in this country there is still justice and democracy and these
are the values we not only stand behind, we also salute them.
Oh, theat. Maybe we can get the original version, please? Please.
When we come back, we'll find out if RFK Jr. can save us.
Stick around.
Hey everybody, John Stewart here.
I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday.
We're going to be ell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out
every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election. Earnings calls. What are they
talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread
ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them
come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show
with John Stewart, wherever Indecision 2024.
Let's talk about the leading candidate for president of Narnia, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
He's been running a strong third in the race for president, and yesterday he found out
who has the honor of coming in third with him.
RFK Jr. has named his running mate at a campaign rally yesterday.
Her name, Nicole Shanahan, she's only 38 years old, an Oakland California native, a tech
entrepreneur who was donated to Democratic presidential campaigns and was formally married
to Google co-founder, Sergei Brim. She is a Silicon Valley lawyer and philanthropist who is expected to Democratic presidential campaigns and was formally married to Google co-founder, Sergei Brim.
She is a Silicon Valley lawyer and philanthropist
who is expected to infuse her own personal wealth
into the campaign.
The purpose of wealth is to help those in need.
She did give $4 million to help pay for RFK Junior's recent Super Bowl ad.
That's right. The independent outsider taking on the political and corporate power structure
decided to run for president with his sugar daddy.
Although to be fair, he didn't just pick her because she's willing to spend $4 million
to get him elected. He also had much dumber reasons.
I wanted a vice president who shared my passion for wholesome, healthy foods, chemical-free,
for regenerative agriculture, for good soils.
I also wanted someone who was an athlete, who could help me inspire Americans to heal,
to get them back in shape, and I'm happy to report
that my vice president or a gym coach?
Who cares if she surfs?
There's never been a crisis in American history that required the VP to shred the NAR.
By the way, a softball scholarship is not the boast you think it is.
Hey, this lady got into college, but not for being smart.
So RFK Jr. he has his running mate.
But is she who his supporters wanted?
Yesterday we set our own Michael Costa to Oakland to find out.
I'm here in Oakland California at an RFK junior campaign event where he's set to announce his vice presidential running mate.
It's exciting.
I'm unvaxed, I'm unwaxed, and I'm ready to go.
It was just a few hours before the big announcement and people were excited about a short
list of incredibly credible candidates.
I think Aaron Rogers is also an amazing.
Aaron Rogers just because he's also he's also he's also anti-mandatory vaccines.
I really like how Aaron Rogers stood up and spoke out against the COVID tyranny.
Aaron Rogers is the only guy with experience the Joe Rogan experience.
Tony Robbins. Yeah, I saw Tony Robbins up there.
Tony Robbins. Can you imagine a cabinet meeting being like if you can see it you can believe it? We can do it. Totally we need that kind of energy. I think it's easy the the the the the th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. the. to. to. to. today. today. today. to. to. to. to. to to. th do it that totally you know we need that kind of energy I think it's easy for
people in the mainstream media to discount RFK juniors candidacy but when
you look around this is a pretty serious event so which property brother
do you think he's gonna pick for a vice president these were serious choices for serious supporters
I am a conspiracy theorist great I am a conspiracy theorist I am a conspiracy theorist or factualist as you have it.
So which one of RFK Jr's policy, excuse me, conspiracy theories do you also track with?
His work looking into vaccines and the issues of vaccines.
How quickly after you get vaccinated do you get autism?
Oh that I don't know.
Okay. So first off, conspiracy theory. What is a conspiracy? I don't know? I don't know. I don't know. I'm. I'm the th th th th the the th th th th to to the to the the the to the to the the the the the the the the the th. I'm th. I'm the the the the they. they. they. they. the policy. the policy. they. they. they. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. the policy. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You to to to to to th. I th. I th. I to th. I to to. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the th. to. don't know. Okay. So first off, conspiracy theory.
What is a conspiracy?
I don't know.
You don't know what a conspiracy is?
I mean, I have some ideas.
Did you go to school?
Not really.
You kidding me?
For media?
They just kind of give you this credential.
Look at.
I wore the suit.
I got this. learn a little bit about conspiracies. Earth, flat or sphere?
Spear.
Moon landing, real or fake?
Mmm, probably fake.
Female orgasm, real or fake?
Could be fake, could be real.
