How anonymous is posting on Bluelight?

H

HighwayChild

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
38
Hi guys,

I've been reading bluelight for a while now, and the new, new bluelight has finally inspired me to take the plunge and start posting!

So I guess I've started wondering a little about how the police of various countries can and do read these forums, and could be considering cracking down on people here for getting their next promotion or face in the newspaper under a heading like "Champion Cop saves 150 young adults from the evils of Ecstasy!" or something.

A while back I remember a discussion on how heaps of bluelighters in Perth, Aust. got their houses searched by cops for posting here - and that some of those people didn't even say anything incriminating! I had a look for it using the search, but couldn't find anything.

I guess its easy to believe the internet is a tool for free speech, and that we're anonymous, but obviously the truth is nothing like that - we ARE being watched...

So how anonymous are we? How can we prevent cops working out who we are and where we live? Should we all be installing IP blockers, or signing up for free email accounts based in Elbonia? Shouldn't we even be posting anything here except from Internet Cafe's that accept cash? Will wearing a rubber mask while online help? ;)

Anyway, if anyone's got any good ideas for making it that little bit too much trouble for people to identify us, post away. I know better than to have anything illegal in my house, but I'd still rather not have someone turn my place upside down.

HC
 
So a proxy will block IP's being sent out?

If a cop did want to work out which people on these forums are in his area, and then find out their names and addresses, how would they go about it?

I dont suppose there's any cops here that want to answer this one?

:D

HC
 
Okay, let me try to answer your questions....

First, please read the "Letter to law enforcment" from Bluelight's "about" page:

http://www.bluelight.ru/about/law/

Bluelight will not share your IP with authorities and we routinely purge old IP information. We would not bother tracking IPs at all, but this is a fairly large message board and we have a decent amount of trolls/spammers. We don't ban a lot of people compared to other message boards this size, but we still have people who intentionally try to deal drugs or raise hell in the social chatter forums. It is unfortunate those jackasses ruin it for everyone, but if we didn't initially log an IP with each post we would have mass chaos soon.

Law enforcement do read these forums. How do we know? They have told us! Yes, some administrators actually communicate and cooperate with law enforcement in their part of the world. (Cooperate does not mean "snitch", it means collaboration in the areas where the goals of law enforcement and the goals of Bluelight happen to overlap.)

You mention the Perth raids. Please read this thread and ask your specific questions there:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47835&r=93

Anonymity on the internet? First, complete anonymity is nearly impossible and nothing will be fool-proof. But you can add a few reasonable levels of security to protect your identity. I encourage you to visit the Links Database and check the Internet Security category:

http://www.bluelight.ru/links/?cmd=links&cat=36&ts=3e7fe89a

I personally encourage everyone to use a proxy when posting to Bluelight. If you are just a regular poster who is asking normal questions in drug forums, you will never have a problem. Be warned that trolls also use proxies, so if a Greenlighter starts a shitstorm in the social chatter forums using a proxy, they will be labeled a troll and booted more quickly than someone NOT using a proxy.

Here is a draft of a security warning that will soon appear when people try to register a new account:

Bluelight is a drug related message board that deals with topics that are illegal and perhaps socially unacceptable. Bluelight will try to protect the privacy of our posters but you participate at your own risk. Please be smart and keep four things in mind:

1. Protect your identity
Any association with this website indirectly connects you to drug use. Do not use your real name or an email address that reveals your real name. Pick a username that cannot be obviously connected to you. Create an “anonymous” email address, which does not use your real name and information, for all Bluelight-related contacts. Click here to find a place to register an “anonymous” email account. (links) Be very cautious about what information you include in your user profile. People can use these clues to track down your identity. For instance, linking to your personal website or your online journal might give away a lot of personal information. Think carefully before submitting a photograph of yourself to be posted in the Bluelight gallery.

2. Surf more safely
Do not access Bluelight from your computer at work or through computers you might share with others. Many companies have the ability to closely monitor employees’ computer usage and people have been fired when their employers found out they were posting to Bluelight. Consider using a proxy to disguise your IP address, which makes it more difficult to trace your posts back to you. Click here for different proxies and anonymous browsers. (links) It is also a good idea to periodically clean your computer cache or delete all your cookies. To do this on Internet Explorer, go to Tools—>Internet Options and then click “Deletes Cookies” and “Delete Files”. This is far from fullproof but it does help provide some level of privacy.

3. Be careful about what you say
Bluelight encourages very open discussion about drugs, but it is still a very good idea to maintain a certain level of discretion when you post. Please keep in mind that Bluelight is more than likely monitored by the police, media and government in your country of residence. A few recreational drug users will not be scrutinized as closely as people engaging in credit card fraud or child pornography, but your comments still might be monitored so be mindful of the potential legal consequences. In general there is not much danger in discussing past drug use, but be much more discreet when discussing your future activities.

4. Interacting with other Bluelighters
Bluelighters are generally very friendly, but always remain somewhat suspicious of anyone who contacts you by email or by chat. Set up “anonymous” AIM/ICQ accounts for talking to Bluelighters. Do not reveal details of your identity or incriminating information about yourself to random strangers in a chat room. If someone knows your identity, they might attempt to blackmail you and threaten to reveal your involvement at Bluelight to your employers or family members. If you plan to meet Bluelighters at a public event, be very discreet about your plans because authorities could use the information as probable cause to raid the party.

Although nothing is guaranteed, keeping these four basic ideas in mind can drastically increase your safety. Please take the time to read and understand the Bluelight User Agreement. Not only do those rules protect this site, but the user agreement also helps to protect all of our registered posters.
Click to expand...

Sorry for any delays in answering your questions, the administrators have been busy with the software upgrade. Please ask any followup questions in this thread.

It would also be good if this thread is kept open for all of these types of questions. Please merge new questions into this thread so all the information is in one place and we can bypass the repetition.
 
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It's anonymous enough that I've been doing it for 2 years and even drug-heads don't even recognize me.

Bring it on cops!

Don't be so paranoid. Just use your head.%)
 
Exx_head said:
It's anonymous enough that I've been doing it for 2 years and even drug-heads don't even recognize me.

Bring it on cops!

Don't be so paranoid. Just use your head.%)
Click to expand...

tru motha fucking dat!!!=D =D
 
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