cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7177319 > cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/15995 > > > The House was debating a powerful National Security Agency spying program when Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., rose to side against privacy hawks. > > > > The spring 2024 debate was over forcing the feds to get a warrant to search foreign communications for intelligence on Americans. Doing so would cost crucial time, Goldman said, citing his own tenure as a federal prosecutor. > > > > > “I can say with confidence that requiring a warrant would render this program unusable.” > > > > “Based on that experience, I can say with confidence that requiring a warrant would render this program unusable and entirely worthless,” he said last year. “Even if it were possible, the time required to obtain a search warrant from a judge would frequently fail to meet the urgency posed by a terrorist or other national security threat.” > > > > Goldman’s argument won the day. > > > > Progressives had been rallying around the warrants provision but, under heavy pressure from the Biden administration, enough of them retracted their support and sided with Democrats like Goldman to doom the measure. It lost by a single vote. > > > > With his election victory last November, Donald Trump would inherit the warrantless surveillance powers. > > > > [ > > > > Related > > ------- > > > > ### Trump Might Get Unfettered Surveillance Powers. How Did We Get Here?](https://theintercept.com/2024/11/05/trump-surveillance-power/) > > > > The April 2024 vote still stings for civil liberties advocates, who thought they could count on progressives as they sought to build a bipartisan coalition with libertarian-minded Republicans. Now they are girding for another battle next April, when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, is up for reauthorization. > > > > The vote will happen in the [middle of a primary season](https://theintercept.com/collections/midterms-2026/) where many incumbents — including Goldman — are trying to burnish their progressive bona fides as they [face challenges from the left](https://theintercept.com/2025/11/13/democrats-midterms-primaries-government-shutdown/). Already, some Democrats on a key committee are citing the Trump administration’s approach to privacy to explain their renewed support for a warrant provision. > > > > Whether enough of them flip back could decide the future of one of the most controversial post-September 11 spying programs. > > > > In a statement to The Intercept, Goldman did not commit to supporting a warrant requirement. > > > > “Donald Trump’s blatant weaponization of the federal government makes accounting for potential abuses of power critically important,” Goldman said. “As we work through the FISA reauthorization process next year, I will be especially focused on those concerns, as I have been since Trump took office in January.” > > > > **Tie Goes to the Spy** > > ----------------------- > > > > The vote last year capped a monthslong period of intense lobbying pitting the Biden administration against privacy advocates. > > > > Congress passed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008 to give its legal blessing to a massive spying program the administration of George W. Bush had already launched without authorization. > > > > [ > > > > Related > > ------- > > > > ### Episode Five: What Fourth Amendment?](https://theintercept.com/2025/11/05/collateral-damage-episode-five-fourth-amendment/) > > > > Under the law, the government was allowed to search through reams of surveillance conducted abroad for information on U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The Fourth Amendment did not apply, [supporters of the law said](https://www.penncerl.org/the-rule-of-law-post/why-the-fbis-querying-of-intelligence-collection-under-fisa-section-702-is-not-domestic-spying/), because those communications had been collected from wiretaps and hacks directed abroad by the cyber spies of the NSA. > > > > Critics said that even surveillance directed abroad inevitably hoovers up the emails and text messages of Americans. The FBI, for example, [conducted 200,000 “backdoor searches”](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fisa-section-702-backdoor-searches-myths-and-facts) of American communications in 2022 alone. > > > > In a [series](https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/fisa-section-702-nsa-internet-surveillance-senate/) of [reauthorization battles](https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/house-intelligence-committee-section-702-surveillance/), civil liberties advocates have squared off against [administrations from both parties](https://theintercept.com/2017/09/29/trump-administration-lobbying-hard-for-sweeping-surveillance-law/) trying to force government agencies, including the FBI, to get a warrant before they rooted through foreign surveillance for information on Americans. > > > > Advocates have won some procedural reforms but, on the biggest question of a warrant, they have fallen short every time. Last year, the House voted 212–212 on an amendment offered by a conservative Republican that would have added a warrant requirement. Under House rules, a tied vote fails. > > > > The party breakdown showed how much surveillance scrambles typical partisan divides. Eighty-four Democrats and 128 Republicans voted for a warrant requirement, compared to 126 Democrats and 86 Republicans opposed. > > > > Numerous Democrats flipped their vote at the last minute under [heavy lobbying](https://prospect.org/2024/04/12/2024-04-12-reformers-narrowly-lose-fisa-reform-patriot-act-2-0/) from the Biden administration, which took a traditional, centrist view of the need for expansive spying powers [to ward off terrorists](https://theintercept.com/2023/11/06/hamas-counterterrorism-mass-surveillance-section-702/) and other foreign foes. > > > > > “Pretty much every single person in the Biden administration was lobbying pretty hard.” > > > > “It was top-to-bottom — pretty much every single person in the Biden administration was lobbying pretty hard,” said Kia Hamadanchy, a senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “There was a lot of fearmongering, which I don’t think was substantiated.” > > > > Supporters of the Biden administration offered some cover to the lawmakers who switched their way by including modest, procedural reforms in the legislation. > > > > The last-minute flippers included several members of the House Judiciary Committee, which traditionally has favored privacy protections more than members of the Intelligence Committee, who have overlapping jurisdiction over foreign surveillance. > > > > It was hardly surprising that Democrats buckled under pressure from the Biden administration, but it was shortsighted, civil liberties advocates say. > > > > [ > > > > Related > > ------- > > > > ### Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump](https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/) > > > > “In 2024, it was already clear that Donald Trump and the people around him might well return to power,” said Sean Vitka, executive director of the progressive group Demand Progress. “Some Democrats refused to