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Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

derstandard.at

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Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#161

Post by aasasd »

codedokode wrote: post #96

It is surprising. Even here, in Russia, we don't have such laws working yet. And I wonder, what Austrian authorities are going to do with foreign platforms like Telegram, which are unlikely to comply? Russian government has been trying to block Telegram using DPI for a year and didn't succeed. What about Twitter? Reddit? > In addition, web platforms would be required to appoint a liaison in Austria who would be respo…

Telegram already authenticates by the phone number, which setup was successfully used by Russian forces to hijack accounts of opposition.

Amazing how people are completely blind to this gaping misfeature despite infosec experts complaining about it the entire time.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#162

Post by Findus23 »

tunnuz wrote: post #53
bkolobara wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To get a sim card (even prepaid) in Austria you need to provide a valid ID/passport. If it's not an Austrian/German/Swiss ID you will need to go in person to activate your sim card. This would make it really difficult for someone to manage a few accounts.

I don’t recall doing that with a Hofer SIM card. However major other networks go a longer way recording who you are.

Check https://www.hot.at/aktivierung/index.html for details for HoT users.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#163

Post by coldtea »

kdme wrote: post #155
coldtea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will just put foreign platforms, who will ignore the law, into an advantageous position compared to local platforms. Users might switch to foreign platforms that don't require identification. Doesn't really matter, as those things move the Overton window. Tomorrow, when the US, China, and EU adopt similar laws, there wont be any "foreign services" to use.

What a scary idea. I want to say that its unlikely to happen but with the political climate right not... Anybody got an ideas, on what we are supposed to do when that happens

Well, the old ideas still work: revolt or submit.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#164

Post by aasasd »

Findus23 wrote: post #25

In case anyone wants to know how this should work, this is the explanation by the minister: There are "technical possibilities where software can run on the backend that can immediately identify: Does the registered mobile phone number match the name and address or not?" - derstandard.at/2000101678440/Minister-Bluemels-Ominous-De-Anonymization-Software (from https://derstandard.at/2000101678440/Minister-Bluemels-Omin…

So he's saying that every middle-sized site should keep a database of citizens' phone numbers or have a remote access to such a database.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#165

Post by snazz »

kdme wrote: post #155
coldtea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will just put foreign platforms, who will ignore the law, into an advantageous position compared to local platforms. Users might switch to foreign platforms that don't require identification. Doesn't really matter, as those things move the Overton window. Tomorrow, when the US, China, and EU adopt similar laws, there wont be any "foreign services" to use.

What a scary idea. I want to say that its unlikely to happen but with the political climate right not... Anybody got an ideas, on what we are supposed to do when that happens

Start a “counterculture network” of onion-routed hidden services (not necessarily Tor, but something akin). Some element of steganography would likely be required to prevent government-controlled ISPs from simply dropping encrypted traffic, most likely.

It would be hard and would likely attract only technically-minded individuals to use.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#166

Post by lazyjones »

arrozconcosas wrote: post #150
lazyjones wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This legislation is not about "aggressive behaviour", it's about criminal conduct. While I can't comment professionally on the validity / reproducibility of this research (looks bogus to me, they only examined comments on an online petition platform, not FB and news sites where all the crazy people are[1]), anyone who'd claim that criminals don't prefer to be anonymous or that perceived anonymity has a negative effec…

Putting 2 innocent people through systems designed to assume they are guilty is worse than 1 guilty person being able to be anonymous. Look at what the TSA has done. They’ve wasted so much time and created a massive invasion of physical privacy (i.e. someone touching your private parts in public) and not only did they never catch anything, they fail 90% of penetration tests. There is some positive intent here but in…

> Putting 2 innocent people through systems designed to assume they are guilty is worse...

This is not about being guilty, it's about being accountable for your actions, just like you are everywhere else.

In Austria and Germany, people riding bicycles are considered the rudest on the streets. Everybody is anonymous to other participants until an accident happens, but only bicycles have no number plates, so they usually run every red light because they won't be held accountable unless the police see it and give chase. I don't think it's fair, though some people clearly consider this an important part of their personal freedom, at the expense of everyone else.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#167

Post by readittwice »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #92
gxwmg wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But do the ÖVP actually do that? I'm Spanish and I voted for a "conservative" government this last election, where they promised to do, well, stuff I expected from a conservative party, and they didn't do shit. That's why I call them "centrist". They say they are conservatives, but they don't conserve anything.

I only enumerated things they put into law out they proposed or supported from the start. The things the FPOe did was getting rid of the smoking ban, raising the speed limits to 140, renaming the immigration centers to “departure centers”, proposals to cut the funding of the public broadcaster. Together they converted the country in record time into a dystopian place. Even putting childhood education back into former…

Well, the conservatives and the right are not going to implement left politics. Austria was certainly NOT converted into a "dystopian place".

Like it or not: Some time ago, a left-leaning newspaper (Standard) wrote that the current government has the best polls recorded so far.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#168

Post by snaky »

kdme wrote: post #155
coldtea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will just put foreign platforms, who will ignore the law, into an advantageous position compared to local platforms. Users might switch to foreign platforms that don't require identification. Doesn't really matter, as those things move the Overton window. Tomorrow, when the US, China, and EU adopt similar laws, there wont be any "foreign services" to use.

What a scary idea. I want to say that its unlikely to happen but with the political climate right not... Anybody got an ideas, on what we are supposed to do when that happens

People are very adaptable and will consider all that things new normal. XIX century Americans would consider an income tax in a peacetime grossly inappropriate, creepy and a violation of their dignity after all.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#169

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

kdme wrote: post #155
coldtea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will just put foreign platforms, who will ignore the law, into an advantageous position compared to local platforms. Users might switch to foreign platforms that don't require identification. Doesn't really matter, as those things move the Overton window. Tomorrow, when the US, China, and EU adopt similar laws, there wont be any "foreign services" to use.

What a scary idea. I want to say that its unlikely to happen but with the political climate right not... Anybody got an ideas, on what we are supposed to do when that happens

> Anybody got an ideas, on what we are supposed to do when that happens

only few things you can do (in that order depending on how bad it escalates), 0) start to learn about prepping and live a more unplugged live 1) flee and take refuge in a place that others call "backward" 2) take up arms and defend yourself

#2 will get you labeled a terrorist (though so was Count Stauffenberg)

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