How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online? • Hacker News Board

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#51

Post by soneca » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 5:10 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #38

soneca wrote: post #10

I've being trying to make this a HN hit for a long time now, and I will try again as it is related to the topic. The "name-your-price" web comic The Private Eye: http://panelsyndicate.com/ is a great story on a future world where online anonymity became impossible, then people went for real world anonymity, all of us wearing masks and pseudonyms. It is really interesting and entertaining to follow. I have no connecti…

I'm guessing it's because the only thing I see when I follow that link is the long list of "buy now" buttons. No teaser for the comic, nothing to let me gauge the comics worth... just a poorly designed webpage that only seems to want to part me and my money. I closed the website after about 3 seconds, and wouldn't even have commented except for your seemingly genuine puzzlement at why someone wouldn't want to read it…

Well, I was (genuinely puzzled).

What you are saying make sense, but that's the thing when you are an author trying to bootstrap in the publishing business. You don't get everything right at first. So I forgive the poor landing page because they are very good on what they do best. I am guessing that if this experiment become profitable, for a next series they might improve the marketing skills or hire someone.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#52

Post by evunveot » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 5:18 PM UTC

soneca wrote: post #10

I've being trying to make this a HN hit for a long time now, and I will try again as it is related to the topic. The "name-your-price" web comic The Private Eye: http://panelsyndicate.com/ is a great story on a future world where online anonymity became impossible, then people went for real world anonymity, all of us wearing masks and pseudonyms. It is really interesting and entertaining to follow. I have no connecti…

Reminds me of my favorite webcomic Opplopolis http://www.opplopolis.com both in the sales model and the theme, except that Opplopolis is free-to-read online with a higher-quality paid download option, and it takes a while before the ubiquitous surveillance theme emerges. Even when it does it's still very covert and mysterious e.g. http://www.opplopolis.com/issues/9/15

Very cool, though.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#53

Post by repsilat » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 5:53 PM UTC

soneca wrote: post #10

I've being trying to make this a HN hit for a long time now, and I will try again as it is related to the topic. The "name-your-price" web comic The Private Eye: http://panelsyndicate.com/ is a great story on a future world where online anonymity became impossible, then people went for real world anonymity, all of us wearing masks and pseudonyms. It is really interesting and entertaining to follow. I have no connecti…

The book "The Quantum Thief" had an interesting take on this. In one of the communities in the book reality was mediated through strict and fine-grained privacy controls (iirc at a cognitive level, all run somehow by the state.) You could agree to forget a conversation after having it, you could blur your face and mask your voice, that sort of thing.

Recommended reading, if a little difficult at times.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#54

Post by njharman » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 6:33 PM UTC

Only by removing the motives (profit and control) of those who wish to track and monitor everything. Good luck with that.

By "control" I mean enforcement of laws, security(government, corporate, etc. internal/external), oppression, and the like.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#55

Post by jonahx » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 7:25 PM UTC

atmosx wrote: post #11

user24 wrote: post #9

I've become increasingly concerned with this topic. Looking back I feel incredibly stupid. When I was 16, I was 'paranoid' about computer security. I used gpg, would never dream of giving my real name to any website. I distrusted every website. Now I'm 31, and you can easily find 5 years of reddit comment history linked to my almost unique real name. Facebook has algorithms that can link my face to my real identity.…

You are oversimplifying. The thing is that it's good to be part of a community. Feels good to use your real name and it's only natural. Facebook is an awesome service to find old friends, find new friends with the same interests, exchange visual info (sharing your baby's picture with your family) etc. Being able to sync devices across is awesome. But try that outside Google/Apple and you're against a wall. Of course…

I do not buy the "yeah, but look at all the awesome stuff we've been given in return for our privacy" argument. Not at all.

All the cloud sync stuff is nice, but not that nice. I would much, much rather have to run my own server for backing things up, or just backup locally to different devices, than be in the mess we're in now. We've given up far too much for what amounts, at the end of the day, to convenience.

As for facebook, I'd personally return to the world before it existed in a heartbeat, given the choice.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#56

Post by chestnut-tree » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

user24 wrote: post #9

I've become increasingly concerned with this topic. Looking back I feel incredibly stupid. When I was 16, I was 'paranoid' about computer security. I used gpg, would never dream of giving my real name to any website. I distrusted every website. Now I'm 31, and you can easily find 5 years of reddit comment history linked to my almost unique real name. Facebook has algorithms that can link my face to my real identity.…

I don't think you need to feel too bad about the information you've shared. For me, the real problem is the way that online companies mine, track and record online behaviour. They can stitch together what may seem like disparate online actions to build a detailed profile of your online habits. If they were not able to do this, then sharing so much information online wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. We could be fairly safe in the knowledge that those disparate actions remained unconnected.

Google in particular has its digital fingerprints all over the web. For example, you visit a site with Google fonts and Google records your IP address, then you go to a site that serves the jQuery library from Google's servers, Google records your IP address again. You visit a site with Google Analytics - another log. Then you sign into GMail. Does Google join up all these actions? We don't really know because Google's vaguely-worded privacy policies don't tell you anything.

