The Register Runs Cover for CIA-Backed Smartphone Game

Yes. Pokemon Go has ties to the CIA and other intelligence agencies. The facts of this were well documented roughly 8 years ago. The Register (one of the more prominent Tech News outlets) is seeking to discredit that story... many years later. Why?
The CIA, NSA, and Pokémon Go (2016 article):
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[@horusfalcon]

An interesting report, man. I remember, back when I was still working at a NASA facility, a BAN was enacted on playing Pokemon Go on the facility, citing an occurrence in which a player almost got ran down by a delivery truck while chasing pokemon on his break. Now I'm wondering... Both Ingress and Pokemon Go use GPS, which is only "typically" accurate to about five meters (about 16 ft.). Military GPS systems are more accurate when they use their dual-frequency systems to correct for signal distortion by the Earth's atmosphere. It's a clever use of existing technologies, and jibes well with the intelligence community's goal of sweeping up all the available data for analysis and use later. NSA, in particular, has a truly frightening amount of computing and storage capacity. (Back in the early 2000s they had enough storage to retain the entire signals intelligence data set for the planet for a period of ten years, and they were building more. This is all public knowledge.)

[@John-wd5cb]

They are opting for a GPS-less technology that would be even incorporated in to phones. Its cryptic stuff. I think Apple got the initial research contract 2 to 3 yrs ago.

[@SJ-co6nk]

"they said they aren't sharing information - d-d-d-debooonked!"

[@stxrobstar]

Presstitutes gonna presstitute...

[@kinemapup]

The Register - 'kissing the ass that keeps it'

[@PaulJurczak]

You meant "kissing the ass that feeds it", right?

[@toldultra5578]

Criminal: "I did NOT commit the crime!" The Register: "Sounds about right to me. If he says so, he must be innocent, end of the case"

[@holographicsol2747]

It is both fascinating and creepy that verbal instructions to point the smartphone in exact directions, at specific locations, can be replaced by a silent 'moving' Pokemon. One thing I learned when helping raise money to buy the front page of the Financial Times for a story is that stories are bought and sold. An interesting thing to do would be to keep track of who's buying/bought what stories. As always, follow the money.

[@Peaches-i2i]

We're no better than a dog and dinnerbell apparently.

[@liaminwales]

It's not like past examples like a fitness app where used by intelligence to find military bases, not like they mapped out some un known bases with the location tracking in the past.

[@John-wd5cb]

They did. That's how IDF learned about the "farm" in Antarctica US was keeping hidden.

[@VirideSoryuLangley]

Udo Ulfkotte was a German journalist who published a book where he revealed that journalists are just spokesmen for the CIA; 3 years later, he was found dead in his home. His death was ruled to be caused by a heart attack, and his body cremated before any autopsy could be done.

[@meskes4059]

I knew there was a reason I inherently didn’t trust that game

[@Angus.MacGyver]

I'm not surprised, I've been reading The Register since the late 90s, it's a UK-based tech website, so as usual with the British, they have this Anglo superiority complex, Russophobia/Sinophobia and general pro-Western jingoistic worldview and journalistic slant.

[@Jupiter__001_]

But it's a strange left-wing version of that worldview. Very odd.

[@Dust86]

"We didn't do it" - Niantic. "Well, there you have it, folks." - Register

[@zyxzevn]

In intelligence reporting (from Intelligence agencies), it is often: "when there is even a tiny chance of something to be true, it should be considered as an option". Politicians and lobbyists will often change it to "so it must be true". I see this confusion, often deliberate, in a lot of intelligence reports.

[@jimmyking92]

Intelligence should always be a product of collecting/processing/presenting data/information, not just presenting any random clue you collect. So it might be unintentional sometimes if the person is incompetent.

[@timothyt.82]

I'm about halfway through the video. I hope they didn't also have any fingers in Pikmin Bloom, another Nintendo game worked on by the company that made Pokemon GO.

[@dtaggartofRTD]

wouldn't shock me.

[@John-wd5cb]

Google Maps is the database CIA uses to determine the "where it isn't" function in their new GPS-less quantum thingamajig guidance technologies.

[@SenileOtaku]

What, you're expecting The Regurgitator to actually look for facts? As Ben Shapiro would say "that's some real journalisming there..."

[@MerrimanDevonshire]

The Reg? The highest paper airplane in world Reg? B.O.F.H. Reg? 😂 Oh... this 'game' was a pain for labs in the U.S. 😢

[@mikepict9011]

Id suspect it was the Japanese all along

[@NikorouKitsunerou]

People might start taking privacy seriously when they learn how the sk was able to learn when their daughter fueled up her car after she paid with the same CBDC she used to sell on ebay.

[@realmstupid-on8df]

Pokémon go would make Pokémon appear in bath tubs on children's phones

[@themanstudios]

Bryan why are you monochrome?

[@ka9dgx]

I love Pokemon Go.... the CIA needs to come up with some other games. 8) Just the other day, I ran the NSA's Ghidra to disassemble some code.... I can't wait until the NSA offers free backup services. ;-)

[@gargamel3478]

Do they seriously trust Бацька? I mean how silly is that to trust eastern armed forces.

