Hacker News Reader

Comment by robbrown451 | Hacker News Reader

And the fact that this happens means next time it will work better, since probably 100 times more people know the signal now. (I've heard it described on the radio, and it is getting repeated everywhere on the net)

I think the bigger news is that the common opinion is that TikTok is useless, and this provides a rare counterexample. :)

View on HN

Until it becomes so well known that the bad actors also learn it, at which point it's no longer a secret hand signal.

Isn't the idea here that it's subtle and easy to hide, not that it's a secret?

Secrets can be kept in the open for long periods of time if the bad actors remain ignorant. Look how long thieves were breaking into Teslas without realizing they were being recorded by the built-in cameras, even though examples of this happening were common.

I wonder what is the optimal balance between being so obscure that the bad guys probably don't know it but the victims and potential rescuers do.

It can still be secretly conveyed, unless those bad actors bind the victims' hands or somehow watch them every second.

Bad actors know about 911, and folks are still sometimes able to call it to get help. Even if well known, this would be the worst case scenario. To be honest, though, it won't be so bad: There are lots of times that someone might be able to secretly make a hand signal - and those are the same times you can't exactly tie someone's hands together. (you can just take a phone away)

Wouldn't that mean criminals know the signal too? This might be one thing that was better left on tiktok, where presumably the people who need it the most are

Reply on news.ycombinator.com