Welcome to the twentieth episode of Dan Fournier’s Down the Rabbit Hole podcast.
Guest: Gabriel
I'm just an average man with an average life
I work from nine to five, hey, hell, I pay the price
All I want is to be left alone in my average home
But why do I always feel like I'm in The Twilight Zone? And
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
And I have no privacy
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
Tell me, is it just a dream?
When I come home at night
I bolt the door real tight
People call me on the phone, I'm trying to avoid
But can the people on TV see me, or am I just paranoid?
When I'm in the shower, I'm afraid to wash my hair
'Cause I might open my eyes and find someone standing there
People say I'm crazy, just a little touched
But maybe showers remind me of Psycho too much, that's why
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
And I have no privacy
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
Who's playing tricks on me?
- Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me, 1983
The lyrics from the Rockwell’s 1983 song resonate today just as they did when they were written over four decades ago, especially given the massive increases in surveillance which have resulted in an all-out assault on our privacy.
Over this time period, we have ceded so much of our personal information over to Big Tech, the government, and other unscrupulous actors, and it shows little signs of stopping any time soon.
We thus must ask ourselves: How do we stop it, or at least slow it down?
Well, this podcast is about that. First though, we need to become more aware and cognizant of just how much of our personal information is being voluntarily shared, leaked, stolen, and exploited and by whom in order to know how to better safeguard it.
Gabriel is a talented expert in all things cybersecurity, Digital ID, tech laws & standards, and other “tools of the technocracy,” as he likes to call them.
Have a listen at this fascinating podcast which can help you better understand what, and who, we are up against, and what solutions are available to help us build our digital armour against technocracy tyrants.
Alternative Podcast Links, listen on:
Spreaker (download the .mp3 for later listening)
Show Time Stamps
[00:00 to 00:54] Podcast intro.
[00:55 to 02:08] Welcoming Gabriel.
[02:09 to 09:57] For the first question, I ask Gabriel about his excellent article The Cyber Rebellion Won't Be Tokenized which discusses how governments have secured more power than ever before and that cyberspace is on a trajectory to be consolidated within a handful of massive tech giants. Specifically, I ask him what he means by “the cyber resistance was being manipulated out of the game.”
[09:58 to 18:14] The same article also alludes to the fact that there are social engineers that are working behind the scenes steering online behaviours. So, I ask Gabriel to expand on this aspect.
[18:15 to 23:35] Here I ask my guest if sees a chance where we can have a chance at eventually bringing about decentralised private digital money to counter Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) that the technocratic globalists have in store for us.
[23:36 to 31:40] Next, I ask Gabriel to expand on an article he linked to in his recent Cyber News Roundup from his Substack. The article, from CNET, is titled ‘Personhood Credentials: Everything to Know About the Proposed ID for the Internet’. I also referred to a similar article that referenced this proposed Digital or Internet ID system – under the cloaked name of “personhood credentials’ (so as to obfuscate their real intent). (see Show Notes below for more on this topic)
[31:41 to 42:34] Sticking with the topic of Digital IDs, I refer to a recent article Google Meets Digital ID as Chrome Pushes Controversial Tech and ask Gabriel his take on whether such web-based “digital credentials” could act as an indirect means to identify us online – wherever we may roam.
[42:35 to 48:36] In this segment, I ask Gabriel for his take on the huge global outage whereby millions of Microsoft-based computer systems – at airports, hospitals, and businesses – basically crashed this past July. This was supposedly caused by a software update to antivirus and security product from CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity technology company.
[48:37 to 59:04] Here I ask Gabriel what he’s seeing in his circles with regards to a possible malicious large-scale cyber attack event – be it one of the false flag or legit kind.
[59:05 to 1:07:22] As I had tweeted about a multi-country coordinated effort lead by the UK and their Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) to basically censor the masses, I ask our guest what his take on it is.
[1:07:23 to 1:13:27] On another front, we always find the United Nations in on everything pertaining to Digital IDs and censorship. This time, Cecilie Jilkova from the Brownstone Institute showcases an ongoing UN power grab: The Foreboding UN Convention on Cybercrime. So, I ask Gabriel what his thoughts are on this UN draft.
[1:13:28 to 1:17:38] Next, I ask Gabriel what are some simple tips with regards to cybersecurity that ordinary people can follow.
[1:17:39 to 1:21:33] Also with regards to solutions, Gabriel offers some suggestions on what people can do should a cyber event occur which could bring down the internet or power grid.
[1:21:34 to 1:23:22] Where people can find Gabriel online and help support his work.
[1:23:42 to 1:26:19] Outro (song) - White Rabbit by Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane.
Show Notes
“Personhood Credentials” – a cloaked moniker for Digital IDs?
During the podcast, I cited articles from both CNET and ReclaimTheNet.org which describe an ambitious project that appears to be one whose goal is to bring about a Digital or Internet ID.
