[bigiain]

Yeah. If you've come to the attention of the wrong sort of "the cops", you're fucked.

"Basically, you’re either dealing with Mossad or not-Mossad. If your adversary is not-Mossad, then you’ll probably be fine if you pick a good password and don’t respond to emails from ChEaPestPAiNPi11s@ virus-basket.biz.ru. If your adversary is the Mossad, YOU’RE GONNA DIE AND THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT." -- https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf

There's a lot of humour in that article, but some cold hard truth as well.

[kuschku]

After an intelligence agency has knocked on your door to tell you just how interesting your online comments are and serve you legal paperwork, arguments like this suddenly become hollow.

While this advice suggests I should just give up, that's not a practical option.

[bigiain]

Yeah - that's kinda the cold hard truth bit.

I'm fortunate enough to have never had that knock on my door, but I'm certain I'm on several lists.

You don't need to "give up", you need to work out what stuff you do or talk about that "Mossad" isn't really interested in, and be much more circumspect about where and who you talk with about anything that they might be interested in.

Sadly, for anybody without my kind of middle aged white dude privilege, that's almost certainly a "chilling effect".

[trompetenaccoun]

>I'm fortunate enough to have never had that knock on my door

What's the most subversive thing you've ever posted, repeatedly, with a large number of people seeing it? Chances are that it's not being "fortunate" that keeps you save but you simply aren't of interest to them.

In Communist China, you're perfectly safe as long as you aren't the "wrong" ethnicity and never prominently criticize the Party. In democratic country X, despite people getting to vote, it's not fundamentally different.

[Folcon]

Thank you for posting that article, that's the best laugh that I've had in a while!

PS: Are there any other articles that he's written that are similarly entertaining?

[bigiain]

Yes. Very much so.

try here for a great start https://mickens.seas.harvard.edu/wisdom-james-mickens

[derbOac]

That article is highly recommended by me to anyone thinking about it. Hilarious but also makes its point.