install guardrails when they had the chance.” > > > > Even worse from the perspective of civil liberties advocates, many Democrats voted to further expand the foreign spying law with a new provision that would allow the government to force “electronic communication service providers” — including, potentially, nonprofits, political campaigns, or news organizations — [to help it spy.](https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/) > > > > Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warned that that power will “inevitably be misused.” > > > > **House Judiciary Firms Up** > > ---------------------------- > > > > With Trump in the White House, some of the Democrats who voted against a warrant provision seem to be warming up to the idea, according to their comments at a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on FISA reform. > > > > Several Democrats who advocates were counting on last time — including now-ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who eventually voted against the warrant requirement — spoke in favor of passing further reforms next year. > > > > Democrats at the hearing put the Section 702 program, named for the law that gives the surveillance power, in the larger context of the Trump administration’s erasure of privacy safeguards, including efforts to combine previously siloed Social Security, IRS, and student loan databases. > > > > > “In 2025, we no longer have to wonder if we were right to worry.” > > > > They also pointed out that, when it came to Section 702, Trump has gutted the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and FBI Director Kash Patel has eliminated an office tasked with auditing the FBI’s use of the surveillance program. > > > > Raskin said the results of a two-year “experiment” with modest FISA reforms have been “alarming.” > > > > “For years, the leaders of this committee have warned of how executive branch surveillance powers could be abused by a president who didn’t care about protecting civil liberties, who used cutting-edge technology to spy on Americans, and who ignored basic principles of due process and constitutional freedom to achieve their own ends,” he said. “In 2025, we no longer have to wonder if we were right to worry.” > > > > Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., voted against a warrant requirement last year but spoke in broad favor of reforms at the hearing. His office did not comment on whether that includes a warrant requirement. > > > > Moskowitz’s primary challenger Oliver Larkin, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement that he supports forcing the government to get a warrant. > > > > “Rep. Moskowitz has put civil society, political opponents, minority and undocumented communities, and journalists at risk of the Trump administration’s privacy abuses and political targeting of dissent,” Larkin said. > > > > Another Judiciary Committee member who voted against a warrant requirement, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., did not respond to a request for comment. His [left-leaning primary challenger](https://theintercept.com/2025/12/04/denver-primary-melat-kiros-diana-degette-justice-democrats/), Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, said in a statement that he supports a warrant provision. > > > > “Democrats should be opposed to warrantless government surveillance no matter which party the president represents,” he said. “It should not have taken Donald Trump’s second election for some members of our party to finally stand up for their constituents’ basic civil liberties.” > > > > **Will GOP Cave?** > > ------------------ > > > > The problem for civil liberties advocates going into the April reauthorization is that they now face losing some of the Republicans who rallied to their side the last time. > > > > “People tend to be more skeptical about executive authority when the president is a president from the different party,” Hamadanchy said. > > > > They are also unclear on two key questions: Just how many Democrats will flip back, and where Trump will land on the issue. > > > > Some Democrats seem to be holding firm on their opposition to a warrant requirement despite challenges from the left. During an April committee hearing, Goldman said the FISA debate “pales in comparison” to the privacy violations being committed under the auspices of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. > > > > Goldman, who is positioning himself as a progressive in his primary race, [citing his support for the Green New Deal and Medicare for All](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2025/12/17/goldman-lander-and-26-federal-plaza-00694095), is facing a challenge from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. > > > > “Brad would vote to add a warrant requirement,” said a spokesperson for the Lander campaign. “The Trump administration’s abuse of power has highlighted the need for stronger 4th Amendment protections and now more than ever the House should take action to protect people’s privacy.” > > > > Lander’s [entry into New York’s 10th Congressional District race](https://hellgatenyc.com/lander-opportunity-dan-goldman-congress-race/) gives civil liberties advocates a vessel to challenge Goldman on the issue. Another Democrat who spoke on the House floor against the warrant requirement, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., has not drawn a primary challenger yet. > > > > Trump is a bigger enigma. In 2018, his first administration opposed a warrant requirement, but last year he briefly urged Republicans to “[KILL FISA](https://theintercept.com/2024/11/05/trump-surveillance-power/)” — apparently because he [confused the 702 surveillance program](https://www.cato.org/commentary/trump-fisa-fact-check) with another that was used to spy on an adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign. > > > > In support of the current law, surveillance hawks will likely cite the findings of a [recent report](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26177517/26-002-review-of-the-federal-bureau-of-investigations-querying-practices-under-section-702-of-the-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act-2.pdf) from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. > > > > Based on internal oversight reports from the DOJ’s National Security Division, the inspector general said, “it appears that the FBI is no longer engaging in the widespread noncompliant querying of U.S. persons that was pervasive just a few years ago.” > > > > The report came with a crucial caveat. The inspector general relied on the FBI’s audits rather than conducting its own reviews of agents’ searches. The April 2024 to April 2025 period the report covered also meant that it tracked only a few weeks of Patel’s tenure. > > > > The post [Dan Goldman Supported Warrantless Spying on Americans. Now His Primary Opponent Is Hitting Him for It.](https://theintercept.com/2025/12/28/fisa-warrant-surveillance-dan-goldman-primary/) appeared first on [The Intercept](https://theintercept.com/). > > > > --- > > > > **From [The Intercept](https://theintercept.com/feed/?mk=fl_is_on_feature_page&mv=1) via [This RSS Feed](https://theintercept.com/feed/?mk=fl_is_on_feature_page&mv=1).**

