Is Online Privacy Important?
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I think it entirely depends on your aspirations in life. For instance, there's going to be an entire generation of politicians who will have their online histories raked over and used against them. I'd say starting NOW there will have to be kids who are raised to know not to ever use the same username, etc. and any social media, if they intend to go into politics. No amount of money will erase it all.
The other issue, in the same vein, is that these social media sites that are politicized and the NSA and whatever big brother nonsense you have in your own country, nothing is stopping them from fabricating data and meta data that proves you did this and that online. Nobody is safe and everyone is a target if you try to impact society.
Philosphically, yes it matters no matter what. They're invading your privacy and selling it off to the highest bidder or are compulsorily giving it to the governments.
Pragmatically, if you're a regular joe, trying to avoid it is going to cause you grief and reduce your access to some types of information and entertainment.
So, unless you're going to become a social figure, I wouldn't worry about it, unless you're doing illegal things, in which case "good luck."
There is a risk of becoming a CEO of your hand-built company and then deciding to make donations to an NGO or political party and before you know it you're getting dragged through the mud in the media and then kicked out of your own company. We've seen them do that too many times to count.
The bottom line is we're all screwed already in this fast approaching cyberpunk dystopia, but the next generations might be able to opt out to a certain degree. But with all the in-house surveillance they're convincing people to buy, and all the smart home stuff, nothing is safe. And remember, every speaker can become a microphone, and every camera remotely activated, especially if they're connected to the net in some fashion.
Good luck, bros.
The other issue, in the same vein, is that these social media sites that are politicized and the NSA and whatever big brother nonsense you have in your own country, nothing is stopping them from fabricating data and meta data that proves you did this and that online. Nobody is safe and everyone is a target if you try to impact society.
Philosphically, yes it matters no matter what. They're invading your privacy and selling it off to the highest bidder or are compulsorily giving it to the governments.
Pragmatically, if you're a regular joe, trying to avoid it is going to cause you grief and reduce your access to some types of information and entertainment.
So, unless you're going to become a social figure, I wouldn't worry about it, unless you're doing illegal things, in which case "good luck."
There is a risk of becoming a CEO of your hand-built company and then deciding to make donations to an NGO or political party and before you know it you're getting dragged through the mud in the media and then kicked out of your own company. We've seen them do that too many times to count.
The bottom line is we're all screwed already in this fast approaching cyberpunk dystopia, but the next generations might be able to opt out to a certain degree. But with all the in-house surveillance they're convincing people to buy, and all the smart home stuff, nothing is safe. And remember, every speaker can become a microphone, and every camera remotely activated, especially if they're connected to the net in some fashion.
Good luck, bros.
turbin3
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This is a tough one, because the technical barrier to achieve privacy is becoming insane. It's honestly beyond the average person at this point. Most browsers can't even be trusted these days. Certainly, employees of these large tech companies have more than demonstrated that they are not to be trusted, especially if your political viewpoints differ from theirs.
For the average person, they probably don't need to worry as much about the big 4 or 5 tech companies. Though, I would say the more a person becomes a public figure, business owner, or the more they delve into controversial topics, it's increasingly important to separate social identity from true identity.
My recommendation is, for those that are going to get into subjects and activities that are surrounded with controversy or high emotion, it might be wise to consider doing so with personas. If it's any indicator, some of my personas now have their own burner phones... LOL I warn you, though, this is a deep and never-ending rabbit hole.
For more legit and less controversial endeavors, I'd say focus on the following:
Strong Passwords
Also, one last thing I thought I'd mention. For those that are a bit more technically inclined (pretty much anyone here), another thing that helps is beefing up your system's HOSTS file. In Windows, for example, this file is usually found somewhere like:
You can find it here: Someone Who Cares
If you're not familiar with it, what HOSTS files do is tell your computer how to treat certain domains, when trying to connect to them. For example, say you want to block sites from loading Google's DoubleClick tracking pixels. You'd mod your hosts file and give it an internal IP address for that domain name (usually 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0), which would basically tell your system not to even allow anything from that domain to load. Kind of like this:
So if you had this in your hosts file, and if you had dev tools open in your browser, when you went to a page that tried to load a pixel from that domain, you'd see errors in the network tab saying something to the effect of "connection refused".
