

TrackMeNot Firefox add-on protects search privacy by generating noise - bouncingsoul
http://mrl.nyu.edu/~dhowe/trackmenot/

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quoderat
Reminds me of the part in _Crpytonomicon_ in prison, when Waterhouse is
hacking something up but using similar noise techniques to conceal it.

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trapper
I have always wondered about applying this to browsing & downloading. Would
you be liable if you computer decided to download and share something illegal?

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vaksel
that'll work well until there is some bug and the thing accidentally searches
for kiddie porn.

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ScottWhigham
Wait - couldn't Google, et al sue them for distributing a system that
potentially prevents Google's servers from serving other customers? I mean, if
this became popular and enough people began using it, it's nothing more than a
slow-trickle DDOS and Google would have to spend 6 or 7 figures upgrading to
new servers/hardware to manage it.

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eli
Pretty silly if you ask me.

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Create
I don't know why he got downmodded: noise filtering can be quite artful and
effective, and this "noise generator" is certainly quite weak in terms of
providing anonymity in a cryptographic sense/strength. Actually, the situation
just gets worse, because it creates a false sense of security.

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meqif
I agree; I remain unconvinced by TrackMeNot, I think it's the wrong approach.

Although the FAQ in the site says Bruce Schneier's criticism was unfounded,
I'm not so sure about that. Here's Schneier's post:
[http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/trackmenot_1.h...](http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/trackmenot_1.html)

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wizard_2
its lifted right from Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. Which is a great read
and a wonderful tool to teach the importance of the right to privacy and
encryption.

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barbie17
Since it appeared before "Little Brother", maybe Doctorow was inspired by this
extension instead of the other way around ;).

