On Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 1:19 PM coderman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ > On Monday, November 9, 2020 12:33 PM, Karl <[email protected]> wrote: > > ... I believe we need > > to set a norm of everyone using pseudonymous identities, and accessing > > networks via difficult-to-identify means. > > > > The reason is that there are a wide variety of community groups right > > now, looking for ways to break up and add stress to other community > > groups. If random people can't associate your name with things as > > easily, you, your community, and your work, are safer. > > > > What are your thoughts? > > > this is a great approach! the problem is: you need to begin this isolation > *before* you need it.
For people to do that, we need an environment of spreading it, no? Also re-iterating that new people, without the resources of government surveillance, are recruited to find people of different persuasions and effect their lives. > > the typical scenario is using only modest protections, getting involved in > activism, and then discovering your protections inadequate. I saw a zine in virginia a couple years ago, about new activists getting targeted. The targeters would focus on the areas without experienced activism; higher return. (i am not connected with activism these years) > > once your activism and identity are compromised, it is *very* hard to undo > the damage. you must *start over* with a new digital identity, adhering to > operational security always. maybe move town, maybe move countries. I used to find this easy to do on the internet, but never did it in face-to-face interactions. You have to tell people with confidence you have a different name. There are two concerns: if you are targeted, your communities could become targeted if you're not anonymous. This prevents their work. Meanwhile, if you become a critical worker among a targeted community, you could become targeted. This ruins your life forever. > even Barton Gellman had a hard time with this - always keeping his laptop > with him like a digital albatross; always protecting passphrase input with > blankets and towels; always separating untrustworthy files on isolated > machines. and on and on and on and ... > > good luck! How do you feel about spreading the message of not using your legal name? I took the opportunity to express this, because nobody else is. > > best regards,
