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You are here: Home / Science & Technology / Loving Big Brother, just this once

Loving Big Brother, just this once

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Julian Sanchez was burgled and thinks that possibly law enforcement can track down his stolen PS3 using its built-in tracking software that flags a stolen system’s IP:

In part because I spend my days thinking about the creepy potential of modern surveillance technologies—and warning against the potential harms of going too far with them—I now find myself hoping the DC police are prepared to go further down that avenue than seems to be customary for a garden variety burglary. If it does manage to get my PS3 back, though, I’ll be willing to love Big Brother just this once.

Sanchez does yeoman’s work exposing and analyzing the use of surveillance technology and the rise of surveillance architecture in modern society, so it’s certainly ironic to see him turn the whole thing on its head for a moment. The whole thing is worth a read.

Reader Interactions

44Comments

  1. 1.

    mistermix

    I’ll bet he recovers his 360, but it won’t be from the thieves, who have almost certainly sold it already, or have it stacked in a pile somewhere waiting to sell it.

  2. 2.

    rufflesinc

    There’s already cell phone sized GPS tracking devices so it’s really only a matter of time for the miniaturization to a thin patch sticker. Then you can track your own stuff without going through SONY and the police. In other words, JS’s gripe is that he’s relying on police surveillance to find his PS3. If he knew exactly where the PS3 was, he would merely have to tip off the police.

    http://www.amazon.com/Zoombak-ZMBK200-Advanced-Family-Locator/dp/B0014J61GI/ref=pd_cp_e_2

  3. 3.

    liberal

    Doubt the cops will “waste” their time with that.

    They couldn’t be bothered catching the thief who stole my wife’s credit card from her office by simply running some store tapes, so why would they be bothered with this?

  4. 4.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    And that, EDK, is why I can be against government intervention in general and still be OK with things like regulating alcohol with caffeine in it. Not everything is as cut and dry as “Government bad” or “Government good” because people aren’t either.

  6. 6.

    cleek

    i’ve seen this story on a few blogs today, and i’m still puzzled by the “surveillance” angle. it’s not surveillance, it’s just basic TCP/IP + using the PS3’s MAC address as a unique ID on gaming networks, right ?

  7. 7.

    catclub

    @rufflesinc:
    “Then you can track your own stuff without going through SONY and the police.”

    Ha, ha. That would be like letting you know how to access the blackbox in your car. nah gonna happen. It is not for you.

  8. 8.

    MattR

    @cleek: This was my understanding as well. I guess if you want to expand the definition of “Big Brother” to include companies monitoring how their products are used then maybe you can justify calling it surveillance but that is a stretch (EDIT: And Sony is not really actively monitoring the network for all PS3s. Just ones that are flagged by its users)

  9. 9.

    Judas Escargot

    @cleek:

    it’s not surveillance, it’s just basic TCP/IP + using the PS3’s MAC address as a unique ID on gaming networks, right ?

    Each Xbox360 has a unique identifier, which can’t be just the MAC address (since the console supports multiple interfaces, and the MAC address is an attribute of the ethernet/wireless interface, not of the machine itself).

    This ID is used to tie Xbox Live accounts (and purchased content) to specific consoles: And Microsoft does have the ability to ban any specific console from their Xbox Live network for life (one of many reasons you should never buy a used 360 from eBay). Get caught cheating at Halo a few times too many, and boom, your console’s banned.

    Don’t know the details for the PS3, but I’d be shocked if Sony didn’t have a very similar setup.

  12. 12.

    Zifnab

    If it does manage to get my PS3 back, though, I’ll be willing to love Big Brother just this once.

    The police surveillance system isn’t for you, though. It’s for protecting the folks that funded the system. If SONY loses a PS3, they’ll get it back. If you lose the PS3, you should buy another PS3 from SONY.

    That’s how the game has always worked.

  13. 13.

    jrg

    Not the IP address, the MAC address. Hardware MAC addresses are unique and fixed. IP addresses are not fixed.

  15. 15.

    Judas Escargot

    @MikeJ:

    The article is about PS3, and they specifically mention tracking it by MAC.

    I did get that part… but as I said, the MAC address identifies network interface hardware (ie a particular ethernet or wireless chip), not the console motherboard. That’d be true for Xbox, PS3, Wii, or your PC.

    My Xbox, for example, has only been attached to the network via ethernet cable. If you stole it and re-hooked it up to the net via wireless and never plugged in that ethernet cable again, I’d never be able to track you via MAC.

    Hell, if that system was behind the right kind of router, the ethernet MAC might not even be visible outside of the thief’s home network. Bastard.

    MS, however, can still identify that console uniquely, regardless of where it is or how it happens to be connected. Therefore, there must be another identifier in the system, somewhere (probably something as simple as having the unique serial number burned into its firmware).

    Since Sony can also lock content to a particular console, they must have a similar setup.

  16. 16.

    JK

    Maybe I am missing something but why don’t the police just go get a warrant (assuming this is a priority), which in my non-expert opinion they should be able to get as they have probably cause that the item was stolen (how is this different than low-jack or something like that). Then with a warrant they can track the system and arrest the person. The issue is not with legal surveillance it is with illegal surveillance. Get a warrant and it is legal! Funny how that works.

  17. 17.

