Like it or not, people are after your data. Whether it's for advertising, national security or other nefarious purposes, you're leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs for anyone to follow. But there's a growing arsenal of affordable tools to help protect your privacy both digitally and physically. In this week's Rewind, we take a look at this age of surveillance and some of the more approachable gadgets designed to help fight back against prying eyes.
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Off the record
Governments have been listening in on each other's phone calls for years. In fact, during World War II, high-level communications were often made by phone and scramblers were used to disguise their contents. These encoded chats were frequently cracked, so in 1942, Bell Labs launched the SIGSALY project to help ensure the privacy of extremely sensitive discussions.
Minds like Claude Shannon and Alan Turing were involved in the development of this system, which masked conversations using random noise and digital voice encoding. Specially constructed records were used as "one time pads" on each end of the line to both encrypt outgoing speech and decrypt the incoming portion.
![<p>If you're looking to deter digital camera-wielding hordes or paparazzi, then you may want to follow up on the camera-killing tech that was in the works at Georgia Tech <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/18/prototype-device-detects-disables-digital-cameras/">back in 2006</a>. The prototype device scanned the area for CCD-based cameras and shot focused beams of light to overwhelm their sensors. Classic film and CMOS-based SLR shooters were immune, however, lending retro-camera enthusiasts a leg up on the "competition."</p>
<p>[Image: <a href="http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/anti-camera.htm">Gary Meek / Georgia Tech</a>]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ejprhCMz.MKRgFg3YX2CYw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0Mw--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/IFzGp2rnXGbEHgS37JwWog--~B/aD01MzY7dz04MDA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/300/368/3/S3003683/slug/l/anti-camera2-800-1.jpg)