Page 35. I haven't confirmed anything, so do your own research! Happy new privacy respecting year!

So my cousin was here and saw a grocery receipt on the table and asked if I was using it and if he could take a picture of it, I was like what, why? So, there is this app that pays you some cents for receipt pictures and supposedly it pays you if it finds items that have cashback... shit sounds sketchy as fuck, I saw that on their app they sell credit cards and you can invest in some crap, but what I really found disturbing is this thing about them paying you to send them all your receipts... what the fuck are they doing with that info lol Crazy stuff, but I'm completely out of touch with cellphone things, is this crap normal??? I was quite shocked by it, and checking the company online, Méliuz, I just see stuff about it buying bitcoin.

According to a [complaint](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Apitor-Complaint.pdf) filed by the U.S. Justice Department, following a referral from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Disney allegedly failed to tag kid-directed videos on YouTube as "Made for Kids" (MFK), a label that instructs YouTube to block personal data collection and stop displaying personalized ads on correctly designated content to protect children's privacy.

Regarding PGP being used between 2 providers, eg Google and Proton, what prevents Google from viewing the messages client side after they’ve been decrypted?

Hey everyone, I have a free protonmail account for years now and will be losing access to my (main) university mail soon. My proton mail is filling up and I will need a reliable personal mail address going forward. What is the current status with privacy oriented mail providers in the EU? I am willing to pay for my mail service but ideally not too much, protonmail is 4€/mo which is a bit much I think. What is the general opinion now after some months on the protonmail ceo? Will the Swiss privacy laws cause issues soon? What about tuta and mailbox.org? I think I want to switch to my own domain soon so supporting custom domains is definitely something I look for. Also the ability to use imap and not have a separate app would be good. Last time I checked half a year ago I found mailbox to be the best compromise but I decided it’s not worth the hassle yet to deal with my mail provider.

