Thread dedicated to digital and internet privacy talk.
Recommend literature and software, discuss any news on the topic, provide advice.
In this day and age when the presence of Big Brother, be it governments or corporations, is particularly felt, I'm ashamed to admit I possess an utterly basic knowledge of everything related to privacy and protecting your identity on the Internet. Personally, I'm not computer-savvy, but would like to know more about any privacy measures and what goes into them. If anyone could provide good resources on the matter I'd appreciate it.
Use a VPN, Firefox with noscript and anti-fingerprinting enabled in about:config
That gets you pretty far. Wizlife is very good for privacy as you avoid things like Facebook and a social network. Those are the things that stop normalfags from following the major steps
Step 0: USE CASH. Step 1: Keep your name and your address separated from each other. In places where you have to use your name, use a PO Box, CMRA, a previous residence, or 'alternative place you might hang out.' Step 2: no social networks. Step 3: no Google or Google-derivatives. Step 4: VPN+Tor Browser Step 5: Linux or Tails OS. Step 6: No cell phone (if you must, use Twilio to get a VoIP number).
Use uncucked and outdated processors, not AMD or Intel Make sure hardware is chinese free Use a completely open source operating system Tor browser was made by the government and isn't open source Torsocks hardly works but you could still use that Use vpns, not pptp
>>49398 Funny enough, he never said that. In fact he hates Gentoo for distributing proprietary programs and its maintainers for refusing to use the GNU/Linux term.
The privateinternetaccess VPN is running specials right now, you can get a yearly subscription for $3.33 per month. That auto-renews every month, so you can cancel at any time btw.
As a VPN, I would suggest sentinel.co, mysterium.network or privatix.io
They are decentralized VPNs, so there is not one company that controls all the servers. Makes it also much less likely that your data will be sold or accessed by law enforcement or also just be blocked by netflix,…
Stop using steam or simillar shit. Steam is just a social network and as other social networks, it is also monitored. For communication, use something which gives you full control over data. DO NOT USE fUcking discord. Host your own teamspeak or mumble server instead. If you want just to chat, you can download some open source chat tools from github.
Avoid windows.Avoid macos. Avoid android.
Very soon librem 5 will come out, and maybe we will live to see the day where you will be able to install linux distro on phone just as easy as on pc.
>>49701 The price is a bit steep for me. What do you guys think about Ubuntu touch? The list of available devices is pretty small and most of them are outdated hardware but should suffice for my needs.
>>51038 Ubuntu running either XFCE or KDE can be made to look like windows out of the box. Ubuntu MATE in particular doesn't stem far from Windows and many chose it when transitioning away from Microsoft OS
>>51060 Because Windows 95 has the most aesthetically pleasing design of any operating system. Especially compared to the flat touchscreen-primary themes are so in vogue nowadays.
>>51076 Windows 10 default settings is a normal desktop that is similar to 7 and xp. Yeah the touch tile bullshit is bloatware for the vast majority of users, but for most modern systems the small wasted space isn't functionality important.
Also I have nothing but bad memories of Windows 95. I don't like anything about it and have flashbacks of some of the worst computer fatal errors I had ever had to deal with in my life.
>>51077 It's not just about space, it's about aesthetics. The raised steel theme of windows 95 evokes a no-nonsense functionality that has vanished from computers nowadays.
I see a lot of wizards here recommending VPNs but they are not private imo. Only use them if you want to circumvent censorship or access foreign content. There is no way for you tell whether they sell your data or not or whether some of their employees have been bribed. Anyway here is what I do:
1.) Use linux. I plan to shift on a completely free GNU/Linux distro (like Parabola) and a completely free BIOS (libreboot).
2.) For web browsing, I use tor browser for general browsing. For all other websites that require identification, I use firefox with telemetry disabled. I also use uBlock origin with dynamic filtering enabled. Keep JS disabled until necessary.
3.) I don't use google, facebook or any other social media. I have a VPS on which I self host my email server and my own cloud (using NextCloud). For searching, I use startpage and duckduckgo (onion service). I still have a google account but I'll delete it shortly.
4.) On my phone, I run a fully open source custom ROM. I don't have any GApps installed and only use FDroid apps. You can use Aurora store to install PlayStore apps btw. The only botnet app I have installed is Whatsapp but I'll be deleting that shortly. I plan to shift to something like Pinephone that also has 100% free hardware and software.
