02x06 - My Home

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Dark Net". Aired: January 2016 to May 2017.*
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"Dark Net" explores murky corners of the Internet using examples of unsettling digital phenomena to ponder larger questions, like whether and how the digital age might be changing us as a species.
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02x06 - My Home

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♪♪

[ maniacal laughing]

[narrator] We all yearn for a place

to call home...

♪♪

...our very own castle,
intimate and safe.


Today's homes are more wired than ever,

connecting us

and protecting us,

but are all these devices

securing our homes,

or making them more vulnerable,

creating peepholes we never imagined?

Will we ever be able
to draw the curtains again?


♪♪

[Johnson] Home, to me, is

the place where you feel safe.

You don't have to talk a certain way,

dress a certain way,

be a certain type of person.

It's the place where you can
be % yourself.


[narrator] Eight years ago,

Tiffany Johnson bought a home
in Cooper-Young,


a middle-class neighborhood
in the heart of Memphis.


[Johnson] I don't have much,

but this is mine,

and I'm gonna fight for it.

I would dare someone
to try and take it from me.

[James] My dad grew
up in the house here.


And I actually grew up
in this house across the street.

[narrator] This is Aaron James,

an architect whose family's roots

in Cooper-Young
go back more than a century.


This historically hip
enclave has become


a desirable place to live in Memphis,

but as property values have risen here,

so has property crime.

[James] Right over there,
right across the tracks,


is a whole different universe.

[Johnson] You jump across
the railroad tracks,


and you go from being in, you know,

nice kind of middle-class neighborhood

to the hood.

[James] We're just one
little part of the world,


and we're trying to make it
a little safer.


The way that I say it,
semi-tongue-in-cheek,


is I don't want to be years old,

chasing some crackhead
down the sidewalk,

but I simply don't want
to be anywhere else.


This is where I've decided
to make a stand.


[narrator] Tiffany met Aaron

where she's met
many of her neighbors...


online on Nextdoor.

[Johnson] It's basically like
Facebook for your neighborhood.


People can post things that range from,

"I'm putting a mattress
out on my curb,"


to, "There's a creepy dude
looking in people's windows.


Everybody keep an eye out."

Aaron posted about possibly restarting

the neighborhood watch,

and I immediately responded
to him and said,


"Hey, I'm all in.
What can I do to help?"


[narrator] Home invasions are evolving.

Criminals break in,

not just through windows and doors

but through cables and code.

[Clark] I lived in that
house for / years,


so I felt very safe.

I was looking at my Facebook,

and I had a message from a
name that I didn't recognize.


The entire profile
was all different photos


of Heath Ledger as the Joker.

I opened up the message
and saw these photos


of me and my boyfriend sleeping in bed

and was just like,

"Oh, my god. Who saw me sl...

Like, what else did they see?"

[narrator] A three-word message

accompanied the photographs.

_

[Clark] I had no idea how someone

could have gotten those photos.

How did that happen?

[narrator] The photos of Chelsea
Clark and her boyfriend


were taken two nights earlier,

while they were watching a movie.

[Clark] My boyfriend
and I had gone to bed,


getting tired, ready to fall asleep,

watching TV on my computer,
like everyone else.


Everyone has a laptop in their home,

and you don't think of it
because it's such


a commonplace item.

But there's still that potential of it

becoming a window for someone else.

There was a third person
with us in the bedroom


that we had not invited,

and they were watching

and paying attention
to what we were doing,


totally unbeknownst to us.

Who would do this?

♪♪

[Michael] I think there's
an urge within people


to peer on others,

to know what others are doing,

and technology sort of dangles

that forbidden fruit in front of us.

It opens up these new doors,
these new windows.


[narrator] For Michael, the
new window was voyeur p*rn.


[Michael] For the most part,

I only ever looked at normal p*rn,

but sometimes,

you see different categories
that you click on.


And then you look at other stuff.

[narrator] The "other stuff"
had been captured allegedly


by cameras that were hacked or hidden

in bedrooms, closets, bathrooms,

then posted on web forums

that trade in invasions of privacy.

On August , ,

Michael took his curiosity
one step further.


