cross-posted from: https://covert.nexus/post/20450
Summary:
Federal investigators have requested Google to provide information on all users who watched specific YouTube videos within a certain timeframe, sparking privacy concerns from civil rights groups. The videos had collectively been watched over 30,000 times.
The case involves undercover agents sending tutorial links for mapping via drones and augmented reality software to an individual, “elonmuskwhm,” who is suspected of violating money laundering laws and unlicensed money transmitting.
Court orders obtained by Forbes show that the government instructed Google to disclose user data, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, account activity for Google account holders, and IP addresses for non-account holders who watched the videos. The government argues that this data collection was relevant to their criminal investigation.
The practice of deanonymizing individuals by cross-referencing bulk webpage visitation data within known windows of time that they visited those separate pages, while previously known to be theoretically possible, has now been shown to be actively employed by law enforcement. This emphasizes the significance of employing a VPN at all times and maintaining a high degree of separation between online identities to hinder comparisons based on similarity.