    Ash Can

    @A Duck: While I wouldn’t put it that harshly, I have to say I agree with your basic idea. There’s something shallow and disingenuous going on here. I’d have far more respect for him if he were to use his experience as a teaching point and say something to the effect of “this is the price we’d have to pay for a surveillance-free society, and I have to be willing to pay it.” It’s only natural for people to change their tunes when it’s their own oxen on the spit, but it’s extra noticeable when a prominent crusader does it. We applaud it when the change is from bad actions to good, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

  18. 18.

    rufflesinc

    @catclub: Toyota, Ford, etc. built and installed the black box. You would buy a GPS tracker from some third company and install it yourself. Free market FTW?

  19. 19.

    catclub

    @rufflesinc:
    1. They put it in MY car. Why can’t I access it?

    2.I was wrong about the Zoombak, it does NOT go through the police, but it still goes through the company that sold it, which does not give me particularly warm fuzzies.
    Maybe I am more worried than I need be.

    If I had it my way, I would want the zoombak to be able to essentially dial in to an ethernet address that I specify to tell its location – not to the Zoombak people.

    Remember DWBH?

  22. 22.

    russell

    I’m with A Duck.

    This guy does “yeoman’s work” researching the dark underbelly of electronic surveillance, and he’s ready to throw in the towel for a freaking PlayStation?

    If that’s our Bulwark Against Big Brother, we might as well line up for the tattoos and RFID chip implants right now.

  23. 23.

    Schad

    @A Duck:

    Disagree, because Sanchez has what the true disciples lack: self-awareness. And as such, he frames the issue in such a way that it doesn’t undermine his thesis…which is that electronic tracking software might lead to positive results in some circumstances (like tracking down his stolen stuff), but taken as a whole the balance of effects is negative. Even if I disagree with that thesis, it’s an intellectually honest and reasonable argument.

  26. 26.

    Socraticsilence

    @Judas Escargot:

    A PS3 is a bit different- with its built in Wifi capability its connected directly to the net via. Cable is far, far less likely than it is with a PS3.

  27. 27.

    Julian Sanchez

    I hope it was clear that the last line there was tongue-in-cheek. I was amused that, as a result of spending a lot of time thinking about the potential dangers technological surveillance, I ended up quickly thinking of a couple ways the criminals could be tracked that the police didn’t seem familiar with. But it’s not like I’m suddenly changing any of my substantive views: I’ve never thought or argued there was anything inherently wrong with the methods I suggest in the post when they’re done with proper judicial oversight.

    As I note in an update to the post, I do think the standard for linking an IP address to a user ought to be higher than the mere subpoena currently required—but in this case even if the standard were the “probable cause” required for a full-blown warrant, it would pretty clearly be met. I think high-tech tracking needs to be targeted and supervised by courts, not that it should never be used.

  28. 28.

    cleek

    @Judas Escargot:

    I’d never be able to track you via MAC.

    it’s possible that all the other interfaces use the ethernet interface’s MAC address to identify the box on the network. it’s just a sequence of bytes, after all. so, if a unique ID is what you need, the MAC addr can do the job perfectly well.

    /speculating

  29. 29.

    someone

    I looks like Zifnab and maybe other have already got this but the police state does not work for citizens, it works against them, always.

    Before people waste time in trying to find stolen electronics or, worse, get fleeced by some company offering to “track your laptop in case of theft” realize that even if you have something stolen and it *is* trackable, the police *will not* recover it for you. If you have a GPS device the only way it helps you is if *you* are willing to confront the thief. And yes, this is from an experience helping someone recover a stolen laptop which had a software check-in mechanism. Stupid thief booted up the laptop, we got the IP, gave it to the police, asked them to get the address from the ISP (Comcast), and they did nothing, as expected.

  32. 32.

    Ash Can

    @Julian Sanchez: Thanks for stopping by and clarifying. Maybe it’s because I live in a large urban area myself, but I’ve never been able to dismiss the potential and actual benefits of surveillance out-of-hand, and regard those who do (or at least appear to) with a jaundiced eye. And I absolutely agree that there should be judicial supervision — not a perfect arrangement, since then the professionalism and purity of purpose is only as good as the judges are, but better.

    And that’s a bitch that you were broken into. Good luck with it all.

  36. 36.

    Julian Sanchez

    To get my saved games back? It certainly would be. For a shot at tracing it back (directly or indirectly) to the person or group behind an ongoing spree of burglaries, muggings, and car break-ins around my neighborhood? I think it would be worth it.

  38. 38.

    pragmatism

    after a long day of providing rhetorical cover for the right, its good to relax with a little gaming. its all fantasy, all the time for the glibs.

  41. 41.

    silentbeep

    @Dave: I take it you don’t own a PS3 and this part “I think high-tech tracking needs to be targeted and supervised by courts, not that it should never be used. ” didn’t catch you huh

  43. 43.

    NobodySpecial

    Why not just track your own PS3, grab your gun, and go all Dirty Harry on said perpetrators? Cut out the government entirely from the operation.

  44. 44.

    wengler

    This looks like it will work until you have the cops search someone’s house who has been accidentally giving the neighborhood free Wi-Fi.

    I’m pretty sure the police don’t care enough or have enough resources to follow any leads on a missing Playstation anyways.

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