He hosted a party at his home

and hid his smartphone in the bathroom,

setting it to record his female guests.

[Michael] I knew that
it was an invasion


of somebody's privacy

in a setting where they have
every right in the world

to have that privacy.

I'm not sure
why I pushed myself to do that.


[narrator] A camera connected
to the Internet...


a tool of perversion

in the hands of one user,

a tool of protection

for a city besieged by crime.

[reporter] The FBI's labeled Memphis

the third most dangerous city
in the country.


[reporter ] It was another
weekend of v*olence.


[reporter ] Right now,
Memphis is averaging


around four murders a week.

[reporter ] The city's
homicide rate shows


no sign of slowing down,

and many of the K*llers
still roam the streets.


[James] It's just insanity.
It's absolute insanity.


People getting sh*t
right on the street.

[narrator] Outgunned and outmanned,

the Memphis Police
Department has deployed


a sophisticated network of cameras,

called SkyCop.

It can analyze g*nshots,

track suspicious objects,

and every license plate captured can be

instantly cross-referenced
for outstanding warrants,


criminal records, and unpaid tickets.

[computerized voice]
You are trespassing

on private property.

You must leave immediately,
or the police will be called.


You have seconds to comply.

[narrator] SkyCop has been
credited with reducing crime


by as much as % in some areas,

and that success has created

high demand across Memphis.

There's just one problem...

A single SkyCop camera
costs nearly $ , .


[James] There's very few neighborhoods

that can afford
that sort of technology,


especially on any scale
that would be of value.

[narrator] Aaron is proposing
a bold solution...


to construct a do-it-yourself
surveillance network,


controlled not by the police

but by Aaron and his neighbors.

For the cost of one single SkyCop,

we are essentially covering
the entire neighborhood


with off-the-shelf technology.

Roughly % of our criminal activity

is perpetrated by people
outside of the neighborhood,


so the strategy then becomes,

we create a virtual tripwire

around the perimeter.

[narrator] Cameras will stand guard

on porches and eves,

trained on stop signs
and traffic lights,


all of the entry and exit points

in the neighborhood.

[James] As a pedestrian or a vehicle

approaches a stop sign,

the camera automatically records

a -to- -second video.

[Johnson] If a neighbor's
been victimized,


the footage will be able
to identify folks

who don't fit in.

[James] Feels like Christmas.

Ha! got it.

[man] All right.

Right on.

[James] Once we catch two or
three of these criminals,


the word is going to get out.

[narrator] In Cooper-Young,

not everyone shares
Aaron and Tiffany's enthusiasm


about the camera network.

That includes Nick Cantarochi,

a Vietnam veteran

hoping to turn the tide
against the program.


[Cantarochi] I'm a patriot.

I want only the best
for my community, you know.

I don't want to live
under a police state.

How these cameras are going to be used,

when they're going to be used,

and who has access to these feeds,

and how long are they going
to keep the feeds for?


I think we're approaching

George Orwell's worst nightmare,

and we're becoming
more digitized every day.

Some people have lost sight of what...

They don't understand what freedom is.

I mean, Christ almighty!

I don't think some of them
can even spell freedom anymore

'cause they're too busy texting.

[Johnson] Just because
technology is misused


by some people in some instances

doesn't mean that I should shun it

in some symbolic act of indignation

when, in fact, that same technology

could be an advantage to me.

[narrator] For Tiffany, this
isn't an abstract debate.


It's personal.

[Johnson] Security was not always high

on my priority list.

But when I was in law school,

my best friend was m*rder*d
in a home invasion.


I consider James to be a brother.

We went to junior high
and high school together,


and we were very, very close.

At that moment in my life,

I was in a rebellious phase
in terms of technology,


and so when James was sh*t,

my brother was desperately
trying to reach me.


I had a pager at the time,
but I hated the thing,


and it was turned off.

So once I found out,

I realized that he had been alive

[voice breaking] through...

much of those hours when I was, um...

when I had my pager turned off.

I had disconnected, and that was a time

when a connection would have
really been invaluable to me.

[normal voice] That was when
personal security


became real for me, became palpable.

