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EFF Guide To Blogging Anonymously
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:18 PM
from the playing-it-safe dept.
from the playing-it-safe dept.
jacksonwest writes "Annalee Newitz and Kurt Opsahl just published a great how-to on blogging anonymously. How To Blog Safely About Work (Or Anything Else), covering both the legal and technical aspects of blogging about your job and staying truly anonymous. A must read for those blogging from or about their office."
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Too bad (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Too bad (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Anonymous posting reveals a lack of integrity. (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Anonymous posting reveals a lack of integrity. (Score:5, Insightful)
What if you work for a government agency, or corporate entity, etc, that is engaged in all sorts of chicanery? Would you post with your real name, and be fired on the spot, or would you post anonymously so you can be a "voice from the inside"?
What if you are an atheist in a strictly Muslim country? Or a drug user in a country currently engaged in a "War on Drugs"?
What tripe. What complete unadulterated tripe.
Empty words, since you didn't back up your opinion with any logic or reasoning.
Or are they not really thoughts worth standing up for?
What you fail to understand is that just because something is worth standing up for that doesn't mean that there won't be negative, unjust, or undesirable consequences for posting something. The world isn't fair or just, and until it is (ie: never), there will be a need for anonymity.
Parent
Re:Anonymous posting reveals a lack of integrity. (Score:4, Insightful)
Get some integrity people, and write with your real names. Stand up for what you believe in and put your name next to your thoughts.
I suppose you've never heard of the Federalist Papers [foundingfathers.info].
Parent
Iran and China (Score:3, Insightful)
Queen of the Air... (Score:3, Interesting)
Posting pictures of yourself isn't illegal, but it didn't help the Queen of the Air...
Re:Queen of the Air... (Score:3, Insightful)
Those photos were taken on one of the employer's planes, and thus, are not covered by that law. They would likely have had more trouble firing her if the photos were taken at home, and she wasn't wearing uniform, and rightfully so. But if you do something at work which is explicitly against your terms of employment, expect trouble.
My strategy (Score:3, Funny)
Just be careful (Score:5, Interesting)
Just be careful in what you do, and it should be good.
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Just be careful (Score:4, Interesting)
The software industry. I would estimate that 98% of the people reading this would know the company.
I don't believe that it is policy of the company. I think that it just started in 1 division and spread out a bit. HR probably wouldn't approve.
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:5, Funny)
ahh. You mean SCO?
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:5, Insightful)
JK.
On the other hand, do be careful with Google. If you google me, I've apparently built bike frames, been a tax attorney, am Colorado's premier one-legged skiier, made several games, founded a birdwatching society, and am several computer consultants. One or two of these people is actually me. I'm one of 9 or 10 of me online. Unfortunately, according to the phone book there are over 50 of me in the US alone, meaning that if you google my name you only have a 1 in 5 chance that I have anything online at all, and then a 1 in 10 chance of guessing which one I am. And I don't have a very common name. If your candidate is named "Tom Jones" or "Hong Li" or "Sanjay Singh", you're pretty much firing at random.
As a side note, I've always wondered if someone with your name could sue you for defamation for doing dumb things under your own name online...
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Funny)
And if you sue yourself, can you actually win a judgement?
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Insightful)
Example:
You interview an ace programmer who's been out of the industry for a few years and he does really well with all the interviewing managers. One manager decides to take it upon himself to "background check" the guy. It turns out that the reason he hasn't been in the industry for a while is because he's been in jail for child molestation. Well, you don't want to work with this guy, of course. So the manager circulates the weblinks and everyone agrees to reject the candid
Re:Just be careful (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, the difference is when your personal activity they're considering is something totally lawful. For example, lets say your employer is very opinionated Mormon, and thus believes that alcohol is spiritually unhealthy (or is just otherwise rather prudish). They stumble upon your blog, where you describe your last drunken bender with your friends, how you puked up your lungs and were hung over for 2 days. Its all perfectly legal, but many people object to that kind of behaviour - and it's not constitutionally protected like race and suchlike.
That sort of stuff is none of their business in their professional capacity as an employer. They are perfectly free to ask you about your habits, read about them, whatever - but not to use that as a basis for hiring/review decisions.
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:5, Informative)
No, it's stupid to think that you don't. Especially if you are blogging, where the entire idea is that you leave a trail behind online.
