Your Own Ghost
Human
- Mar 12, 2019
- 96
I've studied IT some and would like to share ways in which your privacy could be compromised on this site or any site. I share the concerns of many that I could say the wrong thing and then get a knock on my door. And as much as I think a tinfoil hat would be fashionable, I assure you that this is all current reality.
There's a misconception among many that as long as you don't use your real name on the internet then everything will be anonymous, but this is far from the truth. I saw a lot of deleted pictures in the introductory thread in response to talk about metadata, and so I'll expand on that here.
I'm not an expert on computer technology (and that's sort of the point – no matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better at it), and so this isn't an exhaustive list. It's meant to give you an idea about your privacy not only on this site but all across the web. Feel free to correct me or add to the list.
There's a misconception among many that as long as you don't use your real name on the internet then everything will be anonymous, but this is far from the truth. I saw a lot of deleted pictures in the introductory thread in response to talk about metadata, and so I'll expand on that here.
- An IP, or Internet Protocol, address is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. That includes the device you're on now.
- Additionally, a MAC address is hardcoded to all physical devices meant to connect to a network. It's a unique identifier. Sometimes this can be spoofed, but most often it's not.
- A VPN can obscure your network details by making you appear somewhere you're not, but a) they have to be trustworthy and many operate on little more than a promise, and b) they have to actually be doing what they say they're doing, and some don't or may cave easily at requests for information. VPN networks are also rife with affiliate sales promising the world and doing little. Some are speculated to be honeypots. Even if your VPN does everything it says it does, all it takes is one slip up on your part to give your personal information away.
- In investigations, you can also get identified by any number of factors combined in a profile about you. For example, when you visit a web page you reveal a lot of information about your computer setup, such as your operating system, browser, hardware, location, etc. Combined with this, your habits also come into play. When put together, a profile can be built of you that tracks the things you uniquely do.
- Your efforts toward privacy can be suspicious in itself. There was a guy who used the TOR network at his college to make a bomb threat. How'd he get caught? He was the only one who downloaded the TOR browser.
- Your username. If you've used your username before, all it takes is a Google search to find you. I think it was a guy who helped create the Silk Road who got busted by something like this. Authorities did a Google search and found one of his screen names posting stuff like "Hey have you guys heard of the Silk Road? I heard you can buy drugs and stuff anonymously." An obvious promotion tactic.
- The collected bits of everything you post. Perhaps one time you reveal you're 28 and from Antarctica. Another time you show your tattoo on your arm. And so on.
- The email you made your account with and all the information you gave away when you made that account.
- Metadata. This includes but is not limited to details such as camera settings, manufacturer, user settings, and even GPS. For example, several years ago, one of the hosts of the show Mythbusters had fans coming to his door because he posted a photo with metadata. Another example, police were able to bust a guy who produced child pornography by matching the metadata in one of the criminal photos to one of his social media family photos several years later that used the same camera.
- Reverse image search. If you reuse a photo, it can be found. Just like you how you type in "how to make apple pie", anyone can paste your photo into an image search engine and see the results.
- Facial recognition. What once seemed like it was sci-fi is now in use everywhere. Casinos are the best example of this – as soon as you walk through the doors they match your face up with a profile of you so they know how to get the most money from your wallet. But online, a site like Facebook is most obvious when it knows who's in a photo before you even tag them. I always wonder when this is going to occur to all the people on Pornhub.
- Facial recognition advanced. In England, for example, their CCTV system matches up criminals to personal details and they can arrest people years after the crime was committed - or they already have the details when the crime is committed. Guess what people's most uniquely identifying facial feature is. Did you guess people's ears?
- A program of everything. There's an interesting Defcon Talk, which is a conference held every year about computer technology and security, about a program authorities use to put every bit of data they can find into a program and narrow it down into a specific circumstance. It's far beyond what a human mind can piece together, and quite amazing. They've used it so far to catch everything from killers to rogue FBI agents. But you never know when technology such as that is in use and it has a way of trickling down to common use.
- And, what hasn't been invented yet. Your data is being collected (and stolen) constantly. Even if you do everything to cover your identity now, that doesn't mean your identity will be safe in the future.
I'm not an expert on computer technology (and that's sort of the point – no matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better at it), and so this isn't an exhaustive list. It's meant to give you an idea about your privacy not only on this site but all across the web. Feel free to correct me or add to the list.