>edit: I changed my location and that seems to have worked for now. still a strange thing that it was localhost and not "site blocked" or something if my location was the issue. my VPN (ExpressVPN) was set to NJ. I switched to Toronto. **___** 🤷 hi all!! has anyone else had this issue and been able to fix it? it happens on any browser (vivaldi, brave, lightning, vivandium...), phone or desktop, if I'm connected to my VPN. I'm using startpage specifically because it's supposed to be privacy-focused... I don't want to keep disconnecting my VPN every time I have to make a search. (internet connection is working perfectly and no issues with other sites) (I have some other search engines I use for specific things, but looking to troubleshoot this if anyone knows the solution...)

I used to run this already sketchy software with its even sketchier crack on my old notebook because I really didn't give a fuck about how syphilitic it was, but now that I need it again and only have my current device, I'm kinda worried. ps: it needs internet connection.

Late night reading. :)

Is it worth unlocking the bootloader on my phone? It's a Samsung with One UI 7.0 (I've been avoiding upgrading to 8.0 since they don't let you unlock it after that). I just want to avoid having Google Services and AI installed. I use my phone to take photos of my art / send it to friends on signal and hate the idea of it being scanned by AI. I use a camera and gallery from fdroid but somehow the default photos app still has access (I know because it makes GIFs of pictures I took even though I marked permissions as "not allowed"). I also would love to get rid of the default apps I don't use. While I can unlock the bootloader (for now), I can't install a custom ROM because there are none compatible with my phone, so will I just be forced into using 8.0 at some point anyway? :( ATP I'm pretty much ready to give up smartphones and get a digital camera for anything I don't feel comfortable feeding to tech companies.

Learned a lot from this essay/presentation. One point that I "liked" is how Trump and US based big tech virtually (pun intended) hold other countries hostage, either with export/import tariffs or by threatening to stop trade ("adapt this policy or forget about trading with us") or with sensitive data. Also, this is the organization that he is working for. They have some tools for and guides on privacy too: https://www.eff.org/

Smart TVs with an internet connection: Lets grab screenshots and send them to cooperate analysis advertisement department.

Sorry if this is yesterday's news to you all, but I just found out about this Android app that makes it easier - as in, less steps - to encrypt and send any message in a highlight-copy-paste fashion, with automatic integration in several e-mail front ends. It still receives security updates and the repo is still maintained, but the app is no longer being actively developed to add new features. https://github.com/open-keychain/open-keychain

I'm gonna delete the account after selling my Quest 2 for the Steam Frame

TLDR: 1) I recommend the cyber security related podcast Jack Rhysider's Darknet Diaries. 2) This seemingly (former) normie guy who got hacked and then recovered gave me some insight into how cybercrime can affect people. Probably more related to cyber security and hygiene in general rather than pure privacy. I follow the amazing Jack Rhysider's Darknet Diaries and came across this video in one of his playlists on his YouTube channel. I appreciate and admire people who work with cyber security on either red or blue teams. I am also a huge fan of hackers that use their skills to stand up against oppressive regimes or for instance those hilarious guys that make videos of when they hack scammers. I mean, I obviously realize logically speaking that it must be a truly awful and horrible experience to become the victim of a sinister and malicious cybercrime, but until I saw this video, I had never really felt it. And I still haven't been a victim myself. I've invested a lot of time and energy in learning IT and networking in order to stay safe, both against private individuals but also against state level actors. But that's a different story. It's heartbreaking to hear how the hacker turned his hopes and dreams upsidedown, almost making him want to quit. Hats off for you (young?) man! His dexterity is fucking next level and it's inspirational!

I think it is possible to embed invisible information into videos and images. This way peopple could track where you got an image from, the source from which you copied it, and people who copy your image to share it again. https://github.com/ShieldMnt/invisible-watermark Services like youtube or twitter could embed such watermarks into content they serve to specific users without them knowing; Smartphone-cameras could mark images in secret. I guess blurring, rotating or dithering the image could destroy watermarks. Or maybe just sharing a screenshot of an image instead of the original image. Format conversions may help too. Keywords: digital-watermarking. tracking.

