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Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

simonlermen.substack.com

191–200 of 258 posts

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#191
post #102

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

Fifteen years or so ago I read an article arguing that by the time Millennials are nearing retirement and have more political power, people will give less of a shit about what you did online in your twenties because we will have, out of necessity, learned that asshattery in your twenties is largely irrelevant to your trustworthiness in your sixties. When I was that age, you could tell the kids who had political ambit…

> asshattery in your twenties is largely irrelevant to your trustworthiness in your sixties

Do people believe this? I certainly don't. How you behaved in your twenties is a good measure of the sort of person you are and will be for the rest of your life, albeit that you will (hopefully) mature and change some of your opinions and behaviours. So yes, you will have changed but you're also still that person you were in your twenties.

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#192
post #3

i haven't read the full study, but its been on my mind for a while. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylometry The best course of action to combat this correlation/profiling, seems to be usage of a local llm that rewrites the text while keeping meaning untouched. Ideally built into a browser like Firefox/Brave.

You're absolutely right. It's not just a matter of what you post-- it's a matter of how you post

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#193

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

[deleted]

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#194

Could another mitigation be polluting identities online with fake ones so that real identities become hard to sift out. For example if I tell my bot to clone me 100x times on all my platforms, all with different facts or attributes, suddenly the real me becomes a lot harder to select. Or any attribute of mine at all becomes harder to corroborate. I hate to use this reference, but like the citadel from Rick and Morty.

Probably, but it also be the complete destruction of social media when there are 100 spam bots for every real person.

Is that not already the case on mainstream social media? HN even has bots.

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#195

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

Yes it's basically data poisoning. It reminds me of the approach the Adnauseum extension takes. It hides ads from you like traditional adblockers but under the hood it's actually selectively clicking them to fool advertisers. I don't know if it's smart enough to create a "profile" for you (e.g. "soccer mom from Michigan") but that seems like the logical next step. Instead of just "flooding the zone with shit" you'd be more selectively/consistently misleading

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#196

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

I view posting online with a real name like getting a permanent tattoo. My values or priorities may significantly change over decades, especially as a child, so why would I want to jeopardize the reputation of a potential future identity with something I may post today?

You can also argue that posting with a real name encourages you to reflect on your identity.

Or do both. Also post anonymously to see what kind of a person you are when masked, and compare.

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#197

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

> Instead of trying to keep clean, the intent is just to spam like crazy with anything so nobody understands the core.

I don’t think this is humanly possible against machine learning. After all, it is specifically designed to weed through noisy data and identify patterns. It may delay discovery, but will at some point easily fall apart, by something as simple as a “filter out shitposting and deliberate pollution” prompt. Even more so when you guide it towards specific attributes.

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That is not possible and it is extremely suppressive to express yourself. Also for the fact that you cannot predict how future powers will view past comments - for instance, certain benign political views 20 years ago could become "terroristic speech" tomorrow. I operate by a simple, general rule - I don't often say anything online I wouldn't say directly to someone's face in real life.

This is very import: you don't know how the cancelation culture will be in 20 years. I like to use the example of a guy who did a blackface in a party back in 2000's. Although reprehensible, was not commom-sense racism back then. Today society sees it as completely unacceptable. Eventually that guy became prime minister of Canada and things went pretty bad when that photo surfaced decades later. Is it far to judge so…

Only idiots don’t care about it historical context.

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#199

I post under my real name here, pretty much the only place I post. It keeps me honest and straight in what I say when I choose to say it. I tried talking to my children about leaving as clean of a footprint on the internet as one can in anticipation of future people/systems taking that into consideration. I don't know what it will be but I would expect some adversarial stuff. Trying to keep clean is what I'd prefer f…

Data poisoning your own online profile is all nice and well. But in a society that goes beyond itself to cram AI into about every imaginable system, it may not be smart at all. Already in early adopter phase the average person gives way too much authoritative weight to what LLM's come up with. If complex societal processes become basically AI-driven you may get into a world of hurt. "I am sorry, we can't give you that passport right now, until we investigate potentially fraudulent behavior our AI flagged us about".

Re: Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs

#200
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Society's legally double standard: - people can create new standards that will be applied retroactively - lawmakers can create new laws which can not be applied retroactively

>lawmakers can create new laws which can not be applied retroactively Still a courtesy: Background: Mary Anne Gehris was born in Germany and came to the United States around age 1, growing up entirely in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder). The Incident: In 1988, during a quarrel over a man, Gehris pulled another woman's hair. She was charged with misdemeanor battery. No witnesses appeared in…

"If you'd like, I can search for the original NYT articles or additional reporting on her case."

No need but thanks for offering

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