Here's an idea for those who'd like to blog about work: don't. Seriously. I'm as pro free speech as anyone, but being in favor of free speech doesn't mean I think people should be gabbing endlessly on cell phones during theatrical movie showings or that strangers should be screaming in my ear as I'm walking down the street or that employees should be talking about their employers on publicly accessible blogs. I mean, use your freakin' head.
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do that thing.
And if you do, and you have to face the consequences of it, tough tits. It was your choice. Nobody asked you to write a blog. In most cases, nobody but your employer probably even cared to read it.
To think you can actually write something in public online and not "leave a trail" is beyond naive.
(And yes, I practice what I preach - I have a blog, and I have another site as well. I have never even mentioned the name of either my current employer or my previous employer online. It should be pretty much common sense, but I guess it isn't. These are things you do not publicly broadcast unless it is part of your job to do so.)
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Informative)
cue the subpoenas (Score:5, Insightful)
Googling someone does not a background check make. If you googled my name you might get the impression that I'm an Irish athlete and mountain climber. Not so.
Forget google.
You need to do a background investigation on your hires - criminal and civil - check job history, references, and do a skills assessment.
I don't care if someone mouthed off on Slashdot, Boing Boing, The Well, or wherever. I care about whether or not I can trust them to do the job and play well with others. Googling someone won't tell you these things.
Parent
Pseudonymity (Score:4, Interesting)
Being totally anonymous isn't very effective, unless what you are saying can really stand on it's own (that is, it's stating provable logic rather than facts/events).
Parent
That's against the law (Score:5, Interesting)
You can't lawfully do that. If someone found out, they could sue you and whoever posted the information for defimation. It is the reason why former employers never can say anything bad about a former employees.
Likewise, my personal opinions have nothing to do with my ability to do a job. Googeling to find out what political party a person belongs to, their world views, and the like is a bad practice. I know of a guy who sued a company because they asked for his social security number on an application, then did not offer him work. According to state law, that is illegal. The only reason to ask for a social security number is to pay taxes, and an employer that asks for it is implying they have offered you a job. Same thing goes for asking about marital status, or age.
People should know thier rights and sue when violated. Otherwise corporations will keep crapping on people, paying less money, forcing people to get work as contractors, hiring temps, and the like. It all means the death of good paying jobs with health care and job security.
Parent
Re:That's against the law (Score:5, Interesting)
Only if the information is false. The truth is an absolute defense against all defamation and libel suits. Even so, I doubt the prospective employer can be held accountable in most cases. However, a person (or former employer) saying something bad that is false (or not provably true) about someone, which causes them to not get hired is definately actionable.
Now, there are certain types of information which you are not allowed to make hiring decisions on, but those are a specifically enumerated list (age, race, sex, religion, marital status, intent to have children, medical conditions, etc.). Asking about those on a job application is illegal, and if you can show that a prospective employer found this information on Google and probably used it to discriminate against you, then you have a suit.
If, however, I use google to find a web page you wrote 5 years ago about how you hate puppies, and do not hire you, I am almost certain that is legal. I have a friend who was essentially fired for not cutting his hair (he was an hourly employee and they refused to schedule him any hours until he cut it). There is no legal recourse unless you can claim that the discrimination falls under one of the recognized and protected categories (ie. "my religion prevents me from cutting my hair").
Also, consider that you can be denied employment for refusing or failing a drug test, even though your guild has not been legally proven. I personally think this is a travesty, but it is not illegal.
Parent
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Funny)
Is that why I have 7 years of experience in PHP and MySQL, yet I can't find a job? Even when I have examples of code that I've written and a pretty damn decent portfolio?
Re:Just be careful (Score:3, Interesting)
Recently, I've been helping a coworker with getting his personal website up, and have been pointing him to my website as an example. In referring to my website, he later took a look at it one evening, and found the link to my blog about the office, and mentioned it the following day.
Thankfully, he sh
Re:Just be careful (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Or don't be a pussy (Score:3, Insightful)
If you have something to say about your company, then say it. Have some balls and do what it takes to make change. Unless you're willing to put your name and reputation on the line, why should anyone take your speech seriously?
So you have a choice, skulk around in the shadows like you are some kind of lowly criminal looking to the world like you're trying to get away with something, or stand up and post proudly and make a big noise. If you want to be treated like a criminal, then act like one. The EFF has just posted your guidelines. If you want to be treated like a human being with something important to say, then post without fear.
