Privacy

31662 readers
795 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
451
452
 
 

It’s been a while since I last downloaded anaconda. But I remember when clicking on the download page, it would show the usual “choose your OS > download binary” (eg this archived version in 2019).

Recently I helped someone else set it up and it showed a form to put on email, with smaller gray text near the bottom of the form about skipping it.

Does this count as a dark pattern?

453
 
 

Even though i have Proton VPN blocking trackers and use firefox with arkenfox EFF always says my browser has a unique fingerprint. Same with Mullvad browser and Tor. When I switched Tor to "Safer" it said near unique fingerprint, and only when i switched it to safest did it say i am protected from fingerprinting

from my results id guess that it has no fingerprit thanks to no javascript, but 90% of websites are useless without js

454
 
 

I can’t upload the images here for some reason so I can describe what I’m seeing.

In the Sensors list, I am seeing stuff like “3 Button Navigation Bar” “Android Easter Egg” “Android Shared Library” “Android System Angle.” In Networks I am seeing url-like names like “com.android.federatedcom[…]” “com.android.sdksandbox” “DeviceLockController.”

Is this malware? Is this virus? Is this safe or how do I remove them? Is it after I installed a sandboxed version of Play Store? I have spent all evening working on GOS and I am exhausted and the physical SIM card won’t work and I’m driving myself mad and it feels like nothing is working or I did something wrong and I can’t undo it. I just need some guidance please.

455
30
Plexus V2 is Live! (discuss.techlore.tech)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
456
 
 

Hi, my post is focusing specifically on YouTube since I observed the following categories have less intrusive solutions or privacy focused solutions, even if they are paid:

  • Operating Systems (Linux, for example)
  • Instant Messaging (Element, for example)
  • Community Messaging (Revolt, for example)
  • E-Mail (Proton, for example)
  • Office (libreoffice, for example)
  • Password Managers (Bitwarden, for example)

However, how do we distribute videos and watch them without data collection? I am NOT asking how do I use a privacy-focused front-end for YouTube, by the way, I am aware they exist.

I am wondering how we obtain a FOSS solution to something super critical such as YouTube. It is critical since it contains a lot of educational content (I'd wager more than any other platform), and arguably the most informative platform, despite having to filter through a lot of trash. During COVID, we even saw lecturers from universities upload their content on YouTube and telling students to watch those lectures. (I have first-hand experience with this at a respectable university).

I refuse to accept that there is nothing we can do about it.

457
 
 

Been stuck in this place for a while now. I checked for Windows updates and installed the Android LeMobile driver a few minutes ago. Should I wait until the bootloader interface appears or do I press “reboot system / reboot to bootloader interface”?

458
 
 
459
 
 

I tried Startpage and Searx but when I search things celebrity info or health conditions, the kind of searches where Google and other 1st party search engines would show info cards on the right, they show them on the left above all the search results rather than on the right side like Google search does. Its bad design because I have to scroll down to see the results when I wouldn't have to otherwise, and I'm used to the Google search layout, it probably takes some getting used to for other people as well. Its a waste of screen real estate on wide screens, it looks like the UI was made for mobile only.

460
 
 

Howdy privacy experts,

I'm trying to de-google myself, what are your thoughts on HERE We Go? I have OsmAnd which I love for hiking and so on but it doesn't offer traffic altered directions since it can't look at overlays for routing.

I know HERE We Go is owned by car companies but it seems to be the best I can do, thoughts?

461
 
 

I'm eligible for the US Lifeline program to get a phone number for free. I would use it on websites that require a phone number, like Discord, which doesn't accept numbers on services like Google Voice, and replace my personal phone number with it wherever necessary. And I would start using my personal phone number only with friends and family. I would NOT be using a provided lifeline phone, but rather a sim on my iPhone.

462
 
 

SimpleLogin doesn't allow too many aliases for a given site like Reddit, even with a custom domain. I get that services don't want to ruin their own email domains, but I should be allowed to do whatever I want with my own domain.

463
 
 

I don't know if there are other ways to use Reddit without using its own client, but I wanted to inform you.

464
 
 

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/14909762

It seems YT started another attempt at blocking alternative clients. They changed something in their API and both SmartTube and Tubular (NewPipe fork) are completely broken. Apparently it started happening this past week, but we personally just felt it today.

Edit: SmartTube already has an update but still not working for 4K videos it seems. Tubular still not working but it might be due to the upstream (NewPipe) is still working on a fix.

465
 
 

I want to use Telegram on the web without needing to have a desktop or mobile app installed. I only rarely use Telegram.

466
467
 
 

I've gotten prepaid sims for things but obviously that's not really a feasible method for your main life phone.

468
 
 
469
 
 

A U.S. government agency tasked with supporting the nation’s nuclear deterrence capability has bought access to a data tool that claims to cover more than 90 percent of the world’s internet traffic, and can in some cases let users trace activity through virtual private networks, according to documents obtained by 404 Media.

470
 
 

If you quit YouTube then you also quit all the content on YouTube that isn't elsewhere. The best solution if you still want to use it is to use 3rd party apps. Personally I would actually count that as having no reliance on Google in particular anymore. If a video platform owned by Google wasn't the most popular then it would be another platform. I don't think you should think of 3rd party apps as YouTube frontends, but rather, apps that scrape videos hosted on Google's servers.

471
 
 

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/16595505

  • Home routing and encryption technologies are making lawful interception harder for Europol
  • PET-enabled home routing allows for secure communication, hindering law enforcement's ability to intercept and monitor communications
  • Europol suggests solutions such as disabling PET technologies and implementing cross-border interception standards to address the issue.
472
473
25
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I'm asking for existing tools/systems that let me programmatically say: "here is my public key, BUT if each of these 5 other public keys all send a signed message saying that my public key has been compromised, then you should mark my public key as compromised, and use the new one they provide". (This is not for a particular task, I'm just curious if any existing auth systems are capable of this)

I call the idea "guardian keys" because it could be friends' public keys or or just more-securely-stored less-frequently-used keys that you control.

NOTE: I know this would not work for data encryption. Encrypted data is simply gone if a key is lost. But, for proving an identity, like a login, there could be a system like this but I don't know of any

474
 
 

A while ago I reached a point in my privacy journey where I simply felt bored. It's not a result of going too far in privacy, but simply my threat model has caused me to let go of a lot of things that used to entertain me (games, movie streaming, short form video, etc.) The entertainment landscape in privacy seems pretty bleak, since you no longer own the movies you watch, the games you play, and lots of proprietary software along the way. I entertain myself through FreeTube, physical copies of movies, and offline installations of games like Minecraft, but it's still a step down from how it used to be.

What do you do to keep yourselves entertained in a privacy conscious way?

475
 
 

I rarely use my smartphone and find it a bit annoying to have to use it for 2FA through apps. I wish to get physical passkeys that will allow me to login to my laptop.

I have heard of YubiKey although I haven't given it any serious consideration since it is closed source. (My super-tin-foiled friend who introduced me to this world of privacy taught me to never trust a closed-source solution... _long _ story).

Are there any FLOSS versions of Yubikey? Can they be used to log into a Linux machine? Or for banking?

view more: ‹ prev next ›