Archean
Posts: 5,650 +102
Surprise, surprise: my online metadata actually reveals where I’ve been
In January 2014, documents provided by Edward Snowden showed that a Canadian spy agency used a unique identifier to follow thousands of Canadians as they moved about the country. The tracking all originated from an unnamed airport.
It got us thinking: how hard would it be to replicate this little experiment, writ small? Could I use one of my own online identifiers as a way to track my own movements through time and space?
The NSA can't capture everything that crosses the Internet—but doesn't need to.
The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is: yes. It’s easy to do, and it’s revealing about what I do, when I do it, and where I go.
Nothing surprising, only shows how easy it to track anyone.
In January 2014, documents provided by Edward Snowden showed that a Canadian spy agency used a unique identifier to follow thousands of Canadians as they moved about the country. The tracking all originated from an unnamed airport.
It got us thinking: how hard would it be to replicate this little experiment, writ small? Could I use one of my own online identifiers as a way to track my own movements through time and space?
The NSA can't capture everything that crosses the Internet—but doesn't need to.
The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is: yes. It’s easy to do, and it’s revealing about what I do, when I do it, and where I go.
Nothing surprising, only shows how easy it to track anyone.