Re:Or don't be a pussy (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Or not.... (Score:3, Insightful)
If I didn't resonate slightly with this comment, I would say you're trolling (and maybe you are anyway). But here we go...
I think you're right to a degree, there is a definite irony contained in preserving one's anonymity in order to expose the secrets of others without fear of reprisal. There is something inherently attractive about an open society wherein anonymity and secrets are simply not neccessary or even desired. There is power in standing behind your words.
Power, and sometimes danger, both m
Re:Or not.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Given the situation you've described above (and I certainly empathize, I have three children of my own), I think we must ask ourselves, how free is our speech? For many of us who live paycheck-to-paycheck, getting fired is as grave a threat as jail time. Is our speech free while our employer is permitted to exercise such authority, even while that same authority is denied to elected officials?
For all those who are going to jump on me, I'm not talking about blogging WHILE at work-your employer has a right
Re:Or not.... (Score:4, Insightful)
It isn't human nature. It is the system we live in. Until that system might change you will always have the problem where your reputation in the business world changes significantly simply because you stand behind what is right. You see, there are too many potential haters out there which have the power to (and will!) ring your neck on a whim simply because they are religiously or politically against your ideas. The repurcussions(sp?) are limitless.
Parent
Re:Or don't be a pussy (Score:3, Informative)
The right to free speech does not extend to your employment unless you have a contract that says it does.
As has been said a million times before on Slashdot whenever this sort of thing comes up, most U.S. states and many foreign countries have "at-will" employment, meaning your employer keeps paying you money solely because they wish to. They have the right to terminate you at any time, for any reason*, and you do NOT have the right to a job.
*With reasonable limitations. For instance
Re:Or don't be a pussy (Score:4, Insightful)
Obviously it is nice to have an identity attached to information to help determine how credible it is, but even with no faith in the accuracy whatsoever, it can trigger independent research. This is the same as when information comes from a well-known but untrusted source.
Whenever one of the nut-job religious extremist organizations says anything about sex (birth control, STDs, homosexuality, premarital sex) I assume that their is some grain of truth in it, but has been distorted beyond recognition. However, I usually do further research to determine what the truth is (which is often different than my previous conceptions, even if it bears almost no relation to the tripe spouted by said organization).
Parent
Re:"Free speech" (Score:3, Insightful)
Blogging from the office (Score:3, Informative)
It's way too easy for your employer to get any network traffic. My employer had a keylogger installed on one cow-irker's computer. Well, I suppose you could get away with it as long as you only speak in glowing terms about your employer.
We had a case recently where a bunch of stock brokers were fired (and sued as I recall) because the sms messages they thought were safe; weren't!
Re:Blogging from the office (Score:3, Interesting)
Anonymity inversely proportional to value (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't see how you can stay anonymous and say anything really interesting about your office. Of course you can say "my office has cubes" and nobody will smell you out, but if you say "I know all about the shape of the new iMac" there are only a few people that could have known that, and they will figure you out. Certainly there are variations within those two extremes, but the more unique and valuable your knowledge, the more likely they are to nail you.
Re:Anonymity inversely proportional to value (Score:3, Interesting)
Consider how popular office-related sitcoms can be, even if they're pretty generic: "The Drew Carey Show" and "The Office" come to mind, and there are tons more. The point of the humor in these shows isn't anything about that particular office, but about offices in genera
+5, informative. (Score:5, Funny)
Why the fuck? (Score:3, Insightful)
I blog my ass off, but I sure as shit don't mention anything I shouldn't. I know the limits of the law in my area and what I could potentially get in the shit over. Occasionally I tread a pretty fine line between kosher and not-so-kosher (a recent issue over feral animals comes to mind), but I know where the line is that you just shouldn't step over.
What's so hard about just not being a dumb-ass these days? If you want to keep your job, don't blog about work. Simple.
Re:Why the fuck? (Score:3, Funny)
Excellent reasoning, citizen! Remember, don't rock the boat--those in power don't like it when you do. Posting anonymously is an act of subversion!
Always obey the wishes of those in power, for they are never wrong.
EvilCabbage, you are truly an inspiration to all your brothers and sisters in the Party.
