I wanted to share an interesting statistic with you. Approximately 1 out of every 25 people with a Google Pixel phone is running [GrapheneOS](http://grapheneos.org/) right now. While it's difficult to get an exact number, we can make educated guesses to get an approximate number. How many GrapheneOS users are there? According to [an estimate](https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/115594050576298731) released by GrapheneOS today, the number of GrapheneOS devices is approaching 400,000. This estimate is based on the number of devices that downloaded recent GrapheneOS updates. Some users may have multiple devices, such as organizations, and some users may download and flash updates externally, but it's the best estimate we have. How many Google Pixel users are there? Despite Google's extensive data collection, this one is surprisingly harder to estimate, since Google hasn't released an exact number. There's a number floating around that Google has 4-5% of the smartphone market, which is between 10 million and 13.2 million users **in the United States**. I can't find the source of where this information came from. That number is problematic, too, because Japan [supposedly](https://www.statista.com/chart/25463/popularity-of-google-smartphones/) uses more Google Pixel phones than the United States. The Pixel 9 series was also a [big jump in market share](https://www.theshortcut.com/p/google-pixel-9-sales-2024) for Google. I couldn't find any numbers smaller than 10 million, and it made the math nice, so that is what I went with. Putting the numbers together, it means that 4% of Google Pixel users are running GrapheneOS. That means in a room of 25 Google Pixel users, 1 of them will be a GrapheneOS user. If you include all custom Android operating systems, that number would certainly be much, much higher. To put it into perspective, each pixel in this image represents ~5 Google Pixel users. Each white pixel represents that those ~5 people use GrapheneOS:  Even with generous estimates to Google's market share, GrapheneOS still makes up a large portion of their users.

Cross posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/39979350 [TRANSLATED ARTICLE] **EU chat control comes – through the back door of voluntariness** The EU states have agreed on a common position on chat control. Data protection advocates warn against massive surveillance. What is in store for us? After lengthy negotiations, the EU states have agreed on a common position on so-called chat control. Like from one Minutes of negotiations of the Council working group As can be seen, Internet services will in future be allowed to voluntarily search their users' communications for information about crimes, but will not be obliged to do so. The Danish Council Presidency wants to get the draft law through the Council "as quickly as possible", "so that the trilogue negotiations can begin promptly", the minutes say. Feedback from states should be limited to "absolute red lines". **Consensus achieved** The majority of States supported the compromise proposal. At least 15 spoke in favor, including Germany and France. Germany "welcomed both the deletion of the mandatory measures and the permanent anchoring of voluntary measures", said the protocol. However, other countries were disappointed. Spain in particular "continued to see mandatory measures as necessary, unfortunately a comprehensive agreement on this was not possible". Hungary also "seen voluntariness as the sole concept as too little". Spain, Hungary and Bulgaria proposed "an obligation for providers to detect, at least in open areas". The Danish Presidency "described the proposal as ambitious, but did not take it up to avoid further discussion. The organization Netzpolitik.org, which has been reporting critically on chat control for years, sees the plans as a fundamental threat to democracy. "From the beginning, a lobby network intertwined with the security apparatus pushed chat control", writes the organization. “It was never really about the children, otherwise it would get to the root of abuse and violence instead of monitoring people without any initial suspicion.” Netzpolitik.org argues that "encrypted communication is a thorn in the side of the security apparatus". Authorities have been trying to combat private and encrypted communication in various ways for years. A number of scholars criticize the compromise proposal, calling voluntary chat control inappropriate. "Their benefits have not been proven, while the potential for harm and abuse is enormous", one said open letter. According to critics, the planned technology, so-called client-side scanning, would create a backdoor on all users' devices. Netzpolitik.org warns that this represents a "frontal attack on end-to-end encryption, which is vital in the digital world". The problem with such backdoors is that "not only the supposedly 'good guys' can use them, but also resourceful criminals or unwell-disposed other states", argues the organization. **Signal considers withdrawing from the EU** Journalists' associations are also alarmed by the plans. The DJV rejects chat control as a form of mass surveillance without cause and sees source protection threatened, for which encrypted communication is essential. The infrastructure created in this way can be used for political control "in just a few simple steps", said the DJV in a statement Opinion. The Messenger service Signal Already announced that it would withdraw from the EU if necessary. Signal President Meredith Whittaker told the dpa: “Unfortunately, if we were given the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption or leaving Europe, we would make the decision to leave the market.” **Next steps in the legislative process** The Permanent Representatives of the EU states are due to meet next week on the subject, followed in December by the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs, these two bodies are due to approve the bill as the Council's official position. The trilogue then begins, in which the Commission, Parliament and Council must reach a compromise from their three draft laws. Parliament had described the original plans as mass surveillance and called for only unencrypted suspect content to be scanned. The EU Commission had originally proposed requiring Internet services to search their users' content for information about crimes without cause and to send it to authorities if suspected.