This is by no means foolproof. Any of the large tech companies, like Google, usually have multiple methods implemented with any given service, so even if the default pixel doesn't load, some other version may still load. Also, be aware that modding hosts files like this can sometimes create issues on different sites. For example, if you're blocking Google Tag Manager, some sites might actually be loading some of their resource files through GTM. So if you block GTM, some sites might not even load.
You'll have to play with this and find a sweet spot that works for you. If anything, it will at least knock out a ton of bloated tracking scripts from lots of sites, helping speed up your browsing experience!
For the average person, they probably don't need to worry as much about the big 4 or 5 tech companies. Though, I would say the more a person becomes a public figure, business owner, or the more they delve into controversial topics, it's increasingly important to separate social identity from true identity.
My recommendation is, for those that are going to get into subjects and activities that are surrounded with controversy or high emotion, it might be wise to consider doing so with personas. If it's any indicator, some of my personas now have their own burner phones... LOL I warn you, though, this is a deep and never-ending rabbit hole.
For more legit and less controversial endeavors, I'd say focus on the following:
Strong Passwords
- KeePass. Use it.
- I don't write passwords, I generate them. Generate insane ones. Like 80+ characters, when a platform supports it. I usually stick to alphanumeric characters, as some other character types can create issues on certain platforms.
- I don't use online password services. KeePass is on my computer, and I trust that. A bit of an inconvenience to have to copy/paste from within a program, but accepting that inconvenience is something to learn to enjoy. In this context, it just means you're improving your security. More convenience generally = less security.
- Use one all the time if possible. There are many good ones. I've had good success with ProtonVPN and Torguard.
- Absolutely use one anytime you're on WiFi, especially in public.
- Consider creating a separate email for certain purposes, like registering social accounts.
- Think about times when you might be providing an email to another person or organization. Stuff like applying for jobs. What else might they find if they start searching for that email address?
- Just use separate ones for different purposes and avoid that issue entirely.
Also, one last thing I thought I'd mention. For those that are a bit more technically inclined (pretty much anyone here), another thing that helps is beefing up your system's HOSTS file. In Windows, for example, this file is usually found somewhere like:
Code:
C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hostsYou can find it here: Someone Who Cares
If you're not familiar with it, what HOSTS files do is tell your computer how to treat certain domains, when trying to connect to them. For example, say you want to block sites from loading Google's DoubleClick tracking pixels. You'd mod your hosts file and give it an internal IP address for that domain name (usually 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0), which would basically tell your system not to even allow anything from that domain to load. Kind of like this:
Code:
0.0.0.0 ad.doubleclick.netSo if you had this in your hosts file, and if you had dev tools open in your browser, when you went to a page that tried to load a pixel from that domain, you'd see errors in the network tab saying something to the effect of "connection refused".
This is by no means foolproof. Any of the large tech companies, like Google, usually have multiple methods implemented with any given service, so even if the default pixel doesn't load, some other version may still load. Also, be aware that modding hosts files like this can sometimes create issues on different sites. For example, if you're blocking Google Tag Manager, some sites might actually be loading some of their resource files through GTM. So if you block GTM, some sites might not even load.
You'll have to play with this and find a sweet spot that works for you. If anything, it will at least knock out a ton of bloated tracking scripts from lots of sites, helping speed up your browsing experience!
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This is the exact problem I had when I tried to take privacy "seriously". It just caused more headaches than needed to. Which lead me to the question if it was really that important in the grand scheme of things.
What I've done is use Cryptomator to sync my database(so I have the latest version of passwords) between multiple devices but keep the database key on a flash drive.
