5 ms·

Why don’t you just use throwaways? I stopped reusing usernames online long long ago.

Maximus9000 3y ago
The trouble with throw away accounts is that there is technology to link the accounts by comparing your writing style to other accounts. Hacker news had a good demonstration of that awhile back. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33755016 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33755016
- orev 3y ago
  That would apply equally to using different usernames on each site, so not really relevant to the point being made here.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Karawebnetwork 3y ago
  Some might call me paranoid, but I also change my writing style between sensitive accounts. Not all, because that would be a bother, but between accounts where I'm a moderator and those where I'm a normal user, I make sure to change my mindset. On some accounts, I translate everything I write twice for greater anonymity.
  - Cpoll 3y ago
    > On some accounts, I translate everything I write twice for greater anonymity. Beware, in some cases uncommon or unique anonymization techniques may make you _easier_ to de-anonymize.
    - Llamamoe 3y ago
      Easier to pinpoint as unique, sure, but de-anonymize? How?
      - Cpoll 3y ago
        I probably should have just said "cross-reference," but here's a hand-wavy scenario. The gist is, the more information you have on a persona, the more you can filter out identity candidates. So, for example, if you have unique anonymous accounts for multiple online communities but use an identifiable "anonymization" scheme (and with the right heuristics and AI "magic" this need not be a targeted attack), I can correlate and build a profile on you: Military history enthusiast, knife owner, lives in Maine, Boston U alumni, class of 2001, active hours imply working 9-5, age 39, etc. Which is probably enough to compare against public records, leaked data, whatever, to pinpoint a single individual.
  - seanw444 3y ago
    Perhaps it is paranoid, but you're not alone.
  - bawis 3y ago
    How exactly do you do that ?
- hunter2_ 3y ago
  I see that implementation now says "Site is closed as of 2023-03-01". Do we know of any alternatives? Ideally I'd like to see if my HN handle brings up my reddit handle, or other cross-site linkages.
saltminer 3y ago
Lots of subreddits have minimum account age and/or karma requirements due to how bad the bot situation has gotten, so unless you're willing to farm karma and wait a month to post each time (or maintain multiple semi-permanent "burner" accounts, which, as pointed out by Maximus9000, can still be linked together by writing style), it's easier to just purge your comment history on a regular basis.

The trouble with throw away accounts is that there is technology to link the accounts by comparing your writing style to other accounts. Hacker news had a good demonstration of that awhile back. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33755016 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33755016

orev 3y ago
That would apply equally to using different usernames on each site, so not really relevant to the point being made here.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
Karawebnetwork 3y ago
Some might call me paranoid, but I also change my writing style between sensitive accounts. Not all, because that would be a bother, but between accounts where I'm a moderator and those where I'm a normal user, I make sure to change my mindset. On some accounts, I translate everything I write twice for greater anonymity.
- Cpoll 3y ago
  > On some accounts, I translate everything I write twice for greater anonymity. Beware, in some cases uncommon or unique anonymization techniques may make you _easier_ to de-anonymize.
  - Llamamoe 3y ago
    Easier to pinpoint as unique, sure, but de-anonymize? How?
    - Cpoll 3y ago
      I probably should have just said "cross-reference," but here's a hand-wavy scenario. The gist is, the more information you have on a persona, the more you can filter out identity candidates. So, for example, if you have unique anonymous accounts for multiple online communities but use an identifiable "anonymization" scheme (and with the right heuristics and AI "magic" this need not be a targeted attack), I can correlate and build a profile on you: Military history enthusiast, knife owner, lives in Maine, Boston U alumni, class of 2001, active hours imply working 9-5, age 39, etc. Which is probably enough to compare against public records, leaked data, whatever, to pinpoint a single individual.
- seanw444 3y ago
  Perhaps it is paranoid, but you're not alone.
- bawis 3y ago
  How exactly do you do that ?
hunter2_ 3y ago
I see that implementation now says "Site is closed as of 2023-03-01". Do we know of any alternatives? Ideally I'd like to see if my HN handle brings up my reddit handle, or other cross-site linkages.

saltminer 3y ago

Lots of subreddits have minimum account age and/or karma requirements due to how bad the bot situation has gotten, so unless you're willing to farm karma and wait a month to post each time (or maintain multiple semi-permanent "burner" accounts, which, as pointed out by Maximus9000, can still be linked together by writing style), it's easier to just purge your comment history on a regular basis.