About the company behind Canary Mail

Hello.

I have been following the community for some time, but this is my first post here. I am incredibly grateful for all the guidance and help I've found here, so I wanted to contribute some thoughts and get you valuable opinions. I read the rules, but if something is not right, I'm sorry in advance. I know Canary is proprietary software, but since it is the only recommended iOS email client in the site, I think the discussion is needed.

I posted this in the Canary Mail community looking for some clarification about the company behind the app.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CanaryMail/comments/snt5g8/whats\_going\_on\_with\_the\_company\_itself/

But at the time there has been no clarification, official or otherwise.

To me this is a bummer, because I also use Android and while I know there are better alternatives privacy-wise, Canary along with Spark are the best for features and usability, in my opinion.

So, what do you think about all this?

https://redd.it/ssgq78
@PrivacyGuides

is there any Tor-friendly social networks that are actually good?

Except for reddit (in case reddit is tor-friendly), is there any social network that allow tor?

https://redd.it/sshalz
@PrivacyGuides

Is RequestControl addon enough for skipping redirects?

Hi just wondering if RequestControl's builtin filters are enough for skipping redirects or if I need to use SkipRedirect addon as well? I'm not sure what' SkipRedirect redirects.

I found both of these addons in areknfox's recommendations https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions

I prefer to use RequestControl so that I can add my own custom redirection in the same addon, instead of having to use an additional addon (Redirector) for that. However I'm worried that it won't do what SkipRedirect does sufficiently. Can anyone illuminate me? I am not highly tech savvy so I don't understand how it all works.

​

Also a bonus question: is skipping redirection that big a deal? If I clear cookies at the end of my session does it really all matter? Why is it recommended when we're told to use as few extensions as possible?

https://redd.it/ssftpx
@PrivacyGuides

Would someone please share a good practice for using free protonmail with a free or paid alias service? Ive been using pm but have never used an alias and am a bit confused how many aliases should i need and which provider?

I also plan to upgrade to paid proton but am doing so when the next sale comes :)

https://redd.it/ssobrt
@PrivacyGuides

Sharing important notes with other person

I want to create a note with all of important things (like where I invest and how to get money out of there, where is my insurance, etc.) and share it with my wife, so she knows where to find things and what to do in case something happens to me. I was thinking about this for a few days, and honestly I have no idea which solution to choose. It can be as simple as writing things down to a paper or to install something like the bookstack app on my home server and create a note there.

https://redd.it/ssfkyo
@PrivacyGuides

SimpleX Chat

This one enters the competition, anyone already looks into this one?

​

https://simplex.chat/

https://redd.it/ssuiwz
@PrivacyGuides

How do I verify that my Google Authenticator is working properly?

Hi,

I'm traveling and flying across different time zones. I noticed that the 6 digit code generated by GA at the new time zone didn't work (the website that asked for it reported invalid code). I don't want to keep trying and they lock my account... I've heard that the time on the phone has to be correct for GA to generate correct code. Is there a way to verify that the 6 digit code generated by GA is correct before I try that website again? Please advise.

https://redd.it/ssvnrm
@PrivacyGuides

How do I verify that my Google Authenticator is working properly?

Hi,

I'm traveling and flying across different time zones. I noticed that the 6 digit code generated by GA at the new time zone didn't work (the website that asked for it reported invalid code). I don't want to keep trying and they lock my account... I've heard that the time on the phone has to be correct for GA to generate correct code. Is there a way to verify that the 6 digit code generated by GA is correct before I try that website again? Please advise.

https://redd.it/ssvnrm
@PrivacyGuides

SimpleX Chat

This one enters the competition, anyone already looks into this one?

​

https://simplex.chat/

https://redd.it/ssuiwz
@PrivacyGuides

Social Media Privacy by Increasing Noise

It's been established that mainstream social media services such as Instagram and TikTok are best avoided. However, there are some of us ~~who are not basement-dwelling redditors :P~~ who are in situations where there is a clear and tangible benefit to using these services, but would still prefer to retain some degree of privacy. These measures probably won't hold up against a state actor, but I hope that they will mitigate the effects of commercial exploitation through user monitoring and profiling.

This is a proof of concept (and might actually be a terrible idea) - please provide constructive feedback!

Most of these social media platforms have less-visible sections that your followers won't get notified on, and yet still can be used for tracking/analytics. By using various means, one could create noise in your activity by following and un-following random accounts at random, and posting AI-generated comments on random posts with lots of comments already. The idea is that by constantly shifting your demographic group and feeding the algorithm junk data, it would be difficult for companies to build a profile out of your true activity.

