Why haven't private carriers emerged yet?
Alright, so:
When you visit a website without using a VPN/Proxy/Tor, the website can see your public IP address. That public IP address is unique (with exceptions I'll get to in a moment) to your home router. NAT means that each device connected to your router (Wi-Fi) has a local IP address, hidden to the website, but your routers IP is still unique to the website. That means that, even if you switch devices, if you visit a website using your home network the website knows that it is your Wi-Fi and not somebody else's. That means that you can get tracked across websites just by correlating public IP addresses. Ads can see this IP address too. The public IP address by itself is enough to narrow down your location to the exact city, in most cases. So, when you visit a website, the website knows
- The city you live in
- Can correlate your public IP address (ad networks usually do this, not the website itself) to all the other websites you've ever visited
If your ISP uses dynamic IP addresses, that means your public IP address changes every month or so, so that #2 only has a history of about a month. CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT) means that multiple routers share the same public IP address, which removes #2 altogether. This still lets websites know the city you live in, but it reduces mass internet surveilling.
I may have gotten a few minute details a bit off, but that's a basic shake down of how it works. TL;DR: Your IP can uniquely identify each of your devices if you don't have NAT, your router if you do have NAT but not CGNAT, and the city you live in. Find an ISP that uses IPv6, dynamic IP addresses, and CGNAT, and use a elite proxy, free VPN, and Tor with a private DNS for maximum privacy.
"I have a mechanical car." hits different...
Here are some helpful links from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) on the topic:
https://www.eff.org/wp/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices
https://www.eff.org/files/2017/03/10/digital-privacy-border-2017-guide3.10.17.pdf
https://www.eff.org/files/2018/01/11/border-pocket-guide-2.pdf
https://www.eff.org/issues/border-searches
I'm sure there's more that I haven't put here, feel free to sift through the search page
Having lived in the U.S. my whole life, (and this doesn't speak for everyone), it's not the dystopia people make it out to be all the time. In fact, people will likely judge you for wearing a face mask. If you care about hiding your face, sunglasses and a cap is enough. Remember to be reasonable with your threat model!
I remember I tried out Spotube on my computer but the code wouldn’t work.
It's buggy, but it works good enough with some effort.
How does Graphene differ from Lineage, in any way that it is preferable?
This table compares Android ROMs based on a lot of metrics. Basically, Lineage isn't as private as people think, but Graphene does it proper. Let me know if you have specific questions :)
I am looking into buying a Samsung S9/S10 to install LineageOS on.
If you have the money, check out GrapheneOS!
Part of me wants to download my music from Spotify and store it somewhere, but iPhone Drive isn’t the greatest when it comes to that. Maybe somebody has (free/FOSS) suggestions?
Spotube does this really well
Running on Lockdown Mode now, and it’s actually not that bad!
I have only had issues with it twice, been using it for a year
- Images on a website wouldn't load (for security reasons)
- Some apps break, but you can disable it per-app
Cool! Thank you!
Yes, the purpose is for less fingerprinting in case my browser doesn't spoof it properly.
I need to read up on NAT and CGNAT, I'll reply again tomorrow. Cheers!
Are you just meaning not piracy?
Yes.
Thanks for creating your own post!
I also have a graphing calculator that can generate these.
This is a unique solution that I will add to my toolbelt for the future! Which calculator is it?
However, I fear that the cat’s already out of the bag.
Data gets stale! It's never too late to start, and it's always better to prevent future disaster than to dwell on old ones. I used to use Instagram + as my main chat platform, and now I have no worries because what's done is done and I learned better.
However, my sixth form cafeteria only accepts two forms of payment: biometric (handled internally) and debit card.
Dystopia... Have you asked if you can explicitly use cash? If you're up for it, push for the use of it in your school. I know plenty of students that use cash religiously for lunch.
Some shows I enjoy (i.e. Helluva Boss)
Hazbin Hotel is one of my favorites
My local timezone just happens to be the same as UTC
That is truly a lucky thing, as it reduces a lot of fingerprinting.
I’m still salty about Apple removing the headphone jack and then every other phone company following suit.
Me too, but fret not, as there are adapters and (most likely, I haven't checked) non-disposable USB-C earphones.
I will never use Amazon Echo or Google Home.
I will never use Alexa. Or really anything that turns my home automated.
"Alexa, open the door."
"I'm sorry, your voice is not recognized and your plan has been cancelled. Please contact support and we will respond within 3-5 business days."
Obviously that will never happen, but it's not so unreal...
Start using multiple browsers
I used to stick to only one, but found out that it's easier to be as private as I can and "move down the assembly line" until something works.
Use cash more often
I withdrew almost all my funds from my bank and only used my card if I ran out of cash on a run.
Anonymise social media
No helping you there. I found out that even the smallest details I put out collectively could be used to uniquely identify me, after making only two posts.
Try to get family to ditch Meta
If you can, great. Otherwise, just try not to get posted on their socials.
Look into BIOS and UEFI hardening
Really just use an open source BIOS and slap a password on it (with Heads if you want) and you're all set. Careful not to brick your PC.
Buy a privacy screen protector and faraday equipment
One note about privacy screen protectors: If your brightness (specifically white point) is too high, people can see it. You can enable "reduce white point" on iOS, and set it to 100%, and that works well even on max brightness. Smudges can also let people see. Turn your phone horizontal (if you're testing in public) and tilt it slightly to see how much people can see in your current environment.
Good luck! You have a pretty good setup! I hope you make the improvements you want, and learn along the way!
- Since this is a fresh install of Secureblue, I have the default rules in place. I will eventually take a day to crack down and find out what rules I want.
- This explains now to harden iOS
- Thanks for letting this inspire you to make your own!
Do you know if the funding issue is resolved?
I do not.
What are these ethical movie streaming sources?
Netflix, Amazon Prime, places that host copyright free movies, etc.
Have you tried this process? https://mashable.com/article/how-to-blur-your-house-on-google-street-view
I have not, thank you!
Thanks for sharing! Most IP addresses are specific enough to locate cities by themselves, just a note.
A few notes on the article
- The article is 3 years old
One type of attack, for example, would identify users by minute differences in the clock times on their computers.
This is unreliable, I would like to see how exactly it was done.
- It references some exploits that have been patched
- One of the points mentioned is simply "He was the only one using Tor on the network at the time", which still didn't deanonymize him from Tor's perspective.
Anybody can operate Tor nodes and collect your data and IP address
Anyone can operate a node, nobody can collect your decrypted data, because of E2EE. Guards can see your IP address, which is why you can use a VPN behind Tor.
I stopped skimming after that. Anyone who wants to continue can, but I'd say the article is mostly stale.
This is a good guide on how to harden iOS. Basically iOS made as private as possible.
Thank you, I'll check it out!
This was very helpful, thank you! While I'm well aware of encrypted messaging apps, it seems more beneficial to encrypt all traffic, since not all traffic is just messaging and not everyone uses encrypted messaging apps.