Maturity rather than Anonymnity (Score:5, Interesting)
But there are many ways to write a negative web log that still tries to be completely fair and see things from the other person's point of view. I read a number of these (I actually started reading their logs for some tech project they were on but kept on after finding out that they have lives that don't revolve around first person shooters). They seem to write out of a need to get some sort of honesty about what's going on.
One fellow in particular that I enjoy reading writes about his boss, problem clients, assertive sex partners, and demanding family members. He's fun to read because he's figured out that in most cases he is the "problem" rather than all of these people he writes about. He is, after all, the only common link between all of these problematic things. When he writes about a stressful change at work he's not bitching about "the worst decision his boss ever made" but rather "a change his boss made that eluded his understanding".
If I were a future employer and came across his blog, the level of maturity he displayed would go a lot further than whether he mentioned someone by name. Not everyone's that way, but jeez, if you are completely anonymous writing stuff seems like a waste of time.
If you want to leak a secret wrongdoing, send it to a reporter's email address. If you want to write about your stresses and successes, do so in a mature way. If you want to bitch and moan and try to assasinate someone's integrity, be prepared to take the consequences for your juvenile tantrums.
Surprisingly chilling advice from EFF (Score:3, Interesting)
By the time you finish following all the guidelines, there would be little point in writing at all.
The best advice surely is to consider that you may lose your job for voicing your opinion -- and that as the EFF points out, a little bit of vagueness will generally not be enough to hide your identity.
Beyond that, weigh seriously the importance of your job versus the importance of publishing your thoughts.
Re:Surprisingly chilling advice from EFF (Score:5, Insightful)
If an employer's decision to censure or fire an employee based on work-related blogging is an infringement of free speech, then what about a person/group who decides to boycott a company because they disagree with that company's decisions? Or how about when there's a demonstration outside my window and I shut the window because I don't agree with them and don't want to hear it?
"Free speech" becomes an *abusive* concept when you deprive people of their rights to avoid associating with people they don't like, or to take otherwise legal actions (like not shopping at a particular store) based on their opinons about an entity. After all, isn't the constitutional guarantee of freedom of association embedded in the exact same amendment as the right to free speech?
"Free speech" cannot mean "speech without consequences from anyone". That would just be silly. I'll say what I want, and you'll decide whether you want to associate with me based on how you feel about it.
Parent
Information Gathering from Blogs (Score:3, Interesting)
Passive information gathering from open sources goes on all the time especially here on slashdot where certain people give away pretty useful information about the current state of where they work including technical and operational matters.
Some of this information might seem innocuous to many of you but for us 'in the know' we realise that some of you posters provide us with a goldmine of competitive intelligence because we recognize its context. It's basically reverse social engineering in action and it works because humans are social beings who want to 'connect' with their online social peers. We don't even have to resort to using 'recruitable weaknesses' like ideology, money or sex. Some of you people just blurt it out just because you want to be accepted.
Here this bloggers who work in sensitive environment: Awareness of your surroundings can be a wonderful thing.
Annalee Newitz, will you marry me? (Score:3, Funny)
Mom, Dad - this is my girlfriend:
http://joi.typepad.com/photos/cc_ann
That's her first google hit under the images tab. Classic.
Re:Annalee Newitz, will you marry me? (Score:3, Insightful)
Good looks are fleeting, but a good brain and a quick wit can last you a lifetime. Even if you are having championship sex with your number one girl, what's that come to - 2 hours of sex a day at a maximum? That's maybe 20% of your time with your lover. What about the rest of the time? You can keep your "maid in the living room, cook in the kitchen and whore in the bedroom" gals well away from me. I'll take the brainy chick every time. She's the one with whom
Tor: another security/privacy tool (Score:5, Informative)
Reference
[0] Tor, EFF Overview: http://tor.eff.org/overview.html [eff.org]
[1] Tor, How it works: http://tor.eff.org/howitworks.html [eff.org]
[2] Tor Protocol Specification: http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/tor-spec.txt [eff.org]
[3] Tor: How it Works: http://tor.eff.org/howitworks.html [eff.org]
Slashdot AC policy (Score:4, Interesting)
We log the usual stuff (IP, page, time, user, page views, moderation, and comment posting, mainly). A few other odds and ends too, but mostly the data is used to make moderation possible. We keep the logs for 48 hours.
timing (Score:3, Interesting)