3 ms·

Also noteworthy is that it's getting increasingly harder to even have pseudonyms -- and not be outed. About a week ago, I really wanted to get in touch with a

by selmnoo 13y ago

Also noteworthy is that it's getting increasingly harder to even have pseudonyms -- and not be outed. About a week ago, I really wanted to get in touch with a HN user (who did not have any contact information in his profile), so I set out to do a little detective work... and after about 2 hours I basically got his e-mail address. Innocently and guilelessly I wrote him a message, and I found him to be just bewildered that I found out his identity... I felt very sorry of course for having scared him like that. This was a big moment for me. Because I also prefer to be anonymous on comment forums, and I'm generally pretty careful to not give clues as to my identity, but I still can't help but wonder if it's all gonna come back to me and maybe hurt my career in some manner.

lstamour 13y ago
Yeah, I know that even making a separate email account and using every trick not in the book to hide myself still won't help me. I'm too honest in the language I use. Or, like other usernames I've Googled, it becomes easier to pin someone down when they use the same name across multiple sites. If nothing else, it shows your interest in those sites, which can together, sometimes, uniquely identify you.
unimpressive 13y ago
Things I noticed going through your comment history: Your race. What car you drive. Hints at your political ideology. Where you grew up/that you're not originally from the United States/wherever you live now. You've undergone an IQ test in a professional environment. You've probably donated to Lavabit's legal fund. What OS you use, when you last bought a new computer. Since you talk about a computer engineering class with 250+ people, you've probably been to college. (Scratch that, you've definitely been to college.) You have a first church of atheism near you, and are probably a member. ---- That seems like enough to uniquely ID you.
- lstamour 13y ago
  Upon hearing "I'm generally pretty careful to not give clues as to my identity", Mr. unimpressive here appears to have said "Challenge Accepted." and followed through. https://www.google.ca/search?q=barney+stinson+challenge+accepted https://www.google.ca/search?q=barney+stinson+challenge+acce... Perhaps somebody has too much time on their hands? Personally I'm more worried by non-personal, bulk attacks based on database leaks. Oh and don't forget. selmnoo has Java disabled likely because he or she is on a Mac, so that's another vector out. Probably the fastest way to get any individual on HN is to reply to their comment and mention some site on which you've installed a payload, or not even that complicated: just ask for their email address. Done. :)
  - unimpressive 13y ago
    >Personally I'm more worried by non-personal, bulk attacks based on database leaks. While a personal attack is much less likely than a non-personal bulk attack, I would guess that anybody who goes through the trouble of personally looking over your words with a magnifying glass has a much higher chance of being very dangerous. That scary amounts of information are floating around about you has always been true though. The things you can get from your local courthouse may surprise you.
    - lstamour 13y ago
      Sure, but when anyone takes an interest in someone else, we all know the odds "something bad" will happen, even if "bad" is simply "embarrassment of the person with the interest". Similarly, I suppose what I'm getting at is there really is no such thing as complete anonymity, just the temporary pretence of it. I mean, of course, lack of interest and luck can contribute to your anonymity these days, and time might diminish the odds that something can get traced back to you, but ... you never know. ;-) Edit: I posted this elsewhere but it's relevant here too - http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/26/i-challenged-hackers-to-investigate-me-and-what-they-found-out-is-chilling/ http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/26/i-challenged-hackers-to-inv...
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- selmnoo 13y ago
  Oh boy. Kudos to you for gathering a lot of good stuff, an A for the effort absolutely. I should point out that you're off on /some/ things (or perhaps more accurately: incomplete). For beginners, the OS I use -- you're thinking Win8, but that's only on the laptop I recently bought. I've actually been using Ubuntu for a couple of years on the main desktop. My race, car, political ideology, place of birth, current residence, current religion, religion of household I was born to, education you've got right. For my own good I will stop confirming other bits of information, I think (hope) that still leaves enough ambiguity to grant me still some freedom of anonymity (or maybe I'll have to abandon this account after another week or so, I guess I'll think about it). Oh, while I have the perfect chance to preach /why/ anonymity is important: I have family problems, because of religious differences. If my family found out my religious beliefs in full they'd be mad at me, that is one of the reasons I choose to be anonymous (in addition to a good many other, relating to professional work life and other things). One question: Why is my talking about being in a CE class of 250+ people not conclusive enough information that I've been to college? And, what was that /extra/ thing that made you confidently say 'Scratch that, you've definitely been to college'?
  - unimpressive 13y ago
    >Why is my talking about being a CE class of 250+ people not conclusive enough information that I've been to college? Could have been a trade school, possibly a very large high school. >And, what was that /extra/ thing that made you confidently say 'Scratch that, you've definitely been to college'? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6442136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6442136 Speaking of which, you really shouldn't admit stuff like that in a public forum.
  - lstamour 13y ago
    That'll teach me to make assumptions. I assumed Mac since you wrote somewhere that you didn't have the Java web plugin added 1 and 2 and got 4. As to abandoning your account, I wouldn't worry about it. You're far more likely to get a relative's interest some other way -- perhaps an event notification on a smartphone screen, or the auto-complete bar in a browser. The simplest approach is most likely though: dinner table conversation on some evening in the future. :)
nraynaud 13y ago
I use my real name, and I lost my last job triggered by online comments I made (not the only factor). I still don't think it's a big deal in general, I also have reference threads on quite technical subjects.

