Whisper Tracks Users
The Guardian has reported that the app Whisper tracks users, and then published a second article explaining what it knows after Whisper denied the story. Here’s Whisper’s denial; be sure to also read the first comment from Moxie Marlinspike.
Slashdot thread. Hacker News thread.
EDITED TO ADD (10/22): Another Whisper explanation, and another Guardian article. An analysis.
Daniel • October 21, 2014 1:05 PM
In my firm view sustainable “unlinkable anonymity” is impossible on the internet, as it will always be an asymmetric cat and mouse game. So we need to look at the next best option which is to focus on data retention. This essentially turns the game from one of tag into a game of hide and seek, restricted by timeliness. Curiously, there is a lot of evidence that human memory works on just this principle–that we forgot information precisely to make room for new information. So the better question is how long are we going to remember things for? Forget about anonymity–it’s a loser–and focus on forgetting instead.