Privacy

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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.

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much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
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1001
 
 

VideoLAN @videolan App Stores were a mistake. Currently, we cannot update VLC on Windows Store, and we cannot update VLC on Android Play Store, without reducing security or dropping a lot of users... For now, iOS App Store still allows us to ship for iOS9, but until when?

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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I tested out revolt and element. Out of the two element seems to be the most well rounded. What do you people use to replace discord to protect your privacy?

1003
1004
 
 

This has happened a few times, but it was always related to the use of VPNs because the app is not available in the country of the server, but now, even if I disable the VPN, change the spoofing model of the smartphone, open from a direct link from the Play store (in which the app page opens, however, with almost no information, such as version, permissions, size and so on, and the download doesn't start. Is in the attached image), uninstall and reinstall, it doesn't appear.

Suddenly, the aurora store of my work profile appeared the apps and the user profile specifically for banking apps, no.

I checked the settings of each one and they are exactly the same.

I really don't know what the problem is.

Nothing seems to work.

Can anyone help me?

1005
 
 

My questions are:

  • Does the DuckDuckGo Firefox extension "Privacy Essentials" add a local css file to every visited site?
  • Can others reproduce this?
  • Is this harmfull or not?

Background:

I have a simple static one page site with just one html and css file. It's completely tracker free. Debugging it a bit with developer mode (F12) on I discovered a second css file. This file isnt on my webserver but added local. To pinpoint what caused this I removed every add-on / extension in my browser one by one, reloading and checking my website every time. Took me a while because didnt expect this one causing it.

To reproduce:

  • Install the extension from the link.
  • Open a random site
  • Check in developer mode the tab Style editor.
  • Scroll and look for a file named %3Ais(%5Bid*%3D'google_ads_iframe'%5D%.css or something like that.
  • Remove the extension and refresh.
  • Check if the file disappears.

Content of the css file: :is([id*='google_ads_iframe'], [id*='taboola-'], .taboolaHeight, .taboola-placeholder, #credential_picker_container, #credentials-picker-container, #credential_picker_iframe, [id*='google-one-tap-iframe'], #google-one-tap-popup-container, .google-one-tap-modal-div, #amp_floatingAdDiv, #ez-content-blocker-container) { display:none!important; min-height:0!important; height:0!important; }

Edit 25-03-2024: Changed title to not give the wrong impression. See comments below.

1006
 
 

*In terms of privacy, customisation, camera quality, and battery time.

For the longest time I have only used either iPhone or Samsung. I plan on switching to Android for the next phone I get, but I find that Samsung phones are often too big for me and put too much energy on camera quality (I don’t take many photos). I have started to look into brands such as Nokia and Motorola, and I would like to know what you guys think of them. Additionally, do you suggest any other phone brands aside from them? My biggest priorities are privacy and long battery time. Bonus if the phone can run LineageOS (I have excluded Graphene as they are only compatible with Pixel phones).

Thank you for any answers. Cheers!

1007
1008
 
 

Heya, as the title suggests. I have tried the KDE Initary (on mobile), but the user experience didn't quite flop-my-mop. It is however the better one in terms of privacy as far as I have found. Are there any other ones that you folks know of and would recommend? Looking for an app that specifically can hold boarding passes.

Thanks in advance :=)

1009
 
 
1010
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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I‘ve been using unique passwords and totp for some time but I get uneasy whenever I use my phone as a mfa. The reason is the worry about losing it and potentially getting locked out of my accounts.

Searching for best practices didnt help so far. Thats why I turn to you.

So far I have my password vault and my phone with an authenticator app. I may have stored two backup codes somewhere but I wouldnt find them, ever. Especially not in panic mode.

Since mfa should actually not be on the same device or at least require different things (password and biometrics) I dont think using the totp of my vault is a great idea, right? Or only if I configured the mfa to ask for a pin while the passwords ask for biometrics or something.

If I did this I‘d still lose everything if the vault got lost but thats what backups are for. This solution does not include the mfa (or backup key) to my vault though.

Ideally, I would put it in an actual vault but so the single point of failure probabilities keep increasing.

Any pros here that solve these binds regularly? Whats the best practice? Is there a 3-2-1-backup equivalent?

Edit: btw here is what I found. The encrypted text on paper idea is pretty good but seems very complex. https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/76464/best-practices-for-usefully-storing-two-factor-authentication-backup-codes

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I've looked through most posts here and on reddit and it seems pretty bleak, but maybe someone here knows an app that's somehow miraculously unaffected by the rate limiting? I know I could just not use instagram at all, but I mostly use it to keep up with local and international activism and most of these organizations don't have their own website and it would suck to have to either reinstall the official app or use the desktop version just for that.

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I-SOON HACKING LEAKS (harfanglab.io)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

A few weeks ago, leaks from a Chinese company specialized in hacking were revealed publicly. We learned about the ways of hacking and much more, very interesting article to read! 👍

I-Soon was founded in Shanghai in 2010. Its CEO, Wu Haibo (吴海波), is a “first-generation red hacker or Honker and early member of Green Army which was the very first Chinese hacktivist group founded in 1997” according to a Natto Thoughts blog post on the company from October 2023

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Firebase leaks datas (www.securityweek.com)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Hundreds of websites misconfigured Google Firebase, leaking more than 125 million user records, including plaintext passwords, security researchers warn.

