Privacy Thread

[Pæs]

One reason why that pisses me off in fact is because I joined a meditation group a while back (just some random people that explore all sorts of different schools and style of meditation, really fun) and their main channel of communication is a FB group. There is one other girl in the group that also does not have FB out of principle, and another that used to not have it but got an acct mostly for this particular group. I'm kind of tempted to go that way myself as well, and then just not add my friends, not use my name, not use my face and whatnot. Exactly like Fravia+ taught me: When filling out Internet signup forms, LIE YOU BALLS OFF. Except that I can imagine it would seem weird, right? Because everybody else on FB is there with their pants down exposing all their private identity parts, and then suddenly walks in a guy whose face is upside-down and he has a crazy robotic smile, you know him from IRL so why is he wearing a disguise?
AND THAT IS WHAT YOU DID. Didn't some crazy Goddess once tell us not to take shit so fucking seriously? Well now you have it, Facebook is fucking serious business and everybody takes it seriously and if you even dare to go in wearing pants, they all look at you weirdly.

I'm not on Facebook anymore. I'm thinking if I do go back it'll be for similar reasons as this, with a pretend person profile... and only if things like this are put into place across the site, balancing the information exchange a little...

Even then, I'm going to have to automate posting text as images (and work out how Facebook handle thumbnails and images to determine whether that's a useful thing to open up to others, with control over the life of the image) to make it harder to crawl and build a profile of what I like to talk about... and figure out other little things to make it slightly less creepy.

[minuspace]

I just been 'experimenting with different ways of backing-up information on servers that I rent, I still don't have exclusive physical access to them, howev, I think it's prolly safer than dropbox.  The problem I'm encountering is how to employ encryption with an incremental back-up system.  I can't seem to get convenience and privacy to go together 

[Triple Zero]

They're drowning in inverse signal to noise ratio.

I used to believe the same thing.

But we can actually store and process the data with smart enough computer programs, we can do it, we're doing it right now. I don't think I linked that particular article, but some TLA whistleblower told a reporter that they in fact DO have a 10-page report on everyone in the US.

Click back a few pages and re-read the article I linked about the Utah Data Centre. They got processing power bigger than Google and the storage and intelligent self-learning algorithms to match.

Or what Xooxe said (gonna watch that TED talk later, thx).

I use FB, but I don't post anything of interest.  I use it for what I believed it's original intent was: to augment my social network.

But your social network IS the information of interest.

Most people know not to post incriminating information on FB. There's exceptionally dumb people that make the exception, but you don't wanna know what you'd see if everybody REALLY dropped their pants.

No the biggest piece of information the agencies want is simply YOUR SOCIAL GRAPH and to know who your friends are. That tells them everything they need to know. It may seem boring because humans don't naturally pick up a lot of info from complex graphs if they grow over a certain size, but computer algorithms eat those things for breakfast. It's full of juicy side-channel patterns.

But you can't use a centralized social network like FB without exposing your social graph.

Are all your friends "not of interest", their actions not subversive, not illegal? They're probably smart too, not posting about it on FB. And your presence in their social graphs exposes them, and connects all of you into a nicely partitioned sub island, and if ANY of them ever becomes "of interest" (due to surveillance outside FB), then so will everybody in their social graph neighbourhood whose local topology matches any pattern of "interest". Imagine a paper napkin and a felt marker, black ink spreading through the fibers as you hold it down, kind of like that except more accurate precise digital and with magic marker ink.

That is why I said I should create multiple FB accts, so's not to tie in all aspects of my life with eachother and become another prototypal high dimensional data point, but to keep them strictly separate. Pondering about this, I realized how fucking HARD that would be to do on Facebook. You can't use anything that sounds like your real name, your real face or any real details, because you'll get tagged bagged searched and found. And not by Them, but by your own friends who notice your face in a picture in a separated aspect that happened to come along in a photo by a friend-of-a-friend and comment or tag you to the Wrong account and BAM the two aren't separated anymore.

And that's not even AI Machine Learning stuff, just crowd-sourcing. Really clever idea that photo tagging. Because in that friend-of-a-friend link, the middle friend could be just like you, smart, careful not to post anything of interest, and still unwittingly helping to build a potentially incriminating data nugget simply by being present in the social graph.

Now WITH processing power and state of the art algorithms, that example is merely the straight forward friend-of-a-friend connection, the type of info us humans can still discern from a complex data structure IF we pay careful attention. A computer program can easily reason on many levels deeper, of course including probabilities that adapt based on other information sources, also known as a Bayesian Belief Network.

Anyway, that interview with the Tor guy, which I read just now, is pretty terrifying. Ungh.

That's the same one about the Utah Data Centre. Truly recommended reading for everyone. It really opened my eyes when I realized fuck shit damn yeah I should have known we already CAN let computers do the work for us to not only filter but also process and reason about the deluge of data they'd otherwise drown in.

