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Tips for internet privacy, don't allow yourself to be a product!
- Tips for internet privacy, don't allow yourself to be a product!
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Tips for internet privacy, don't allow yourself to be a product!
NeoMetallix > 01-06-2021, 09:37 PM
Beginner's GuideHey ya'all I've been working on blocking big tech from tracking me and manipulating the information I view. So here we will post tips that we find to help keep users safe! A general rule of thumb is never use software provided by these big giants, use FOSS. FOSS stands for free open source software. It's much safer because these proprietary apps/software from big tech don't allow you to see how they operate whereas open source software allows you to dig into it and see if there is any malicious code in it. Keep in mind, though, that many companies claim to be "private" for good PR but don't actually practice such things, remember to always read their privacy policy.
Some things I've done is switched from Google to an alternative search engine. They don't track your searches like Google does(but read their privacy policy to be sure). Some search engines use their own crawler but also rely on other search engine results, but those other engines won't see your queries. The only alternative search engine that isn't a meta search engine(IE not relying on other search engines for results) is Mojeek. Go here for an in depth analysis of all major alternative search engine's privacy policies.
Browsers
I've also moved away from Chrome and installed Brave and Librewolf on my laptop. Here is a good guide comparing major browsers Brave and Bromite on Android. These are very good for blocking many trackers. As you may know, accepting cookies allows websites to see what other sites you use. The best browser to use is multiple, called browser isolation! All browsers have what they call browser fingerprints which identify you. If, for instance, you need to access a Google services like Gmail for example, ONLY do so on one browser. Do anything else on other browsers. This way Google will know who you are and what you are doing but to them they only think you are accessing Google services, they won't know your other business. I like to online shop on one browser, access financial info on another, search things on a third, and visit personal sites on yet another.
Recommended extensions
/u]
uBlock Origin - uBlock Origin is not just an “ad blocker“, it's a wide-spectrum content blocker with CPU and memory efficiency as a primary feature. Out of the box, uBO blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, etc.
Note: With uBlock you can do all that you need for privacy with just the one extension. Keeping extensions to a minimum is best as they can be counter intuitive and help identify you easier due to being detected and having to trust the author of the extension.
[u]DNS
Be sure you are using a privacy focused DNS if you do not have a VPN(more below)! DNS stands for Domain Name System. Think of it as of "address book" of the Internet: your browsers and apps use it to translate domain names that make no sense to them into IP addresses that they can understand. Google DNS and many others are logging your information.
I would recommend Adguard DNS due to it auto blocking ads and using DNScrypt. There are other privacy oriented DNS services though.
Social Media
One thing you'll defintely want to do for privacy is delete all social media apps like Facebook and Instagram along with their accounts. With Instagram, they can now access your microphone and camera at will. There are private apps you can use for Youtube as well such as Newpipe for android and FreeTube for PC which does not have any proprietary Google apis.
Mobile
If you have an Android, do NOT use the default keyboard!! The gboard if it's stock(Samsung has their own keyboard) is not private and these companies can see EVERYTHING you type via these preinstalled apps. Good alternatives for Android are AnysoftKeyboard and Open Board. For iOS there is Fractions keyboard or Typewise offline keyboard(unfortunately these are paid apps) These have no access to the internet and do not log your information.
A more serious person who is willing to go extra lengths should ditch Android and iOS completely. There are Linux phones such as Pinephone that don't have tracking. Another option which is nearly as good is GrapheneOS which removes all Google tracking and is based on Android open source project.
Windows
Windows has lots of data collection and telemetry. Microsoft can collect any personal data including: identity, passwords, demographics, interests/habits, usage data, contacts/relationships, location data, content such as emails, IMs, caller list, audio/video recordings. Cortana even records your keystrokes and financial information such as credit/debit cards!! It is recommended to go into the privacy settings in the control panel and disable everything there. That takes care of a lot of stuff but unless you have lots of knowledge, it is not easy to disable other things in Windows. That's where programs come in. A good program for W10 is W10Privacy . Ultimately it is recommended to switch to open source OS like Linux. If you absolutely need Windows, it should be used for the one or two things you need it for, and all personal stuff on another device not running Windows.
