§ɦṛɛɗɗịɛ ßịⱺ𝔩ⱺɠịᵴŧ
“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” - Rich Feynman
- 20 Posts
- 80 Comments
Running as much open-sourced privacy oriented software as possible. This includes on computers, routers, and phones. While this is 100% a marathon, not just a quick change, it’s well worth the time. Utilizing an encrypted DNS would be another solid move. NextDNS is a fantastic choice as it has a free option which still provides granular control of what is filtered online. A trusted VPN mixing your internet traffic with others is great, but like you said, it’s not a magic bullet whatsoever.
Best bet will be to purchase Monero (XMR) anonymously, it’s literally designed to be anonymous, then swap it into BTC. You’ll then want a hard wallet to keep it secure until you have a reason to transfer it. Ledger is a decent option for a hard wallet, just be sure it’s paid for in the XMR you bought anonymously or the BTC you swapped for XMR. NanoS is my recommendation for the specific wallet, but the tricky part will be getting it shipped to you anonymously as you CAN’T trust a used hard wallet.
I had to change my address to my physical address from a PO Box in the first week of the year to prevent my account getting closed. This was with a major bank, and it’s all thanks to the patriot act. Then again, I do have a checking account with a much smaller bank and they haven’t said a word about it. I use the street address with a “unit number” for my box. Seems like they either haven’t dug into it and realized it’s a PO Box or they’re just small enough where they don’t care much about it like the big banks. So basically, you need a physical address these days, if you don’t you risk account closure.
In the top left there should be a search option. In settings preferences, be sure it’s set up to search all sources. I get tons of articles when putting in pretty specific topics.
Edit: It’s in the preferences under the file tab. Here’s screenshots of my home screen, plus the preferences I use for it to search papers.
There’s proof they allowed Microsoft to use trackers though…I dig DDG as they were one of the first functional alternative search engines to Google with an emphasis on privacy, yet there are much better options today. I’m going to have to peep kagi based on this thread, but I’ll need to be strongly convinced to switch from SearXNG.
I moved away from Brave Search when they went 2+ months only offering Google or Bing for their image searches. I can strongly recommend digging into https://search.disroot.org though!
This for me is the biggest privacy issue. The FBI having contracts which allow them to turn on and collect whatever data certain device can acquire, its fully bonkers. These contracts focus on massively sold devices. iPhones, Androids, along with Samsung TV’s have all been caught in the same mess. So I’d say keep searching for a TV until you find one which fits your threat model. They want you to give and buy a Samsung TV, so fuck em and keep on keepin on!
I just setup a new Windows 10 VM this morning and it was the first time I was not able to skip making a Microsoft account. So I just used an email alias and then instantly paused the email address after receiving the verification code. Regarding your uncertainty around what seems to be Microsoft having access to the email inbox somehow, I can’t see how that’d be possible unless the email is maintained by them or you decided to use Outlook. Use a burner email and make sure it’s only provided for the Teams account and you’ll be in a much better place than most Teams users.
The fact you linked Disroots Cryptpad tells me you should also be using search.disroot.org too, no? From my digging around, SearX is as private as it gets plus the Disroot team is more transparent and trustworthy than Ecosia in my book. But solid job with your first article!
Disregard whatever you’ve heard about installing Linux on the device, find the agreement given with it and see what it says. If no reference is made to doing your thing then returning it with the same setup, I’d say you’re in the clear. I’d bet the agreement covers damage, lost and stolen aspects plus returning it good condition, yet if you reinstall the software like it was provided they’d have to be very explicit about not loading Linux. If they do, you could use linux on a USB without installation. This could get you off the spyware while not breaking the rules if they are in writing.
Pixel is the new age Nexus phone, meaning Google designed it with dev’s in mind. This is why you’re able to unlock the bootloader, flash a new OS and then relock it. The hardware is for sure the most secure on the market too. Android also being based off the Linux kernel means Google’s required to publish the code for it as well. These aspects are why it’s a common choice for privacy respecting OS’s. If Google wants to stand toe to toe with Apple, they have to incentivize it’s use and this is a decent approach.
I’d say use Firefox for 3 months, there’s some adjusting needed but it’s really grown on me. Bromites last and final update was 8 months ago, so definitely find a replacement. Mull is a fantastic mobile browser, privacy focused and even has extentions. But Ladybird is a new browser in the works which isn’t chromium or FF based, maybe give that a try whenever its released as well.
If you’re talking OpenWRT, then I totally agree. But something like Asus Merlin is a relatively easy change and still provides additional protection. While part of the Asus code is closed-source, most is open-sourced and Asus has implemented improvements developed by the Merlin team. This shows Merlin knows what they’re doing and are trustworthy too.