CNET – Personhood Credentials: Everything to Know About the Proposed ID for the Internet, Sept. 2, 2024
ReclaimTheNet.org – Big Tech’s Latest “Fix” for AI Panic Is To Push a Digital ID Agenda, Sept. 9, 2024
Both articles link to the research paper which explores this potential Digital ID project which was authored by people from Microsoft, Open AI, MIT, Harvard & Oxford.
What caught my attention in the article and paper is the mention of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society (cyber.harvard.edu) – who were actually a group I identified as authors/participants in Canada’s infamous Bill C-63 censorship bill.
So, that’s a MAJOR red flag for me, especially given the fact that they identify themselves as an organisation that seeks to devise a “governance structure for the internet.”
Listen to Gabriel’s thoughts about this project and its participants from the 23:36 mark in the podcast.
Google & OpenID trying to create web-based “digital credentials”
What would censorship and Digital IDs be without a little help from Big Tech?
During our talk, I asked Gabriel to comment on the technical aspects of what Google seems to want to accomplish with its project to develop web-based “digital credentials” via its Chrome browser – the most widely used web browser in the world.
For background information, I cited yet another article from ReclaimTheNet.org: Google Meets Digital ID as Chrome Pushes Controversial Tech.
To put it simply, Google is developing this web-based “digital credentials” system into their API (application programming interface) whereby websites would require these digital credentials found in their Google wallets – which are initially sourced from a national ID card or driver’s license.
The article says that this new API relies on OpenID, an authentication protocol developed by the OpenID Foundation that has Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Verizon, Capital One, Visa, Mastercard among its corporate board members. Such members, needless to say, seem quite significant and noteworthy.
Also, given that the Chrome browser is integrated in most Smart Phones – whose operating system, Android, is also made by Google, this could pose a threat to users’ privacy and accessibility should the project see light.
Gabriel thus provides his technical insights regarding this project (listen from the 31:41 mark).
Multi-Country Coordinated Effort to Criminalise Free Speech and Crush Dissent
Another egregious power grab effort we talked about was one related to the UK’s Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU).
I tweeted about this on Sept. 16 warning of its secretive nature and detrimental outcomes, should its aims be pursued unimpeded.
GreenMedInfo recently published a good piece exposing the scheme: Breaking: International Governments Are Criminalizing Free Speech Through Global Coordination; New Files Expose Plot.
The United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries feature among partners in this secretive endeavour:
Here are a few screenshots that highlight the participants – which include NATO, NGOs, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)) involved in the project along with Key Takeaways:
With all the madness surrounding online censorship in the UK in recent months along with the imprisonment of individuals for their online posts, it’s perhaps easy to see where some of these egregious government clamp downs are coming from.
Listen from the 59:09 mark to get Gabriel’s analysis on this subject.
The United Nations’ Cybercrime Treaty
Finally, we have the United Nations’ effort – one of many – to clamp down on free speech.
Since 2021, the UN has been working on this “Cybercrime Treaty” called the Convention on Combating Cybercrime (click for PDF) and they just concluded a session last month on it in New York.
In a nutshell, it appears to just be yet another a mass surveillance grab.
The Brownstone Institute recently published an article titled The Foreboding UN Convention on Cybercrime which showcases the brashness of the supranational outfit’s bold effort to police speech around the world under the pretext of cybersecurity.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wrote about this treaty back in 2022, stating:
“EFF and Human Rights Watch, along with nearly 130 organizations and academics working in 56 countries, regions, or globally, urged members of the Ad Hoc Committee responsible for drafting a potential United Nations Cybercrime Treaty to ensure human rights protections are embedded in the final product. The first session of the Ad Hoc Committee is scheduled to begin on January 17th.”
There are multiple red flags with regards to this “Cybercrime Treaty” and Gabriel helps us understand it a little better (listen from the 1:07:23 mark).
In this segment, Gabriel mentioned that he listened to a recent informative podcast on the treaty by Lawfare Daily which can be accessed hereunder:
Rabbit Shorts
Social Engineers & The Cyber War
We often here about the social engineering that takes place online, particularly on social media platforms like X.
But who are these “social engineers?”
In Gabriel’s recent article The Cyber Rebellion Won't Be Tokenized he links to a fascinating article on the subject which explores the phenomenon.
This all ties into a greater “mind war” or “Cyber War,” as Gabriel puts it.
This clip introduces us to these important concepts that may very well be surreptitiously nudging our online responses and behaviours.
How to Prepare for a Coming Cyber Outage?
In this clip, Gabriel offers some advice on how to prepare for a possible cyber outage – whether it be a cyber attack or simply the electrical grid & internet going down for a few days or longer.
Signing Off
Special thanks to Gabriel for his insights talk.
You can learn more about his great work via the following resources:
His Substack Libre Solutions Network
His website libresolutions.network
What are your thoughts on the topics discussed in this podcast? What steps have you been taking to resist against the Technocracy? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Learn more about Dan Fournier’s Down the Rabbit Hole podcast and the meaning behind its name:
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See you next time.
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20. Building a Cyber-Resistance against Technocracy Tyrants, w/Gabriel