Schneier on Security

Clive Robinson • January 12, 2023 9:34 AM

@ ALL,

Re : When Personal is Public.

“All that was needed was the person’s name, address, birthday and Social Security number.”

As far as I remember in the US all of those personal details are available online in one way or another already.

The fact that “all data brokers” not just the big three that includes Experian know this will not of course change the remediation from the stabdard nothing burger of,

“Use our product for a year so you can check your status”

But with that extra added poison pickle layers of,

“First enter required extra details including your mobile phone number, Email address, and all bank and financial account details.”

But also that effectively hidden small print of,

“Your account will be Auto converted to a premium paid service at the end of the year.”

Probably at 20/month… But also so that they can harangue you into paying $10/month this year so you will get sent “Text alerts” or “Email Alerts” of suspicious activity (or some other nonsense to get “new sales”)…

They then sell your info on for $50 or equivalent…

It surprises me that they are not also offering an online “Single Sign On” and “Password Manager”…

Clive Robinson • January 12, 2023 11:24 PM

@ ALL,

You should read this,

https://instalker.org/3m4lrsd1c19Uaru

Especially the “spoiler alert” indicating it’s not just Experian where this laxness is going on and that there is more to come.

Which is after you give it a little thought, what you would expect…

As others have noted above the reason this problem actually exists is,

1, Regulatory compliance
2, Done on the cheap
3, With no oversight from regulatory authority.

This “rabbit hole” has existed in many ways in many forms and has been usually “explained away” by the guilty with the expression of “Unintended Consequences”…

When I was a lot younger and a lot less experienced, I used to think that sounded “reasonable” after all,

“People are human, mistakes happen”

We’ve all made a few in our time.

But then after seeing it play out repeatedly the thought occured to me could you “weaponise” such systems, so I asked myself,

“How could I weaponise it?”

And then started to look further, for the signs I’d identified and what I found confirmed my thoughts.

Not only was the answer “YES” it was already being done big time, big scale and could be seen at that time by the likes of Google sending “short skirts” into Europe to lobby against the EU Patent system (spoiler alert they got what they wanted).

As some of the long term readers here know, I’m not very keen on the “regulation” method of solving “ills in a faux market” and have warned it’s not a wise choice to make as at the very least it creates another “Faux Market”, but worse you should especially not do it when “The Fox’s cubs run the hen house”…

That is when “Regulatory capture” is the default as it appears to be being pushed to in the US by certain “payed for mouth pieces” that get called “Representatives”…

Well @ALL, regard this Experian instance as the,

“Second Sign Post to Disaster”

And pin it on the wall as a reminder. To,

“Always think twice before you make a wish for a ‘Fairy Godmother’ solution.”

As the old saying goes, “The third wish is to undo the previous two!”.

The representatives gave people what they were told the US people wanted… The result is a “Major Cl45ter F4ck” the start of which you are now just seeing unwrapped… Be warned that not only does it need to be sorted out, you also need to realise that it,

“Gave ammunition to the enemy”

Who will now use it as an excuse to fight not just new regulation but more importantly any “Privacy Legislation” that the US people might actually realy want…

Clive Robinson • January 13, 2023 4:31 PM

@ echo,

“By “others” that would mean one (I counted) and that one would be?…”

Well when I’d counted, there were refering to one part or more of the model created by the regulatory process,

1, @Clive Robinson, January 12, 2023 9:34 AM
2, @AlanS, January 12, 2023 3:14 PM
3, @Ted, January 12, 2023 4:33 PM

So yes “others” plural not singular.

As for “Short Skirt” I don’t think you’ve heard it as an expression before…

Look up “Short Round” which originated in an Indian Jones Movie an got adopted by the military, and came to refer to someone who was a rougue/trouble in a likable way, and had pushy ways because they knew they had “big backup” (“Big Short Round” was his elephant and the two were symbiotic).

As I indicated it came to be used as a term about US lobbyists who were plaguing the EU halls of power who represented their own “elephant”, and the “short skirts” was used about the women “assistants” that misogynistic US negotiators feel gives them more presence. In Europe such behaviour is seen by others for what it is which “Greta Thunberg” ably demonstrated a little while back when an idiot for sake of machismo asked for her email address when boasting about his fleet of gas-guzzlers.

Have you noticed how the misogynists in the US press call it “The Greta Thunberg Fued” to some how make the lame idiot sound bigger than he realy is, just because he has 40-50 “short skirts” trying to run interferance for him…

Clive Robinson • January 20, 2023 6:23 PM

@ name.withheld…, ALL,

“Today, you will be prosecuted for doing something of this nature…”

That is only possible if there is the criminal legislation in place.

Which only happens when our supposed “Representatives” vote to do so.

Thus the question of,

“Who do the representatives actually represent?”

Arises, to which one certain answer based on observation is,

“Not you the votting citizen”

I will stop at this point because as you and I know from past experience, what comes next is regarded as “party politics” by some… And so it gets nasty as certain people try to shut the conversation they do not want being had starting. Usually by spreading false facts and nonsense in such large quantaties one can only assume they either have no jobs, or that their job is to be disruptive.

Clive Robinson • January 21, 2023 3:06 AM

@ name.withheld…, ALL,

“We know where this goes…”

To abject failure and worse.

That man kind can only survive by endeavor balanced with the environment around them. Should be one of those “self evident” facts, apparently though saying it in some places is worse than treason.

Those that have assumed their rights surpass those of society as a whole are a danger not only to us, but themselves. But they chose not to be denied, for them the Baronial Court and the iron control of the Church are their models of how society should serve them as leaders. It is not good and leads to such imbalance that destruction has almost always followed, that then gets followed by more destruction in ever faster turning circles of waste, and loss.

There are easy ways out though they will appear to be whole society efforts for long periods if not generations. The problem as always though will be keeping the leadership on task in an honest way, and keep peoples focus on the future not the waste of pyrrhic squables and power struggles of the present engendered to favour the few at the expense of the rest.