End-User Profiling

Continuing the discussion from Introducing 'Project Decorum':

All of these protocols that can be shared between APPs seems like it will form quite the collaborative effort on the SAFE Network. However, with the sharing of protocols comes the question, what may be the effects of sharing user information across sites?

Every user can have several personas, and each can be used for a specific purpose - cultivating a persistent profile for a given use-case. But if there exists the way to interconnect protocols, doesn’t it follow that the user’s data will be accessible as a grouping of their involvement in these various outlets?

It’s hard to think about this not using websites, but APPs (as protocols). Having multiple protocols integrated in such a way as to provide a service (or product) to the end-user has the potential to expose their other activity/relationships in a way that they might not have intended.

My ultimate question is: Will this type of integration bring with it the ability to gather information and create a profile on a given persona easier now that their information is more likely to be linked across protocols? And if so, I would enjoy SWOTting the effects that it may have.


IMO, I believe that this is a double-edged sword. If it is easier, then building up a following - assuming the role of a politician, artist, professional, company or other public entity - will be wider-reaching, and therefore the sphere of influence will increase much more rapidly than it would on the existing internet.

OTOH, profiling for doxxing purposes, social engineering, or dragnet surveillance will be much easier just by the inherent structure of the network.

Lastly, (as @janitor once stated) I want to ensure that it will be feasible for me to participate anonymously (in a meaningful way) in the functionality that the network and the APPs built on top thereof provide. (perhaps a “random, one-time use” persona can be generated every time that a user wishes to PUT public data anonymously - just a thought)

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Combined with various other analyses of metadata and content left by the user, and cross-analysis with Internet data, it is almost certain that the same providers (FB, etc.) would be able to determine the identity of the poster with a very high accuracy.

Imagine comparing the writing style of people on this forum with the writing style of people on a future SAFE Network-based forum. Since this site already uses Google Analytics, Google already knows who we are, and could almost certainly identify all forum members on the (non-)anonymous forum hosted on the SAFE Network who are also active here.

Fortunately or not, at the moment Google has no intention of indexing the SAFE Network, and that’s both good and bad. But if hooks are added to FB and other sites, we’d feed our info to them. But hey, sites could also show customized FB ads to make our experience better and help us make better shopping decisions!