Context: https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2015-March/thread.html
Brian believes that Wikimedia recording non-logged-in editors' IPs is *literally* the same as the NSA hoovering up all data they can get anywhere. On 30 March 2015 at 18:13, Katherine Casey <[email protected]> wrote: > Publicly identifying anonymous Wikimedians, especially with reference to > their editing histories, is not just an academic way to make a point; it's > messing with people's real lives, and it's not something I'm particularly > comfortable seeing suggested, especially for a reward, on a > wikimedia-hosted listserv. I mean, I see the point you're trying to make, > but making people whose privacy may already be imperfect into > explicitly-outed victims is rather like burning down the house to prove it > ought to have been fireproofed better: you've made your point, but now you > have no house. If you want to see if you can identify people using leaky > data, ask for volunteers from among those who are comfortable having their > identities researched this way and work on identifying them with their > consent. > > On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 12:48 PM, Richard Symonds < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I worry that encouraging people to do this to prove a political point could >> be inappropriate. It's one thing to point out a potential privacy flaw, but >> paying people to exploit it may be seen as a step too far. >> >> Richard Symonds >> Wikimedia UK >> 0207 065 0992 >> >> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and >> Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered >> Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. >> United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia >> movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who >> operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). >> >> *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control >> over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* >> >> On 29 March 2015 at 23:25, Brian <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > I'm sure many of you recall the Netflix Prize >> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_Prize>. This is that, for >> Wikipedia! >> > >> > Although the initial goal of the Netflix Prize was to design a >> > collaborative filtering algorithm, it became notorious when the data was >> > used to de-anonymize Netflix users. Researchers proved that given just a >> > user's movie ratings on one site, you can plug those ratings into another >> > site, such as the IMDB. You can then take that information, and with some >> > Google searches and optionally a bit of cash (for websites that sell user >> > information, including, in some cases, their SSN) figure out who they >> are. >> > You could even drive up to their house and take a selfie with them, or >> > follow them to work and meet their boss and tell them about their views >> on >> > the topics they were editing. >> > >> > Here, we'll cut straight to the privacy chase. Using just the full >> history >> > dump of the English Wikipedia, excluding edits from any logged-in users, >> > identify five people. You must confirm their identities with them, and >> > privately prove to me that you've done this. I will then nominate you as >> > the winner and send you one million Satoshis (the smallest unit of >> Bitcoin, >> > times 1 million), in addition to updating this thread. >> > >> > I suspect this challenge will be very easy for anyone who is determined. >> > Indeed, even if MediaWiki no longer displayed IP addresses, there would >> > still be enough information to identify people. Completely getting rid of >> > the edit history would largely solve the problem. In the mean time, this >> > Prize will serve as a reminder that when Wikipedia says "Your IP address >> > will be publicly visible if you make any edits." what they mean is, >> "People >> > will probably be able to figure out where you live and embarrass you." >> > >> > An extra million Satoshis for each NSA employee that you identify. A full >> > bitcoin if you take a selfie with them. >> > >> > Let the games begin! >> > >> > Brian Mingus >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >> > [email protected] >> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >> [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
