Privacy, Government, Surveillance, and You.

Wasn't there something a while ago about NSA employees using the information to cyber stalk exes and such?

Indeed there was. Can't remember where I read about it, though.

It was coined LOVEINT.

The leaks also included incidents of passing nude pictures around the office from random sexting, etc.

Sites stumble on to malware path with plugin exploit

Derp.

edited 16th Dec '14 9:23:32 PM by rmctagg09

That page of Dumbing of Age doesn't seem to have much to do with plugins...

So Playstation Network and Xbox Live have been down thanks to DDoS attacks by some group of assholes named Lizard Squad. They're doing it for shiggles apparently.

Now that doesn't have much to do with the thread but now supposedly they're attacking Tor and are attempting to compromise it's anonymity. I dunno how exactly Tor works or if they're actually doing that but that sounds kinda bad.

Anyone else know more?

This was the closest I could find: Heads up! If Tor VANISHES over the weekend, this is why "In a Tor blog post, project leader Roger "Arma" Dingledine said an unnamed group may seize Tor's directory authority servers before the end of next week."

Considering the trouble we've had from nitwits using TOR, I can't say I'd be sad to see it get taken down or at least brought into the control of a government agency.

Yeah, no. Considering all the sketchy shit government agencies have done over the years, I think that would be a fucking awful outcome.

Aren't/weren't there a couple of users here who used TOR to get to this site (and who aren't/weren't nitwits), since they came from countries who were more repressive? (Can we also not name them, just to protect them from getting a 'check-up'?)

I don't really think "make the life of TVT's mods easier" is enough of a pro to outweigh the cons of having the government's powers of surveillance take another giant leap. No offence, Fighteer.

Also, what Quag said.

I'm with Fighteer. Internet anonymity has brought nothing but trouble. I'm ready for a crackdown.

I dream of a world where people who make death and rape threats online to deliberately manufacture a hostile environment against women are arrested and prosecuted. A world where when someone goes, "STFU before I come to your door and shove my **** down your throat," their mom sees that shit. So do their friends. And their school/employer.

edited 26th Dec '14 6:27:14 PM by TobiasDrake

And when they switch to using a traceless telephone, then what do you want done? I get being angry that someone is stalking you over the internet, but think of a threat as free information- after all, if they really mean you harm, then they dont have to warn you at all. They could just do it. No way to trace that ahead of time.

From what I understand, we have people on this very forum who live in countries that could very well haul them off in a party van for what they've said here. So as sympathetic as I am to the daily annoyances of a mod, I can't in good conscience be that sympathetic.

That, and Tor is used by zillions of legit businesses too in dealing with sensitive information. Not everything a corporation does needs to be daylighted.

edited 28th Dec '14 8:24:49 PM by Pykrete

And then when someone else posts "I don't think homosexual people should be persecuted", their conservative dad sees that. Their homophobic classmates/coworkers see that. Their Catholic school/Republican employer sees that.

I live in a country in which my ideas put me in constant looming danger. So it sickens me how easily you people hurl your rights out of the window the moment they inconvenience you.

My anonymity protects me from stalking. This way my girlfriend's abusive parents(who in fact can use the internet to a degree) can't find me. I can't believe I'm using this phrase, but check your privilege. Not everyone can afford not to hide.

edited 27th Dec '14 2:52:29 PM by Luminosity

'Course, not all of us are doing that.

Anonymity isn't a right, and it's high time people stopped treating it like it is. It's a weapon used to shield people from the consequences of their actions. Sometimes having a shield that gives people the freedom to act in any way they desire without being held accountable for it is put to a good use, but most often not.

edited 27th Dec '14 3:22:03 PM by TobiasDrake

But might anonymity be a right in countries with strong privacy laws, like France?^note  And also the "right to be forgotten" in the EU And what about those in countries with, um, poor Human Rights records?

edited 27th Dec '14 3:27:24 PM by Greenmantle

True. But enough to make me feel threatened.

"Most often not"? Just look at youtube comment sections. You'll find people happily using their real names and faces to speak racist/sexist/threatening bullshit and so on. Death threats are just as often(if not more so) spoken face to face as they're spoken online. Consequences doesn't seem to be a "right" to them.

I'd rather not be suddenly discovered by a bipolar psychopath, her ex-convict husband, and an entire government of evil assholes because some people across the sea are upset that people say mean things to them.

The world you want already exists and you can move there. It's called Texas. I'm sure Justin Carter totally deserved what he got.

As someone from one of those I can say it seems like we don't matter.

edited 27th Dec '14 3:34:22 PM by Luminosity

To avoid the potential for this conversation's topic to turn personal, I'll drop the subject here. I've said my piece.

Yeah I do find it disturbing how much some people seem willing to throw under the bus folks in countries where they would face oppression for speaking out.

Now as someone who does forum moding I also get the problem of having to deal with assholes who won't stay away, but rendering anonymous browsing dead is not the way to deal with that. I have my own suggestions for how to 'civilise' the internet without allowing oppressive government grand power but that's as topic for the (sadly never opened) internet culture thread.

I think Luminosity's point is very strong; naturally instances of abuse or threats are the most attention-grabbing, but I suspect the vast majority of people use their anonymity for good. The conversation here would be vastly poorer without the Vietnamese, Russian, Saudi, and Moroccan tropers we have here, who might not feel so comfortable airing their thoughts if they had to keep looking over their shoulders for government heavies. And that's a fringe benefit compared to the service that anonymity provides to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender kids who are struggling with their identity and need a safe space to ask questions.

Even in countries with better human rights records, you still find instances of abuse, especially in the private sector. I think it's highly plausible, for instance, that an employer could fire an employee for expressing left-wing political views online, or that people could be bullied for expressing views their peer group don't like.

This.

Privacy (not necessarily anonymity) should be a right. We need Tor because of the documented record of abuses by government against political activists.