[g*n cocks]

You really only got
two choices in life.


You can either sit idly
as life happens to you,


or you can take
a more proactive approach

and make decisions
that shape your own life,

which is all the camera program is.

[indistinct talking]

[narrator] Tonight, Tiffany's neighbors

will have the opportunity
to make their own decision


at a community meeting

to address concerns
about the camera program.


[James] I know a lot of times,

when people just hear the word camera,

they automatically think the worst.

They automatically think Big Brother

where it's a whole wall
full of monitors.


That has absolutely nothing to do

with our camera program, okay?

My house was burglarized twice
and my car once.

There are clearly people
monitoring our behavior...


- Oh, absolutely.
- ...in the interest

of robbing us,

and if we don't monitor theirs,
we're idiots.


[James] Right on. Thank you so much.

If, for any reason,

we just so happen to see
something unrelated,

somebody not picking up their dog poop,

we could care less.

[Cantarochi] What happens
to this material?


Does it get bulked?
Does it go into a central...

_

It gets written over.

You know this for a fact?

Okay.

It's important that this stuff
does not end up

being compiled into a central point.

Never. Never.

No one is ever going to be
monitoring the cameras.


[Cantarochi] I like Aaron.
He's a good guy.


I think he has the community's
interest at heart,


but there's a possibility that,
down the line,


these cameras could be used

so something else than stopping crime.

The road to hell is paved
with good intentions, right?


[narrator] In Toronto,
Chelsea was confronting


a very different
kind of camera program.


Something or someone
had infected her computer


and turned it into a peephole.

[Clark] I was put in
touch with a few people


who work as hackers

or who have insight
into this community,


and I sent a few of them the photos

to see if they were able to trace it.

I wanted some peace of mind
or some understanding.


I didn't see any other recourse.

[narrator] According to her contacts,

Chelsea's laptop
was infected by a RAT...


a remote access Trojan,

malicious code that hijacks
computers and smartphones


and takes control.

Hackers who deploy RATs
are called "RATters,"


and their targets are called "slaves."

Any camera that's
connected to the Internet


is vulnerable...

and there are cameras
watching us everywhere...


At coffee shops...

on the streets...

in our homes...

more cameras, more windows,

more peeping Toms.

And some of them do more than peep.

_

_

_

Sausarge is the alias
for a camera troll.


He doesn't just peer
into people's lives.


He enters their conversations.

But it's not hacking...

as he sees it.




[man] [distorted voice] People
think that I'm some sort


of glamour hacker

when all I'm doing is clicking a link.

I just scroll down the list and wait

until I see a camera
in an office or a living room.


You just click it,

and you're connected to their camera.

[narrator] Sausarge locates
his targets through Shodan,


a website some call

the scariest search engine
on the Internet.


It was intended as a tool
for admins and developers


to scan the growing Internet of Things.

Instead, it's exposed
a vast Internet of threats...


millions of unsecured devices,

from lightbulbs to power plants.

IP cameras are the tip of an iceberg.

_

_

[man] [distorted voice]
I've got to admit,


the primary reason is
for a bit of a giggle.


Hello.

[speaks indistinctly]

Ghost!

It's basically like a prank phone call.

I do have some sort
of morals and standards.


If I'm given the chance,

I will tell them
how to password their camera.


_

_

_

_

_

[man] Nope.

- Bye.
- Later.


[distorted voice]
I have seen some weird cameras


in people's bathrooms.

I have no idea
what they're trying to secure.


I get the impression
someone set up those cameras


to spy on people themselves,

which is pretty creepy.

[Michael] At some point,
somebody did use the restroom,


and they could see

the iris of the camera on the phone,

so they knew that it was in there.

[narrator] Michael got busted,

and on July , ,

he was convicted of one count
of invasion of privacy.


Because of new state laws,

his offense was labeled a sex crime

and Michael an SVP.

_

I am now lumped in
with the worst of the worst


types of sex offender...

the child molesters, the rapists.

I'm looked at in the same way.

You have to give the state police

your e-mail address,

whatever passwords they want,

any social media,

the vehicle you drive,
license plate number,


who owns it.