What do you think about it?
turbin3
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That sounds like a decent solution. I do something somewhat similar, though manually copying updates between devices. Not at all necessary, I'm just weird about how I do stuff like that. lol
You're right though, it is ridiculously difficult to deal with this issue these days. The layers of vulnerability and their potential implications are just too much for most people to deal with while still keeping their sanity. At the end of the day, it should be about achieving confidence in one's security and safety. Kind of hard to have confidence when 99% of the focus ends up being significant worries about being attacked from 1,000 different angles.
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I honestly can't be bothered beyond using different passwords for everything and saving those in an encrypted password keeper software. I use Msecure. Other than that, I turn my webcam around when I'm not using it and I use Incognito Mode for those extra special sites.
If I'm not a target, nobody is going to dig that hard to take me down or get into my accounts. If I am a target, there's nothing I can do to stop bad actors. And like they said above, there's nothing to stop the evil silicon valley companies and governments from framing you anyways.
If I'm not a target, nobody is going to dig that hard to take me down or get into my accounts. If I am a target, there's nothing I can do to stop bad actors. And like they said above, there's nothing to stop the evil silicon valley companies and governments from framing you anyways.
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I used to want to have no photos of me online, basically be a ghost.
But it's just not often worth it.
I need a FB account to handle a business page. I need other social business pages, ex: Instagram app for my phone. Then a G+ for Youtube. Then you've got white pages, Zillow with property ownership data, business corporation details, etc. High school directories. Domain registrations. It goes on and on... Sure you can hide/keep private a good deal, but in the end...
If you want to be a public figure online or a celebrity, etc. Or run a business and appear real, you've got to build out profiles. Even if you want to be a peasant and work a 9-5, imagine what happens when an employer G's you and can't find you on LinkedIn, FB, twitter, etc. For most I'd imagine it's just odd and they move onto another person. The next person they see family photos, positive status updates with lots of likes from friends, a linkedin page with recommendations, and that candidate looks dreamy.
In today's age, you really don't have a choice... I'll tell Wallgreens to fuck off when they ask me for my rewards card (which by the way is their way of allowing them to share/sell your PRIVATE pharmacy medical info in exchange for giving you a tiny reward lol). Those things I try to decline/etc when I can, but man everyone these days is after data. Or everyone is willing to give it up for this or that.
I try to limit it when possible, but it's tough to limit it 100%.
Another thing comes to mind was my fingerprints, which I really didn't want Apple to have through my iPhone. But then I had to give up my fingerprints for my concealed carry for my firearm to the gov. So at the end of the day, that data is out there.
But it's just not often worth it.
I need a FB account to handle a business page. I need other social business pages, ex: Instagram app for my phone. Then a G+ for Youtube. Then you've got white pages, Zillow with property ownership data, business corporation details, etc. High school directories. Domain registrations. It goes on and on... Sure you can hide/keep private a good deal, but in the end...
If you want to be a public figure online or a celebrity, etc. Or run a business and appear real, you've got to build out profiles. Even if you want to be a peasant and work a 9-5, imagine what happens when an employer G's you and can't find you on LinkedIn, FB, twitter, etc. For most I'd imagine it's just odd and they move onto another person. The next person they see family photos, positive status updates with lots of likes from friends, a linkedin page with recommendations, and that candidate looks dreamy.
In today's age, you really don't have a choice... I'll tell Wallgreens to fuck off when they ask me for my rewards card (which by the way is their way of allowing them to share/sell your PRIVATE pharmacy medical info in exchange for giving you a tiny reward lol). Those things I try to decline/etc when I can, but man everyone these days is after data. Or everyone is willing to give it up for this or that.
I try to limit it when possible, but it's tough to limit it 100%.
Another thing comes to mind was my fingerprints, which I really didn't want Apple to have through my iPhone. But then I had to give up my fingerprints for my concealed carry for my firearm to the gov. So at the end of the day, that data is out there.