Once again do not use google based apps, degoogled yourself, and don't trust big companies, have a (de)goo(gle)d day!

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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Hello everyone, I have a question : Does Android phone have hardware based trackers? Not with the telecom part (for sure it has some), but especially in the CPU... And are Chinese phones worst than USA branded? So is the fact of having a degoogled os resolved the problem? Thx 😃

1016
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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I installed NetGuard about a month ago and blocked all internet to apps, unless they're on a whitelist. No notifications from this particular system app (that can't be disabled) until recently when it started making internet connection requests to google servers. Does anyone know when this became a thing?

Edit 2: I bought my Pixel 6 phone outright, directly from Google's Australian store. I have no creditors.

Were the courts not enough control for creditors? Since when are they allowed to lock you out of your purchased property without a court order?

I don't even live in the US, so what the actual fuck?

Edit 1: You can check it's installed (~~stock~~ Pixel 6 android 14) Settings > Apps > All Apps > three dot menu, Show system > search "DeviceLockController".

I highly recommend getting NetGuard, you can enable pro features via their website if you have the APK for as low as 0.10€, but donate more, because it's amazing. You can also purchase via Google Play store.

1017
 
 

Hello everyone! I have a small issue. I wanted to remove all media accounts associated with my phone number. One account to remove was Telegram, I deleted the app long ago, but never my account.

So, I downloaded Telegram again, tried to log in, and it keeps texting the login code to my number on Telegram, it won't do SMS. And I have no other telegrams sessions anywhere else where I can log in. I'm stuck, can't log in to delete it.

I went on their support website to file a complaint, and they never got back to me. Is there another way for me to delete my actual account if they won't let me log back on?

I guess I have 2 questions at this point, either how can I deal with Telegram, and or is there way to clean my phone number of all accounts at once? Any ideas are appreciated.

TL;DR Can't log in to Telegram, want to delete account, how can I achieve this?

1018
 
 

Hi! I started learning about privacy a few months ago and there is a few (many) things I'm struggling to understand and I would thank you if you could share some documentation/sites to learn more

One of the issues is about DuckDuck Tracker Blocker on android phone (low/moderate threat level), which takes the VPN spot. Is it really useful? I've uninstalled several apps and replaced with FOSS when possible, so it's not blocking a lot of stuff lately (or so it says) I've also been trying Proton Free+nextDNS (also not sure how to choose lists) but IDK how to decide which one is better, but I'm wondering: does DNS make the blocker app redundant? Isn't it kinda the same job (different lists, maybe)?

Thanks in advance!

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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Hello!

My knowledge about DNS resolvers is somewhat limited. So, in an effort to expand my knowledge and find a DNS resolver that works for me, I've come for help here.

Here is a list of terminology that I either know too little about, don't know anything about, or want to make sure my understanding is correct about:

Cleartext (What does this mean in the context of protocols? Is it inherently bad?)

DoH (I somewhat understand this, but is it less secure than DoT?)

DoH/3 (How is this different from DoH?)

DoT (Is this more private than DoH?)

DoQ (I don't know enough about this, how does it compare to DoH and DoT?)

DNSCrypt (I'm not sure what this is.)

Do53 (I'm not sure what this is. Is it a replacement for DoH/DoT/DoQ, or does it work alongside it?)

DNSSEC (I don't know what this is.)

EDNS padding (I'm pretty sure I know what this is, it just pads DNS queries. What happens if "Cleartext" is used, does it still pad it?)

As for what I'm looking for in a DNS resolver: I don't plan to self host it, I would like support for iOS, Linux, and Android, I would like it to be free, I would like EDNS padding, DoH is preferred (although I don't quite understand the alternatives). I am aware that the DNS resolver will usually be the same as my VPN. Note: I'm not looking for a beginner DNS resolver, I've been using NextDNS for a while now, I'm looking for one with strict privacy and security.

I've tried looking at Privacy Guides and Wikipedia, but I don't know enough to make an educated decision.

Any suggestions?

Thank you all!

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Exciting news! Trackers being built into the Bitwarden F-Droid app for who knows how long have been removed

https://github.com/bitwarden/mobile/commit/f343a2cdbb5895fb518ed963b30c0d9822db2c74

Previously two trackers were introduced: Google Firebase and Microsoft AppCrashes

1022
 
 

Fan of Libredirect browser add-on here. This one looks useful. https://github.com/libredirect/frontends_manager

By the way, My favorite Teddit instance was taken down by its owner, claiming that Teddit is no longer maintained and Reddit was rate limiting the instance. Now Redlib recommended. Very few instances but it works fine for me.

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seems to be the soft spot of Mull. It leaks too many "Bits of identifying information"

how do i anonymize it?

mull resets about:config modifications after quit

1025
 
 

I've been using this phone number from JMP.chat and I've barely used it for much of anything (Started February 27th, 2024), and somehow its telling me I need $35? I tried out their service plan but it was way too expensive. I only bought it once and took off my credit card after because auto pay kept auto depositing money into my account too frequently. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Edit: Found out what happened, it's $6.99/GB for the eSIM, I'm billed 5GB at a time. So $35 total.

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