If you care enough to post canaries, shouldn't you also care enough to just close shop instead of subtly telling your users to stop using your services?
You mean like CryptoStorm's famous `Privacy Seppuku` pledge? https://cryptostorm.is/seppuku.html
Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
101–110 of 137 posts
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#102New tweet: https://twitter.com/riseupnet/status/800815181190217729 Confusing update IMHO. Could be read as reassurance. Could also be read as being threatened with incarceration and being forced to keep the site up. or a reminder to archive stuff immediately because of impending shutdown. Not really sure what to make of it, other than they have obviously heard the concerns and /not/ updated the canary.
Not really my area of expertise, but it strikes me as completely clear.
The canary hasn't been updated and the tweet implicitly acknowledges that they are aware of the concerns that people have about the overdue update. I can only think of two reasons to do this. 1. get some publicity or 2. for whatever reason they are unable to update the canary and are unable to say why. Personally, I doubt it's reason 1.
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#103New tweet: https://twitter.com/riseupnet/status/800815181190217729 Confusing update IMHO. Could be read as reassurance. Could also be read as being threatened with incarceration and being forced to keep the site up. or a reminder to archive stuff immediately because of impending shutdown. Not really sure what to make of it, other than they have obviously heard the concerns and /not/ updated the canary.
Not really my area of expertise, but it strikes me as completely clear. The canary hasn't been updated and the tweet implicitly acknowledges that they are aware of the concerns that people have about the overdue update. I can only think of two reasons to do this. 1. get some publicity or 2. for whatever reason they are unable to update the canary and are unable to say why. Personally, I doubt it's reason 1.
But why say they have no plans to shut down and link directly to the part of their FAQ where they say they will shut down if they are under government surveillance? Why not just tweet something like "We have heard your concerns" or something similar
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#104If you care enough to post canaries, shouldn't you also care enough to just close shop instead of subtly telling your users to stop using your services?
They just tweeted that they have no plans of doing so https://twitter.com/riseupnet/status/800815181190217729
which means either they haven't received anything, in which case why not update the canary. That the orders were very limited in scope and they think they could keep operating safely. Or that they have been ordered not to shut down. Ambiguous tweet is ambiguous, though it's telling that they made it and still did not update the canary.
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#105And from riseup.net @riseupnet listen to the hummingbird, whose wings you cannot see, listen to the hummingbird, don't listen to me. #LeonardCohen https://twitter.com/riseupnet/status/797142735283257345
Okay, that's telling, but the canary on its own seems to be valid still - it's from August 16, 2016, and they say it should be 'updated approximately once per quarter'
Well, after (I'm sure) many inquiries about the canary, their latest update says nothing specific, just:
> we have no plans on pulling the plug https://riseup.net/en/about-us/policy/government-faq …
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#106If you're doing any kind of radical political work --- left or right --- and are worried about the attention you're going to attract, don't use things like RISEUP.NET. You shouldn't be running mailing lists at all. You shouldn't be using Jabber and asking all your peers to enable encryption. These are fundamentally unsafe services, and the idea that they can be provided safely just by paying attention to network secu…
I remember clearly a Tunisian opposition party was using a RISEUP mailing list around 2006 to spread its articles, political statements, etc... (When they were banned before the revolution of 2011). Not all politicians can/know how to operate anything more complex than an email account.
That's an interesting piece of history. It kind of makes sense that accessibility can sometimes be worth the potential downsides.
By the way, are you a fellow Tunisian? I'm kind of surprised because I've never run into a Tunisian on HN :p
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Granted. You're right that this is bizarre. I'm posting a proof-of-life of myself because Julian Assange is unable to, and I'm trying to get the word out. It's not just a selfie -- It's proof that I'm alive. Basically I'm pretty much freaking out at the moment because it appears that Julian has been disappeared, and I'm doing whatever I can to try and spread awareness about this issue. Previously, there were people o…
It's more likely that the relatively logical and thoughtful HN community isn't sure if Julian has become somewhat unhinged, if you will.
thanks for that. :) yeah, I need to calm down a bit, lest I become unhinged myself.
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#108Imagine if your office live-broadcasted nearly everything. From the corridors, reception area, to the opening of physical mail. The PR and generally more "public" email addresses could be transparent as well. This means when the NSL arrives, it will be seen by the world.
> Imagine if your office live-broadcasted nearly everything.
The next step in the fight against ongoing, overbearing surveillance is... ongoing, overbearing surveillance?
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#109Misleading title. There were no "fingerprints deleted without notice"
Re: Tell HN: Riseup.net fails to update canary; fingerprints deleted without notice
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really my area of expertise, but it strikes me as completely clear. The canary hasn't been updated and the tweet implicitly acknowledges that they are aware of the concerns that people have about the overdue update. I can only think of two reasons to do this. 1. get some publicity or 2. for whatever reason they are unable to update the canary and are unable to say why. Personally, I doubt it's reason 1.
But why say they have no plans to shut down and link directly to the part of their FAQ where they say they will shut down if they are under government surveillance? Why not just tweet something like "We have heard your concerns" or something similar
Maybe they lost access to their infrastructure and twitter account. Who posted this (to-date) last message? Better be cautious, activists.