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What you said and much more. For example, you buy a burner phone, but the place you bought it from, even if a second hand shop, had a security camera. Maybe th
by 323 5y ago
What you said and much more.
For example, you buy a burner phone, but the place you bought it from, even if a second hand shop, had a security camera. Maybe they also record IMEI's before selling phones.
Or you carry your burner phone together with your real phone. Or alternatively, you leave one at home when using the other. Both of these things can be linked by a sufficiently determined actor (FBI/NSA level).
Or they track you to using a public square WiFi one day. Again, cameras are everywhere.
If they got your real name, no matter how, it's game over. You will be surveilled and they will find proof to link you. This is why all those posts "if only DPR used this kind of encryption or dead-men-switch" are ridiculous. Once they knew his real name it was just a matter of time and building a case.
- cellis 5y agoI would say that if you're caught and ... somehow manage to delete all the evidence linking you ( you have device explosives or, idk, 2048 bit encryption ), you may be able to escape, but come on, who are we kidding: the FBI has like a 99.96% conviction rate and that's without even going to into the "parallel construction" or other conspiratorial lines of attack.
- 323 5y agoI don't think the FBI would be that dumb to arrest you before they have solid proof.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ethbr0 5y agoThe FBI has "like a 99.96% conviction rate"?
- chihuahua 5y ago99.96333 (repeating of course)
- ethbr0 5y agohttps://www.justice.gov/usao/resources/annual-statistical-reports https://www.justice.gov/usao/resources/annual-statistical-re... I get 93.22% for defendants in US District Court in 2019. And 93.16% for 2018. (Edit: Fixed some math & dates) Edit: Found the referring agency line item. 91.12% for FBI-referred in 2019, 91.34% in 2018. If you're going to quote statistics, don't just pull them out of thin air. The government is required to report this stuff, you know?
- chihuahua 5y agoIt was intended to be a joke. "333 repeating of course" is a reference to Leroy Jenkins.
- tharne 5y agoI don't know if it's 99.96%, but the FBI is well-known for making sure everything is absolutely airtight before making an arrest. Once they make an arrest, you can be sure they have more than enough evidence to convict and then some. When people do avoid a conviction, it's usually by testifying against others in exchange for immunity or leniency.
- titzer 5y agoYou should just assume a "real phone" is rooted by the FBI and functions to track your movements 24/7, accurate to the meter, is capable of remotely enabling mic/camera and all sensors, including WiFi, accelerometer, GPS, etc. Because even if it isn't, the software on it already (system software, apps, everything) already does a massive amount of snooping, distilling, and uploading. The feds "enabling" targeted surveillance on your phone will not look materially different from what it already does which has been purposely obfuscated to be undetectable. The surveillance state is already here. The dragnet is on for everyone, and if they miss anything it's because it's hidden in the noise, not that the signal isn't being sent. We're cooked, it's over. Forget being anonymous.
- ethbr0 5y agoI'd argue that real anonymity requires disconnection from digital networks in this age. I.e. cash, rural, paper letters for last mile The internet is by definition centralized and the government has privileged access, from a surveillance perspective. Luckily, the number of people who really need this level of anonymity (i.e. I am wanted by every world government as a top priority) is pretty low.
- syntheweave 5y agoGoing analog is really more of an obscurity play than an anonymity one. In which case, you can go online and simply aim to be obscure, to never raise alarms, position oneself as a predatory target, or announce oneself as a threat. Explicit, true thoughts get pushed out to alt accounts, private diaries and the like. You may even allow some degree of linkage to take place, a "if you worked that hard to get here, you know exactly what you were doing" signal. I've done that for years. I think this is the only way to feel truly at ease with the state of things, really. Keeping a whole self in public or in private is asking a bit much.
- ethbr0 5y agoThe way I look at it is a matter of attack surface and attack distance. Digital vastly increases both. You have layers and layers of technology in even the simplest modern computers, and core network infrastructure subject to tapping or worse. And much of this that can be done from anywhere on the planet. Analog requires physical proximity, a strength and a serious inconvenience. But it also has the property of being legacy, in that you are now immune to state of the art digital methods, and susceptible to older ones that may be out of institutional memory and practice.
- frodo_77 5y agoThat's why step 0 if you plan on stepping on the U.S. governments toes is: Move to a country with no extradition treaty with the U.S. and be prepared to spend the rest of your life only traveling between such countries. Make sure to also account for edge cases like countries without an extradition treaty that still enforce it (i.e. Maldives) and countries WITH an extradition treaty that do not enforce it (like Venezuela).