5.) If you use YouTube (I do, but not all that much) then use it through invidio.us on your computer and using Newpipe on your phone. They require no JS to function, are completely open source and allow you to subscribe to channels without having to sign in to google. They also protect your anonymity and add extra features like audio only mode and video/audio downloads.
6.) USE CASH. You can still use credit cards at hotels or for flights because they require identification anyway.
That's all I can think as of now. I'll add more points later if I remember something.
>>51454 I seriously need to start using cash. Problem is, all my bills are done through credit/debit and I cannot ever withdraw anything until those go through
>>53892 That is how you get fined tens of thousands of dollars. By doing really dumb shit that is really obvious and draws absurd amounts of attention to yourself. You know the total opposite of privacy.
Do I really need to explain how triangulation work or how easy it is to track exactly when and where those things are used? Or that it will draw heat from the feds if you use it in the wrong spot? How dumb can you get.
>>53900 It was mostly a shitpost but practically I guess it could help against ending up on someones livestream for example. If you're planning on making a school shooting you could probably buy some time placing out a number of them beforehand, delaying dispatch.
>>49390 I would be a little wary of using a VPN for privacy purposes. All this really accomplishes is shifting your trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. Many of them claim to be "no-log" VPN services, and there have been several instances where these services were hacked and, surprise surprise, it turns out they were logging people. If you truly want to hide your internet traffic, the only reasonably safe option is Tor (I say reasonably safe because it can be circumvented by very targeted exploits, and it's not entirely out of the question that the network as a whole is compromised). However, using Tor is also a one-way ticket to ending up on an NSA watchlist, but then again, so is using an imageboard, probably.
At a minimum, it's not just the Chinese that holds this data.
As technology improves and changes our lives there is no way to reliably predict where and how that information might be used against you in the future.
People might cringe at the comparison, but if you look at the holocaust, the reason it was so successful is primarily that the Nazis had access to public records and thus knew who they were looking for.
Consider that the information that they had access to was far less specific and far less invasive.
Throughout history countless atrocities have been committed against our fellow man, that we are in the here and now does not preclude it from happening to you
The key to digital privacy is just having a consistent fake identity that you use for various services. That way, you don't have to give up the botnet, just never give them your real data.
As for VPNs, don't use commercial ones because they're a business and you're always a sucker. If they say they don't log, they're lying. They will give shit to the feds or anyone that asks for it or is willing to pay the price. Safest thing is to just own several machines in third world countries and route your traffic through them. By "own", I mean, malware infected norps whose computer you can use to piggyback and do whatever you want. As long as you aren't doing anything super illegal, the amount of work needed to track you down is not worth the effort.
Don't watch/don't download porn (lurk /gif/ if you really want to relapse), think about twice before writing anything on any searchbar, think about twice before posting anything on any social media (imageboard included). You'll see that once you've got nothing to hide internet privacy won't be a worry anymore. Using tor will redflag you as a pedo. Use your computer as the tool it is, ultimately get off the internet completely and use it simply for very specific shit. Lurk more, post less untill you'll eventually become a complete Ghost (you'll see that the less you engage the less the need to engage, and the simple action of lurking will fill the social need of the moment). Don't waste time with all those internet privacy bullshit, if you're like me you probably dont understand how they work, unless you plan on becoming an tech expert dont bother with that shit, and focus on being clean. As i said above the people who are the most fond of those things (especially tor) are pedos and drugdealers aka people who've got a lot to hide and have good reasons to be concerened with their privacy. Dont fall for the meme like i did. Dont get me wrong, it's normal to be concerned with your digital privacy (i'm the first one ) but if you're a tech illiterate and aren't involved in any illegal activity the better is still to not trust what you dont understand and (again) use your computer like your using a tool. The overhelming presence of the internet in the modern world is terrifying and it will only get worse. I believe that the logical end of someone's internet journey is also the biggest pill of all; quitting the internet interely. Good Luck friends
>>57393 true. there's no such thing as privacy on the internet. it's a fool's errand and the false sense of security these tools provide are more detrimental than anything
>>49385 This thread has some good advice but I'd say most don't know everything they need to. There are two separate concerns when it comes to this sort of thing, anonymity and privacy, which are often confused or taken as synonyms. Being anonymous simply means that you cannot be identified, while being private means that the things you are doing/saying cannot be seen even if your identity is known.