Network
Be sure to change your router login credentials from your default which is ususally just admin/password! Most people leave this default and makes their home network very susceptible to invaders. You log into your router's firmware through a browser. Any browser will do. At the address field, type the IP address of your router. Most routers use an address of 192.168.1.1. But that's not always the case, so first you want to confirm the address of your router.
VPN(Virtual Private Network)
Not all VPNs are created equally. When considering a VPN, you ideally will want to choose one that is outside the Fourteen Eyes countries(although being in one of these countries does not mean the company is automatically bad) and definitely one that DOES NOT log any information. Some VPNs based in the United States were required to hand over logs to the federal government and also required to NOT notify their users about all of their data being collected. This is why ideally you want a VPN that is based outside of the jurisdiction and creates no logs! If they have no logs on you, they have nothing to hand over. It is also important that the VPN has been audited by a third party! Many VPNs can claim to keep no logs but actually do. Do not choose one that has misleading marketing such as being an end all be all solution to privacy.
Here is a list of VPNs that keep no logs!
Exif
When you take photos on a mobile device or a digital camera the photos have what is known as exif data that has tons of information and can even give your exact latitude and longitude details including what device you used to take it on. It makes it all really easy to link photos to an identity and where the person lives. What you need to do when sharing photos via text or social media is to delete the exif data. There are many programs that can do this but I recommend this one for desktop.
https://exifcleaner.com/
Terms of Service
If you've been too busy to read a company's privacy policy or terms of service, there is a website that does it for you and gives them grades based on how private they are with your data. They also put it in an easy to read fashion.
https://tosdr.org/
Links
https://privacyfocusedanalytics.info/
https://privacyguides.org/
https://privacytools.io/providers/dns/
https://restoreprivacy.com/
https://digdeeper.neocities.org/index.html
https://whotracks.me/
Here's are some youtube channels about internet privacy for more ideas!
Rob Braxman Tech
The Hated One
Techlore -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
SixtyFour > 01-08-2021, 10:31 AM
I use Vivaldi (which is kinda like Opera but it has less of the bloat) and Startpage (uses google results but no trackers or ads) -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
NeoMetallix > 01-08-2021, 06:00 PM
@"PiForUAll" ya I just learned about those two today while looking. Also very good options to use. -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
NeoMetallix > 01-11-2021, 04:14 PM
Updated it with a bit more info. I just found out the default keyboard app on your phone can send any information you type to Google or Apple. I've now gone with a FOSS keyboard. -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
SixtyFour > 01-12-2021, 09:26 AM
A lot of people are moving from WhatsApp to Signal because of policy changes -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
NeoMetallix > 01-12-2021, 04:49 PM
Yeah and the funny thing is they probably still have FB and Twitter. Also WhatsApp has been giving FB information for years, now it's just public knowledge...
I hope we are starting an age where people don't tolerate that stuff anymore. -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
Ravenfreak > 01-15-2021, 07:32 PM
I suppose if you were to browse the internet using the bigger browsers such as Firefox and Chrome one could use a VPN. Many people are using a VPN to browse the internet nowdays. I've used ProtonVPN and it works well. I don't know if I could recommend NordVPN as it's been hacked before. :\ -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
NeoMetallix > 01-16-2021, 12:03 PM
@"Ravenfreak" VPNs are good but don't fall for the marketing and assume all you need is one to be private.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTS17WzsZz8&t=8 -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
SixtyFour > 01-16-2021, 03:16 PM
(01-16-2021, 12:03 PM)Metallix Wrote: @"Ravenfreak" VPNs are good but don't fall for the marketing and assume all you need is one to be private.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTS17WzsZz8&t=8
yeah, and oftentimes it's kinda unnecessary unless you want to hide your location/ip cuz 99% of sites have https in some form -
RE: Tips for internet privacy
SCS > 01-16-2021, 03:33 PM
This is great information Metallix, thanks so much for sharing.
I do currently use Vivaldi, but it's not the best browser for privacy. I like it's because it's a robust power-user browser. However, it's based on Chromium (the same codebase Google Chrome is built off of) and it's closed source, so it's very easy for Vivaldi's owners to track users. The best browsers to use are those that have a large enough following and awareness to be considered safe, coupled with extensive privacy features and most importantly being open source. Open source software is typically the best way to go for just about anything, since it's far more difficult to hide nefarious activity when people are able to review (what should be) your entire codebase. There are caveats to this so we must always remain vigilant.