MEGA has a C rating in tosdr.org. I still use it, but should I change services for a better privacy? I will soon have to pay for more space, and am afraid of what will happen to my bank data.

I always remember WannaCry as a reason to keep Windows updated (no, I wasn't affected by it), but every new update is full of AI bloat :S I keep all the communication with the mothership blocked and open just the Wuauserv, Bits and few domains just for updates, and every new update that are new services trying to call home, and this one update sitting here waiting for me to allow internet access I read the content and it is very descriptive about "Copilot+ PCs unique features", "AI-Powered experience", "Accessibility and input" (they added AI to a bunch of stuff), "User interface and experience" (more AI and widgets), then they say they added this Windows Hello and Windows Share that I don't even want to know, and for security all they say is "Critical security fixes are included to help keep your system protected against emerging threats." but to get this I need to get all their AI crap that might be a bigger security and privacy risk than whatever "Critical security fix" they included :S

So, I have a profile at Tumblr to archive a specific media's contents. (It's in Portuguese) I currently use tumblr, but is there some other page I should use to get better privacy? I've been considering Mastodon.

My mother currently uses WhatsApp but really doesn’t like the way it looks and feels. She’s not very tech-savvy, so I want to find a messaging app that is: Easy to use for someone older Similar core functionality (text, voice, video) Privacy-friendly if possible ___ She originally got into WhatsApp because while using regular texting, random messages wouldn't go through, due to the whole ios/android wars. ___ I’ve looked at Signal, Threema, Session, and a few others, but I’m not sure which would be the smoothest transition from WhatsApp for her. What would you recommend for older users who are coming from WhatsApp but want something simpler or more pleasant to use?

I have made a work profile using Shelter. I was copy-pasting some stuff in my personal profile while the work profile was disabled. Later, I discovered everything I had copied was showing up in Samsung Keyboard's clipboard history (in the work profile). Personal profile's Samsung Keyboard was uninstalled via ADB (among some other packages like Google Play Services). What package could be the culprit? (I'd love to just install LineageOS on it but there isn't a built for the device yet. I just don't use it for sensitive stuff.)

Cross posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/39979757 After Germany blocked the October vote, Europe’s surveillance proposal didn’t die—it evolved. Denmark’s November compromise claims to abandon mandatory scanning while preserving identical outcomes through legal sleight of hand. The repackaging reveals the essential dynamic: when democratic opposition defeats mass surveillance, proponents don’t accept defeat. They redraft terminology, shift articles, and reintroduce the same architecture under different labels until resistance exhausts itself. The pattern is documented across five iterations. Sweden’s January-June 2023 presidency failed. Belgium couldn’t secure passage in June 2024. Hungary’s presidency ended December 31, 2024 without achieving agreement. Poland’s presidency collapsed in January-June 2025 when 16 pro-scanning states refused meaningful compromise. Each defeat produced not withdrawal but repackaging: “chat control” became “child sexual abuse regulation,” “scanning” became “detection orders,” “mandatory” became “risk mitigation,” and “breaking encryption” became “lawful access.” October’s blocking minority forced Denmark’s hand, but rather than accepting defeat, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard withdrew the proposal on October 31 and immediately began drafting version 2.0. The Loophole Disguised as Compromise Denmark’s November 5 revised text removes Articles 7-11’s “detection orders”—the language mandating scanning. Privacy advocates initially celebrated. Then legal experts read Article 4. The provision requires all communication providers implement “all appropriate risk mitigation measures” to prevent abuse on their platforms. Services classified as “high risk”—essentially any platform offering encryption, anonymity, or real-time communications—face obligations that experts argue constitute mandatory scanning without using the word “mandatory.” Continue reading this article - https://restmedia.st/the-voluntary-trap-how-denmark-repackaged-chat-control-after-defeat/

