5 ms·

This page streams information about the pages I'm visiting on the internet

106 points by escapologybb 11y ago

junto 11y ago
Brett needs a pat on the back. Thanks for raising awareness of the new Investigatory Powers Bill. Hopefully this gets picked up by the mainstream media.
specialdragon 11y ago
I'm getting the following in my console on going to the page: WebSocket connection to 'ws://icra.eu-gb.mybluemix.net/ws/browsing' failed: Error during WebSocket handshake: Unexpected response code: 400
- niuboshi 11y ago
  Not sure why you're getting that, but I've been out in the pub all night and haven't been monitoring it. If its still happening, do you mind posting a full trace? Brett
keithpeter 11y ago
Chromium only? I was thinking that this would be a good thing to do. Anyone know of Firefox extensions or any way of just pulling a report off the sql-lite db for Firefox?
KaiserPro 11y ago
is brett going to put the metadata in as well? (phone location, who's being email, contacted, GET and PUT)
- joosters 11y ago
  They may already be unlucky enough to have a mobile phone provider who adds stuff like the mobile phone number to their outgoing HTTP headers automatically!
- niuboshi 11y ago
  Not working so well with phones, only desktop machines. I'm being somewhat careful, too. The "warrantless" information only includes the device and domain name. I can hit a button and start publishing paths too, but I'll always be stripping usernames, passwords, and query strings -- I'm already inviting getting owned enough already. Methods would be neat, I'll check the Chrome WebNavigation documentation and see what I can do (and try to depict it pictorially to keep it understandable). As for emails, I've been considering doubling down on this and posting Twitter messages and the emails of my personal accounts, but ethical concerns are leading me to think that's a Bad Idea. Brett
stephanheijl 11y ago
Now that this is working again, we can see the work-mac device constantly trying to connect to fqtag.com, a site linked to malware/adware behaviour. Good news everyone, the queen will now be able to alert you if your computer is infected! /s
- niuboshi 11y ago
  Thanks, and oh dear. Somebody was kind enough to email me about this. I've needed to install El Capitan on that box for a while, this seems as good an excuse as any to tear it down and reinstall.
iamben 11y ago
This is awesome. But I think if there was more historical records (as in it showed more than the last 50 or 60), it'd have more punch for the layman. I suspect a lot of my FB friends, on seeing 30 connections to fqtag.com and some links to an IBM console would think 'so what'? But seeing a link to nastyporn.com (or whatever) that would be viewable without a warrant would be quite the eye opener.
- niuboshi 11y ago
  Good idea that's been raised elsewhere. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or motivation to develop storage and retrieval for this. Instead, I'm going to open up access to, and document, the websockets interface. If you'd like to build something that collects and does cool things with this data, you're welcome to it. I'll run it until the bill passes (in whatever form) or is killed off in committee or the lords.
mjs7231 11y ago
Can someone explain to me why is this more exciting than telling me the my browser history can seen by other people?
- Amorymeltzer 11y ago
  Showing, in real-time, what you are visiting is a much more visceral punch than "telling." I think people forget/whitewash their history, especially the quick diversions away from what they should be doing. I'm already nervous for this stranger about using Facebook and Twitter on "work-mac."
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    > I'm already nervous for this stranger about using Facebook and Twitter on "work-mac." This is a kind of hypocrisy we really need to get over as a civilization. Almost every office worker browses Facebook, Twitter, eBay and equivalents for significant amount of work time. Let's just admit it and stop caring about it. Trying to fight it only destroys office morale. Private browsing is often an important part of maintaining a mental hygiene in the workplace.
    - niuboshi 11y ago
      Two points here. I don't have a Facebook account (probably never will), so I suspect the Facebook hits were mostly from Salon. On the browsing Twitter stuff, I'm kind of fortunate. Since this hit here and on Boing Boing, I've been following along (and have been pleasantly surprised at how nice the internet is). But, I'm in academia, and this very tangentially counts as "work." But yes, I also agree, people are doing this, and they'll continue to do so at work. As for how that fits with your model of a productive workplace, YMMV.
gloves 11y ago
Very effective. Great work. If only more people saw this, I'm sure it would be a wake up call for the masses. I know it has been for me.
swombat 11y ago
I applaud the effort but I think showing this to any non-technical person will have zero useful impact. It's just a list of fairly non-descript URL. It takes several leaps of understanding and/or imagination to understand what can be done with this stuff, aggregated over a few years of someone's life. You don't get that from this list of 50 truncated URLs.
pjgomez 11y ago
Nicely done sir. I have a similar project called Q2, still unpublished. I would be happy to talk to you about our projects and share ideas. Congratulations, you beat me to the punch!

