Lara Logan: There are no 'consequences' for Big Tech companies collecting data
Lara Logan sits down with a white hat hacker to discuss privacy issues and how Big Tech responds to data breaches.
Trusting our electronic devices, even though we know they are collecting our data, has become the "joke we’re all in on," according to Lara Logan in her most recent season of "Lara Logan Has No Agenda" on Fox Nation. But this mass harvesting of data could turn out to be much more dangerous than we think.
Logan sat down with a white hat hacker, who spoke anonymously to discuss how the government and private companies and adversaries around the world are collecting and using data and the dire consequences this could have for individuals and the nation.
"To us, it’s just information. But it’s used as intelligence," Logan said. "Ask any spy. We think this is a phone. That’s what we were sold. But it’s really a surveillance device that makes calls."
She went on to explain that every smart device is used as a data-collection device, tracking our movements and habits.
"When you hear smart in front of anything, it doesn’t mean you," she said. "It means your dishwasher is no longer just for washing dishes. It’s also for spying."
The hacker Logan spoke with said these bits of data are used to compile a comprehensive picture of a person’s life and can be used for identity theft or worse.
"There are probably trillions of records out there that are available," he said. "So you can take bits and pieces of these different things and bring them together and create a profile, pattern of life, almost down to their daily schedule. So becoming them becomes easy – or just completely destroying their lives."
But for America, a lack of data security could be much worse than the identity theft of select individuals. He said that electronic components made in China offer a backdoor that no password, fingerprint, or biometric protection can stop, leading to a "silent war" with adversaries around the world.
Logan asked how many countries the United States is at "war [with] right now in a silent war."
"I would say five main ones, and then probably 10 overall," the white hat hacker responded. "China’s the biggest threat, no matter what."
This threat from China, Logan noted, can be clearly seen in the doctrine of "Unrestricted Warfare," a book published by two Chinese colonels almost 20 years ago. She said the strategy laid out is "fighting [America] on every front, from cybersecurity to outer space to inner cities where Americans are overdosing on drugs like Fentanyl."
The hacker said that he has been following this strategy and the growing tensions with China closely.
"The craziest thing that’s happened is allowing them into our power grid," he noted. "At some point, they’re going to have a switch on the other side of the world where they can turn out the lights."
Logan noted that the situation would mean no cell towers, no Wi-Fi, no thermostats, no smart devices. Everything would be gone.
"Everything’s gone," the hacker said. "They can take out the grid. The DOD did an essentially war game on that and within three weeks, everything comes to a halt."
Logan warned of the dangers of Big Tech, smart devices, algorithms, and more on Fox Nation’s "Lara Logan Has No Agenda."
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