The hope that I'd simply get lost in an ocean of noise, as long as I appear like everyone else is merely wishful thinking, because they do have a line on everyone else, because everyone else is just as likely to suddenly stop acting like everyone else (except that ALL OF YOU are even more likely simply for being quite closely via-via connected with sufficiently loud subversive spags that your "may become of Interest" probability is probably quite higher than the bleach blonde next door).

Even then, I'm going to have to automate posting text as images (and work out how Facebook handle thumbnails and images to determine whether that's a useful thing to open up to others, with control over the life of the image) to make it harder to crawl and build a profile of what I like to talk about... and figure out other little things to make it slightly less creepy.

Fuck yeah thanks for reminding me!! There was an app browser plugin type of thing that did pretty much exactly this ... except better.

It works for all "social" things including FB and Twitter, but also GMail and G+ and quite possibly for just everything.

It transparently replaces everything you post with a special shortlink to encrypted data. The encrypted data is stored on someone's server but it's encrypted. However YOU control who gets the key and who doesn't. You can put the key in the link so everyone who can see the link can read the data, or you can selectively give out the key to friends via other channels to keep even more control. Additionally there was a way to change or delete the data after you posted it.

The big advantage is that you are in control and you remain in control of that data, and mostly that the plaintext data NEVER hits the servers of GMail, FB, Twitter, etc.

For people that also have this browser plugin, the shortlink is replaced transparently by the decrypted text if they have the key. For people without the plugin, they can simply click the link and be prompted for the key (if it's not present in the link itself).

I just forgot what the app was called. Sorry. I'll get back on that later

[P3nT4gR4m]

They're drowning in inverse signal to noise ratio.

I used to believe the same thing.

But we can actually store and process the data with smart enough computer programs, we can do it, we're doing it right now. I don't think I linked that particular article, but some TLA whistleblower told a reporter that they in fact DO have a 10-page report on everyone in the US.

Click back a few pages and re-read the article I linked about the Utah Data Centre. They got processing power bigger than Google and the storage and intelligent self-learning algorithms to match.

Not quite what I was getting at. I'm well aware that they can record and datamine every fart that anyone on the face of the planet makes and red-flag accordingly. My point is that the only thing their data would tell them is that every single man woman and child on the face of the planet is a borderline dangerous subversive criminal terrorist. If they ever turned that on they would be deafened by the sound of seven billion alarm bells going off at once.

The whole privacy issue is moot as far as I'm concerned. Whether or not it's your god given unalienable right is irrelevant given that, as of a fucking long time ago, there's no such thing. Privacy as a basic concept exists only in the fevered imagination of the kind of people who always strike me as part conspiracy theorist and part paranoid about being put in jail for a crime they didn't commit.

[LMNO]

The thought that flamboyant queens, DJs, and rock bands could once again fall under the "politically subversive" umbrella actually makes me kind of happy.

STONEWALL WILL RISE AGAIN!

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Given that the have the processing power to do that with Facebook, it couldn't be difficult to tie that to Google searches and tie that across multiple social sites/forums etc.

Which of course means they have dossiers on all of us... including this POST!!


HAI SECRET AGENT GUYZ!!! 

[Pæs]

Even then, I'm going to have to automate posting text as images (and work out how Facebook handle thumbnails and images to determine whether that's a useful thing to open up to others, with control over the life of the image) to make it harder to crawl and build a profile of what I like to talk about... and figure out other little things to make it slightly less creepy.

Fuck yeah thanks for reminding me!! There was an app browser plugin type of thing that did pretty much exactly this ... except better.

It works for all "social" things including FB and Twitter, but also GMail and G+ and quite possibly for just everything.

It transparently replaces everything you post with a special shortlink to encrypted data. The encrypted data is stored on someone's server but it's encrypted. However YOU control who gets the key and who doesn't. You can put the key in the link so everyone who can see the link can read the data, or you can selectively give out the key to friends via other channels to keep even more control. Additionally there was a way to change or delete the data after you posted it.

The big advantage is that you are in control and you remain in control of that data, and mostly that the plaintext data NEVER hits the servers of GMail, FB, Twitter, etc.

For people that also have this browser plugin, the shortlink is replaced transparently by the decrypted text if they have the key. For people without the plugin, they can simply click the link and be prompted for the key (if it's not present in the link itself).

I just forgot what the app was called. Sorry. I'll get back on that later

Is it called "Scramble!"? This thing: http://freehaven.net/anonbib/papers/pets2011/p12-beato.pdf ? Or... http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2012/proceedings/a11_Fahl.pdf that one. If not, those are pretty interesting anyway.

[Triple Zero]

Given that the have the processing power to do that with Facebook, it couldn't be difficult to tie that to Google searches and tie that across multiple social sites/forums etc.

Which of course means they have dossiers on all of us... including this POST!!

Indeed. You can laugh but the NSA whistleblowers that have come forward almost literally admitted as much:

* Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

* "For years, government lawyers have been arguing that our case is too secret for the courts to consider, despite the mounting confirmation of widespread mass illegal surveillance of ordinary people," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Now we have three former NSA officials confirming the basic facts. Neither the Constitution nor federal law allow the government to collect massive amounts of communications and data of innocent Americans and fish around in it in case it might find something interesting.