Cross posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39114169 **How to opt out** Opting out requires you to change settings in two places, so I’ve tried to make it as easy to follow as possible. Feel free to let me know in the comments if I missed anything. To fully opt out, you must turn off Gmail’s “Smart features” in two separate locations in your settings. Don’t miss one, or AI training may continue. Step 1: Turn off Smart Features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet settings Open Gmail on your desktop or mobile app. Click the gear icon → See all settings (desktop) or Menu → Settings (mobile). Find the section called Smart Features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet. You’ll need to scroll down quite a bit. Smart features settings Uncheck this option. Scroll down and hit Save changes if on desktop. Step 2: Turn off Google Workspace Smart Features Still in Settings, locate Google Workspace smart features. Click on Manage Workspace smart feature settings. You’ll see two options: Smart features in Google Workspace and Smart features in other Google products. Smart feature settings Toggle both off. Save again in this screen. Step 3: Verify if both are off Make sure both toggles remain off. Refresh your Gmail app or sign out and back in to confirm changes. Why two places? Google separates “Workspace” smart features (email, chat, meet) from smart features used across other Google apps. To fully opt out of feeding your data into AI training, both must be disabled. Note Your account might not show these settings enabled by default yet (mine didn’t). Google appears to be rolling this out gradually. But if you care about privacy and control, double-check your settings today.

Damn... I guess the next idea is going offline for good

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39088745 > Lenovo or ASUS? Trying to figure out which laptop to go with. > > Which company has a better reputation (in quality, privacy...), or are they both bad? > EDIT: I have come to the conclusion that both Lenovo and ASUS are extremely terrible, anyone who sees this post should go straight to framework laptop

Being sanctioned by USA nowadays means getting banned from 90% of commercial internet. This is a clear example that being careful is not paranoia but valid precaution.

Hello I've got a few questions about custom domains. 1 Is there anyway to use a FirstNameLastName domain for registering for services without doxxing myself while still receiving the benefit of a custom domain? 2 What is the best structure for creating emails for services? For example I'm currently using <ServiceName>@CDexample.com but the downside of this is if someone knows your domain they can effectively figure out what services you use and this possibly could be used for osint and doxx you. 3 Should I use my custom domain for Banking and other financial related services? 4 Is there any point to use a service like addy.io with with a single custom domain? 5 If i use my custom domain on my cv would my whole domain forever be correlated with my other personal data on my cv and sold to data brokers? 6 Is there any point to own more than one domain? I have no doubt the answers to my questions lay in the questions themself but I've thought so much about this i just wanted to ask someone. Thank you, -Zoma

This is DeDe (Decentralized Delivery) Protocol: Not a token, not speculation. It’s infrastructure, deployed on Ethereum mainnet. We’re watching the same pattern everywhere: Postal systems collapsing. Parcels lost, broken, stolen or seized. Increased surveillance, ID requirements, more decay. Less reliability, less privacy, less dignity. The institutions that were supposed to protect our right to communication are failing, even though privacy of correspondence is guaranteed under UN Article 12 and ICCPR Article 17. So instead of being stuck in surveillance and Inefficiency-As-A-Service, we have to build parallel systems immune to centralized control. Systems by us for us, in the spirit of the Fediverse: community-powered decentralized permissionless protocol, not platform no corporations no bosses no surveillance no extraction DeDe (Decentralized Delivery) is not a token, not a scam, not a VC product, not a walled garden. It’s a rail, an open delivery settlement layer anyone can build on. What it does: Every parcel is an NFT with a lifecycle Escrow is automatic, trustless, and transparent Anyone can create an NFT-Parcel Anyone can carry parcels while they’re already on the move No fleets, no gig exploitation, no “shadow wages” Zero extra CO₂, use the movement people already make Protocol fee is immutable (0.5%), so nobody can rug / extract Privacy is natively built in. Fully MIT-licensed & open-source It’s not a startup. It’s not a marketplace. It’s not a company. It’s the peoples infrastructure for physical logistics. Because if we want a free world, we can’t outsource critical communication infrastructure to decaying governments, surveillance corps, or gig economy parasites. If you want to understand the philosophy behind it, here’s the full manifesto + artwork: Medium: https://medium.com/@ekarlsson66/dede-the-delivery-rail-for-a-free-world-e7be944b90fc If you want to poke around the contracts: DeDe Protocol GitHub (MIT): https://github.com/pablo-chacon/dede-protocol DeDe Quik-Start Templates GitHub (MIT): https://github.com/pablo-chacon/dede-templates No pressure to “like crypto.” DeDe is just a tool. Use it, fork it, ignore it. All up to you. More decentralized civilizational fundamentals, means less dependency of collapsing control systems. We must have working alternatives when the centralized systems break down. Against decay, we build. That’s the spirit of the fediverse. That’s the spirit of DeDe.

