survelliance

[almaty 19]

i am going to remember what the orginal poster spouse said..and try it in my household if an argument starts

[john_and_marlene 162]

My husband and I are applying for his green card. We got into an argument recently and he accused me of starting the argument and jeopardizing his chances for a green card. He says that the immigration dept. has immigrants under survellance (calling the apartment manager to get info on us, microphones, etc.). He usually talks that way and I just said he was being paranoid, but now i wonder if the immigration dept. really does use survellance to see about immigrants and their sponsors?

I think tracking people was the responsibility of the phone company before the monopoly breakup. I'm not sure how they divided the "big brother" responsibilities afterwards.

Don't take my response seriously (I'm only kidding ... honest!)

[mawilson 2,133]

Anyone notice how the OP spelled "surveillance"?

Survelliance = Orwellian + surveillance?

[Carol&Marc 0]

my webcam has a secret government installed microchip, that sends a signal to the government! just put a towel over it! you will be fine thats what i do.

[DouglasSheridan 1]

LOL gotta love this topic!

Having said that, I become a bit more paranoid since moving here for sure... certain websites I dont log onto anymore (and no I aint referring to porn LOL) but I dont know, mostly stuff like song downloads. I notice an article in the paper recently how a Mom got prosecuted for her son downloading for free of the web and therefore I been watching my step, plus my guy always says 'be careful big bro is watching' so perhaps it is just a guy's technique to avoid a row..... hmmmmmmm.....LOL

[Steffi 0]

I am sure USCIS does not have their act together enough to operate a program such as this.

Amen to that! Haha.

Considering the mess they've made of my case and through our dealings with the various departments there's no way they can pull that off.

So you think they sneak in your house while you're at work to place the cameras?

[Mand 1]

Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you y'know

[mawilson 2,133]

LOL gotta love this topic!

Having said that, I become a bit more paranoid since moving here for sure... certain websites I dont log onto anymore (and no I aint referring to porn LOL) but I dont know, mostly stuff like song downloads. I notice an article in the paper recently how a Mom got prosecuted for her son downloading for free of the web and therefore I been watching my step, plus my guy always says 'be careful big bro is watching' so perhaps it is just a guy's technique to avoid a row..... hmmmmmmm.....LOL

If you are running a Microsoft OS, download PeerGuardian. It's a nice little proggy - basically a firewall -

that blocks the computers of government agencies and anti-P2P firms so they can't find out what songs

you're downloading or sharing. A lot of people work hard to keep the list up-to-date, and PeerGuardian

updates the list automatically.

[russ 1]

The NSA can monitor telephone calls without putting a microphone in your house. They claim to have limited this practice to overseas calls where terrorism was suspected. This was, and is done without a warrant.

I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories either and I am sure USCIS does not have their act together enough to operate a program such as this.

The NSA can (and does) monitor international telephone calls. This isn't new - they have done this for ages. It would be reasonable to assume that they have computerized most of this - doing signals analysis on the calls. I would guess that they convert them to text databases and later search them.

If you have been watching the news lately, the big deal with the Patriot act has been the expansion of this listening to include domestic calls between US Citizens (this is of questionable legality). It is happening now.

There have also been "National Security Letters." These are requests for financial and customer information. They have an automatic gag order attached, so no one really knows what they are requesting and from whom. An educated guess would be that they are requesting millions of records from major banks, as it is known that the banks have complained about how much it costs them to provide this data to the Govt.

As for spying on average people, I would doubt it, but it wouldn't suprise me. Of course, they would not use this information against you in an immigration case (why show thier hand, what they are capable of, unless it is necessary.) Besides, married people have fights and arguments. If that were somehow against the rules, they would be very busy deporting most of the country.

BTW, there are very good (and free) encryption products if you don't want the NSA or anyone else listening in on your telephone calls. The NSA and CIA even encourage their use. You are probably breaking the law using them with certain countries (North Korea, Cuba, Iran etc)

PGP for email, and ssh tunnels for VOIP traffic are strong. Enough that the GOVT can not feasibly listen in on them.

As an academic note - there are forms of encryption that are not possible to break. One time pads are one such method (these were used by the Soviets during WWII). Obviously, they were never broken.

[planeobsessed 0]

oh my goodness, and I thought I was the most paranoid SOB out there

This thread is hilarious, I love that excuse to get out of an arguement... I will try to use it next time...

This is why I love VJ, everyone (almost) is going through the same thing (emotions etc.)

----

as to the question of if govt is spying on us reagarding our immigration or our spouse's immigration situation... I highly doubt that. (and thats coming from a paranoid SOB)

Does the government have the ability? Ofcourse...

Are they using this ability to spy on poor souls like us? ... I am guessing a married couple having an arguement (regardless of their immigration status) probably doesnt take precedence over terrorism or other greater threats... just my guess. perhaps we underestimate the number of immigration cases there are like us...

Now if your spouse/fiance(e) is suspected of being a terrorist, involved in human/drug trafficking or something else of that sort, then maybe you are at a risk of govt. spying on you ... then again if that were the case he/she wouldn't have made it this far.

which is basically the same thing most other Vj'rs have said, just adding my 0.02 cents

[john_and_marlene 162]

I recommend aluminum foil hats

[Mirorgate 0]

I recommend aluminum foil hats

No doubt. And I don't mean gwen n co either.

[CWR 0]

I debated whether to add my question to the replies but here it is:

Am I the only one who is looking at the relationship angle as well....?

If my husband would accuse me of "starting an argument and thus jeopardizing his chances for the Greencard" it would not make me really happy. I would be hurt that instead of centering on the cause of the argument, being concerned about the relationship (= about my feelings) and trying to get rid of the argument, he would seem to be more concerned about not getting his Greencard....

Of course, the only information about the situation was that one short sentence in the original posting so maybe I'm just being overly sensitive?

In that case, I would go with the aluminum foil hats as well

[john_and_marlene 162]

I debated whether to add my question to the replies but here it is:

Am I the only one who is looking at the relationship angle as well....?

If my husband would accuse me of "starting an argument and thus jeopardizing his chances for the Greencard" it would not make me really happy. I would be hurt that instead of centering on the cause of the argument, being concerned about the relationship (= about my feelings) and trying to get rid of the argument, he would seem to be more concerned about not getting his Greencard....

Of course, the only information about the situation was that one short sentence in the original posting so maybe I'm just being overly sensitive?

In that case, I would go with the aluminum foil hats as well

a layer of aluminum foil will reduce sensitivity

[Steffi 0]

Am I the only one who is looking at the relationship angle as well....?

Yes, I suppose that did strike me as well.