3386
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by muddybulldog@mylemmy.win to c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world

Edit: obligatory explanation (thanks mods for squaring me away)...

What you see via the UI isn't "all that exists". Unlike Reddit, where everything is a black box, there are a lot more eyeballs who can see "under the hood". Any instance admin, proper or rogue, gets a ton of information that users won't normally see. The attached example demonstrates that while users will only see upvote/downvote tallies, admins can see who actually performed those actions.

Edit: To clarify, not just YOUR instance admin gets this info. This is ANY instance admin across the Fediverse.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] muddybulldog@mylemmy.win 21 points 2 years ago

Yes.

Just muddling around I've built queries that: (a) list all of my post & comments, everybody who voted on them, and their votes (b) tally how many times specific users have upvoted or downvoted me. (c) identifies the most prolific voters across the Fediverse and the communities they are voting in (d) identifies users with the same username or display name across all instances and correlates the activities across those accounts.

These are all for the sake of learning and are innocuos the way I'm using them. It is plain to see that someone with skills and an agenda could make more out of it than I have.

[-] azron@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago

So you have raw database access and you can see that data. Why is this surprising? The systems I've used that solve storing data encrypted have massive usibility hits around exchanging and authenticating keys to a point where it sucks so bad I just want to disable it (matrix is a good example, non question their key exchange bullshit is hindering their adoption). I'm not saying this couldn't be fixed but should it? Most services that use a database will be inline with your discovery of how Lemmy uses that database. Storing something encrypted that is meant to be viewed publicly is the same outcome with more steps. If someone cares enough to monetize it just patch the code to change whatever behavior you don't like. I havent seeing anything about an acceptance test for Lemmy instances or anything that requires someone to use an unaltered version of Lemmy. How do you know the server admin isn't already doing all of this? You don't. Don't expect privacy in public spaces.

[-] sebi@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

So you can get the users voting on posts on other instances?

Could it be anonymized, so you can get exact up/downvote data from your instance, but when it comes to other instances you only get the absolute up/downvotes?

[-] azron@lemmy.ml -3 points 2 years ago

So you have raw database access and you can see that data. Why is this surprising? The systems I've used that solve storing data encrypted have massive usibility hits around exchanging and authenticating keys to a point where it sucks so bad I just want to disable it (matrix is a good example, non question their key exchange bullshit is hindering their adoption). I'm not saying this couldn't be fixed but should it? Most services that use a database will be inline with your discovery of how Lemmy uses that database. Storing something encrypted that is meant to be viewed publicly is the same outcome with more steps. If someone cares enough to monetize it just patch the code to change whatever behavior you don't like. I havent seeing anything about an acceptance test for Lemmy instances or anything that requires someone to use an unaltered version of Lemmy. How do you know the server admin isn't already doing all of this? You don't. Don't expect privacy in public spaces.

[-] azron@lemmy.ml -3 points 2 years ago

So you have raw database access and you can see that data. Why is this surprising? The systems I've used that solve storing data encrypted have massive usibility hits around exchanging and authenticating services to a point where it sucks. I'm not saying this couldn't be fixed but should it? Most services that uses a database will be inline with your discovery of how Lemmy uses that database. Storing something encrypted that is meant to be viewed publicly is the same outcome with more steps. If someone cares enough to monetize it just patch the code to change whatever behavior you don't like. I havent seeing anything about an acceptance test for Lemmy instances or anything that requires someone to use an unaltered version of Lemmy. How do you know the server admin isn't already doing all of this? You don't. Don't expect privacy in public spaces.

[-] IronKrill@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 years ago

You posted three times, may want to delete the extras. Did you press post multiple times?

[-] agoramachina@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

It seems these multi-posts are typically coming from a user getting an error message when their post actually goes through, then they try posting again.

After I learned about that I've been bookmarking comments I want to reply to, copy my intended post in another document, then check later to see if what I wrote was actually posted. If yes, yay, don't have to worry about multiposting. If no, I just post once the server isn't being weird.

[-] azron@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

That is exactly what happened. I posted it said network error and acted like I hadn't submitted my comment. Rinse repeat and here we are, It also looks like they were auto deleted though? I don't see them and I don't see them and I didn't delete them.

[-] azron@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Nevermind found them and deleted them and got the same network error while deleting. Lucky me I picked lemmy.ml before the reddit exodus.

this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
3386 points (96.1% liked)

You Should Know

33463 readers
31 users here now

YSK - for all the things that can make your life easier!

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with YSK.

All posts must begin with YSK. If you're a Mastodon user, then include YSK after @youshouldknow. This is a community to share tips and tricks that will help you improve your life.



Rule 2- Your post body text must include the reason "Why" YSK:

**In your post's text body, you must include the reason "Why" YSK: It’s helpful for readability, and informs readers about the importance of the content. **



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-YSK posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-YSK posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

If you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- The majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities:

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

Credits

Our icon(masterpiece) was made by @clen15!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS