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> the only way to get 'badged' is to use the mobile app and take a picture of govt ID (driver license, passport, etc). Some people have argued, based on this,

> the only way to get 'badged' is to use the mobile app and take a picture of govt ID (driver license, passport, etc). Some people have argued, based on this, that Parler was set up by the NSA to get data on people. Hoovering up data from social media is certainly the sort of thing the NSA would do.

ChrisKnott 6y ago
This suggestion doesn't stand up to a moment's scrutiny. Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone?
- cipherboy 6y ago
  I believe OP is more insinuating that the combination of (ip, user identity {username, cell number, real-world identity}) is an attractive data source for such an agency. Of course they already have all government IDs. But tying it to a username helps correlate data across other services, and additionally if the user checks from mobile phone or other device, tying it to recent IPs could also be useful. OPSec could prevent some of that, but how many users are doing that? Just a thought. Not an endorsement.
  - cogman10 6y ago
    Seems like scaring away people by asking for cell numbers and photo ids goes too far. The IP address would give the FBI/NSA everything they need to track down an individual's household. After that, it'd be a simple case of monitoring them to figure out who the extremist is. To me, the more realistic (and scary!) explanation is this thing is just one huge identity theft machine.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- vergessenmir 6y ago
  I certainly agree that it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. To suggest that setting up a honeypot to have fringe elements actively expose their views in what they deem as a safe environment is not outside of what security agency may do is a bit of stretch It's a interesting thought to entertain but Parler is most likely not this.
- mlyle 6y ago
  I don't think it's true, but.. > Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? The best way to get a bunch of white supremacists and insurrectionists to robustly, undeniably identify themselves might be to ask them to upload their ID. :P
  - cbozeman 6y ago
    This is so elegant in its simplicity that I actually believe it could be true.
    - dstick 6y ago
      Exactly, they take over darkweb marketplaces silently all the time for this very reason.
  - matwood 6y ago
    Yeah, early on I half joked Parler was setup by the FBI as a honey pot to keep an eye on domestic terrorist.
    - cabalamat 6y ago
      I think it's more likely the NSA would do it, it's more up their street.
- eganist 6y ago
  > Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? The best method for target acquisition, sure. If someone is so perturbed by their reality being rejected by the mainstream that they're willing to sign up for an alternative to maintain their worldview, then running that alternative would be a fantastic way to identify people at risk of radicalization, domestic terror risks, etc. And if we're being clear, the USIC has run companies with this explicit mission in the past. In fact, running a company to provide one service at face level while providing a different service to the IC underneath is the mode that yielded some of the biggest intelligence wins in Western history. See Crypto AG. That said, no reason to run it themselves; they're well aware that someone else will end up running it for them, and with security nowhere near front-of-mind for any startup, they can just pick up the key from underneath the doormat and take the farm.
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  They don't need IDs. They need to positively identify account owners with the IDs. @JohnSmith is not a lot to go on if you want to send the FBI after them. @JohnSmith of 123 2nd Amendment Street, Jackson County Kentucky is a lot more useful.
- babar 6y ago
  Would it make sense as a good way for a foreign government entity to get access to this information?
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? No, but it’d be a really good way to get behavioral data on people and use a government ID to tie that data to real identities rather than pseudonyms.
- runjake 6y ago
  No, but it may be a good way to identify extremists and/or easily-manipulated persons amongst your populace. I'm not saying it's likely, but certainly possible.
tomatotomato37 6y ago
It's also a pretty good argument against anonymity being the cause of toxicity, considering these chucklefucks were literally uploading their legal identity so they could then shitpost about genocide. Actually why the flying fuck would someone think it is a good idea to plan an insurrection on this site in the first place?? It's like opposite day opsec
- foolmeonce 6y ago
  The key to this kind of insurrection is that it is a privilege escalation. If they sufficiently upset normal process, enough emergency control goes to Trump, he will protect them (why stop pardoning now) and make sure all future elections are too risky and anyone who objects and sides with the principals of the republic is fired. Turkey and Russia are good examples of how this attack works. It relies on a large number of people, possibly even a majority, to overthrow the republic with a populist government with no rules the leader can't change or selectively enforce. The leader shuts down one threat to himself at a time, making his control permanent. IMO the military is obligated to arrest Trump for treason, which was the turkish backstop, and after a few rounds Turkey finally missed the last time. So once it is used, you have to patch your system to drop privileges from the Presidents office for the next round.
  - foolmeonce 6y ago
    An example patch is to lower the limit on presidents to 1 term. I can't imagine who would find that more unfair to their party.
  - discodave 6y ago
    Another example of this strategy is the Reichstag fire. The Nazis blamed it on communists, and used it to claim emergency powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire
julianlam 6y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence
bob_doggo 6y ago
Other people/organizations besides government intelligency agencies could use that data for their own gain. One example would be cambridge analytica...

