Online Privacy

Porkchop

Porkchop

Mr. Poopybutthole
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What have you done to make yourself less trackable or private online?

I'm just wondering if anyone else is as concerned as I am about big companies having so much access to our personal data and lives. It seems like it's getting worse with every new service or gadget.

For instance, do you trust and use the big providers, MS, Apple or Google with all of your data like email, docs, photos, browsers, etc? Or do you use something else?

Do you use Tor or VPN for connection security? For everything or just for "more sensitive" things?

Do you use privacy addons in the browsers?

Do you use a certain OS because it is more private?

What do you do to keep prying eyes out of your personal data?
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
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I have done nothing in any way except a little bit of filtering on Facebook so only friends and friends of friends can see stuff.

No issues.
 
Eomer

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
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I don't do much of anything, personally. I can understand why people would be concerned about their privacy, and I certainly don't want my private info in the hands of criminals or individuals with nefarious intent. But otherwise I'm not overly concerned about the government or large corporations knowing about my browsing habits, shopping patterns, friends/contacts lists, and so on. Again, that's not to say that I disagree with privacy advocates and watchdogs. There's a balance that needs to be struck, for sure. I just don't give enough of a shit myself to bother.

a_skeleton_03_sl said:
I have done nothing in any way except a little bit of filtering on Facebook so only friends and friends of friends can see stuff.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I probably spend an hour every year or two reviewing my Facebook settings, trimming my friends list, segregating different types of friends/acquaintances on to different lists with different viewable settings etc. For the most part though I hardly post anything to Facebook these days. I used to post pictures from vacations, ski trips and the like but I can't even be bothered now. Mostly it's just a handy tool for keeping track of friends who have moved away or I don't see often.
 
Nester

Nester

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I really don't care if they know I like Pepsi,Puppies and everquest. Or if the GPS saw me go to the mall.
Most "private info" is "useless" info beyond trying to get me to buy stuff.

I am much more concerned about small time identity theft than big corporate folks knowing what I like and don't like.
 
K

Kedwyn

Silver Squire
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I don't use Facebook or other life sharing services. That is where people go wrong most of the time.

Anything on Google that is super sensitive is encrypted like tax forms. Otherwise I really don't give a shit about Google since my phone carrier already knows most of it already.
 
Porkchop

Porkchop

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Kedwyn_sl said:
I don't use Facebook or other life sharing services. That is where people go wrong most of the time.

Anything on Google that is super sensitive is encrypted like tax forms. Otherwise I really don't give a shit about Google since my phone carrier already knows most of it already.
Click to expand...
I don't use those either. TBH, I do have accounts on a few of them under fake names/info, just to follow family and old friends. So deep down in the logs i'm sure if someone wanted to they could see that usernamex is associated with the same ip address as porkchop, but at least it wont show up in usual name searches.

Sadly, there is no way to get away from the phone carrier knowing so much about you, but vpn's give me a warm and fuzzy about the data that gets transmitted over them.
 
Porkchop

Porkchop

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Nester_sl said:
I really don't care if they know I like Pepsi,Puppies and everquest. Or if the GPS saw me go to the mall.
Most "private info" is "useless" info beyond trying to get me to buy stuff.

I am much more concerned about small time identity theft than big corporate folks knowing what I like and don't like.
Click to expand...
It's not so much that I care about the big companies knowing what public things I like, I just feel like if they can track the public things, they can also track the private things, that are private or not well known about me, for a reason.
 
Bandwagon

Bandwagon

Kolohe
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Porkchop_sl said:
It's not so much that I care about the big companies knowing what public things I like, I just feel like if they can track the public things, they can also track the private things, that are private or not well known about me, for a reason.
Click to expand...
Furry status confirmed. Alert the press.
 
Nester

Nester

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ok fair enough.

Lets say Google and Apple, knew your private secret. What do you think they will do that could cause you problems?
A corporation is driven by making money, not malicious intent.

For me I think about what is the worst that could happen, most of the time it involves spam email or an ad I have to click through...

What do you think could happen to you that keeps you up at night?
 
Porkchop

Porkchop

Mr. Poopybutthole
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Nester_sl said:
ok fair enough.

Lets say Google and Apple, knew your private secret. What do you think they will do that could cause you problems?
A corporation is driven by making money, not malicious intent.

For me I think about what is the worst that could happen, most of the time it involves spam email or an ad I have to click through...

What do you think could happen to you that keeps you up at night?
Click to expand...
im not worried about anything specific, more concerned in general. Google has so much information now and has so many ties to the federal government, that it's just creepy. They would be a one stop shop if someone did want information about any one. I'm more interested in small steps that can be taken for more likely things that happen every day. Phones and computers get stolen. People are sniffing networks. Servers and data is getting seized. I think it's important to at least think about what a person can do if and when those things happen, to secure both your personal data, and privacy. "Arguing That You Don?t Care About The Right To Privacy Because You Have Nothing To Hide Is No Different Than Saying You Don?t Care About Free Speech Because You Have Nothing To Say"
 
mewkus

mewkus

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australia just had some metadata laws passed (ISP's have to keep 2 years of browsing history), and the studios are hassling our ISP's to crack down on torrenting etc. so i use torguard vpn now. torguard was also really good to bypass the netflix geoblock because our selection is shit compared to the US / Canada, but that no longer appears viable so i'm more likely to cancel netflix and go back to torrenting than cancel my vpn.

i also have a few email addresses between different providers for business / personal / likely spam (like forum signups) and use whichever is appropriate.

it's not tinfoil hattery or that i'm worried they'll tap into my brain or anything, its basically just "fuck the government, and fuck the rest of them too"
 
YttriumF

YttriumF

The Karenist Karen
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I have been reviewing ProtonMail as a possible replacement for my email accounts. Anyone else migrating to a more private online footprint? I usually browse with Firefox + HTTPS Everywhere , Privacy Badger , and uBlock. Otherwise, I use Chrome for well known sites and paying bills.

/thread-surrection on
 
sleevedraw

sleevedraw

Revolver Ocelot
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YttriumF said:
I have been reviewing ProtonMail as a possible replacement for my email accounts. Anyone else migrating to a more private online footprint? I usually browse with Firefox + HTTPS Everywhere , Privacy Badger , and uBlock. Otherwise, I use Chrome for well known sites and paying bills.

/thread-surrection on
Click to expand...

I've used a hardened Firefox for a while now. You could consider adding Decentraleyes and Cookie AutoDelete.

ProtonMail is based in Switzerland, so if avoiding (passive dragnet, not active) Five Eyes surveillance is part of your threat model, it's probably a good option. It's not a member of Nine Eyes or Fourteen Eyes, either.
 
gak

gak

<Gold Donor>
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lol, good necro.

VPN for all our shows, otherwise I follow Joe Rogan's advice:

"If the CIA needs to watch me beat off to save the world, I'm fine with it !"
j.gif
 
Lanx

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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i use alexa, so i'm 10 ways fucked, i have alexa in the car, bitch follows me everywhere, but as i round the corner to home, i can say open garage door and, and that makes it worth it.
 
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A

a_skeleton_05

<Banned>
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It's been around for a while. I use it for mobile, but they got a ways to go before I'd considering switching from Firefox on PC
 
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