Haha, well that's stretching the argument a bit, but for the sake of conversation I would then ask for proof that family is indeed the "basic building block of society" and that what MA is doing is actually damaging it to an extent that it can be considered a public safety issue.
> I would then ask for proof that family is indeed the "basic building block of society" I think the burden of proof goes the other way, considering marriage laws (including those that punish infidelity) have been part of common law for hundreds of years.
The burden of proof is upon the one who makes the claim, so no it isn't the other way around.
Does anybody need to restate the obvious: Go through the OPM leak and cross-check everybody with TS-SCI clearance with the AM database. Bingo-presto, big list of folks you can blackmail to do government favors. Take about 2 minutes.
If you're blackmailable, or financially in dire straits, you should not hold a TS clearance. Seriously. End of story. If someone with a TS clearance ever has someone attempt to blackmail them, they're obligated to tell their boss and security officer(s).
True, but giving the gov your blackmail file and giving your kid's nosy 3rd grade school teacher your blackmail file are different things. It is not difficult to imagine a person with a TS using AM, telling their boss about 'that one time' or not even worrying to tell them, having their OPM data flung to outer Bongolia, and then having this AM data bounced about. Though people should be better about updating their blackmail files at HQ.gov, they are not. These hacks in conjunction are really going to make a mess of things going forward. If you were thinking of giving the gov your blackmail file, you may be rethinking that info, as it seems to uninformed people (which are most of us on HN) that you may be better at keeping your personal secrets than the gov is. A chilling effect indeed.
And the people on the site who are not cheaters, and not willing to help someone else cheat?
Why would someone sign up and pay for a site that advertises like this[1] if not to utilize their services? [1]: https://www.google.com/search?q=ashley+madison+advertising&b...
You can't think of any reasons, or you simply don't want to?
This is unfortunate, but was easily avoidable. If you sign up for a site like this, take reasonable precautions. This means an alternate email account (and obviously a fake name.) If you actually subscribe, use a prepaid debit card ("gift card") not directly linked to your actual name or bank account.
As someone who's done this (not for ashleymadison), it's not necessarily 'easy'. Also, many sites that take recurring payments won't allow you to use a prepaid card.
I've done it for some other sites, though not recurring though. My guess is if there's enough balance on the prepaid card (for a pre-auth?), it will work.
The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…
This is a great comment, Thomas. I had an argument with my girlfriend about this. No matter what reasoning I used, no matter what I said, she could not agree that it was wrong that Ashley Madison (A.M.) was hacked. Her position was that marital infidelity is such a pubishable offense that the participants on A.M. deserve to be publicly outed. In her view, it was not even up for debate. She felt so powerfully about in…
Well, one way to explain this to your girlfriend is that it is a crime to steal information, even if you are stealing it from people you don't like
The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…
I'm a lot more worried about the identity theft implications of the leak than the "this will destroy the relationships of cheaters" implications. The cheaters deserve to be outed. Fuck 'em, let the world know their word is worthless. And as to the question as to whether they're actually cheating or not, let's be honest here - precisely nobody signed up for a site who's advertising and stated reason for existing is ex…
Honest question: why do cheaters "deserve to be outed?".
I realize you'd be enraged if someone cheated on you. So would I. But what does it matter to you what other people do with their private lives? Do you think people struggling with alcoholism also deserve to be outed and publicly humiliated?
That's the only way this can go. The company has three options: - Confirm that this (or any of the dumps) is the data. This almost definitely opens them up to lawsuits coming from a bunch of people who have little to lose. I say "little to lose" because a non-trivial number will be on the verge of divorce about to lose half of everything. - Keep their mouths shut and confirm/deny nothing. The press will continue on t…
Actually there is an easy way to confirm if this dump is at least part of the AM dump: Public court records from divorce proceedings. When my cousin got divorced one of the two of them had put a key logger on the computer and one of the two of them was using the computer explicitly. It is quite possible that there are lots of records that include the term "Ashley Madison".
This is a great comment, Thomas. I had an argument with my girlfriend about this. No matter what reasoning I used, no matter what I said, she could not agree that it was wrong that Ashley Madison (A.M.) was hacked. Her position was that marital infidelity is such a pubishable offense that the participants on A.M. deserve to be publicly outed. In her view, it was not even up for debate. She felt so powerfully about in…
Well, one way to explain this to your girlfriend is that it is a crime to steal information, even if you are stealing it from people you don't like
Lots of people don't care about that crime. Look at this thread!
One of the unfortunate outcomes I expect from this is immediate retribution against the "owners" of faked accounts. Not only can convincing web site accounts be created easily but E-mails that "prove" ownership can also be faked. There is a side of modern society that does not have either the patience or sense of fairness to verify something before acting on it. Put another way, what do you think would happen to you…
The leak contains credit card transactions associated with the cardholder's name. Could those be faked? I suppose. You have a 1/9999 chance of guessing the right 4 digits of someone's credit card.
The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…
You, sir, are moralizing just as much as anyone else. This situation is not ethically clean-cut, despite how badly you want it to be. The website's existence itself is -- at the very best -- ethically and morally questionable. The hack, while technically illegal, is arguably a morally righteous act. You can't say that there is nothing ethically acceptable about sharing this data, when its very existence is ethically…
"The website's existence itself is -- at the very best -- ethically and morally questionable". I vehemently disagree with this statement. Why is it morally and ethically questionable to facilitate private individuals finding sexual partners? Perhaps it's questionable according to your moral code, but society is not run on your personal moral code, thankfully