Well, that's not helping me.
Since none of this was really helping me, I was glad when it finally came time
to hear the big announcement.
There's something in the air right now along with with all the cancer-causing Wi-Fi,
and its excitement.
I'm proud to introduce to all of you
the next vice president of the United States of America,
Nicole Shanahan.
Called it.
That's right.
An IP lawyer in the digital space,
who funded RFFK Junior's
multi-million dollar Super Bowl commercial somehow beat out the host of
dirty jobs, a truly historic moment. How exciting is this? We have a complete
ticket and the VP candidate is? Nicole Shanahan. And that is? Depressing.
When they announced her name in there, people
were going crazy, certainly Googling, who is this person? We all are. Okay, what's
your initial thoughts? Don't know much. I guess I was a little disappointed when
I heard and I didn't really know who she was. Yeah. I mean I think I vaguely had the name Nicole. Right. And I know the name Shannahan but I didn't know them together. the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the their. the their. the the the the the the the their. the the the the name. the name. the name. Who. Who. Who. the I know the name Nicole, and I know the name Shannahan, but I didn't know them
together.
So I guess Aaron Rogers is out of luck and a lot of other potential feaves.
I thought he would pick maybe like an inside politics like black woman.
That's who I thought he would pick.
Let's name our favorite inside politic black woman on the count of three.
Ready, one two, three, tho. There's a th. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th of three. Ready? One, two, three, you start. Oh, there's a bunch of them, but yeah, got it. Maybe Oprah.
That would be a good pick. Probably couldn't get her.
I know Oprah, but I had one more easy question for these truly engaged supporters.
Do you feel that Nicole Shanahan is a step in the same direction as RFK Junior? Don't know. Looks like these RFK fans are going to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to their fans their fans to their fans to their fans their fans to their fans their fans their fans their fans their fans the same direction as RFK Junior?
Don't know. Looks like these RFK fans are gonna have to do a bit more of their own research.
Thank, Michael.
We come back.
Byron Towell, we join me out of the show.
Don't go away. Hey everybody, John Stewart here.
I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday.
We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls.
What are they talking about on these earnings calls?
We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as
far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the
weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the Daily Show.
My guest tonight is an investigative reporter at Notus, whose new book is called Means
of Control, How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is creating a new American
surveillance state.
Please welcome Byron Tau.
Byron Tau.
By the welcome, folks.
Thank you for coming.
By run.
By run., run.
My run.
I got...
This book scared me, okay?
This book scared me.
Okay?
I gotta be real honest.
It's scared me.
It's fascinating.
I don't want to scare people away,
but there was a lot of revelatory things in here.
Now, I... I have some skepticism and I understand that technology,
a lot of times, these tech world, these tech apps,
they're tracking me.
They have a lot of data.
I understand the government.
Maybe not always above board.
But you found a way to put these two together.
Like a ham and cheese sandwich their paranoia. And tell me, I feel like a lot of this starts, what started to
surprise me, starts here at these digital advertising exchanges, right?
Start with me there. What do I need to understand about a digital advertising
exchange? Sure. So that banner ad that you see every time you load an app or a
website, that's tracking you in more ways than one. Every time you load
something like that and you see a little display ad, you're their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thi thi tracking you in more ways than one. Every time you load something like that and you see a little display ad, you're actually
passing a ton of information back to these technology companies that are vacuuming it up, they're
collecting it, they're trying to build profiles of you, and there are thousands of them
that are all getting this data every time you load an app. And some of those entities are actually saving thaaeee thiiiiii thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi it it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's thi, it, it's thi, it's thi, it, it's thi, it, it's thi, it, it, it, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, their their their their thi, thi, their thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, it, it, it, it, it, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi thi thi thi thi thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's thiiii's thi's their their their their thithis data every time you load an app. And some of those entities are actually saving that data.
They're brokering it.
It's become a big business model.
So they're selling it to other entities.
So whenever you give a weather app permission
to know your location,
your location is actually being passed back to this mind-nummingly complex system
of digital advertising.
