Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping is the act of surreptitiously listening to a private conversation. This is commonly thought to be unethical and there is an old adage that "eavesdroppers seldom hear anything good of themselves".citation|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7TNlFlL19AcC|pages=46|title=Consumers in the Country|author=Ronald R. Kline|isbn=9780801862489]

History

Ancient Anglo-Saxon law punished eavesdroppers, who skulked in the eavesdrip of another's home, with a fine; the eavesdrip was also sometimes called the eavesdrop. Eavesdrop also means a small low visibility hole near the entrance to a building (generally under the eaves) which would allow the occupants to listen in on the conversation of people awaiting admission to the house. Typically this would allow the occupant to be prepared for unfriendly visitors.

Early telephone systems shared party lines which would allow the sharing subscribers to listen to each others conversations. This was a common practise in rural America which resulted in many incidents and feuds.

Techniques

Eavesdropping can also be done over telephone lines (wiretapping), email, instant messaging, and other methods of communication considered private. (If a message is publicly broadcast, witnessing it does not count as eavesdropping.)

In ancient China, it is said that to prevent eavesdropping when discussing important matters, soldiers would instead draw the characters on hands or papers. This is where the superstition of the "black dot" on a piece of paper comes from.

Eavesdropping in fiction

Eavesdropping is something of a clichéd plot device in fiction, allowing the hero or villain to gain vital information not easily obtainable by other means by deliberately or accidentally overhearing a conversation. For instance, in "Letting In the Jungle" by Rudyard Kipling, Mowgli overhears the hunter Buldeo telling some men that Mowgli's adopted mother Messua is about to be executed, so Mowgli sets about rescuing her.

ee also

*Computer surveillance
*ECHELON
*Espionage
*Magic (cryptography)
*Man-in-the-middle attack
*Katz v. United States (1967)
*NSA warrantless surveillance controversy (December 2005-2006)
*Opportunistic encryption
*Privacy
*Secure communication
*Surveillance
*Telephone tapping
*Fiber tapping
*Ultra
*Keystroke logging

References


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  • Eavesdropping — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Eavesdropping, termino inglés que traducido al español significa escuchar secretamente, se ha utilizado tradicionalmente en ámbitos relacionados con la seguridad, como escuchas telefónicas. Se ha convertido en parte… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Eavesdropping — Eaves drop ping, n. (Law) The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet for private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • eavesdropping — Listening to conversations or observing conduct that is meant to be private. The term comes from the common law offense of listening to private conversations by crouching under the windows or eaves of a house. Generally, the term is used when the …   Law dictionary

  • eavesdropping — is knowingly and without lawful authority: (a) Entering into a private place with intent to listen surreptitiously to private conversations or to observe the personal conduct of any other person or persons therein; or (b) Installing or using… …   Black's law dictionary

  • eavesdropping — is knowingly and without lawful authority: (a) Entering into a private place with intent to listen surreptitiously to private conversations or to observe the personal conduct of any other person or persons therein; or (b) Installing or using… …   Black's law dictionary

  • eavesdropping — eavesˈdropping noun • • • Main Entry: ↑eaves * * * eavesdropping noun [noncount] electronic eavesdropping • • • Main Entry: ↑eavesdrop …   Useful english dictionary

  • Eavesdropping — Dieser Artikel oder Abschnitt ist nicht hinreichend mit Belegen (Literatur, Webseiten oder Einzelnachweisen) versehen. Die fraglichen Angaben werden daher möglicherweise demnächst gelöscht. Hilf Wikipedia, indem du die Angaben recherchierst und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • eavesdropping — neteisėtas informacijos perėmimas statusas T sritis informatika apibrėžtis Svetimos informacijos, skirtos kam kitam, šniukštinėjimas tinkle. atitikmenys: angl. eavesdropping …   Enciklopedinis kompiuterijos žodynas

  • Eavesdropping — Écoute clandestine L écoute clandestine désigne une surveillance non autorisée, pouvant intervenir sur tout réseau de communication, que ce soit le téléphone, les courriels ou tout mode de communication privée. Bien entendu, être témoin d une… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • eavesdropping — noun a) Listening secretly to private conversation of others. b) (telecoms) The interception of electronic communication …   Wiktionary

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