> "And finally, keep in mind that after all this, Twitter can always kick you off for their own reasons."
The problem with
anonymous e-mail address +
burner phone +
always use TOR to access the account
is that this doesn't play out well in the medium term. This triggers various automatic "anti-abuse" measures on Twitters side. Those measures include: random prompt for re-verification of the phone number, which fails with the burner phone number used to create the account.
It's hard (if not impossible) to maintain such an account in the long run while protecting ones identity.
It is indeed hard to maintain Twitter accounts via Tor. Establishing accounts via Tor, using burner phones for verification, isn't hard. And there's no problem reading feeds via Tor. But tweeting via Tor, in my experience, is indeed a crap shoot. So is tweeting via commercial VPN services.
What seems to work is tweeting via private VPNs, running on anonymously-leased VPS. To route that VPN through Tor, you just run the VPN server (in TCP mode) on the VPS as an onion service.
But there's still the risk of cellphone re-verification. So for long-term accounts, you need a persistent number. One solution is to have trusted friends in other jurisdictions, who can activate the number for you when needed.
One of my Twitter accounts is a Friends Only twitter account that has only been used via twitter + bitlbee connected to the internet via a tor proxy, plus IRC client
It would be very irresponsible to recommend buying a burner phone to people trying to stay anonymous. At the very least, it would give away your location even if you somehow manage to remain unrecorded by street CCTVs in the vicinity of the shop at the time of purchase. Assuming it is even possible to buy one without providing full personal details, as is required by law in most of the EU.
Twitter now not only gives platform to powerful demagogues, it is also actively stifling dissent by effectively disallowing anonymity.
FWIW, in the UK you can buy a burner phone and SIM in cash without giving away any personal details at most supermarkets (at least Tesco and Sainsbury's). With the new EU regulations removing roaming charges, you can fly to London on holiday, and buy a UK burner phone anonymously with two years of data on it that's enough for heavy Twitter use in all of the EU for £240 + phone cost.
If you're under enough surveillance that your adversary will follow you on holiday and track all your supermarket purchases, you have bigger problems.
>Security cameras will probably record your face at the store. Most stores delete old footage on a regular basis, overwriting it with new footage. If possible, wait a week or two before you start tweeting so that the footage is already deleted by the time anyone tries to figure out your real identity.
you can always hire someone down-and-out or someone that doesn't take part in the normal economy to buy the phone for you, though of course there are risks with that too
What does all those letters I see mean? I see only flags of France, Germany and the UK. Maybe it has to do something with fonts installed on my computer.
The twitter accounts are presumably run by people who are employed by agencies funded by the US government. They could lose their jobs or have funding problems because of this.
I think a more fair comparison would be to when scientists were gagged in Canada, under the Prime Minister Harper era.
It's meant to instruct hypothetical government employees working for agencies that were silenced, and wish to continue their public outreach, educating the public on issues that the current administration might disagree with.
It has an audience bigger than that (who will not likely need to go to such lengths to publicly voice dissent), but it's fairly clear about its intent.
Example: the was a State Department "dissent memo" against Obama's unwillingness to bomb/send ground troupes to Syria. Result: they got an answer (basically "this decision is hard, we share your concerns, but ultimately decided against a new war...") and that was it.
Same situation now: Spicer: "If you don't agree with us, you should quit. Diplomats should either get with the program or they can go.”
You need to turn off the phone and take out the battery every time you use the burner phone. They will be tracking the cell towers that you use, so going back and forth to the same cell towers means they can figure out pretty closely where you work and live.
Well it's another security/anonymity guide for beginners. ("An IP address is a set of numbers that identifies a computer...")
I'm always torn on these... like is a little info better than none, or worse than none? Example: "Tor is better than a VPN." Sure, except when the exit node is compromised, and the VPN service is a "no log" service. (Granted you would have to verify or trust any such claim.)
I may regret commenting in my real name, but I still have a vestige of belief in open opposition. For now, though, I cannot enter the US without giving my Facebook password. I have no doubts that as the new government settles in, it will up the ante on everything which could be construed as active opposition. This IS a fascist regime. It just hasn’t gotten hold of its true tools yet.