This would be in conjunction with other well-documented steps to mitigate tracking - using these services in an hardened and isolated environment (web browser, container, or VM instead of a native app), using a VPN/Tor, and GPS location spoofing - and of course, practicing due diligence on the user to not expose sensitive data.

### General Principles

Generally, a person conceals themselves through decreasing their signal-to-noise ratio, and this is no different with digital privacy. A lot of privacy measures are based decreasing your signal - making your own data trail "quieter" - through say, using privacy oriented services that doesn't keep track of a lot of data. In the real world, this is analogous to wearing camouflage or using smoke grenades.

The other approach is raising the noise - masking your data trail with a bunch of other trails. Tor can be used in this way; because Tor browsers should look identical to endpoints (assuming correct usage), any individual user on Tor is surrounded by lots of noise, making it hard to distinguish them from other users. Radar jamming works by the same principle - send so much radio waves against the target that they become blinded. However, I don't think this approach have been explored enough.

tl;dr post random shit, follow random people

https://redd.it/ssyuq7
@PrivacyGuides

Social Media Privacy by Increasing Noise

It's been established that mainstream social media services such as Instagram and TikTok are best avoided. However, there are some of us ~~who are not basement-dwelling redditors :P~~ who are in situations where there is a clear and tangible benefit to using these services, but would still prefer to retain some degree of privacy. These measures probably won't hold up against a state actor, but I hope that they will mitigate the effects of commercial exploitation through user monitoring and profiling.

This is a proof of concept (and might actually be a terrible idea) - please provide constructive feedback!

Most of these social media platforms have less-visible sections that your followers won't get notified on, and yet still can be used for tracking/analytics. By using various means, one could create noise in your activity by following and un-following random accounts at random, and posting AI-generated comments on random posts with lots of comments already. The idea is that by constantly shifting your demographic group and feeding the algorithm junk data, it would be difficult for companies to build a profile out of your true activity.

This would be in conjunction with other well-documented steps to mitigate tracking - using these services in an hardened and isolated environment (web browser, container, or VM instead of a native app), using a VPN/Tor, and GPS location spoofing - and of course, practicing due diligence on the user to not expose sensitive data.

### General Principles

Generally, a person conceals themselves through decreasing their signal-to-noise ratio, and this is no different with digital privacy. A lot of privacy measures are based decreasing your signal - making your own data trail "quieter" - through say, using privacy oriented services that doesn't keep track of a lot of data. In the real world, this is analogous to wearing camouflage or using smoke grenades.

The other approach is raising the noise - masking your data trail with a bunch of other trails. Tor can be used in this way; because Tor browsers should look identical to endpoints (assuming correct usage), any individual user on Tor is surrounded by lots of noise, making it hard to distinguish them from other users. Radar jamming works by the same principle - send so much radio waves against the target that they become blinded. However, I don't think this approach have been explored enough.

tl;dr post random shit, follow random people

https://redd.it/ssyuq7
@PrivacyGuides

Question about Synology NAS and their privacy policy

I'm considering getting a Synology NAS set up to get off Dropbox and Google Drive. While I am considering setting up Nextcloud, it seems the native Synology solution is way superior. Downside is that it's proprietary software and not FOSS.

What are your thoughts on their privacy policy and does anyone have a Synology NAS? If so, are you using Nextcloud on it?

Thanks!

https://redd.it/ssys93
@PrivacyGuides

Question about Synology NAS and their privacy policy

I'm considering getting a Synology NAS set up to get off Dropbox and Google Drive. While I am considering setting up Nextcloud, it seems the native Synology solution is way superior. Downside is that it's proprietary software and not FOSS.

What are your thoughts on their privacy policy and does anyone have a Synology NAS? If so, are you using Nextcloud on it?

Thanks!

https://redd.it/ssys93
@PrivacyGuides

Is there any web based YouTube alternatives rather then LBRY

Does anyone know of any other web based YouTube alternatives that don't track users

I would like the service to have these

Minimum age requirement of 13 years old to be allowed to create a account

You can change the thumbnail of your video

I also want to at some point make money from people watching the content I upload

https://redd.it/ssztnv
@PrivacyGuides

Social Media Privacy by Increasing Noise

It's been established that mainstream social media services such as Instagram and TikTok are best avoided. However, there are some of us ~~who are not basement-dwelling redditors :P~~ who are in situations where there is a clear and tangible benefit to using these services, but would still prefer to retain some degree of privacy. These measures probably won't hold up against a state actor, but I hope that they will mitigate the effects of commercial exploitation through user monitoring and profiling.

