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Way back then I exposed massive data collection from Twitter by Google which made it possible to plot locations at which you used Twitter in Google Maps by simp

Way back then I exposed massive data collection from Twitter by Google which made it possible to plot locations at which you used Twitter in Google Maps by simply putting your Twitter handle into the search field. Somehow they knew about these locations even when you opted out of sharing location data with Twitter (I checked) -- so this was only possible by Twitter privately providing this information to Google. This "experiment" has since then been shut down, but exposing this and many other other forms of activism permanently has cost me my Twitter account, to the point that asking to reinstate it several times because I was permanently suspended for no valid reason led to X Support directly rerouting every attempt to appeal this decision into the digital trash can. Let's say nothing surprises me anymore.

immibis 1y ago
Doesn't every site route every support request for every reason into the digital trash can? You're supposed to just make a new account, using as many mechanisms as possible to make sure the site can't link it to your old account.
- TheDong 1y ago
  I too sell my phone and buy a new one and also get a new phone number each time I get banned
- mindcrash 1y ago
  Someone from X Support replied, basically told me to fuck off and that this would happen after my second or third appeal... so no.
- torben-friis 1y ago
  I’m not even sure that’s possible for some sites. A few years ago I tried to create a separate digital footprint from scratch (just an experiment out of boredom when my isp offered a second number for free). I used an ultra cheap never before used android phone and set it up outside my home. Google went nuts. All sorts of captchas, security checks and attempts to link me to other information popping up on every step. Eventually it wouldn’t let me use the phone unless I provided a credit card number.
  - alpaca128 1y ago
    Apple secretly linked my account to my >15 year old inactive account as well as another random account that isn't even mine. Nothing happened of it until I let my iPhone sync its settings to a new iPad. The iPad spammed a password input form for my old account that blocked all other UI elements. It didn't accept any password even after a password reset. Took me an hour to make the tablet usable again. The password form still randomly pops up every few weeks and there seems to be no way to fix the mess. Bonus: the iPad's device name is now "My iPhone" because it also synced the device name from the phone.
    - celeritascelery 1y ago
      I had this same issue. About once a week it would prompt me for the password for an old Apple ID. I eventually started over from scratch to work around the issue.
  - immibis 1y ago
    That's the modern tech landscape for you. They really want to know who you are because they make more money that way. For a similar experience, try Tor Browser.
hyperpape 1y ago
It's really indefensible to post this without linking to your research to show people what you found.
- mindcrash 1y ago
  Believe it or not, I wrote about it on my now permanently suspended Twitter account. Here is a remnant from someone who replied at the time: https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 By the way: somewhat later we (thanks to a group effort) figured out it wasn't "just" Chrome as mentioned, and this basically led to the strong assumption there was some serious data sharing involved. And yes that screenshot from this person is 100% real; my pins for example were sprinkled all across Brighton in the UK near places with Wifi access (I recently went on a city trip there at the time), and my home town in the Netherlands.
- NikkiA 1y ago
  Tweets were geolocated, with a 'see tweets near me' page until about 14 years ago, so it's entirely feasible that at least some of that infrastructure has survived the feature being removed.
  - mindcrash 1y ago
    "Tweets near me" was based on people sharing geolocation with Twitter (one of the things you can opt-out of when setting up your profile). I didn't share any geolocation with Twitter. At least not voluntarily.
monkeyfun 1y ago
Could you link to some of it? Sounds extremely interesting!
- mindcrash 1y ago
  See screenshot: https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 Do note that at first it was assumed just Chrome was involved, but then people started to message me that they also saw it when using the apps, Firefox, Safari and other browsers aswell.
  - monkeyfun 1y ago
    Thanks!
  - gruez 1y ago
    Sounds like they showing geoip for tweets/profiles?
    - mindcrash 1y ago
      IP isn't exposed by the Twitter API. Also, sharing geolocation has been turned off by said user because reasons -- which make sense if you look at the location in the screenshot. Geolocation has been turned off by me and others aswell.
patrakov 1y ago
Is this your experiment? https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy https://www.geocreepy.com/ https://www.geocreepy.com/
- mindcrash 1y ago
  Mine was even creepier. This one used data shared by the user (opt-in on sharing geolocation in the app or browser), which then is publically exposed through the API (like this feature says it would). Mine doesn't give a shit, geolocation was shared even when turned off by the user in Twitter.
  - patrakov 1y ago
    Sorry for misrepresenting the functionality of the original cree.py project. What it does is download all photos that the user shared on Twitter, extract GPS tags from EXIF, and put markers on Google maps, annotated with these photos.

immibis 1y ago

Doesn't every site route every support request for every reason into the digital trash can? You're supposed to just make a new account, using as many mechanisms as possible to make sure the site can't link it to your old account.