by selmnoo 13y ago

lstamour 13y ago

Yeah, I know that even making a separate email account and using every trick not in the book to hide myself still won't help me. I'm too honest in the language I use. Or, like other usernames I've Googled, it becomes easier to pin someone down when they use the same name across multiple sites. If nothing else, it shows your interest in those sites, which can together, sometimes, uniquely identify you.

unimpressive 13y ago

Things I noticed going through your comment history: Your race. What car you drive. Hints at your political ideology. Where you grew up/that you're not originally from the United States/wherever you live now. You've undergone an IQ test in a professional environment. You've probably donated to Lavabit's legal fund. What OS you use, when you last bought a new computer. Since you talk about a computer engineering class with 250+ people, you've probably been to college. (Scratch that, you've definitely been to college.) You have a first church of atheism near you, and are probably a member. ---- That seems like enough to uniquely ID you.

lstamour 13y ago
Upon hearing "I'm generally pretty careful to not give clues as to my identity", Mr. unimpressive here appears to have said "Challenge Accepted." and followed through. https://www.google.ca/search?q=barney+stinson+challenge+accepted https://www.google.ca/search?q=barney+stinson+challenge+acce... Perhaps somebody has too much time on their hands? Personally I'm more worried by non-personal, bulk attacks based on database leaks. Oh and don't forget. selmnoo has Java disabled likely because he or she is on a Mac, so that's another vector out. Probably the fastest way to get any individual on HN is to reply to their comment and mention some site on which you've installed a payload, or not even that complicated: just ask for their email address. Done. :)
- unimpressive 13y ago
  >Personally I'm more worried by non-personal, bulk attacks based on database leaks. While a personal attack is much less likely than a non-personal bulk attack, I would guess that anybody who goes through the trouble of personally looking over your words with a magnifying glass has a much higher chance of being very dangerous. That scary amounts of information are floating around about you has always been true though. The things you can get from your local courthouse may surprise you.
  - lstamour 13y ago
    Sure, but when anyone takes an interest in someone else, we all know the odds "something bad" will happen, even if "bad" is simply "embarrassment of the person with the interest". Similarly, I suppose what I'm getting at is there really is no such thing as complete anonymity, just the temporary pretence of it. I mean, of course, lack of interest and luck can contribute to your anonymity these days, and time might diminish the odds that something can get traced back to you, but ... you never know. ;-) Edit: I posted this elsewhere but it's relevant here too - http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/26/i-challenged-hackers-to-investigate-me-and-what-they-found-out-is-chilling/ http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/26/i-challenged-hackers-to-inv...
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
selmnoo 13y ago
Oh boy. Kudos to you for gathering a lot of good stuff, an A for the effort absolutely. I should point out that you're off on /some/ things (or perhaps more accurately: incomplete). For beginners, the OS I use -- you're thinking Win8, but that's only on the laptop I recently bought. I've actually been using Ubuntu for a couple of years on the main desktop. My race, car, political ideology, place of birth, current residence, current religion, religion of household I was born to, education you've got right. For my own good I will stop confirming other bits of information, I think (hope) that still leaves enough ambiguity to grant me still some freedom of anonymity (or maybe I'll have to abandon this account after another week or so, I guess I'll think about it). Oh, while I have the perfect chance to preach /why/ anonymity is important: I have family problems, because of religious differences. If my family found out my religious beliefs in full they'd be mad at me, that is one of the reasons I choose to be anonymous (in addition to a good many other, relating to professional work life and other things). One question: Why is my talking about being in a CE class of 250+ people not conclusive enough information that I've been to college? And, what was that /extra/ thing that made you confidently say 'Scratch that, you've definitely been to college'?
- unimpressive 13y ago
  >Why is my talking about being a CE class of 250+ people not conclusive enough information that I've been to college? Could have been a trade school, possibly a very large high school. >And, what was that /extra/ thing that made you confidently say 'Scratch that, you've definitely been to college'? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6442136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6442136 Speaking of which, you really shouldn't admit stuff like that in a public forum.
- lstamour 13y ago
  That'll teach me to make assumptions. I assumed Mac since you wrote somewhere that you didn't have the Java web plugin added 1 and 2 and got 4. As to abandoning your account, I wouldn't worry about it. You're far more likely to get a relative's interest some other way -- perhaps an event notification on a smartphone screen, or the auto-complete bar in a browser. The simplest approach is most likely though: dinner table conversation on some evening in the future. :)

nraynaud 13y ago

I use my real name, and I lost my last job triggered by online comments I made (not the only factor). I still don't think it's a big deal in general, I also have reference threads on quite technical subjects.