from Hacker News

Ask HN: Does HN store IP addresses to identify users?

by forgottenacc57 on 7/14/17, 9:15 PM with 19 comments

does HN store IP addresses for the purposes of identifying user accounts?

I wonder if HN was hacked if "anonymous" posts would be linked back to actual people even though no email address is on the account.

EDIT after comments: OK so maybe HN should be clear that anonymity is not likely if HN is hacked. HN sort of presents as being a "safe" place to post anonymously but it's an illusion.

  • by positr0n on 7/14/17, 9:33 PM

    I believe they have mod tools to help with voter ring detection and similar problems. I would guess those rely on ip addresses for some of the functionality.

  • by savethefuture on 7/14/17, 9:42 PM

    They should not have to tell you that there are risks to using online services, that should be a given...

  • by pavement on 7/14/17, 9:32 PM

    IP address is most definitely part of the voting ring algo. I'm almost positive about that much.

  • by type0 on 7/14/17, 10:57 PM

    > does HN store IP addresses for the purposes of identifying user accounts?

    They use cookies assuming you are logged in. I wish they do store IPs in order to prevent password brute-forcing attacks.

    > I wonder if HN was hacked if "anonymous" posts would be linked back to actual people even though no email address is on the account.

    You should be more concerned about your email account being linked to your HN username, fortunately you don't have to provide your email here.

    > OK so maybe HN should be clear that anonymity is not likely if HN is hacked. HN sort of presents as being a "safe" place to post anonymously but it's an illusion.

    It's pseudonymous forum, if you wish to be anon - head over to 4chan instead.

  • by meowface on 7/14/17, 10:17 PM

    Even if the DB were dumped and all users' IP addresses were revealed, the leaked IPs wouldn't be much of a security risk.

    For one, an attacker would not necessarily get your current IP address.

    But even if they did have your current IP address... so what? The most someone could find from that is your general region; maybe your city or a city next to yours if they're lucky. There's no way they're doxing you from that unless they think they can successfully SE the ISP and don't mind risking jail for it.

    The real security risk would be the leaked password hashes. That would be much, much more likely to result in people being doxed (and worse).

  • by ogdan on 7/15/17, 12:04 AM

    You can use Tor to post to HN anonymously.

  • by ketralnis on 7/14/17, 10:37 PM

    > HN sort of presents as being a "safe" place to post anonymously but it's an illusion.

    I don't think I've seen that represented anywhere, and I don't think a news site really should be

  • by nvr219 on 7/14/17, 9:30 PM

    It does.