ChrisKnott 6y ago

This suggestion doesn't stand up to a moment's scrutiny. Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone?

cipherboy 6y ago
I believe OP is more insinuating that the combination of (ip, user identity {username, cell number, real-world identity}) is an attractive data source for such an agency. Of course they already have all government IDs. But tying it to a username helps correlate data across other services, and additionally if the user checks from mobile phone or other device, tying it to recent IPs could also be useful. OPSec could prevent some of that, but how many users are doing that? Just a thought. Not an endorsement.
- cogman10 6y ago
  Seems like scaring away people by asking for cell numbers and photo ids goes too far. The IP address would give the FBI/NSA everything they need to track down an individual's household. After that, it'd be a simple case of monitoring them to figure out who the extremist is. To me, the more realistic (and scary!) explanation is this thing is just one huge identity theft machine.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
vergessenmir 6y ago
I certainly agree that it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. To suggest that setting up a honeypot to have fringe elements actively expose their views in what they deem as a safe environment is not outside of what security agency may do is a bit of stretch It's a interesting thought to entertain but Parler is most likely not this.
mlyle 6y ago
I don't think it's true, but.. > Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? The best way to get a bunch of white supremacists and insurrectionists to robustly, undeniably identify themselves might be to ask them to upload their ID. :P
- cbozeman 6y ago
  This is so elegant in its simplicity that I actually believe it could be true.
  - dstick 6y ago
    Exactly, they take over darkweb marketplaces silently all the time for this very reason.
- matwood 6y ago
  Yeah, early on I half joked Parler was setup by the FBI as a honey pot to keep an eye on domestic terrorist.
  - cabalamat 6y ago
    I think it's more likely the NSA would do it, it's more up their street.
eganist 6y ago
> Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? The best method for target acquisition, sure. If someone is so perturbed by their reality being rejected by the mainstream that they're willing to sign up for an alternative to maintain their worldview, then running that alternative would be a fantastic way to identify people at risk of radicalization, domestic terror risks, etc. And if we're being clear, the USIC has run companies with this explicit mission in the past. In fact, running a company to provide one service at face level while providing a different service to the IC underneath is the mode that yielded some of the biggest intelligence wins in Western history. See Crypto AG. That said, no reason to run it themselves; they're well aware that someone else will end up running it for them, and with security nowhere near front-of-mind for any startup, they can just pick up the key from underneath the doormat and take the farm.
MattGaiser 6y ago
They don't need IDs. They need to positively identify account owners with the IDs. @JohnSmith is not a lot to go on if you want to send the FBI after them. @JohnSmith of 123 2nd Amendment Street, Jackson County Kentucky is a lot more useful.
babar 6y ago
Would it make sense as a good way for a foreign government entity to get access to this information?
dragonwriter 6y ago
> Do you really think the best way for a government agency to access government IDs is to secretly run a Twitter clone? No, but it’d be a really good way to get behavioral data on people and use a government ID to tie that data to real identities rather than pseudonyms.
runjake 6y ago
No, but it may be a good way to identify extremists and/or easily-manipulated persons amongst your populace. I'm not saying it's likely, but certainly possible.

tomatotomato37 6y ago

It's also a pretty good argument against anonymity being the cause of toxicity, considering these chucklefucks were literally uploading their legal identity so they could then shitpost about genocide. Actually why the flying fuck would someone think it is a good idea to plan an insurrection on this site in the first place?? It's like opposite day opsec

foolmeonce 6y ago
The key to this kind of insurrection is that it is a privilege escalation. If they sufficiently upset normal process, enough emergency control goes to Trump, he will protect them (why stop pardoning now) and make sure all future elections are too risky and anyone who objects and sides with the principals of the republic is fired. Turkey and Russia are good examples of how this attack works. It relies on a large number of people, possibly even a majority, to overthrow the republic with a populist government with no rules the leader can't change or selectively enforce. The leader shuts down one threat to himself at a time, making his control permanent. IMO the military is obligated to arrest Trump for treason, which was the turkish backstop, and after a few rounds Turkey finally missed the last time. So once it is used, you have to patch your system to drop privileges from the Presidents office for the next round.
- foolmeonce 6y ago
  An example patch is to lower the limit on presidents to 1 term. I can't imagine who would find that more unfair to their party.
- discodave 6y ago
  Another example of this strategy is the Reichstag fire. The Nazis blamed it on communists, and used it to claim emergency powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

julianlam 6y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence

bob_doggo 6y ago

Other people/organizations besides government intelligency agencies could use that data for their own gain. One example would be cambridge analytica...