3 ms·

I wonder why he doesn't suggest actively building a fake Facebook profile to dilute the accuracy of the information being mined? What's the worst that can happe

I wonder why he doesn't suggest actively building a fake Facebook profile to dilute the accuracy of the information being mined? What's the worst that can happen, the account is blocked...

lazyjones 13y ago
> What's the worst that can happen Someone else might post something (wrong) that gets you in trouble because it's taken seriously.
grecy 13y ago
By even going to the site, you are giving them data. They have your IP address, the unique attributes of your browser, etc. etc. Once they figure out the profile is fake, they list you in the "trouble maker" category and step up monitoring that IP/browser combination until they know who you are, then they link that with everything they have on the real you (bank account, property, job, etc.) Eventually, one day, you're trying to board a plane and you get denied because you've been known to disseminate "false or misleading information". Playing their game validates it. Just don't play.
- mateo411 13y ago
  What unique aspects of your browser? The User-Agent header will tell you the kind of browser you have. However, it's unlikely that you are using a browser that's very unique. They can use cookies to identify you. But you have to keep going back to their website.
  - grecy 13y ago
    I'm unique among the 3.6 million tested so far. https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/
    - panacea 13y ago
      I love fonts, and yet, they appear to also be my digital fingerprint.
    - sebkomianos 13y ago
      This is scary.
    - acjohnson55 13y ago
      Hmm. It seems like my plugins give me away.
    - eps 13y ago
      You know, I've been to this site several times, but noticed just now that it says "1 in 27588" about plugins of *stock iPad browser". This seems to be off, way off.
      - MrBra 13y ago
        Yes but that still makes your browser unique, isn't it?
  - m4x 13y ago
    You don't have to go back to their website very often; your browsing is tracked every time you visit a page that has a 'Like' button. And as others have noted many people's browsers already have a unique fingerprint even while you are logged out of Facebook
- Resident_Geek 13y ago
  > Eventually, one day, you're trying to board a plane and you get denied because you've been known to disseminate "false or misleading information". That's absurd. How do you picture Facebook achieving control over whether you can board an airplane?
duvet 13y ago
It contributes to activity and encourages whatever friends you might have on that account to stay. I don't think there's much benefit to that unless you dedicate some time to creating around a million fake accounts with no real friends.
nly 13y ago
Probably because RMS doesn't really use a web browser. Text search for 'womb' http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html

I wonder why he doesn't suggest actively building a fake Facebook profile to dilute the accuracy of the information being mined? What's the worst that can happen, the account is blocked...

lazyjones 13y ago

> What's the worst that can happen Someone else might post something (wrong) that gets you in trouble because it's taken seriously.

grecy 13y ago

By even going to the site, you are giving them data. They have your IP address, the unique attributes of your browser, etc. etc. Once they figure out the profile is fake, they list you in the "trouble maker" category and step up monitoring that IP/browser combination until they know who you are, then they link that with everything they have on the real you (bank account, property, job, etc.) Eventually, one day, you're trying to board a plane and you get denied because you've been known to disseminate "false or misleading information". Playing their game validates it. Just don't play.

mateo411 13y ago
What unique aspects of your browser? The User-Agent header will tell you the kind of browser you have. However, it's unlikely that you are using a browser that's very unique. They can use cookies to identify you. But you have to keep going back to their website.
- grecy 13y ago
  I'm unique among the 3.6 million tested so far. https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/
  - panacea 13y ago
    I love fonts, and yet, they appear to also be my digital fingerprint.
  - sebkomianos 13y ago
    This is scary.
  - acjohnson55 13y ago
    Hmm. It seems like my plugins give me away.
  - eps 13y ago
    You know, I've been to this site several times, but noticed just now that it says "1 in 27588" about plugins of *stock iPad browser". This seems to be off, way off.
    - MrBra 13y ago
      Yes but that still makes your browser unique, isn't it?
- m4x 13y ago
  You don't have to go back to their website very often; your browsing is tracked every time you visit a page that has a 'Like' button. And as others have noted many people's browsers already have a unique fingerprint even while you are logged out of Facebook
Resident_Geek 13y ago
> Eventually, one day, you're trying to board a plane and you get denied because you've been known to disseminate "false or misleading information". That's absurd. How do you picture Facebook achieving control over whether you can board an airplane?

duvet 13y ago

It contributes to activity and encourages whatever friends you might have on that account to stay. I don't think there's much benefit to that unless you dedicate some time to creating around a million fake accounts with no real friends.

nly 13y ago

Probably because RMS doesn't really use a web browser. Text search for 'womb' http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html