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Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

derstandard.at

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Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#251

Post by pravda »

ameister14 wrote: post #177
coldtea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This will just put foreign platforms, who will ignore the law, into an advantageous position compared to local platforms. Users might switch to foreign platforms that don't require identification. Doesn't really matter, as those things move the Overton window. Tomorrow, when the US, China, and EU adopt similar laws, there wont be any "foreign services" to use.

Yeah, the US will never adopt a law like that. Anonymity is extremely protected by the Supreme Court, because the founders wrote and distributed pamphlets anonymously in support of the Revolution.

>Anonymity is extremely protected by the Supreme Court

To clarify, anonymous speech is protected by the First Amendment.

With certain limitations. If someone anonymously offers drugs on the 'dark web', that is not protected, of course.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#252

Post by rsync »

Findus23 wrote: post #25

In case anyone wants to know how this should work, this is the explanation by the minister: There are "technical possibilities where software can run on the backend that can immediately identify: Does the registered mobile phone number match the name and address or not?" - derstandard.at/2000101678440/Minister-Bluemels-Ominous-De-Anonymization-Software (from https://derstandard.at/2000101678440/Minister-Bluemels-Omin…

"Does the registered mobile phone number ..."

So do I understand that the very basis of this proposal is the assumption that "Internet usage" is "media consumption I do on my phone" ?

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#253

Post by rsync »

lazyjones wrote: post #67
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy sim cards on amazon from other EU countries.

So tell me how this will work. Will you swap SIM cards just to post anonymously sometimes and let the telecom providers (among others) find out what your other SIM cards are through your device ID? Or will you get a SIM card from another country to use exclusively and pay roaming costs / live with a worse data plan in Austria? People apparently forget that telecoms providers cooperate with authorities, new legislatio…

"So tell me how this will work. Will you swap SIM cards just to post anonymously sometimes and let the telecom providers (among others) find out what your other SIM cards are through your device ID?"

Imagine connecting to the Internet using a non-phone ?

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#254

Post by wyldfire »

aasasd wrote: post #161
codedokode wrote: post #96

It is surprising. Even here, in Russia, we don't have such laws working yet. And I wonder, what Austrian authorities are going to do with foreign platforms like Telegram, which are unlikely to comply? Russian government has been trying to block Telegram using DPI for a year and didn't succeed. What about Twitter? Reddit? > In addition, web platforms would be required to appoint a liaison in Austria who would be respo…

Telegram already authenticates by the phone number, which setup was successfully used by Russian forces to hijack accounts of opposition. Amazing how people are completely blind to this gaping misfeature despite infosec experts complaining about it the entire time.

> Telegram already authenticates by the phone number, which setup was successfully used by Russian forces to hijack accounts of opposition.

While this is bad, IIRC if it has PFS this means that the phone number rerouting cannot be used to recover messages sent before this intercept. And also IIRC this phone number could only be used to trigger re-keying, which is detectable.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#256

Post by aasasd »

wyldfire wrote: post #254
aasasd wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telegram already authenticates by the phone number, which setup was successfully used by Russian forces to hijack accounts of opposition. Amazing how people are completely blind to this gaping misfeature despite infosec experts complaining about it the entire time.

> Telegram already authenticates by the phone number, which setup was successfully used by Russian forces to hijack accounts of opposition. While this is bad, IIRC if it has PFS this means that the phone number rerouting cannot be used to recover messages sent before this intercept. And also IIRC this phone number could only be used to trigger re-keying, which is detectable.

> IIRC this phone number could only be used to trigger re-keying, which is detectable

Dunno about currently, but afaik at the time this went down nothing was detectable, you just log into a user's account and read the history since e2e conversations aren't the default.

> The default method of authentication that Telegram uses for logins is SMS-based single-factor authentication. All that is needed in order to log into an account and gain access to that user's cloud-based messages is a one-time passcode that is sent via SMS to the user's phone number. These login SMS messages are known to have been intercepted in Iran, Russia and Germany, possibly in coordination with phone companies.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#257

Post by walshemj »

kerng wrote: post #200
ameister14 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the US will never adopt a law like that. Anonymity is extremely protected by the Supreme Court, because the founders wrote and distributed pamphlets anonymously in support of the Revolution.

In the US you have to show your ID much more often compared to other parts of the world. Every bar you enter, or alcohol or drink you buy people ask for identification. This is not the case elsewhere. So, it wouldn't surprise me, if the current administration would at least attempt such ideas.

I seem to remember that in Europe its not unheard of for police to ask to see "papers please" and fancy that its often the darker citizens that get asked that.

Not that the UK and USA don't have some problems in that area

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#258

Post by walshemj »

returnInfinity wrote: post #230
kerng wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US you have to show your ID much more often compared to other parts of the world. Every bar you enter, or alcohol or drink you buy people ask for identification. This is not the case elsewhere. So, it wouldn't surprise me, if the current administration would at least attempt such ideas.

The ID is for age verification, not Name or any other details.

Ah yes think of the children the first resort of authoritarians.

Re: Austrian government seeks to eliminate internet anonymity, with severe penalties

#259

Post by walshemj »

mirimir wrote: post #219
ameister14 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the US was at war for essentially the entirety of the 19th century.

Pretty much, the US has always been at war. I mean, they used to have a War Department, which got renamed Defense Department for PR.

Not really that's OTT hyperbole
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