And there are
thousands of parties there that can collect it even if they're not the one
that serves to the ad and so a lot of data is saved and resold. And so what
you're telling me here is well some of that I assume right I open up that
weather app oh it knows it's cold here it's gonna sell me a parka right it also knows that I'm cheap p-so thee th th be a cheap parka, right? These are what these phones do. You talk about, the government has decided,
well, fuck it, we can use this too, right? I'm okay with Nike pouncing on me and selling
me these shoes for my gout-riddled feet. Perhaps I share too much, they share too
much they already know. But how is the government is the government is the government is the government is the government is the government is the government is the government is the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government is the government is the government is the government is the government, the government is the government, the government, the government, their, their, their, their, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, the government, their, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how's, how's, how's, how's, their, their, the government getting in on this action? Sure, so there's a lot of ways government gets data from things like digital advertisers.
So sometimes they just buy it from these data brokers that sit there and they slurp it all
up and they sell it.
Sometimes government contractors set up things like things that look like marketing companies,
and they get access to these ad networks and they provide the data to the government. Sometimes governments, th things things things things things things things things things things things things things th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the th th th thatts thatts thatts thatts thate tho thatts thatts thate. So, tho their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea. thea. toge. the. thea. thi. thi. thea. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi the data to the government. Sometimes governments hack into these systems.
So there's lots and lots of ways for governments to get data off of these networks and often
they just simply need to open their wallets and buy it.
Is this legal?
This is by and large considered legal because when the government acts as a buyer in
a consumer market. Lawyers have tended to take the position that you've lost the government acts as a buyer in a consumer market, lawyers have
tended to take the position that you've lost the reasonable expectation of
privacy that's core to your Fourth Amendment rights, right? Like you've already
told something like a digital advertiser or a bank or some other company,
something about yourself or the information that you're generating, so what privacy
interest do you have in it? And if it's available for sale,
and the government's buying it, just like any other buyer,
most lawyers have blessed these kind of programs.
You go into the apps like Grinder,
and initially as, in the book,
thuke, no judgment, No judgment. No judgment. No judgment. No judgment. No judgment.
In the book you talk about, Ablate Grinder, right, and how that data was suddenly being
used for nefarious purposes.
And you even talk about a Catholic blog, essentially, that purges information on a bishop, and
then publishes that and outs that bishop and gets that bishop fire, right?
Is that some of the, like, what are some of the examples examples the examples the examples the examples the examples examples the? Is that some of the, like what are some of the examples of these nefar-
these, this information mean used for nefarious purposes?
Yeah, so with that grinder example, it's not that grinder is out there selling its users
data, it's that grinder wants to serve ads to its users like many other apps, but when you serve ads you are exposing theeee, you are thiiiiiiiiii. thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. This information thi. thi. thi, this information this information this information this information this information this information this information this information this information thi, thi, thi this information thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. This thi. This thi. This information thi. This information thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. theeananananniiiiiii. thiii. thiiii. This information thii. This information thi. thi. This information to these thousands of advertisers, these entities that
can collect this information, and again, some of them sell it.
And some of them sell it to people that they don't look very closely at.
And so in this instance, there were a bunch of Catholic journalists who had received tips
from people who had acquired this data through purchasing it, and they were going
around and they were saying something like, you know, we have a lead on some priests that might be using Grindr and violating their vows.
And one of those journalists bid on it and published a story about this and this Catholic
official had to resign.
And this is true of not just Grindr, but basically any appare, where we share our location and that wants to service banner advertising, we're sharing a to' that-and, and, and, and, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, and, their, and, and, their, and, and, their, and, their, their, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thea.ea.e.ea.ea.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e. And, their, we're sharing a ton of data with them and whoever's out there and is, you know,
has access to it, can buy it.
Now, you mentioned something here at the end of the book,
talking about the recent DOPS decision, right?
And right now, access to abortion services is limited in some states.
People are crossing state lines to get that. Is the type of thing that you that you that you that you that you that you that that that thi thii thiiii thiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thoanananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananan an tho, tho, thoananananthe state lines to get that. Is this the type of thing that you see as a harbinger for a tactic or a tool for states to purchase
through advertisers, ways in which to track people potentially committing what they see
as a crime?
Yeah, it's certainly possible that state governments who have decided that they want to
make abortion unlawful and want to even take the step of potentially, you know, seeing what residents travel out of state.
The sheer amount of data that's sloshing around
about all of us all the time is a target for states like that.
