ETH Zurich and Anthropic built an AI that unmasks anonymous accounts for $2, identifying 67% of HN users
NathanpmYoung · x · 2026-09-25
Researchers from ETH Zurich and Anthropic published a paper demonstrating a fully autonomous AI pipeline that de-anonymizes pseudonymous accounts: it extracts identity signals from posts, searches the web, and resolves real identities with no human investigator.
- 67% of Hacker News users were correctly identified
- When the system makes a guess, it is right 90% of the time
- It even unmasked scientists whose interview transcripts were explicitly privacy-redacted
The takeaway: practical anonymity online is largely dead — if someone cares enough to unmask you, they probably can. A serious privacy warning for pseudonymous researchers, whistleblowers, and ordinary users alike.
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