KAnon

February 15th, 2021
math, privacy, satire, stats
There's a dangerous conspiracy theory spreading, called "KAnon" by its adherents. Its claims, at their core, come down to the belief that there is a "K" great enough to protect us from attacks by the forces of deanonymization. While followers often make contradictory claims about "K", no matter how great "K" may really be, their trust has been misplaced.

This blind trust that proponents place in "K" is best illustrated by their slogan, "Where We Go One We Go All" (#WWG1WGA). Originating in the once-marginal "K=N" faction, it represents the idea that individuals, once united, cannot be divided. Despite the undeniable rhetorical appeal, however, its protection is illusory and such division remains possible by resourceful and determined attackers.

Believers in KAnon are right to seek better anonymization, and robust anonymization is possible. Their approach, however, of gathering large groups not only does not solve the problem but is metaphorically hazardous given the background of the pandemic. We must engage in patient discussion, with careful explanation of how the promises of KAnon have been shown again and again to be false, and bring believers around to more reliable approaches.

Referenced in: Essentialness of Data

Comment via: facebook, lesswrong

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Jealousy In Polyamory Isn't A Big Problem And I'm Tired Of Being Gaslit By Big Self-Help

The nuance is in the post, guys

via Thing of Things July 18, 2024

Trust as a bottleneck to growing teams quickly

non-trust is reasonable • trust lets collaboration scale • symptoms of trust deficit • how to proactively build trust

via benkuhn.net July 13, 2024

Coaching kids as they learn to climb

Helping kids learn to climb things that are at the edge of their ability The post Coaching kids as they learn to climb appeared first on Otherwise.

via Otherwise July 10, 2024

more     (via openring)