25 ms·

New service injects privacy into social media through scrambled text

24 points by regandersong 15y ago

mike-cardwell 15y ago
"I really like this way of circumventing problems with privacy in social media. Rather than building your own new social media service, it makes much more sense to inject your own privacy features into anything and everything." I really dislike this methodology. The complexity and friction it introduces excludes the vast majority of people who don't yet, and maybe never will, realise how they would benefit from it. We need a distributed social network, which can't be taken down, censored or monitored by any organisation or government, which utilises public key crypto for privacy, and which is at least as easy to use as Facebook. An immensely difficult project to tackle, but one that would change the World.
- markkum 15y ago
  We (Meontrust Inc, the provider of Neko.io and Mepin.com) would be happy to provide public key crypto (PKI) for such a service or project. Neko.io authentication, i.e. Mepin, is based on PKI.
- gldalmaso 15y ago
  You still have to get past the friction to convince people to move away from Facebook and use that service instead. Instead of focusing on an immensely difficult project, why not focus and a simpler one that will bring to light the privacy issue. Maybe after enough people get sick of posting links to ensure privacy, they'd be more willing to finally let Facebook go in favor of a simpler privacy sensitive service.
- funthree 15y ago
  be sure to use fountain codes
- yalooze 15y ago
  Does Diaspora do this? https://joindiaspora.com/ https://joindiaspora.com/ I think that's there goal, or at least something similar.
- greenyoda 15y ago
  Once Facebook hears of this service they'll probably disable linking to it from Facebook, since it takes Facebook users off-site where they can't be fed Facebook's ads. A distributed social network that's not subject to the whims of a single company really seems to be the only way to get control over your privacy.
djbender 15y ago
Maybe you shouldn't be using (public) social media then? =/
- funthree 15y ago
  in 2004/2005 when I signed up for the facebook it was NOT a public site
  - ohyes 15y ago
    I seem to remember it being that you could see anyone at your college. Which made it defacto public because strangers had access to your profile. (You had no access control with your profile). As long as I had a college email I could see anyone else's profile if they were at the same college. Networks were college based. People were up in arms when anyone with an email address could get in and see their stuff. They wanted to expand their market. I think that was 2005. So in response they hacked in some not very good privacy features. Maybe I am misremembering, however.
yalooze 15y ago
Isn't this what Facebook Friend Lists and Google Plus Circles are for?
- kaukopartio1 15y ago
  Can you use Facebook Friend Lists in Twitter ?
  - yalooze 15y ago
    Obviously not. I believe Twitter is the only platform of the 3 that doesn't have a built in option to do this. It seems a bit like reinventing the wheel to me but perhaps that's because I can't see myself using it. I guess the USP is really cross-platform support?
    - kaukopartio1 15y ago
      Ok I see what you mean: circles. I agree that circles are old invention. But I think security of those circles is very compromised. I like the idea about encryption with social media.
- markkum 15y ago
  Not really. Clear text messages on Fb Friend List or G+ Circles are indexed and affects your profile (towards advertizers and others), whereas Neko.io messages are encrypted and truly private. Also, the Neko.io friend list spans across any and all social networks, so you would not need to maintain lists, circles, groups, flocks, etc in various services.
kd1220 15y ago
Being the pragmatist that I am: Why bother with public social media if you want to say something in private? Also, from a social behavioral view, this is very rude. It's the online equivalent of 2 or more people in a group switching to speaking another language so someone else in the group can't understand the topic.
- markkum 15y ago
  Here's an example Neko.io message for you; "I'm on a meditation trip in India. If you really need to bother me, here's my travel schedule and emergency number; https://neko.io/m/g4hF/xcjZq85lyL9TTAjefE1GLw/xGf_TME2-G9YRl1bfTPkstbMFWMHnzWj6Sv8zJmTUBjslshVkTm_XNSLyp7D5Z1luhaV_MYJX4TCJnQuX6SqUg https://neko.io/m/g4hF/xcjZq85lyL9TTAjefE1GLw/xGf_TME2-G9YRl... Neko.io is a utility. People post links to social networks all the time. The above link might look long and scrambled, but most services are shortening it automatically.
  - kd1220 15y ago
    Neko.io looks like it's trying to solve the access control list issues that Facebook has been plagued with since... forever. But it gets no further. It only exports these issues to all social networks. Watch Zed Shaw's "The ACL is dead" presentation and you'll understand why. Also it requires yet another non-standard authorization utility (Mepin?) or a separate login. I'm phatigued by phishing.

