From a privacy standpoint, i guess. I want to support open scrobbling with listenbrainz and the account isn't directly linked to a real acc. Why shouldn't I/ why don't you?

Things like privacy statements and permission to use cookies are little more than sophisticated propaganda. If you think for a moment the Overlords cannot prepare a dossier on you within minutes that would make your mother faint and your father die of shame, you’re living in fantasy land. You have no idea how much data they store on individuals, and not just credit card purchases: tracking data, telephone conversations, text messages, anything you ever posted on the Internet. It’s a devouring machine. Get in their way, and you will find out how much they know about you. It has been this way for a very long time. This is nothing new. And yes, they really can turn on your cell phone camera and microphone at will without lights, so long as the battery is attached. And VPN? I laugh when I think about VPN. There is no cryptographic protocol used on the Internet, that the Overlords who brought all these technologies out in the first place, cannot decipher. None. The only way to live with this level of privacy evasion is to accept the reality of it. Stop thinking you are ever alone. Out in the middle of nowhere with no electronics on you? Maybe

Hi,

I'm looking for an instant messaging ( IM ) ~~apps~~ software/protocol that run on Android and computer

and meet the following requirements :

• Open source !
• E2EE
• Messages are send in direct ! (not passing by a server)
• handle group
• Truly private ! ( That's the tricky part )

The closest that I've found is Briar

• +can work without internet ! (bluetooth, local wifi, files !)
• + use TOR
• - Mutual party have to exchange key (or your can introduce someone)
• - sending media suck for now, poor image quality
• - no call or voice messaging

I've been looking for alternatives:

• ~~Session~~
  • Sadly it keep ALL the conversation into server !!! so it's a no go.
• speek
  • I didn't try it yet, any feedback ?
• simplex
  • it look very promising ! (didn't tried it yet)
  • + seem to handle multiple profile in one !
  • + do not require that both party send an invitation !
    • and have also a optional long term address
  • ~~! I didn't found (yet) if the messages are send in direct or pass by a server..~~
    It's not P2P all the messages pass by servers.. too bad.

All post about alternatives or experience with the one that I cited are welcome.

Heyha !

This is probably going to be long take and it's late here in europe... So for those who bare with me and are ready to read through my broken English, thank you.

I'm personally concerned about how my data and my identity is used against my will while surfing the web or using/hosting services. Self-hoster and networking enthousiast, I have some entry/medium security infrastructure.

Ranging from self-hosted adblocker, dns, router, vlans, containers, server, firewall, wireguard, VPN... you name it ! I was pretty happy to see all my traffic being encrypted through wireshark and having what I consider a solid homelab.

Also having most undesired dns/ads blocked with adguard in firefox with custom configuration, blocking everything, and changing some about:config options:

• privacy.resistFingerprinting
• privacy.trackingprotection.fingerprinting.enabled
• ...

I though I had some pretty harden security and safe browsing experience, but oh my I was wrong...

From pixel tracking, to WebRTC leaking your real ip, fonts fingreprinting, canvas fingreprinting, audio fingerprinting, android default keyboard sending samples, ssl certificate with known vulnerabilities...

And most of them are not even some new tracking tech... I mean even firefox 54 was aware of most of these way of fingerprinting the user, and it makes me feel firefox is just another hidden evil-corp hiding with a fancy privacy facade ! Uhhg...

And even if you somehow randomize those fingerprint, user-agent and block most of those things, this makes you stand out of the mass and makes you even easier to track or fingerprint. Yeah something I read recently and it actually make sense... the best way to be somehow invisible is actually to blend into the mass... If you stand out, you are pretty sure to be notices and identified (if that makes sense :/)

This really makes me depressed right now... It feels like a losing battle where my energy is just being wasted to try to have some privacy and anonimity on the web... While fighting against the new laws ringing on our doors and big tech company always having two steps ahead...

I'm really asking myself if it really matters and if it actually make sense to use harden technology or browsers like arkenfox or the tor browser whose end node are mostly intercepted by private institutions and governemental institutions...

I'm probably overthinking and falling into a deep hole... But the more i dig into security and privacy, the more I get the feeling that this is an already lost battle against big tech...

Some recent source:

https://avoidthehack.com/firefox-privacy-config

They are collecting our medical records. I know this personally because an exgirlfriend of mine is a lawyer at Google and told me the same.