Crossposted from https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/57854507 ----- 

Does anyone know of a similar service that will take down your personal info from the web?

The Digital Omnibus needs to be defeated.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39190924 > Despite heavy criticism from civil society and large parts of the EU Parliament, the EU Commission has now published its proposal for the “Digital Omnibus”. Contrary to the Commission's official press release, these changes are not “maintaining the highest level of personal data protection”, but massively lower protections for Europeans. While having basically no real benefit for average European small and medium businesses, the proposed changes are a gift to US big tech as they open up many new loopholes for their law departments to exploit. Schrems: “This is the biggest attack on European’s digital rights in years. When the Commission states that it ‘maintains the highest standards’, it clearly is incorrect. It proposes to undermine these standards.”

So I was looking for this file and a guy found it and sent me a link. There were two download options, both full of ads. I managed to download from the second link, but what really baffled me was the first one: TeraBox. First thing, I couldn't find any way to download the file. This crap actually wanted me to download a .exe to install their software so I could download the file from the internet, so obviously I said fuck it and tried the second link instead. Then I told the guy who gave me the link that TeraBox was sketchy as fuck and I hoped he wasn’t actually using it, and went to search for more info about TeraBox. Apparently the program is full of ads, and wherever you click it tries to make you upgrade to premium and throws more ads at you. Its bandwidth is complete crap, but hey, it gives you 1TB of free cloud storage, yay! TeraBox was created by Baidu using a subsidiary in Japan, later they changed the name and the name of the Japanese company as well to try not to look affiliated with Baidu. Anyone here old enough to remember hao123, their browser hijacker that would fuck up you registry and shit just to reinstall itself through Windows Services after being uninstalled, already knows Baidu is pure cancer, and it’s hilarious if you check videos of people testing their antivirus - that manages to be more of a malware itself than McAfee. This Chinese-Google ethics make Google itself look like Mullvad, and they want you to download and install their .exe just so you can download files from the web lol Yeah, that guy I mentioned was using TeraBox and thinking it was great, and apparently a whole lot of people do. 1TB free \o/ (although, looking at Reddit and Play Store - where it has 100m+ downloads - everyone complains files don't sync, they disappear, even after buying premium they still see ads and the speed is still crap, they don't reward whatever bonuses they promise, and support is nonexistent... so shit doesn't even work properly...) I'm all for making tons of accounts to use Google Drive/Mega/Dropbox/etc to distribute files, even if they have crappy privacy practices, you don’t need to share any real information with them anyway: use a VPN and a secure browser to create your account with a disposable email and that’s it, whatever info they gathered doesn’t matter, let them host stuff for you at their expenses... but TeraBox? Ouch, that's insanity.

I think car privacy isn't talked about amongst any privacy enthusiasts online ever, and it apparently is one of the biggest data collectors out there. For someone like me who values electric cars for there affordability and environmental reasons, but still want physical car buttons and control over my data, how would I go about this?

This gets us to the central problem of today’s surveillance state. No one running the cameras wants to be observed. One reason that city officials object to releasing Flock data, for example, must that they themselves are among the recorded. The cameras are on them too; they too can be tracked. Everything means everything for these everywhere cameras.

https://archive.is/2025.11.12-204929/https://www.ft.com/content/7d3d3e88-206a-49db-aaa3-085f1c28f8d6

My new place has a ring doorbell camera and, for now, I can't get rid of it. What are my options for keeping it operable but not streaming to big brother 24/7? The easier the better. I've heard you can flash and self host some models but I'd be happy with something as crude as a remote privacy flap that I can cover/uncover independently. Edit: Removing/modifying it isn't an issue, but my household wants to use it since it's there. I'm not personally opposed to a camera but would need to be in full control of the feed. My main goal is keeping it simple and cheap for now, so not replacing a functional camera is very tempting. Later on I can look into real alternatives but an afternoon project will do for now.

I promote encryption in my union, association and workplace. Currently, not every computer run linux, and some still run windows. However, I succeed in making everyone use thunderbird; I try now to make every email encrypted. It work pretty well until I try to encrypt a shared address (let say "contact@org") : The RSA key work well on thunderbird on linux, but fail to decrypt email on thunderbird on windows. What am I missing ? Thunderbird seems to support ECC encryption; is it more suited ?