106 points by escapologybb 11y ago

junto 11y ago

Brett needs a pat on the back. Thanks for raising awareness of the new Investigatory Powers Bill. Hopefully this gets picked up by the mainstream media.

specialdragon 11y ago

I'm getting the following in my console on going to the page: WebSocket connection to 'ws://icra.eu-gb.mybluemix.net/ws/browsing' failed: Error during WebSocket handshake: Unexpected response code: 400

niuboshi 11y ago
Not sure why you're getting that, but I've been out in the pub all night and haven't been monitoring it. If its still happening, do you mind posting a full trace? Brett

keithpeter 11y ago

Chromium only? I was thinking that this would be a good thing to do. Anyone know of Firefox extensions or any way of just pulling a report off the sql-lite db for Firefox?

KaiserPro 11y ago

is brett going to put the metadata in as well? (phone location, who's being email, contacted, GET and PUT)

joosters 11y ago
They may already be unlucky enough to have a mobile phone provider who adds stuff like the mobile phone number to their outgoing HTTP headers automatically!
niuboshi 11y ago
Not working so well with phones, only desktop machines. I'm being somewhat careful, too. The "warrantless" information only includes the device and domain name. I can hit a button and start publishing paths too, but I'll always be stripping usernames, passwords, and query strings -- I'm already inviting getting owned enough already. Methods would be neat, I'll check the Chrome WebNavigation documentation and see what I can do (and try to depict it pictorially to keep it understandable). As for emails, I've been considering doubling down on this and posting Twitter messages and the emails of my personal accounts, but ethical concerns are leading me to think that's a Bad Idea. Brett

stephanheijl 11y ago

Now that this is working again, we can see the work-mac device constantly trying to connect to fqtag.com, a site linked to malware/adware behaviour. Good news everyone, the queen will now be able to alert you if your computer is infected! /s

niuboshi 11y ago
Thanks, and oh dear. Somebody was kind enough to email me about this. I've needed to install El Capitan on that box for a while, this seems as good an excuse as any to tear it down and reinstall.

iamben 11y ago

This is awesome. But I think if there was more historical records (as in it showed more than the last 50 or 60), it'd have more punch for the layman. I suspect a lot of my FB friends, on seeing 30 connections to fqtag.com and some links to an IBM console would think 'so what'? But seeing a link to nastyporn.com (or whatever) that would be viewable without a warrant would be quite the eye opener.

niuboshi 11y ago
Good idea that's been raised elsewhere. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or motivation to develop storage and retrieval for this. Instead, I'm going to open up access to, and document, the websockets interface. If you'd like to build something that collects and does cool things with this data, you're welcome to it. I'll run it until the bill passes (in whatever form) or is killed off in committee or the lords.

mjs7231 11y ago

Can someone explain to me why is this more exciting than telling me the my browser history can seen by other people?

Amorymeltzer 11y ago
Showing, in real-time, what you are visiting is a much more visceral punch than "telling." I think people forget/whitewash their history, especially the quick diversions away from what they should be doing. I'm already nervous for this stranger about using Facebook and Twitter on "work-mac."
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > I'm already nervous for this stranger about using Facebook and Twitter on "work-mac." This is a kind of hypocrisy we really need to get over as a civilization. Almost every office worker browses Facebook, Twitter, eBay and equivalents for significant amount of work time. Let's just admit it and stop caring about it. Trying to fight it only destroys office morale. Private browsing is often an important part of maintaining a mental hygiene in the workplace.
  - niuboshi 11y ago
    Two points here. I don't have a Facebook account (probably never will), so I suspect the Facebook hits were mostly from Salon. On the browsing Twitter stuff, I'm kind of fortunate. Since this hit here and on Boing Boing, I've been following along (and have been pleasantly surprised at how nice the internet is). But, I'm in academia, and this very tangentially counts as "work." But yes, I also agree, people are doing this, and they'll continue to do so at work. As for how that fits with your model of a productive workplace, YMMV.

gloves 11y ago

Very effective. Great work. If only more people saw this, I'm sure it would be a wake up call for the masses. I know it has been for me.

swombat 11y ago

I applaud the effort but I think showing this to any non-technical person will have zero useful impact. It's just a list of fairly non-descript URL. It takes several leaps of understanding and/or imagination to understand what can be done with this stuff, aggregated over a few years of someone's life. You don't get that from this list of 50 truncated URLs.

pjgomez 11y ago

Nicely done sir. I have a similar project called Q2, still unpublished. I would be happy to talk to you about our projects and share ideas. Congratulations, you beat me to the punch!