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Comment by hombre_fatal | Hacker News Reader

> The lawyer in me suggests removing that comment asap. But maybe you really hate your in-laws.

Yikes. Let's not overreact to a nondescript HN comment.

Talk to an immigration lawyer, a non-government immigration lawyer. The best strategy is to avoid triggering any sort of investigation. Even if there is zero evidence, even if you have done absolutely nothing, the investigation can make your life hell for years. As a private person I support freedom of speech. As an attorney, in this political climate, I advise not saying anything that might draw the attention of federal officials. They do trawl online forums for comments. They do investigate facebook posts. They do target individuals vindictively. I advise never saying anything about anyone's immigration history.

I advise not making overly aggressive insinuations if you want your comments to be taken seriously: "But maybe you really hate your in-laws." Was that really a necessary addition? Even if it is possibly damaging I don't see any reason to assume malicious intent rather than ignorance.

In-laws are one of the most common tropes in comedy. You're missing a harmless and obvious joke.

You really think INS are monitoring and investigating comments from throwaways in an anonymous forum like HN? Easy with the tin foil.

Your faith in your anonymity online anywhere is much more of a tinfoil belief.

I didn't refer to absolute anonymity, but to an anonymous design (anybody can register, without an email even). The point is that it's far easier for INS to troll a place with real identities like Facebook. I don't think the NSA's resources are about to be spent on determining the commenter's Vietnamese parents' identities. If parent were threatening a mass shooting, that would be another story. But as they say, technically correct is the best kind of correct, so kudos.

I'm not being flippant. It's not a question of what was required for you to register. Your requests to this web server are very likely logged, therefore subject to search by law enforcement. Depending on the details logged, your browser fingerprint will very likely uniquely identify your device and could be matched.

You should also understand that authorities do not seek that kind of evidence for violent crimes in the moment. Intelligence services capture massive amounts of traffic for future investigation. What you post today could be evidence for an offense you can't imagine ten years from now.

> evidence for an offense you can't imagine ten years from now.

If your argument rests on future, unknown abuses... I'm afraid that's tin foil territory.

Your comments sound like regurgitated talking points from when Snowden was in the news, so I'm not sure who you think you're educating about fingerprinting, etc. It's been common knowledge for years.

It's clearly more him trying to make a point about immigration.

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