Investigate without getting made

Collection is bidirectional. Most investigators are burned not by a clever adversary but by a platform doing exactly what it advertises: telling the subject who looked at their profile, suggesting the investigator to the subject as someone they may know, or marking a story as viewed. The default failure is not a leaked IP address. It is being logged into a real account.

Threat-model first

OPSEC effort should be proportionate. Answer three questions before you spend a day building infrastructure — or before you decide you need none.