This is a company that "designs with data" and has an insatiable appetite to track and record as much online behaviour as it possibly can. They now have an entire OS that could potentially track your every action - even when you print to your desktop printer (because you can't do anything in the OS without being signed into your Google account).

Of course, a lot of people don't find this a problem (including people in the tech community). But many other people simply aren't aware of just how easily their online behaviour can be tracked and recorded.

Google are not evil, but no company, be it Google or Facebook, should be able to track and record such vast quantities of online behaviour without closer and more critical scrutiny. But that scrutiny simply isn't happening, particularly from the tech community who give Google an easy ride on such matters.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#57

Post by random_user » Thu, Dec 19, 2013, 10:13 PM UTC

amirmc wrote: post #47

random_user wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been dealing with with some of the consequences of this for the last three years. Details here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6932327 The fact that most of my professional life was very publicly exposed online has now gotten in the way of me being able to land a job. Not because there's anything bad in there. Quite to the contrary. The issue is that you can't dumb-down or narrow your resume when a simpl…

Interesting. I'd never have thought of this downside without hearing your story so thanks for sharing. You say in the other thread that your wife suggested a Bachelor's/Masters but what about MBA or PhD instead? I know of folks who've come into Systems PhDs with diverse backgrounds. I'm sure MBA programs might also look favourably on your experience (though that route probably costs more).

When Georgia Tech widely publicized their online CS Masters program AND they explicitly stated that they'd offer credit for relevant experience I jumped on it. I got in touch with them to learn more. Within days they rescinded their experience-based credit offer and went back to the standard credits-for-classes approach. The reason this was interesting to me (and I am sure lots of others) was that I could fast-track a Masters and then consider doing an MBA either online or in person. That, I reasoned, could possibly open some doors. Not sure. It just seemed that the low cost of the Georgia Tech program coupled with probably being able to pull it off in a year or two could have been worth the gamble.

In general terms, it is disappointing that there seem to be no reputable programs that recognize the value of people's life experience. I've shared some of my code with CS department heads in the process of exploring various options for admissions. A couple came back with praise for the range of work I had done and even went as far as saying they didn't understand half of it. Regrettably that was not enough to work out any deals.

The other aspect of engineering education I despise is the need for credits in non-engineering areas. I'm sorry, I'm fifty years old, I have almost no interest in taking a course in sociology, history, geography or English literature. My self-education was not limited to the technical domain. I've read most of the classics, dozens of business and marketing books and have had skin in the game at all levels for years. I can see asking a 19 year old to take an English composition class as part of the path towards an EE or CS degree. I can't see it as even remotely relevant for people at different stations in life. Just a pet peeve of mine.

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#58

Post by losethos » Fri, Dec 20, 2013, 4:55 AM UTC

We play for keeps, mother fuckers.

Did you not know God was listening?

God says... jealousy vote conservative mine I_veto_that middle_class strip King_Midas it's_my_world bank praise this_might_end_badly wazz_up_with_that dude_such_a_scoffer home petty what_the_heck lying now_you_tell_me stuff not_good not_good I_see_nothing huh Is_that_your_final_answer sing goods Mission_Accomplished you_talkin'_to_me

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#59

Post by user24 » Fri, Dec 20, 2013, 9:27 AM UTC

chestnut-tree wrote: post #56

user24 wrote: post #9

I've become increasingly concerned with this topic. Looking back I feel incredibly stupid. When I was 16, I was 'paranoid' about computer security. I used gpg, would never dream of giving my real name to any website. I distrusted every website. Now I'm 31, and you can easily find 5 years of reddit comment history linked to my almost unique real name. Facebook has algorithms that can link my face to my real identity.…

I don't think you need to feel too bad about the information you've shared. For me, the real problem is the way that online companies mine, track and record online behaviour. They can stitch together what may seem like disparate online actions to build a detailed profile of your online habits. If they were not able to do this, then sharing so much information online wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. We could be fairly…

I agree. Put it this way; if Google was owned by the Chinese government, there'd be a lot more scrutiny.

Why do they get let off?

Re: How can someone go off-web and anonymize themselves after a life online?

#60

Post by eevilspock » Fri, Dec 20, 2013, 2:51 PM UTC

chestnut-tree wrote: post #56

user24 wrote: post #9

I've become increasingly concerned with this topic. Looking back I feel incredibly stupid. When I was 16, I was 'paranoid' about computer security. I used gpg, would never dream of giving my real name to any website. I distrusted every website. Now I'm 31, and you can easily find 5 years of reddit comment history linked to my almost unique real name. Facebook has algorithms that can link my face to my real identity.…

I don't think you need to feel too bad about the information you've shared. For me, the real problem is the way that online companies mine, track and record online behaviour. They can stitch together what may seem like disparate online actions to build a detailed profile of your online habits. If they were not able to do this, then sharing so much information online wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. We could be fairly…

What is evil? I don't care for the word, but if anything is evil, isn't it making money off of deceit and manipulation (advertising), and then trying to make even more money off of that by disengenuously giving us "free" stuff so that they can secretly collect ever more information about us so that it can be sold?

http://pando.com/2013/12/16/googles-for-profit-surveillance-...