I’m new to Android and was gifted a Razr Ultra. Apart from deleting Google apps and using alternate app stores, are these other things I can do to make the phone more privacy respecting? I’m coming from iPhone and I know Apple isn’t the best, but being on Android/Google makes me concerned about privacy. As I understand it, GrapheneOS is not an option, and I didn’t see the phone on LineageOS device list. Any ideas? What would you do (besides selling it for a Pixel to install Graphene lol)?

Have they become worse along with other companies? Have a friend who insists I use it for shared files.

Alot of Viruses or Bacteria remain dorment for some time before unleashing attacks, though for a very short time, these viruses are still spreading from one person to another though various orifice including the one behind into the sewer, and if they monitor the sewer they can catch something like this early in the group of population and hence a preventive measure before the next pandemic Yes, the above was just in someone's head during pandemic era But then, they were able to also determine stress level in a given population with a study done in China from sewer water [Link to paper in Pubmed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36990235/) Your shit reflects what you eat, what you feel and underlying health conditions For now, you are anonymous among the group of people living in the same town so they cannot exactly tell you apart from other's sewer. But what if they find a way to shitprint where they can uniquely identify you from the shit you just dumped? Maby just a way to extract DNA from your shit stuff. Maby if you are a wistleblower or someone the government would want to keep track of, they may somehow engineer a biological weapon that does not harm but will replicate itself just enough for it to be released from behind and let them know where you are. Again, this is a far fetched and frankly stupid. But our current surveillance reality was just as stupid a decade ago. I can imagine data brokers trying to get into the sewers to gather health data for advertisement far in the future. So I guess the only viable alternative would be to build septic tank to fight such surveillance like we currently do with selfhosting to protect our data. Just like we dont let these corporations get the hold of our data willingly, should we let our sewers get into their hand?

As the title says. Looking for a openvpn conf i can put on my router. I know Mullvad is dropping openvpn in 2026 so i look for alternatives.

I own a custom domain for my main email provider so if I switch to a new one I won't have to change all my address for contacting people. I am considering buy a separate domain for just my email forwarding service. What do people on here do? **Current Setup:** domain1.com - for main email alias.domain1.com - for email forwarding with Addy.io **Option:** domain1.com - for main email domain2.com - for email forwarding with Addy.io

**After extensive testing, [it's finally here: the new SHIFTphone 8.1 with iodéOS is now available](https://novacustom.com/privacy-friendly-phone/) at NovaCustom! It's a privacy-friendly phone that's not only user-friendly and secure, but also sustainable and fully modular. This smartphone stands for privacy, security, freedom of choice, and repairability: values that perfectly align with NovaCustom's mission.** * https://novacustom.com/privacy-friendly-phone/ ## Why NovaCustom and SHIFTphone are the perfect match At NovaCustom, we believe that users should have control over their own hardware and software. The SHIFTphone is perfect for this in terms of hardware: it has a modular design and is easy to repair. In terms of software, the original product is less than ideal: it comes with Google software as standard. NovaCustom replaces that software with iodéOS by default. This is an operating system without Google services (only [microG](https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki), but it can also work without it!). This gives you a privacy-friendly phone with maximum control over your data. ## Fully modular and customizable | [](https://novacustom.com/privacy-friendly-phone/) | |:--:| | NovaCustom [launches the SHIFTphone 8.1](https://novacustom.com/privacy-friendly-phone/) | Whether you want to replace a screen, insert a new battery, or simply tinker with your smartphone yourself, the SHIFTphone makes it possible. No glue, no frustration, just pure freedom. NovaCustom has been supporting this principle for years with configurable laptops, and now we are bringing that same idea to smartphones.

I’ve been thinking of using Murena Monile for my cell carrier (USA) because they appear to have good privacy terms, though I’m a little on the fence using a T-Mobile MVNO due to political reasons. Does anyone know of a similar style carrier that uses Verizon’s or AT&T’s network?

As you know, GrapheneOS is a privacy‑ and security‑focused, independent Android‑based distribution for smartphones. With the mobile market dominated by just two major advertising giants—Apple increasingly joining the ranks—we urgently need genuine alternatives. GrapheneOS stands out as the sole platform that lets users enjoy modern features without compromising their freedom, privacy and security. Please consider supporting the GrapheneOS project in this year’s Proton fundraiser.

This dish was erected atop a roof of a shopping center near me a few weeks ago. It’s super ominous looking and it bugs me regularly.