Every single aspect about your life

is given to the state police,

and they will use that
to keep an eye on you.


[narrator] And there are
GPS-enabled smartphone apps


that allow everyone
to keep an eye on offenders,


like Michael.

Wherever he goes, his records follow.

[Michael] I was charged
with invasion of privacy.


The irony now is,

for the rest of my life,

I don't have any privacy.

[beeps]

The guilt of what I did
will live with me


for the rest of my life.

It was wrong.

It was horribly wrong.

Now I'm sort of living in this window

where everybody can view
me at any point in time.


I constantly feel
like I'm on public display


in the world's worst freak show.

I live in digital hell.

[drill whirring]

[James] Okay, We have a camera mounted.

[narrator] With the support
of
most of his neighbors

and a $ , grant

from the city of Memphis,

Aaron's controversial camera program

is finally coming to life
in Cooper-Young.


Tiffany's home will host
the first of cameras


that will form the neighborhood's

digital perimeter.

To ensure that community members

don't abuse this technology,

they've created a series of bylaws

to keep the program honest.

Rule number one...

The cameras are never monitored.

[Johnson] If nothing happens,

no one ever sees
what's on these cameras,

and the footage is
constantly rewritten.

[narrator] Rule number two...

The footage is only pulled

when a neighbor reports
a crime to the police.


[Johnson] A neighbor can't say,

"Hey, I think my husband
was cheating on me.


Can you check the cameras
from : yesterday morning

and see if somebody
pulled in my driveway?"

No.

[narrator] Rule number three...

If the cameras capture a suspect,

the footage is immediately
handed over to the authorities.


[James] We will never upload
videos of any individual


who simply appears to be
acting suspiciously.


We have to stay as far away

from the concept
of vigilantism as possible.

[narrator] Aaron also claims to
have hack-proofed the system


against invaders
like RATters and camera trolls.


Each camera has its own router

that can only be accessed
from within feet.


[James] The way that we currently have

this camera program set up,

I don't see any reason for concern.

[narrator] Chelsea Clark
has reason for concern.


Her hacker friends
never located her RATter.


There's no way of knowing

if he lived , miles away

or just houses up the street.

[Clark] I find it a very
unnerving thought that


you're not necessarily alone
in your home,

but we're not going
to regress to the point


where no one's using
this technology anymore.


You just kind of have
to live with the idea

that this is just
the darker side of it.

The entirety of my security now

is a Band-Aid

over the camera on my computer.

I don't know what to do
about the microphone,


but we literally got a Band-Aid
fix over the whole thing.

[narrator] Almost a year after
the cameras were installed,


it's a brave new world in Cooper-Young.

According to Aaron James,

home burglaries are way down.

Now other Memphis neighborhoods

are looking to Cooper-Young

and Aaron for tech support.

[James] If we only do it
in Cooper-Young,

we haven't accomplished a single thing.

We have to share that
with the entire city.


We have to let the criminals know

that they are being watched.

[Johnson] At the end of the day,

humanity needs technology,

and as long as we are careful

in how we manage that relationship,

I think it's beneficial.

What would be going too
far, in my opinion,


is if we started doing
precisely the things

that we vowed not to do.

[James] What we've discovered

in the course
of reviewing footage is that,


every single night of the week,

we have what we're
referring to as lurkers,

and that's people
who are just out and about.


This particular suspect
fits that criteria to a "T."

Here it is. It's : at night.

He's just sort of lurking along.

He's obviously not just walking
from point A to point B.


I don't recognize the guy.

We're going to post
that video on Nextdoor,


asking our neighbors
to identify this person.


That's the very next step

in the evolution of this program.

We have to send the cockroaches

back into the crevasses

to where the people who want to live

in those neighborhoods
can do so in peace


without f*cking getting sh*t at.

We have to be a g*ng.

We have to fight
just like the gangs fight.


[train whistle blares]

[narrator] Our homes
may be more vulnerable


than ever before,

but is it the network we need to fear...

or each other?

[Johnson] We're just sort
of peering over the edge


between being a user

and being used.

[ maniacal laughing]
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