24 points by regandersong 15y ago

"I really like this way of circumventing problems with privacy in social media. Rather than building your own new social media service, it makes much more sense to inject your own privacy features into anything and everything." I really dislike this methodology. The complexity and friction it introduces excludes the vast majority of people who don't yet, and maybe never will, realise how they would benefit from it. We need a distributed social network, which can't be taken down, censored or monitored by any organisation or government, which utilises public key crypto for privacy, and which is at least as easy to use as Facebook. An immensely difficult project to tackle, but one that would change the World.

markkum 15y ago
We (Meontrust Inc, the provider of Neko.io and Mepin.com) would be happy to provide public key crypto (PKI) for such a service or project. Neko.io authentication, i.e. Mepin, is based on PKI.
gldalmaso 15y ago
You still have to get past the friction to convince people to move away from Facebook and use that service instead. Instead of focusing on an immensely difficult project, why not focus and a simpler one that will bring to light the privacy issue. Maybe after enough people get sick of posting links to ensure privacy, they'd be more willing to finally let Facebook go in favor of a simpler privacy sensitive service.
funthree 15y ago
be sure to use fountain codes
yalooze 15y ago
Does Diaspora do this? https://joindiaspora.com/ https://joindiaspora.com/ I think that's there goal, or at least something similar.
greenyoda 15y ago
Once Facebook hears of this service they'll probably disable linking to it from Facebook, since it takes Facebook users off-site where they can't be fed Facebook's ads. A distributed social network that's not subject to the whims of a single company really seems to be the only way to get control over your privacy.

djbender 15y ago

Maybe you shouldn't be using (public) social media then? =/

funthree 15y ago
in 2004/2005 when I signed up for the facebook it was NOT a public site
- ohyes 15y ago
  I seem to remember it being that you could see anyone at your college. Which made it defacto public because strangers had access to your profile. (You had no access control with your profile). As long as I had a college email I could see anyone else's profile if they were at the same college. Networks were college based. People were up in arms when anyone with an email address could get in and see their stuff. They wanted to expand their market. I think that was 2005. So in response they hacked in some not very good privacy features. Maybe I am misremembering, however.

yalooze 15y ago

Isn't this what Facebook Friend Lists and Google Plus Circles are for?

kaukopartio1 15y ago
Can you use Facebook Friend Lists in Twitter ?
- yalooze 15y ago
  Obviously not. I believe Twitter is the only platform of the 3 that doesn't have a built in option to do this. It seems a bit like reinventing the wheel to me but perhaps that's because I can't see myself using it. I guess the USP is really cross-platform support?
  - kaukopartio1 15y ago
    Ok I see what you mean: circles. I agree that circles are old invention. But I think security of those circles is very compromised. I like the idea about encryption with social media.
markkum 15y ago
Not really. Clear text messages on Fb Friend List or G+ Circles are indexed and affects your profile (towards advertizers and others), whereas Neko.io messages are encrypted and truly private. Also, the Neko.io friend list spans across any and all social networks, so you would not need to maintain lists, circles, groups, flocks, etc in various services.

kd1220 15y ago

Being the pragmatist that I am: Why bother with public social media if you want to say something in private? Also, from a social behavioral view, this is very rude. It's the online equivalent of 2 or more people in a group switching to speaking another language so someone else in the group can't understand the topic.

markkum 15y ago
Here's an example Neko.io message for you; "I'm on a meditation trip in India. If you really need to bother me, here's my travel schedule and emergency number; https://neko.io/m/g4hF/xcjZq85lyL9TTAjefE1GLw/xGf_TME2-G9YRl1bfTPkstbMFWMHnzWj6Sv8zJmTUBjslshVkTm_XNSLyp7D5Z1luhaV_MYJX4TCJnQuX6SqUg https://neko.io/m/g4hF/xcjZq85lyL9TTAjefE1GLw/xGf_TME2-G9YRl... Neko.io is a utility. People post links to social networks all the time. The above link might look long and scrambled, but most services are shortening it automatically.
- kd1220 15y ago
  Neko.io looks like it's trying to solve the access control list issues that Facebook has been plagued with since... forever. But it gets no further. It only exports these issues to all social networks. Watch Zed Shaw's "The ACL is dead" presentation and you'll understand why. Also it requires yet another non-standard authorization utility (Mepin?) or a separate login. I'm phatigued by phishing.