TheDong 1y ago
I too sell my phone and buy a new one and also get a new phone number each time I get banned
mindcrash 1y ago
Someone from X Support replied, basically told me to fuck off and that this would happen after my second or third appeal... so no.
torben-friis 1y ago
I’m not even sure that’s possible for some sites. A few years ago I tried to create a separate digital footprint from scratch (just an experiment out of boredom when my isp offered a second number for free). I used an ultra cheap never before used android phone and set it up outside my home. Google went nuts. All sorts of captchas, security checks and attempts to link me to other information popping up on every step. Eventually it wouldn’t let me use the phone unless I provided a credit card number.
- alpaca128 1y ago
  Apple secretly linked my account to my >15 year old inactive account as well as another random account that isn't even mine. Nothing happened of it until I let my iPhone sync its settings to a new iPad. The iPad spammed a password input form for my old account that blocked all other UI elements. It didn't accept any password even after a password reset. Took me an hour to make the tablet usable again. The password form still randomly pops up every few weeks and there seems to be no way to fix the mess. Bonus: the iPad's device name is now "My iPhone" because it also synced the device name from the phone.
  - celeritascelery 1y ago
    I had this same issue. About once a week it would prompt me for the password for an old Apple ID. I eventually started over from scratch to work around the issue.
- immibis 1y ago
  That's the modern tech landscape for you. They really want to know who you are because they make more money that way. For a similar experience, try Tor Browser.

hyperpape 1y ago

It's really indefensible to post this without linking to your research to show people what you found.

mindcrash 1y ago
Believe it or not, I wrote about it on my now permanently suspended Twitter account. Here is a remnant from someone who replied at the time: https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 By the way: somewhat later we (thanks to a group effort) figured out it wasn't "just" Chrome as mentioned, and this basically led to the strong assumption there was some serious data sharing involved. And yes that screenshot from this person is 100% real; my pins for example were sprinkled all across Brighton in the UK near places with Wifi access (I recently went on a city trip there at the time), and my home town in the Netherlands.
NikkiA 1y ago
Tweets were geolocated, with a 'see tweets near me' page until about 14 years ago, so it's entirely feasible that at least some of that infrastructure has survived the feature being removed.
- mindcrash 1y ago
  "Tweets near me" was based on people sharing geolocation with Twitter (one of the things you can opt-out of when setting up your profile). I didn't share any geolocation with Twitter. At least not voluntarily.

monkeyfun 1y ago

Could you link to some of it? Sounds extremely interesting!

mindcrash 1y ago
See screenshot: https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 https://xcancel.com/kpcuk/status/601451439215353857 Do note that at first it was assumed just Chrome was involved, but then people started to message me that they also saw it when using the apps, Firefox, Safari and other browsers aswell.
- monkeyfun 1y ago
  Thanks!
- gruez 1y ago
  Sounds like they showing geoip for tweets/profiles?
  - mindcrash 1y ago
    IP isn't exposed by the Twitter API. Also, sharing geolocation has been turned off by said user because reasons -- which make sense if you look at the location in the screenshot. Geolocation has been turned off by me and others aswell.

patrakov 1y ago

Is this your experiment? https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy https://github.com/jkakavas/creepy https://www.geocreepy.com/ https://www.geocreepy.com/

mindcrash 1y ago
Mine was even creepier. This one used data shared by the user (opt-in on sharing geolocation in the app or browser), which then is publically exposed through the API (like this feature says it would). Mine doesn't give a shit, geolocation was shared even when turned off by the user in Twitter.
- patrakov 1y ago
  Sorry for misrepresenting the functionality of the original cree.py project. What it does is download all photos that the user shared on Twitter, extract GPS tags from EXIF, and put markers on Google maps, annotated with these photos.