I'm running Graphene on a Pixel 6. I lost it and someone opened it somehow and called two of my contacts to give it back.

I'm a bit confused how this even happened. When I got the phone back, they were going through my contacts. I checked app usage stats and they went through a banking app (not missing money), maps, signal, etc.

Is there a way to figure out how they even unlocked my phone?

Question for the group on a problem I'm trying to solve: How can I block internet access for some apps on standard, OOTB Android?

My current set-up is to use Proton VPN with the Android settings "Always-on VPN" and "Block connections without VPN" and then use Proton VPN's Split-tunneling to exclude certain apps from using the VPN. This has the desired effect of blocking certain apps from having access to the internet.

However, I now find that I need to use certain Apps without the VPN but with internet access. In the past, I'd used something like NetGuard to control which apps have internet access, but, as Android only allows one VPN slot, this would require me to swap out Proton VPN.

So my problem statement: I'd like to be able to continue to use Proton VPN, exclude some apps from using that VPN but still have access to the internet, and block still other apps from the internet entirely. I'm struggling to find a way to do this.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I am having problems reaching Tuta through Mull on my Android (Mull 120.0.0, downloaded from f-Droid). Checking, I saw that Fennec is version 120.1.0.

Just in general, does any of you peeps here have any takes on Mull vs Fennec when it comes to privacy? I have assumed both are on par and also comparable to LibreWolf on PC.

Here's the "Privacy First" pitch: whatever is going on with all of the problems of the internet, all of these problems are made worse by commercial surveillance.

If something like this were implemented in US federal law, what could the downsides be? Like California Proposition 65, the "cookie law" didn't stop tracking, it just made more pop ups. Would this do the same thing?

I've looked at a few on fdroid and they all seem like they aren't being maintained anymore.

Edit: I've spent the past day trying most all of the suggested keyboards here and I think I've landed on either Unexpected Keyboard or AnySoftKeyboard. Thanks for all the suggestions. Thumbkey is quite the thing to get used to.

We answer the questions readers asked in response to our guide to anonymizing your phone

About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.

This is a follow-up article. Here's the first piece, if you'd like to read that one as well

"The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) has introduced the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023–an absolutely awful bill that ignores years of abuse and unconstitutional surveillance in order to renew a mass surveillance law with no real changes, reforms, or new oversight.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire on December 31, 2023, and there is currently a race to see what bill will renew Big Brother’s favorite surveillance law. Any reauthorizations must come with significant reforms in order to protect the privacy of people’s communications. To that end, the choice is clear - we urge all Members to vote NO on the Intelligence Committee’s bill, H.R.6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023."

Phantom Parrot, a British documentary now screening in the US, sheds light on the Orwellian technologies being used across borders to repress activists, journalists, and others.

I have a NAS as my primary photo backup solution and one day someone will make a photo frame that I can point at it and it will just cycle through photos, but until that day, it's just a blackhole of memories. That said, that blackhole is important enough to me that I also back up online.

That said, given the new AI race, it's less safe than ever before and I'm seeking somewhere I can stick my photos and videos really cheaply and securely. Somewhere with pedigree that seems like it would be around in ten years. Also, someone with a modern design team so the app doesn't look like shit (preferably an open source Material You app targetting Android 14) and I can get notifications with daily memories.

To be eligible for things like a GDPR Data deletion request etc, is it enough that I am a citizen or must I be a resident? ty :)

Ok I have a question. I'm kinda a noob when it comes to privacy. I'll follow the guides and do the things to try to minimize ad companies selling my data etc.

Some basic stats: I have a Samsung running stock android. My GF has an iPhone. I use brave as my standard browser (I know that's not super popular but I haven't made the move to Firefox yet.) I have DNS level ad blocking on my router cause I hate ads with a passion. She uses safari.

So here's the deal. I was browsing the web looking for gift ideas for Christmas and came across some moccasins I liked. I mentioned to her that I liked them and browsed their website for a few minutes.

About 10 minutes after that, she's checking her Instagram and sees an ad for the exact brand of moccasin I just told her about. Just for kicks, she also checks her Facebook and sees the same ad there (makes sense cause it's the same company).

My question is basically how on earth did she get an ad for something I looked up? And how can we prevent that from happening? It's very very disconcerting to have ads pop up on others' phones right after looking that thing up.

"Whilst the Parliament fought hard to limit the damage, the overall package on biometric surveillance and profiling is at best lukewarm," said one advocate.