The Daily Web Log for Prepared Individuals Living in Uncertain Times.
E-Mail 'Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.' To A Friend
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12 Comments
Great discussion topic. Even if you don’t think you are doing anything of interest to anyone, advertisers or government agencies, you are! I use several of the browser and email services mentioned. I have been upgrading my security as I find new tools. Most are free.
Wow, I felt like I had written that article, as I am already doing all those things (and thinking those things 🙂 ), with the exception of DuckDuckGo – I prefer IXquick, but only because the results seems to be more accurate for my needs. I also use a VPN on my iPhone, and occasioanally keep my iPhone in a Faraday bag when out and about. Sometimes based on my specific destinations, sometimes just to confuse the trackers.
DuckDuckGo is US based
.
IXquick is based offshore.
.
Does it matter? I don’t know for sure.
.
I also use IXquick.
Oh yes and if using an iPhone, and you use the dictate function, keep in mind all that text is going to the Apple servers and back, so manual typing may be called for sometimes.
Also consider using Brave (brave.com) as your web browser. Very privacy oriented.
Brave also has features built in which perform the function of AdBlock Plus and similar add-ons.
Does keeping your Location/GPS option turned off do any good? I don’t use the maps or location services on any apps.
You need to turn off using Wifi for location, and disable location services and history. They don’t call it wifi, they call it “battery saving” or “high accuracy” but it isn’t really. But because real GPS uses lots of battery, it will be left off unless you are in Google Maps or some other program that uses location, and GPS is all you need for navigation.
Extensions like Ghostery and Privacy Badger will also eliminate trackers, as will the Brave or Duck Duck Go browser (the latter on Android).
Dont recommend adblock plus. It is closed source and has ties ro thw ad industry with default white lists and pay to get through models. Ublock origin is open source, light on cpu, and no payola whitelisting shennanigans.
Also consider tutanota for email. While proton is solid and now open source for client apps tuta is open all the way around. Good on browser and apps for devices.
And be honest proprietary mobile devices are all deeply hooked tracking devices by nature, you are just choosing to pay a premium for yours.
Proton Mail has a free email offering, but for $300/yr or so you can get the ‘Visionary’ package which gives you a bunch of good stuff like VPN, alternate aliases and domains, etc. Basically you can create your own secure comm network for 5 people.
Also, if your browser doesn’t automatically support and post info for HTTPs Anywhere, get an addon so you can see when you are on vulnerable websites.
Also, Secure DNS (like Commodo) is another easy step to take to make you less trackable online.
Great discussion topic. Even if you don’t think you are doing anything of interest to anyone, advertisers or government agencies, you are! I use several of the browser and email services mentioned. I have been upgrading my security as I find new tools. Most are free.
Wow, I felt like I had written that article, as I am already doing all those things (and thinking those things 🙂 ), with the exception of DuckDuckGo – I prefer IXquick, but only because the results seems to be more accurate for my needs. I also use a VPN on my iPhone, and occasioanally keep my iPhone in a Faraday bag when out and about. Sometimes based on my specific destinations, sometimes just to confuse the trackers.
DuckDuckGo is US based
.
IXquick is based offshore.
.
Does it matter? I don’t know for sure.
.
I also use IXquick.
Oh yes and if using an iPhone, and you use the dictate function, keep in mind all that text is going to the Apple servers and back, so manual typing may be called for sometimes.
Also consider using Brave (brave.com) as your web browser. Very privacy oriented.
Brave also has features built in which perform the function of AdBlock Plus and similar add-ons.
Does keeping your Location/GPS option turned off do any good? I don’t use the maps or location services on any apps.
You need to turn off using Wifi for location, and disable location services and history. They don’t call it wifi, they call it “battery saving” or “high accuracy” but it isn’t really. But because real GPS uses lots of battery, it will be left off unless you are in Google Maps or some other program that uses location, and GPS is all you need for navigation.
Extensions like Ghostery and Privacy Badger will also eliminate trackers, as will the Brave or Duck Duck Go browser (the latter on Android).
NSA collects 500M call records in 2017.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-surveillance/spy-agency-nsa-collected-500-million-u-s-call-records-in-2017-a-sharp-rise-official-report-idUSKBN1I52FR
Dont recommend adblock plus. It is closed source and has ties ro thw ad industry with default white lists and pay to get through models. Ublock origin is open source, light on cpu, and no payola whitelisting shennanigans.
Also consider tutanota for email. While proton is solid and now open source for client apps tuta is open all the way around. Good on browser and apps for devices.
And be honest proprietary mobile devices are all deeply hooked tracking devices by nature, you are just choosing to pay a premium for yours.
Proton Mail has a free email offering, but for $300/yr or so you can get the ‘Visionary’ package which gives you a bunch of good stuff like VPN, alternate aliases and domains, etc. Basically you can create your own secure comm network for 5 people.
Also, if your browser doesn’t automatically support and post info for HTTPs Anywhere, get an addon so you can see when you are on vulnerable websites.
Also, Secure DNS (like Commodo) is another easy step to take to make you less trackable online.