[@fuxtube]

How often did belarussians and russians lies compared to you westerners?

[@pathologicusmaximus]

wut

[@KalaAltheaBalik]

CIA's and NSA's thingies doesn't even need to be baked into a game, they just contact the publisher on several ways and get the data.

[@Bvic3]

Yes, the US citizens live in that weird fantasy world where they think the CIA and NSA cannot order US companies to obey. And where the big tech companies do not have NSA agents working inside big tech. I've always assumed that the NSA can directly get whatever server image or database at the big US cloud providers.

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

There's a reason why big tech are the largest businesses in the world, and it isn't advertising.

[@adamsmith607]

Without directing the players to film specific locations what data would they be asking for :)

[@John-wd5cb]

Yes they do. It's the application they are interested in. Spy tools in disguise.

[@PyVerse-47]

@@adamsmith607 you need smartphone to run those games right? android or ios, both are proven spywares(and yes we use it because we dont have a better alternative to them

[@belstar1128]

when i played Pokémon go it was quite disappointing that there were never any in the woods or other non urban places.

[@thomasshone2488]

This was because Niantic copied one of their previous games that used population centers as focus points. Less people meant less pokemon. If a military base in Belarus got a lot of pokemon action its because it was the main focus point for people for miles around.

[@davidgoodnow269]

Wow, it took THIS LONG to document Pokémon GO?

[@ian.spencer]

While it's more than likely 3 letter agencies and others abuse the data, there is a historical reason before Pokemon Go that this issue occurred. It started with Niantic's first game, Ingress. The points of interest were mostly created by ingress players doing all the initial free legwork (portals) were used as a base for Pokemon Go Pokestops and Gyms. Having an Ingress portal in a restricted access site gave a player and faction a huge advantage in the game. Restricted access military bases were very valuable to those with access for obvious reasons. There was very little interaction at these sites, which were very well protected. Pokemon Go caused chaos because suddenly you had a lot of young people looking for pokemon everywhere, not observing any recognised physical or social boundaries in large numbers.

[@dtaggartofRTD]

I can't say it would surprise me to find that the CIA has trackers worked into stuff like that. All of Niantic's games should be considered suspect.

[@John-wd5cb]

The US team that got smoked in Benghazi used an online game chat to evade CAI listening on to them.

[@jasonorlando2296]

Hey Lunduke, does the monochrome video suggest dark stories?

[@emsea1658]

I think it's supposed to give priority to the other elements in the video frame

[@tuurblaffe]

SPOt teh Glowie

[@maxrobe]

The Register hasn't been the same since they stopped their space programme after shifting most of the editorial stuff to the USA and started misspelling words.

[@cccpkingu]

Good video. Did you mention the CIA gave the lead of Pokemon Go an award?

[@amongussuss341]

You hit the gordon freeman pose in the thumbnail

[@khaoscero]

the CIA doesnt need some game to read your GPS.

[@letsRegulateSociopaths]

Yeah, it's 99% likely that it was a Russian intelligence disinformation, they are so very prolific and then it gets picked up by well meaning and understandably suspicious people. But the reality is that you don't get to hear about the CIAs ops...

[@John-wd5cb]

"Keyhole" is a whole constellation up there belonging to a 3 letter "fund" 😛 Likely the older project name was "C0rona". Got it? 🤔

[@flamesintheattic]

"Pokemon Go is an intelligence operation and here is why it's a good thing..."

[@samael2112]

There are greater concentration of Pokemon where there are a lot of cellphones, and the phones don't need to have the app installed.

[@funnnnnyman]

app game - Data collection privacy policy "Catch ‘Em Alxl!" lol

[@John-wd5cb]

Bl1nken is a rare Pokemon. Let's find where he is now 😅

[@legocreator768]

the fun fact is they dont even need pokemon go to do what they did, its baked into the operating system already :D

[@John-wd5cb]

That will use the code researched from the Pokemon project likely.

[@legocreator768]

@@John-wd5cb we've had always online gps tracking and geolocation through triangulation from the phone network for a long time. I don't see what was added to PoGo that proves already had to make anything easier. our devices needed all that tech for the game to work in the first place.

[@crapmalls]

BOFH

[@jenisson159]

I work at the federal prosecutor's office in Brazil. Once, someone came to the office pretending to report a crime. He was very strange. The next day, we saw him taking pictures just outside the building. We called the police. He was playing Pokemon Go.

[@VirideSoryuLangley]

I hope someone calls the police on you and you get arrested.

[@BykFernando-p2d]

If CIA help to develop this app why Pokemons appear in top secret bases in USA?

[@Cris-bj7ee]

The branches aren't exactly in perfect agreement at all times. The right hand can't just assume that the left isn't hiding secrets.

[@John-wd5cb]

Factions don't like compartmentalisation 😅 Did you miss 9/11?

[@Felinaro]

Belarus? They'll show you the directions, from which attack was planned. They have map! ;)

[@clarkbutler]

thats probably how the CIA got that shooter up on that slightly sloped roof