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Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

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Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#141

Post by d3VwsX »

dylan604 wrote: post #45
Tepix wrote: post #23

And this makes it obvious why you should use a unique username everywhere! It makes pervasive tracking a lot harder. Also when you do any research on health related topics, be extra privacy conscious.

just to be slightly pedantic as there are still sites that have screen names vs account names where the screen name the public sees has no correlation with the account name (typically an email account). so don't re-use email accounts across sites. SecOps matter

I have a somewhat common firstname.lastname@gmail.com and others with the same name use it pretty often. Surprisingly often it seems as if sites allow accounts to exist without email confirmation. I estimate at least 50% of the accounts out there that use my gmail is actually not me, and I like the idea of anyone trying to make sense of that data, if they can even guess that I am the Firstname Lastname that the address belongs to.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#142

Post by portaouflop »

throwaway519 wrote: post #95
portaouflop wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why you should claim your main handle on all platforms, just don’t use it if you want privacy.

I have no interest on some platforms. Whatvabout the platformsthat I don't know of? Or that don't exist yet? Even major corporations don't bother with all TLDs. It's far more plausible to not seek to have the same identity behind the same handle.

You don’t need every single one obviously, just the major ones.

And I’m saying you should reserve your main handle - you can still have a unique one that you actually use.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#143

Post by Pigalowda »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #126
idontlikeirc wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One example of this I can think of is a show from the late 90's which used the word "spaz" very liberally, which was already iffy at the time but not fully demonized. Using it nowadays could be considered a major point of contention towards your image. Words like Gypsy and Retard are more recent inclusions in this field.

When did spaz go out of favor? I was completely unaware it became taboo.

It was deemed ableist by the White Knight Censorship company a few years ago. Something about cerebral palsy.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#144

Post by pluc »

steelframe wrote: post #115
Tepix wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it creepy if you google a job candidate?

I recently Googled myself, and in the first page of results I ran across some shit AI website that scrapes random web content about people and attempts to summarize it. It got my current occupation completely and comically wrong -- as in, it has nothing at all to do with tech. If you're trying to figure out anything about me from social media or other such random web pages, I don't care to have anything to do with yo…

Just did the same, and the form to get your data removed asks for 3 items of personal information "to confirm your identity" lol.

Edit: the site I found was "zoominfo".

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#145

Post by stuffoverflow »

immibis wrote: post #101
dylan604 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't this subaddress all just resolve to the same account? The accounts are free, so just make up a completely different account. Yeah, it might get a bit of a mess for a user to manage, but that's what password managers are for. let's face it, we're not talking about Joey Beercan doing this. Anyone even tossing around the term SecOps is already moved out of mass populace and into the somewhat informed. Someone pr…

Gmail accounts aren't free: I believe they only allow up to 4 to be linked to the same phone number (which is mandatory). Microsoft is worse: they'll let you create an account, then lock it the next day, after you've already used it for something, if you don't link your phone number. Phone number is used because it costs money to get, is hard to get in bulk, and in many countries is always tied to your identity. I wo…

It is still possible to register Gmail accounts without a phone number. I suppose they primarily use IP reputation to determine when they allow it but device seems to matter too.

In the past you could use BlueStacks android emulator to register Gmail accounts without sms verification even with VPN IPs. This year I've created a few Gmails without sms verification, once on desktop chrome (with Firefox they would've required sms) and a couple of times using the Gmail app on an Android phone.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#146

Post by 542354234235 »

mrtksn wrote: post #80
Tepix wrote: post #23

And this makes it obvious why you should use a unique username everywhere! It makes pervasive tracking a lot harder. Also when you do any research on health related topics, be extra privacy conscious.

>And this makes it obvious why you should use a unique username everywhere! Actually I was disappointed by the post, I was hoping it will be able to find the same person regardless of the username through analyzing the writing style, what they are talking about, the timezone etc. The username doesn't prove anything, anybody can take any username anywhere. If someone targets you, they can take usernames on platforms y…

>I was hoping it will be able to find the same person regardless of the username

>Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username

I don't know why you would have been hoping for this. The title isn't exactly ambiguous.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#147

Post by casenmgreen »

There's a UI design element here which I don't like.

The UI presents a text field which is for entering search terms.

You click it and expect to type - but NO! - SURPRISE!!! it's actually a button!!

And now the page changes, pops up an actual text field, somewhere else and new, and you abruptly are forced to set aside your thoughts about search to process the page layout a second time and go and click again to type in a term.

Why on God's clean Earth would anyone ever do this?

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#148

Post by dylan604 »

eks391 wrote: post #130
dylan604 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never provided a phone number for any of the gmail accounts I have. When was this mandated?

Very recently. I only noticed it about 2 years ago when I went to make a throwaway gmail account exactly for the above opsec purposes.

You claim OpSec, but if you’re using such bad opsec, then I’d suggest you’re not actually doing opsec. Tying a throw away account to actual data that can directly identify you is just such bad opsec, you might as well use your actual name as your user name.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#149

Post by immibis »

dylan604 wrote: post #148
eks391 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very recently. I only noticed it about 2 years ago when I went to make a throwaway gmail account exactly for the above opsec purposes.

You claim OpSec, but if you’re using such bad opsec, then I’d suggest you’re not actually doing opsec. Tying a throw away account to actual data that can directly identify you is just such bad opsec, you might as well use your actual name as your user name.

Opsec can be a relative term. Yes, some people are selling drugs or spying for the Russian government but other people just don't want to be OSINTed by scripts like this. Then creating a new Gmail account from the same IP address is enough. It's a lot easier to hide your identity from people who don't have the power to issue subpoenas.

Re: Sherlock: Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400 social networks

#150

Post by 112233 »

d3VwsX wrote: post #141
dylan604 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just to be slightly pedantic as there are still sites that have screen names vs account names where the screen name the public sees has no correlation with the account name (typically an email account). so don't re-use email accounts across sites. SecOps matter

I have a somewhat common firstname.lastname@gmail.com and others with the same name use it pretty often. Surprisingly often it seems as if sites allow accounts to exist without email confirmation. I estimate at least 50% of the accounts out there that use my gmail is actually not me, and I like the idea of anyone trying to make sense of that data, if they can even guess that I am the Firstname Lastname that the addre…

Where I am, it is official government agencies that seem to not verify email (and send me sensitive documents meant for others with the same name — a chore to call and ask them to correct their stuff regularly, sigh)

Any comercial sites - dating, gambling etc. end with verification attempts

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