While protecting privacy is an essential goal, unfortunately it's far more difficult than many people realize. True privacy protection requires a holistic approach. You have to think about every software and hardware layer your data passes through on your computer or other device, your home network and beyond.
For example, just using Brave and a VPN is not enough to be truly anonymous. VPNs are a good first step for privacy, but there are many ways people can be tracked beyond IP address/geolocation. The full extent to which this happens is really beyond the scope of this post, but suffice it to say even details as minute as cursor movement patterns and active window size can be tracked. There can be thousands if not millions of crumbs of minute details that are correlated and analyzed by automated processes to build tracking profiles that uniquely identify individuals.
From what I've heard, Brave is a good browser overall for blocking tracking but I recall there being some criticisms. It's been a long time since I've used it and researched it so take that with a grain of salt, I may be thinking of a different browser. Even still, let's say you're using Brave and a VPN -- if you're using Windows or MAC, you're being tracked. Any kind of closed source operating system is a risk, but these are the two biggest offenders. It's far more secure to use any relatively well-known and respected open source Linux distribution. There are countless varieties of distros ranging from friendlier systems that closely emulate Windows or MAC GUIs to power user distros that run largely or entirely off the command line.
For further increased security, you can use a Linux distro that's specifically designed with high security in mind. Two examples I've researched heavily are TAILS and QubesOS. The former can be ran from a USB drive, and is a very powerful tool for separating the working environment from hardware permanence. Nothing is written to disk: all memory is volatile and erased upon reboot/removal of the USB drive. While using it, all network activity is forced through Tor (which is a very powerful way of remaining anonymous, typically more effective than VPNs but with its own host of flaws, dangers and security vulnerabilities). QubesOS is an excellent security solution of a different type: it does not center around an amnesiac paradigm as does TAILS, but rather it focuses on encapsulation of separate working environments through a virtual machine structure. For example, running QubesOS you can divide your system into 4 fully separate, unique machines with minimal or zero interaction between each other, and then use each for different types of tasks. That way if one VM is compromised, you can wipe it independently and have a decreased risk of the entire system/all data being compromised.
Even still, running a secure Linux distro does not guarantee privacy and security. This is in part due to the complexity of these tools -- user error is very common. But even beyond that, there is the continued risk of hardware-level, network-level and state-level threats.
At the hardware level, there have been multiple events wherein CPU vulnerabilities were discovered that allows attackers to store and run malicious instructions directly on the CPU, rendering it undetectable by antimalware and surviving even a full system format and OS reinstall. Meltdown and Spectre are 2 well-known examples: there are probably countless more that do not reach public awareness. There are very few ways to guard against this aside from having the most up-to-date CPUs possible, as manufacturers claim to mitigate these threats (with increasing efficacy, but not perfection) across newer models.
At the network level, you must be vigilant for any kind of snooping from 3rd parties. This can happen across the internet, which is why it's essential to run both a hardware and software firewall in tandem (the former is often combined with newer/more expensive routers or can be purchased as dedicated devices for maximum-security needs, the latter is included with Windows as well as a plethora of antimalware suites). These do not guarantee safety, but they make intrusions from the internet far more difficult. However, you also need to be vigilant for local network intrusions from people living in or visiting your home, or people outside of your home/neighbors/on the street. Wifi networks are of course at the greatest risk for this: it's essential to protect them and your router admin panel with strong, unique passwords and modern encryption. It's also important to install network monitoring software in the event you need to manually investigate for network intrusion events, or suspicious network activity from applications.
Even doing all of this, there remains the greater threat of state-level actors. This is an enormous subject and comprises countless layers and varieties. The unfortunate reality is that there is very little we can do to mitigate state-level threats. There has been tremendous evidence of backdoors being placed in countless widely used hardware and software. Almost any kind of smartphone is guaranteed to track everything you do. Same goes for Smart TVs and any kind of smart device, which becomes increasingly terrifying with the push for smart homes, smart cars, etc. The Internet of Things (IoT) is particularly dangerous on this front and will undoubtedly be used to track people to an extent never thought possible. There are some products that sail against the flow, such as attempts at open source hardware running Linux for smartphone and laptop technology. This field of open source hardware is one of the most promising avenues we have to mitigate these threats, but progress is slow and in early stages for many reasons. For anyone wanting as close to maximum security as possible, these are worth investigating.