There is a lot of totalitarian shit going on, this being only one of the recent tragedies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fshsk8MCAf4 I always try to say to myself: don't wallow in grief, organize and act! Except for advocating for online privacy in one's everyday life and being politically active when I have the ability to, do you have any tips on what one can contribute with technologically, from home? I have: - A 1Gbps up/down connection - An RTX 3080 - A few Raspberry Pi:s - 20TB storage - A static public IP if I ask for it What I have found so far: - running a Tor bridge or guard/middld relay - bridge for the sake of our peers living in places where Tor in inaccessible and middle relay to contribute with bandwidth - running a Monero node - although my GPU is LHR, so perhaps it wouldn't contribute much to decentralization...?

I don't like Facebook, but my mother and my father-in law both have facebooks. I tried some different social medias but I can't make my mom go because the social medias are from other countries and stuff. Are there any American social medias where my mom would feel comfortable putting her face on? I usually don't put my face on social medias, sometimes I'll put a photo of a guy who kind of looks like me, and choose a photo that's taken from really far away, and people who don't know me that well will think it's me. My mom likes to put a headshot and then pixilated photos of the American flag and quotes from celebrity women she likes. That's kind of a facebook thing. Are there any social medias like that? Merry Christmas to all the Christians. I'm not Christian, so I get to be here. See you after church. I get to enjoy myself, and you're in uncomfortable clothing, hahaha.

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but I am using GOS on my 9 Pro and getting very mediocre SOT, like 5hrs. And that is WITH the following modifications: - Play Service has unrestricted battery for notifications - Everything else, if applicable, has restricted battery and no background network. I have 2 profiles but only 1 is active, the Owner one. The secondary i rarely use and I make sure to "end session". The main Owner profile runs default launcher, browser, some messaging apps, youtube, some google stuff, proton stuff. VPN is not on. Display is high res (lowest setting). Smooth display is off. All other stuff like wake on lift, tap to check, AOD...etc. are all OFF. What is your SOT and what settings did you make?

I have never liked PayPal and I am still forced to use them. Did you knew the longest password you can use us 20 characters? (I'm located within the European Union) Anyhow, I want something more private, but still quite convenient to use and have something in between my bank details and the site I'm shopping on. Years some companies make virtual temporary cards. I remember I tried getting privacy.com back in the day but couldn't as it was for Americans and Canadians at the time. Suggestions? :P

Just out of curiosity: Why would Graphene OS only choose Pixel phones? I mean, why should anyone shove money down Googles throat just to decouple from Google?

This is a year-old paper but now there is an easy-to-use implementation of the attack: https://github.com/gommzystudio/device-activity-tracker Signal developers' verdict is WONTFIX: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/pull/14463

I'm making my first post here on Leminal Space because I hear it's a better alternative to Reddit. One that's more privacy-oriented, less rage-baity, and less pro-corporate. About 9 months ago, I made the switch from a smartphone to a flip phone, and boy did it make my life so much better. I've become less dependent on technology, and I've become more self-sufficent. Printing maps with MapQuest and MyOSMmatic have been quite a lot of fun. And I also feel smarter because "Googling things" have become much more inconvenient. Carrying a notebook with me has also allowed me to draw more, and I also feel less distracted. Anyone else switched to a flip phone? If so, what are your ways to manage life without a smart phone?

I tried searching for answers as to why these machines are reaching out to numerous locations despite not using PrusaConnect. Location lookup returns the expected Czech, as well as location across the US. I recently also set a friend up with with an Elegoo printer and that was expectedly noisy as hell, but I was surprised with Prusa being the 'privacy pick'. For those curious, here's the logs since about midnight, it seemingly doesn't talk during the day. ``` 209.51.161.238:123 195.113.144.238:123 23.150.41.122:123 193.29.63.226:123 162.244.81.139:123 64.246.132.14:123 172.104.182.184:123 66.85.78.80:123 68.234.48.70:123 129.250.35.250:123 ``` Edit: Midnight brain forgot what ports are for, and that is for NTP, thanks yall

These cameras simply MUST go. This cannot stand. It's constant surveillance and a huge national security attack surface.

