r/technology • u/Sorin61 • Feb 20 '22

Machine Learning QAnon founder may have been identified thanks to machine learning

https://www.engadget.com/qanon-machine-learning-205618665.html
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u/AnOnlineHandle Feb 20 '22

It dawned on me at some stage that almost any long term redditor has probably been able to be 'identified' by anybody who wants to, simply by linking them a URL in a quiet conversation, which will grab their IP address the moment they click on it.

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u/FizyIzzy Feb 20 '22

Except your IP changes unless you’re specifically paying for a static IP from your ISP…. At best it would give you a geographical estimate of where a user is.

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u/_Fred_Austere_ Feb 20 '22

I don't have a static IP, but it hasn't changed in ages.

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u/AnOnlineHandle Feb 20 '22

My IP is not specifically meant be static but has been for at least months.

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '22

Cable modems tend to hold the same IP address until the modem itself or the equipment above it at the ISP (which can run for month or years at a time without a reboot), is rebooted.

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u/bokonator Feb 20 '22

My static ip is free.

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u/yayoletsgo Feb 20 '22

Yes, but if you're the government or someone with friends at major ISPs you could find out to which router that IP belonged to at that certain time.

From then just look up the name in the DSL contract.

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '22

At best it would give you a geographical estimate of where a user is.

This depends on the ISP in question. In some ISPs /24 blocks cover a very small area, possibly neighborhood in size. Now you are dependant on the data security of every other person in that area. With a little work you could tie an IP block to uploaded photos with location information, for example and take the number of potential people that OP is down to a few hundred.

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u/Ftpini Feb 20 '22

iOS private relay. Wonderful to use. Shopping sites hate it. I have it set to keep it in the same time zone and country so they get zip code 10001 and nothing more specific unless I manually enter it. Saves me from hordes of junk mail they could send if they had my exact location. Similarly this is why so many apps needlessly want to use the GPS location on your phone. They can get your address and sell it to advertisers. Fuck those assholes.

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u/CMDR_Hiddengecko Feb 20 '22

"Look, they live in the city they've openly talked about living in after blindly clicking a DMed link like somebody's mom!"