Canada went through this a few years ago with a conservative government.
It wasn't that scientists were not allowed to communicate with the public, it was that they had to work through the PR department. The PR arm of the institutions would delay, filter, and even edit publications that touched on sensitive areas (eg. Anything remotely connected to climate change--like even fisheries related data).
Fortunately, Canada came through this period. But we did see the closure of research stations and destruction of scientific data.
So, to answer your question, many legal steps can be taken to stop, slow, of even eliminate scientific communication.
Yes it is legal for the head of the executive branch to set rules on how his underlings are allowed to communicate (except as otherwise prescribed by federal law).
This is cool, and stuff, but what does it accomplish to have just a Twitter account? The hard part, I think, is protecting key datasets. Which now means leaking them. That takes some real OpSec.
> As soon as you power on your burner phone, it will connect to cell phone towers, and the phone company will know your location. So, don’t activate your phone, or keep it powered on at all, at your home or office — instead, go to a public place, like a coffee shop, before activating your new phone. Keep it powered off while you’re not using it.
Actually, don't go to a coffee-shop, either. They might have security cameras that can record you, that police can use to find out who you are.
Go into the park or forest, or any place without security cameras when using your burner phone.
And don't carry another phone while you're doing this. Or, if you do, turn the power off.
(If turning the power off isn't enough to protect you, then you're probably in that group of people for whom none of these measures will wholly suffice.)
> Remember all the people who got disappeared right after the election because they tweeted at Trump with their real name Twitter account?
You're comparing apples and oranges here. If you work in government (and I'm in no way convinced most of these rogue accounts actually do), then the Trump administration can absolutely "disappear" your job if they trace the account back to you.
The dangers of using a real name account are very different for private citizens than they are for government employees. This is in no way specific to Trump.
While the example content of the article was slightly irreverent I think the bigger point is that there are people such as government workers and contractors, family members of them, etc, who want to talk about sensitive issues anonymously. No one has to disappear to CIA black sites for people to feel threatened, merely the threat of loosing your job is enough to silence many.
How about taking all these steps so you can publicly air an informed opinion about your field of expertise without getting fired for it by a president whose catchphrase is literally "you're fired"?
Lots of companies have anti-Tweet policies. Enforcing such policy at these companies is not usually called "retaliation". It's just called HR doing its job.
It seems everything from the left has to have this faux "resistance" air to it. The truth is they are pushing the same narratives that the FBI, CIA, NSA, numerous billionaires, the majority of the media and the majority of the voting electorate push. Conservatism is the counter-culture movement now. It's like the left grew up and decided to become "the man" that they had railed against in my youth.
[+] [-] schlowmo|9 years ago|reply
The problem with
anonymous e-mail address + burner phone + always use TOR to access the account
is that this doesn't play out well in the medium term. This triggers various automatic "anti-abuse" measures on Twitters side. Those measures include: random prompt for re-verification of the phone number, which fails with the burner phone number used to create the account.
It's hard (if not impossible) to maintain such an account in the long run while protecting ones identity.
[+] [-] mirimir|9 years ago|reply
What seems to work is tweeting via private VPNs, running on anonymously-leased VPS. To route that VPN through Tor, you just run the VPN server (in TCP mode) on the VPS as an onion service.
But there's still the risk of cellphone re-verification. So for long-term accounts, you need a persistent number. One solution is to have trusted friends in other jurisdictions, who can activate the number for you when needed.
[+] [-] WillyOnWheels|9 years ago|reply
https://wiki.bitlbee.org/HowtoTwitter
https://github.com/nillab/dotfiles/blob/master/bitlbee.conf#...
https://irssi.org/
It's always worked, I've never been prompted for verification. I'm not sure how twitter would prompt me for verification!
[+] [-] elchief|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zepolud|9 years ago|reply
Twitter now not only gives platform to powerful demagogues, it is also actively stifling dissent by effectively disallowing anonymity.