And it's entirely possible that states could either purchase data,
or, you know, if they're going to go down the root of criminalizing
traveling out of state for abortion, they could simply subpoena it or go to court for it.
And so it really does make it hard to move around the world anonymously these days, just
because of all the data that we all generate every day.
You talk about the privilege of disappearing.
And you also talk, I mean, I guess I hear this, and I understand it, and it scares me, but I also, on understand, on the other, on the other, on the other, and I understand, and I understand, and I understand, and I understand, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and I understand, and it, and I understand, and I understand, and I understand, and I understand, and, and, and I understand, and it s, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th., th., th., th., th., th., the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th...... And, th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the the the other hand, think, like, can we avoid this? Is this sort of the world we are in right now?
And as a journalist, as an investigative journalist,
there's an element of secrecy, at least assumed
with some of the conversations you have or what have you.
In the book, you talk about you even went to go purchase a car.
And somebody who's researching a book about the ways in which that ties you to location.
How do you go about a process of purchasing that
and be an investigative journalist who cares about secrecy?
Well, the poor Hyundai dealership that I walked into
had no idea what they were getting into.
They're like, oh great, another investigative journalist on data.
They didn't even know how to answer the questions I was asking. So, you know, I eventually made them go get a car from like two states over that didn't
even have the little cell chip that can transmit the data.
Because what, so you walk in there, I just think it's a car, it's a car, but you're
talking about the cell chips, essentially, like, the Bluetooth is actually are broadcasting a little radio signal constantly.
And it's meant, it's there to tell the car central computer that your tire pressure is low.
Perfectly reasonable safety mechanism.
But clever governments have figured out, hey, a tire is a proxy for a car.
That tire is screaming a unique identifier all the time.
If we put a little sensor here, a little sensor there, a little sensor under a bridge, A little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a little sensor in a the the the the the the the the the the the the the tunnel a tunne, a tunne, a tunne, a tunne. tie, tie, tie, tie, a tie, thea, thea, thea, thea, and a thea, and a thea, and a thea, and a thea, and a, and a the, and a the, and a the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, tiea, theaer, theaer, theaer, tieer, theaer, theaer, theaer, thea in a tunnel, we can track cars around based on their car tires.
And car companies don't seem to realize that this is a vector for tracking and have never
done anything to make these vehicles or make these systems work better for privacy.
And they can sell that information to insurance companies?
Yeah, so a lot there's a big controversy now about selling car data to insurance companies.
So car companies like GM were doing that and they recently said they were stopping selling
it to data brokers that were selling it to insurance companies.
For public safety purposes, it seems like governments are putting up these little sensors
that might be able to track either your license plate reader or your car tires or both or all sorts of other things this that I to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi. thi. So, thi. So, thi. So, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so. their, so. their, so. their, so....... their, so, so, so, so, so, so, and, so, and, and, and, and, and, so, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the license plate reader or your car tires or both or all sorts of other things that I don't even know about yes but yes this is
entirely possible. So you have to take extra steps as an investigative journalist to
keep this anonymity. Yeah and there are things that ordinary people can do, right?
You can be a little bit more careful with the permissions on your phone, you know, not every game needs access to your 24-7 location location location location location location location location location location to location to to to to to to to to to to to to to, to, to, the the the to, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, their, their, th, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, and, and, their, and, their, their, th, their, th, th, their, thiiiii.e. And, thiiii. And, thiii. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, every game needs access to your 24-7 location, your photo
roll, and all this data about you, right? Like, you it'll work just fine
without it. You know, every time you open the Uber app, you don't need to let it
have your geolocation, you need to type the address that you're at. You know,
so you can do small things to reclaim privacy and make sure that, you know, parties that don't need your data don't get it. Now, as I read this, I thought about this, about secrecy, about ways in which you can take small steps.
And then I saw your acknowledgments. And in your acknowledgments, you were very grateful the people who help you write this book.
And you said, the first words of this book were written on an Amtrak train between DC and New York. A full chapter outline was completed at a rented farmhouse in Risersdown, Maryland in January 2022. The final few weeks of
writing this first draft were spent in New York City at the work heights on
Franklin Avenue. This is remarkably specific.
For someone who's worried about location. Nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. Well it's a good read, it scared
the bejesus out of me, I appreciate it. Means of Control is available now by
Rintau. We're gonna take a quickell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday.
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