I'm considering the switch to GrapheneOS, so I watched this interview with one of the members of the GrapheneOS team, and honestly, I feel it was a great general introduction to it and touched on common features and misconceptions. For those who don't know, it's one of the most secure and private mobile operating systems out there. Some things that I took away: 1. They touched upon MAC randomization. I researched a bit on my own about what the need for it is. Apparently, it's standard practice to randomize MAC addresses when scanning WiFi connections. However, GrapheneOS (and Pixel firmware) are even better at this, as they make sure they don't leak any other identifiers when doing so. They also allow you to get a new random MAC for every connection that you make (not sure whether this is very useful, as this can cause problems). On a related note, even when WiFi/Bluetooth are "off," stock Android can still scan in the background to improve location accuracy (by matching visible networks/devices against Google's database). So basically, even with WiFi/Bluetooth off, Google still knows where you are. In GrapheneOS, this option is off by default. 2. They have their own reverse proxies that they use to talk to Google on your behalf when needed. 3. Apparently, in the USA you can be compelled to provide a fingerprint or Face ID. Courts have ruled this doesn't violate the 5th Amendment because it's physical, not testimonial. BUT you cannot be compelled to provide a password/PIN. That's considered testimonial evidence, protected by the 5th Amendment. GrapheneOS has a two-factor system where, after using your fingerprint, you still need to enter a PIN, so it helps with this. They also have a BFU state after reboot, which is the safest and requires you to enter your full passphrase.

This is in India, but coming soon to a country near you (or the one you are in already).

https://xcancel.com/H1BeesNuts/status/2002194641551307199#m https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union?wprov=sfla1

I haven't finished watching it, but it has some very interesting data points on privacy and how your privacy is being exposed even when you think it isn't.

I downloaded the app from the official website but I have to open the folder and open it from there. Is there anything wrong with having it on the dock? Thanks I'm a newb.

After some consideration, I've decided to replace my consumer router at home with an OpnSense box I control, and use the consumer router as just an access point. The model I have doesn't seem to support OpenWrt but the default firmware supports access point mode complete with mesh functionality, otherwise I would have just installed OpenWrt on it. I still like the consumer router's mesh Wi-Fi capabilities, especially the wireless range extender, but don't trust it enough to let it be the actual root device separating my home network from the open internet. My reasoning is that by having it behind the OpnSense router, I can monitor and detect if it's exfiltrating any "analytics" data and block them. Worst case scenario I realize it's too noisy with the analytics and buy a proper business grade access point, or an M.2 Wi-Fi 6 card with some beefy antennas. Now I'm trying to decide if I should use one of my old mini PCs or if I should get a brand new one with an up to date processor and microcode. The biggest reason I don't want the consumer router to be the root device anymore is because I don't know how well they patch their firmware against attackers constantly scanning the internet for vulnerable devices. I imagine an open source router OS with tons of eyes on it and used by actual professionals would inherently be more secure than whatever proprietary cost cut consumer firmware my current router has. I've already picked out a suitable mini PC I'm not using and the reason I even started down this rabbit hole is because I have it, but after thinking more about it, I'm worried that whatever security I gain might be undermined by the underlying hardware being old and outdated, especially since the processor is definitely pre Spectre/Meltdown and I doubt it's still getting microcode or firmware updates. Again, the reason I ask is because the internet really wants me to think old disused computers are perfect for converting into routers, and I really don't want to buy a new computer if I don't have to. How important is the hardware for a router? Can I expect OpnSense to have sufficient security on pretty much any hardware or will a sufficiently old computer completely defeat the purpose of even switching away from the consumer router? Alternatively, I also have another mini PC with a Ryzen 5 from 2020, and I can reposition it from its current job to router duty, though it would definitely be overkill and wasting the hardware capabilities. Would that be substantially more secure than an older Intel processor? I also have a Raspberry Pi 4 I can put OpenWrt on, would that somehow be more secure than an x64 computer?

> Want to buy online without handing over all your personal details? This sketch shows how to use privacy tools so you do not share unnecessary details with every merchant you interact with. Think email aliases, VOIP numbers, PMBs, and masked cards. > NBTV is a project of the Ludlow Institute, a 501c3 non profit whose mission is to advance freedom through technology. Ordering without revealing your name? With a PO box, virtual card, temporary email, etc.