To be anonymous, you should be concerned with anything that ties a persistent identity to a thing. Obviously this would include things like your name, your address, your race/age/ethnicity/etc. It also includes your IP address, MAC address (it is possible to get this with javascript), email address, browser footprints (cookies, 3rd party connections, cache, a recent exploit regarding lag with HTML, stylometry like your OS/resolution/bookmarks/etc), and so on.
To be private, you should be concerned with how your messages/posts/activities can be seen/intercepted/recorded/etc by third parties. There are many ways this can be done, but here you should be concerned mostly with encryption and blocking spyware/botnet things.
Reliable sources of information on both these topics are hard to come by, and there is a lot of false (sometimes deliberately so) information from organizations that purport to be reliable. You might call them "false privacy initiatives" and they can be hard to spot if you don't know your stuff.
If you are new to this, I suggest you check out dig deeper on neocities (theres even an onion mirror), his site has many links to other good resources at the bottom of the homepage and contains several very helpful guides and explanations.
Considerations for being anon: >Cut the botnet out of your life entirely. If a big giant company makes it, it's bad. The big 6 are Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon. >You can use extensions like uMatrix, Decentraleyes, https everywhere, and noscript to help with this as many websites connect to at least 1 out of the 6 remotely without telling you. >TOR is not foolproof. Use it when you need to be extra anon or to connect to .onion addresses. >Never put anything about yourself online, as best you can manage. Avoid using symbols or spellings that might identify your country (ie Color vs Colour) >Choose a better browser. No, Firefox is not good. Yes, Mozilla is a fake privacy initiative. I suggest Pale Moon (fork of old firefox) with some tweaked settings. >Use Linux, BSD, or an unsupported windows version like XP if you have an ISO for it.
Considerations for privacy: >Use Linux, BSD, or an unsupported windows version >Avoid redhat (systemD etc.) >Use a better browser (avoid Mozilla, "modern browsers") >Use pgp >Use a VPN that allows you to pay with either crypto or Gift Cards (which you can buy with cash) and allows you to use a burner email >Use a better email provider (disroot, or RiseUp if you can get a code, or self host) >Use IRC, XMPP, or Matrix (do not use matrix.org as your homeserver, it is cuckflared. Self host if you can, or otherwise be very careful who you choose as they can see everything you send) >Do NOT use discord, telegram, other normalnigger shit >Use proxy versions for botnet stuff like invidious/youtubedl (be careful of IP leaks if you are also being anon, change settings on invidious to proxy videos and use dash quality, and allow invidious to store cookies so the preferences carry) and nitter etc.
I knew a spook a long time ago who said the best thing to do is to simply blend in with the noise. Some of the measures suggested itt are solid, but trying too hard to stay hidden may set off alarms and ironically make you easier to track.
>>57433 Well, anonymity through uniformity is the most common way to stay anon. It is how both anonymous boorus and TOR work. But it is not the best way by any measure, since there are many things that can be used to pick you out of the crowd. Typing style and the voice in posts are a common one (and in fact how a major bust on the silk road was accomplished), but even wizchan tracks your post history. There is a tab for it right at the top of the page.
In general however, you shouldnt go too hard into it unless you are sending something very sensitive (like a time/location for a secret event, or something that can get you into a lot of trouble). For something like posting to boorus, using the panda, or other things you want to do without being tracked, just using a VPN and cutting out the botnet will do the job and won't raise alarm bells. Neither would using XMPP/Matrix/IRC as long as you arent talking about something that would get a glownigger interested in you.
>>57451 Browser requests page from Wizchan > Wizchan generates page > Page is delivered with html links to Youtube thumbnail server > your browser retrieves thumbnails for display
not sure blocking the thumbnail server would prevent your browser from requesting thumbnails instead of just blocking them from being delivered after the fact
If you play the content, then you connect to the part of Youtube and Google that read your cookies and IP in search of account and locale info
>>57452 Does that mean google gets to add me visiting a particular wizchan page to my dossier if they recognize a combination of thumbnails which gives it away?
>>57453 i dont think so. it is all done by your browser. they shouldnt know what website its viewed on. wizchan is a static site too. they would know your ip though since thats literally how you view anything on the internet, otherwise how would they send shit back to you
>>57454 What I mean is: they can know that someone (my IP) is loading a wizchan page because of the specific combination of thumbnails my IP is requesting. Which combinations of youtube videos are shown on the pages here is publicly available knowledge; there is no reason to believe google doesn't have it. By knowing which pages I load when and applying their knowledge on my writing style and all, they should even be able to make reasonable to very good assumptions on what I am writing here in addition to knowing what I read.