This is a proof of concept (and might actually be a terrible idea) - please provide constructive feedback!

Most of these social media platforms have less-visible sections that your followers won't get notified on, and yet still can be used for tracking/analytics. By using various means, one could create noise in your activity by following and un-following random accounts at random, and posting AI-generated comments on random posts with lots of comments already. The idea is that by constantly shifting your demographic group and feeding the algorithm junk data, it would be difficult for companies to build a profile out of your true activity.

This would be in conjunction with other well-documented steps to mitigate tracking - using these services in an hardened and isolated environment (web browser, container, or VM instead of a native app), using a VPN/Tor, and GPS location spoofing - and of course, practicing due diligence on the user to not expose sensitive data.

### General Principles

Generally, a person conceals themselves through decreasing their signal-to-noise ratio, and this is no different with digital privacy. A lot of privacy measures are based decreasing your signal - making your own data trail "quieter" - through say, using privacy oriented services that doesn't keep track of a lot of data. In the real world, this is analogous to wearing camouflage or using smoke grenades.

The other approach is raising the noise - masking your data trail with a bunch of other trails. Tor can be used in this way; because Tor browsers should look identical to endpoints (assuming correct usage), any individual user on Tor is surrounded by lots of noise, making it hard to distinguish them from other users. Radar jamming works by the same principle - send so much radio waves against the target that they become blinded. However, I don't think this approach have been explored enough.

tl;dr post random shit, follow random people

https://redd.it/ssyuq7
@PrivacyGuides

Is Paypal safe?

Was thinking of maybe getting an account, but would like to know any risks beforehand. Is Paypal safe for the most part or should I use something else?

https://redd.it/st2rm3
@PrivacyGuides

Librewolf questions

Using LibreWolf as my main browser. What is best:

LibreWolf for personal stuff and Brave for college stuff
Both on Librewolf + Firefox Containers?

​

Brave has a easy on-off toggle for loosen restrictions, or even entirely turn them off for a specific website. Can Librewolf do something similar? Unfortunately I'm having trouble with it on a couple websites that I trust :(

https://redd.it/sszzog
@PrivacyGuides

Open Source Phones

Anyone have experience with FOSS Devices (fossdevices.com)? It looks interesting (if a bit pricey), and I'm wondering how they actually function as phones.

https://redd.it/st2dpe
@PrivacyGuides

From iCloud to NextCloud

Hey, so recently I've asked about a cloud to store personal files. And after that I was intriged about nextcloud, and I'll going to give it a try.

So currently I have 60GB's of personal files encrypted with cryptomator on iCloud.

I want something that's easy to share with my family in their mobiles, and I think nextcloud is "cool" for that.

The problem is pricing, I don't know what to choose for the best budget.

On iCloud I'm paying about 2,99€ for 200gb, and was currently looking at contabo and hetzner.

​

What's your guys opinions on that?

​

Thanks!

https://redd.it/st14sh
@PrivacyGuides

How to go completely private?

Basically, I have wanted to go down a minimalist + private + low EMF route for a long time now. I've already removed all my photos etc from iCloud and stored them in a hard drive. I've started listening to music on the old FiiO X1 First Gen which has no bluetooth nor WiFi features. But, I still have my iPhone (albeit with location services, etc turned off). For the low EMF part, I store my iPhone in a copper-taped box I DIY'd for when I go to sleep and other hours of the day when I'm at home (which actually works). My reasons for this should be obvious to most people in this community anddd well social media obsession has never really done me any good.

Nevertheless, I do often need to use uber + navigation tools such as google maps in order to get from place to place; moreover, I need to keep in touch with my family and answer my mom's calls (as you do when you're a teen) when I'm out. So my question is, how do I make my iPhone more untraceable and secure? I don't want to use it to make calls nor for general apps, nevertheless I do want to continue using it for google maps and uber; how do I do this without continuously having a sim in it? Is MySudo legit?

On another note, what phone should I use to make end-to-end encrypted calls and what phone emits little-to-none radio waves?

Thank you :)

https://redd.it/stas2b
@PrivacyGuides

Netlify

Hi! I was wondering what is your opinion about Netlify. I have seen that PG uses Netlify for previews but apparently not for the final website. On one hand, Netlify offers very convenient hosting for static sites (security!). On the other hand, it uses AWS as far as I know. From a European user / GDPR point of view, are there any issues with using AWS (American servers, privacy?), or does it not matter as long as you host a privacy friendly website. What do you think about the additional features (functions, forms, identity)? Many thanks!

https://redd.it/sszo8q
@PrivacyGuides