The CNN blackmailer who threatened to out the Trump WWE reddit user if he didn’t obey, might be using a tracking system to extract peoples’ personal information. CNN has denied it and presented a case in defense. However, Media Equalizer reported the accusation and they stand by the story. Read on.
CNN’s blackmailer-in-residence Andrew Kaczynski is accused of being a serial doxxer by Melanie Morgan via her conservative website, Media Equalizer. She believes Kaczynski might be using a phishing tactic to get private information on people.
How the story went down
A recent email exchange between Kaczynski and an anonymous conservative group appears to have included just such a bug. A phishing bug can be used to determine IP address, location, and other identifying information.
The email sent by Kaczynski professed interest in a recent scoop the website had but the conservatives questioned his sincerity and spotted the bug.
They said Kaczynski attempted to slip the web bug into the email conversation to obtain the recipient’s data.
If true, this would add a whole new dimension to Kaczynski and how he might have obtained the personal information of the reddit user. If he did use a bug to locate the person, that is clearly unethical, possibly illegal.
Kaczynski, author of the K-file on CNN, claims he obtained the man’s information from a Facebook search.
According to Media Equalizer, the web bug that Kaczynski uses, MailTrack.io, is based in Spain. It determines if links are clicked, but it also provides metadata, including the IP address, location, computer used, and more. It can be used to narrow down identities.
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It’s possible he and CNN use this tool legitimately to only determine if the recipient has opened the email, Ms. Morgan said.
However, Kaczynski has a history of being a ruthless guy who sets himself up as the moral arbiter of others’ speech. He’s also a dirty tricks guy for CNN and was hired for that purpose.
CNN and Kaczynski say the accusation is false and they want the story retracted
CNN and Kaczynski said there is no way to get the IP address and other info. Kaczynski wants the story retracted and claims he is receiving death threats.
Brian Stelter posted an article on Medium condemning the Media Equalizer article with an explanation of how google protects the personal metadata.
Some trolls falsely accused @KFILE of using spyware. Here’s the truth https://t.co/r04SkJ8lND
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 8, 2017
Google has been tracking us for years and it’s hard to believe they are protecting anything, but that being said, CNN says they do.
Media Equalizer refuses to retract and stands by the accusation
Media Equalizer will not retract the story and has contradicted the Stelter argument that google does not share that info. They say the limitations Stelter speaks of only apply to google.
UPDATE @MediaEqualizer #NoRetraction https://t.co/MKPur2dbDT
— Melanie Morgan (@MelMorgan1350) July 7, 2017
Conservative reporter Jack Posobiec agrees with Media Equalizer.
CNN @KFile used MailTrack which embeds code in images and then sends a metadata readout when opened. One of the most common phishing attacks https://t.co/OlboOTdg8n
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 7, 2017
The final word from CNN
What we know in general
This is what we know here at the Sentinel. It really depends on what took the image and the format the metadata is in. You can use scripts to extract the information present relatively easily.
If there is metadata in images, you can pinpoint a person’s exact location. Some devices were attracting GPS coordinates to the images’ metadata which is why Facebook started removing metadata tags during upload.
Also, some sites can embed metadata that contain the IP when uploading. It’s extremely easy to extract metadata.
The only way to tell is to take a raw image CNN uses from google and try to extract the metadata.
People need to set their iPhones to remove all metadata from images and don’t tag if you want to remain anonymous.
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