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Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

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Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is not a problem with the tool, this is a problem with those platforms. Even if this tool is not published, bad actors can still make their own tools. I think we should rather demand the platforms to enforce better measures against this kind of usage, rather than blaming this tool.

You know what would be a great addition to this tool: A transparency panel/dashboard that shows any state organizations or LEO systems that are using it. List out all the IPs and countries that are state IPs using it.

The tool is running locally, how are you going to collect the IPs?

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#102
post #94
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are "abuse tools"? Trying to suppress knowledge is never the answer. That would mean that only those in the know can either protect themselves or exploit others. The "never put information about yourself on the internet" mantra from before social media needs a comeback and it will not happen if no one shines a light on how easy it is to track people online.

So if I put up a website at doxsyoc.com with your email address, phone numbers, home address, credit card details, social security number, daily schedule, bank statements and employment information you would presumably not try to have it removed because "Trying to suppress knowledge is never the answer".

I think you chose a weak interpretation of what they said to make your point. I don’t think that’s what they meant.

We’re talking about a tool here that attempts to aggregate all of a particular person’s social medial accounts. Social media is public. Everyone knows this, your are saying things and posting things with the expectation that everyone will be able to see them.

What you said is something totally different. Doxing someone’s private information is heinous. Nobody is arguing that is okay. I think the parent comment made a good point.

If tech can allow a tool like this to be possible, I think it is arguably better that everyone have access to it, instead of just bad actors keeping it to themselves.

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#104

I’m surprised by the backlash regarding this tool. Well, I guess surprised is the wrong word. I get that it is creepy. There are lots of websites that do this very thing like whatsmyname.app. I personally like running my username through tools like this and aggregating my digital presence. When I was younger, I signed up for lots of sites that were the cool, new thing. Checking myself years later, I am shocked by the…

Forgive me for being so dumb despite being on this website for so long. How do I download and install this program from github (macbook, no dev tools or terminal or anything on my computer)?

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#105
post #32
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe we should do both. I take an issue with the argument that bad actors can make their own tools. Bad actors can also build their own nuclear weapons, genetically engineer their own deadly diseases but there's certainly value in not making this any easier. If you take the time, money and effort away from bad actors by forcing them to reinvent the wheel, that's a good thing. Granted, this logic can't be viably appl…

Bad actors can't make nuclear or biological weapons unless they have incredible amounts of resources Bad actors with a $150 laptop out of a dumpster and a free wifi connection CAN make cyberstalking tools in their spare time

Exactly! There’s a totally different bar to entry. Look at North Korea. I don’t think they rank highly as a concern with traditional kinetic warfare, but they have made themselves a major security concern even with scant resources because the bar to entry with cyber warfare is just that much lower.

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#107

I’m surprised by the backlash regarding this tool. Well, I guess surprised is the wrong word. I get that it is creepy. There are lots of websites that do this very thing like whatsmyname.app. I personally like running my username through tools like this and aggregating my digital presence. When I was younger, I signed up for lots of sites that were the cool, new thing. Checking myself years later, I am shocked by the…

whatsmyname.app is a nice tool. I didn't even remember most of these accounts. Can get rid of them if I want now.

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#108

I’m surprised by the backlash regarding this tool. Well, I guess surprised is the wrong word. I get that it is creepy. There are lots of websites that do this very thing like whatsmyname.app. I personally like running my username through tools like this and aggregating my digital presence. When I was younger, I signed up for lots of sites that were the cool, new thing. Checking myself years later, I am shocked by the…

Tools like this also make me uncomfortable and I said as much last time an issue like this was discussed [1].

But I don't think the "it can be abused" argument is compelling. Most of the tools we have today can and have been abused. As you point out, we know bad actors use infosec tools and run the same POCs that researchers produce when they find new exploits and vulnerabilities (after disclosure); they check the same CVEs and read the same papers. But this information has to be released and these tools have to be out in the open. Security through obscurity is a disaster.

Besides the other intended goals of these tools, I am hoping they will raise awareness and get many people to realize how easy it is to identify and deanonymize them online.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26082504

Re: Find a person's profile across 350 social media sites

#109

I’m surprised by the backlash regarding this tool. Well, I guess surprised is the wrong word. I get that it is creepy. There are lots of websites that do this very thing like whatsmyname.app. I personally like running my username through tools like this and aggregating my digital presence. When I was younger, I signed up for lots of sites that were the cool, new thing. Checking myself years later, I am shocked by the…

Forgive me for being so dumb despite being on this website for so long. How do I download and install this program from github (macbook, no dev tools or terminal or anything on my computer)?

You're going to need to get comfortable in the terminal if you want to run this code. You'll need python, git, and nodejs for starters
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