* William Binney, a former technical director at the NSA, said during a panel discussion that NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander was playing a “word game” and that the NSA was indeed collecting e-mails, Twitter writings, internet searches and other data belonging to Americans and indexing it.

“Unfortunately, once the software takes in data, it will build profiles on everyone in that data,” he said. “You can simply call it up by the attributes of anyone you want and it’s in place for people to look at.”

* From the story about the Utah datacentre again: According to one unnamed former NSA official,  “Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.” -- this is all part of the same scandal.

In the process—and for the first time since Watergate and the other scandals of the Nixon administration—the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. It has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. It has created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes.

... so, yes. What used to be literally hilarious tinfoil hat paranoia, is what they're actually doing for real now.

[Triple Zero]

Even then, I'm going to have to automate posting text as images (and work out how Facebook handle thumbnails and images to determine whether that's a useful thing to open up to others, with control over the life of the image) to make it harder to crawl and build a profile of what I like to talk about... and figure out other little things to make it slightly less creepy.

Fuck yeah thanks for reminding me!! There was an app browser plugin type of thing that did pretty much exactly this ... except better.

It works for all "social" things including FB and Twitter, but also GMail and G+ and quite possibly for just everything.

It transparently replaces everything you post with a special shortlink to encrypted data. The encrypted data is stored on someone's server but it's encrypted. However YOU control who gets the key and who doesn't. You can put the key in the link so everyone who can see the link can read the data, or you can selectively give out the key to friends via other channels to keep even more control. Additionally there was a way to change or delete the data after you posted it.

The big advantage is that you are in control and you remain in control of that data, and mostly that the plaintext data NEVER hits the servers of GMail, FB, Twitter, etc.

For people that also have this browser plugin, the shortlink is replaced transparently by the decrypted text if they have the key. For people without the plugin, they can simply click the link and be prompted for the key (if it's not present in the link itself).

I just forgot what the app was called. Sorry. I'll get back on that later

Is it called "Scramble!"? This thing: http://freehaven.net/anonbib/papers/pets2011/p12-beato.pdf ? Or... http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2012/proceedings/a11_Fahl.pdf that one. If not, those are pretty interesting anyway.

Hmm this one? https://scrambls.com/

It looks slightly different, apparently this one replaces online comments with scrambled characters, whereas the app that I saw replaced them with a link to scrambled data. BUt yeah something like that anyway.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Given that the have the processing power to do that with Facebook, it couldn't be difficult to tie that to Google searches and tie that across multiple social sites/forums etc.

Which of course means they have dossiers on all of us... including this POST!!

Indeed. You can laugh but the NSA whistleblowers that have come forward almost literally admitted as much:

* Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

* "For years, government lawyers have been arguing that our case is too secret for the courts to consider, despite the mounting confirmation of widespread mass illegal surveillance of ordinary people," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Now we have three former NSA officials confirming the basic facts. Neither the Constitution nor federal law allow the government to collect massive amounts of communications and data of innocent Americans and fish around in it in case it might find something interesting.

* William Binney, a former technical director at the NSA, said during a panel discussion that NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander was playing a "word game" and that the NSA was indeed collecting e-mails, Twitter writings, internet searches and other data belonging to Americans and indexing it.

"Unfortunately, once the software takes in data, it will build profiles on everyone in that data," he said. "You can simply call it up by the attributes of anyone you want and it's in place for people to look at."

* From the story about the Utah datacentre again: According to one unnamed former NSA official,  "Everybody's a target; everybody with communication is a target." -- this is all part of the same scandal.

In the process—and for the first time since Watergate and the other scandals of the Nixon administration—the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. It has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. It has created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes.

... so, yes. What used to be literally hilarious tinfoil hat paranoia, is what they're actually doing for real now.

It's tinfoil hat reversal. Now the tinfoil hat conspiracy freaks are vindicated and proven sane. Meanwhile the very government "intelligence" agencies that used to poo-poo the tinfoil brigades claims are now running about with tinfoil hats of their own, ranting and drooling that everyone is out to get them.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

Hidden Government Scanners Will Instantly Know Everything About You From 164 Feet Away

Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you.

And without you knowing it.

http://gizmodo.com/5923980/the-secret-government-laser-that-instantly-knows-everything-about-you

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hidden Government Scanners Will Instantly Know Everything About You From 164 Feet Away

Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you.

And without you knowing it.

http://gizmodo.com/5923980/the-secret-government-laser-that-instantly-knows-everything-about-you

Well, that's bad.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

How are they supposed to plant drugs on you if they don't even have to get close to you to search you?

[Freeky]

Make it go BEEP, like some sort of troubleshooting program or something, ask you to step out of line, and when they frisk you, plant and re-scan. Ta da!  Instant scapegoat.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

So they can invent a tricorder but they can't invent transporters? Fuck this century, those fuckers are holding out.