[+] [-] semi-extrinsic|9 years ago|reply
If you're under enough surveillance that your adversary will follow you on holiday and track all your supermarket purchases, you have bigger problems.
[+] [-] gruez|9 years ago|reply
>Security cameras will probably record your face at the store. Most stores delete old footage on a regular basis, overwriting it with new footage. If possible, wait a week or two before you start tweeting so that the footage is already deleted by the time anyone tries to figure out your real identity.
[+] [-] elchief|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jbg_|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tyingq|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xkxx|9 years ago|reply
What does all those letters I see mean? I see only flags of France, Germany and the UK. Maybe it has to do something with fonts installed on my computer.
[+] [-] artursapek|9 years ago|reply
http://i.imgur.com/S9zOiDY.png
[+] [-] j_s|9 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13631724 (7 days ago)
[+] [-] thatcat|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xkxx|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mirimir|9 years ago|reply
Facebook? Google? Twitter?
And which not?
[+] [-] corndoge|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tyingq|9 years ago|reply
Is it supposed to somehow look like an official government account?
[+] [-] mgbmtl|9 years ago|reply
I think a more fair comparison would be to when scientists were gagged in Canada, under the Prime Minister Harper era.
One of many sad examples: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harperman-tony-turner-scient... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei50lM6ab1c
Of course, it's not muzzling, it's "ethics violations".
[+] [-] lotyrin|9 years ago|reply
It has an audience bigger than that (who will not likely need to go to such lengths to publicly voice dissent), but it's fairly clear about its intent.
[+] [-] honksillet|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matt4077|9 years ago|reply
Example: the was a State Department "dissent memo" against Obama's unwillingness to bomb/send ground troupes to Syria. Result: they got an answer (basically "this decision is hard, we share your concerns, but ultimately decided against a new war...") and that was it.
Same situation now: Spicer: "If you don't agree with us, you should quit. Diplomats should either get with the program or they can go.”
[+] [-] pfarnsworth|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdiddly|9 years ago|reply
I'm always torn on these... like is a little info better than none, or worse than none? Example: "Tor is better than a VPN." Sure, except when the exit node is compromised, and the VPN service is a "no log" service. (Granted you would have to verify or trust any such claim.)
[+] [-] thimk|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xgbi|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josho|9 years ago|reply
It wasn't that scientists were not allowed to communicate with the public, it was that they had to work through the PR department. The PR arm of the institutions would delay, filter, and even edit publications that touched on sensitive areas (eg. Anything remotely connected to climate change--like even fisheries related data).
Fortunately, Canada came through this period. But we did see the closure of research stations and destruction of scientific data.
So, to answer your question, many legal steps can be taken to stop, slow, of even eliminate scientific communication.
[+] [-] nradov|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] mirimir|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] newman314|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] motyar|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mozumder|9 years ago|reply
Actually, don't go to a coffee-shop, either. They might have security cameras that can record you, that police can use to find out who you are.
Go into the park or forest, or any place without security cameras when using your burner phone.
[+] [-] CurtMonash|9 years ago|reply
(If turning the power off isn't enough to protect you, then you're probably in that group of people for whom none of these measures will wholly suffice.)
[+] [-] elastic_church|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jug5|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jff|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] untog|9 years ago|reply
You're comparing apples and oranges here. If you work in government (and I'm in no way convinced most of these rogue accounts actually do), then the Trump administration can absolutely "disappear" your job if they trace the account back to you.
The dangers of using a real name account are very different for private citizens than they are for government employees. This is in no way specific to Trump.
[+] [-] jdavis703|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emodendroket|9 years ago|reply
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/24/14372940/trump-gag-order-e...
[+] [-] stonogo|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] theptip|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ballenf|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zepolud|9 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-turkey-arrests-1656-social...
[+] [-] edm0nd|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cmdrfred|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] sctb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CurtMonash|9 years ago|reply
-- He led a particularly rich and powerful country.
-- He and his followers were particularly good at mass-media PR.
-- He is particularly famous.
But he's also distinguished in other ways that do NOT echo Trump, most notably in his mass murders.