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

merOS-virt - Build and Interact with a Set of Virtual Machines.

Hello r/PrivacyGuides !

My name is Aaran Ailbhe, and I am the author of merOS-virt.

This is a Python3-powered project that can Bootstrap, Configure, Pack, Virtualize and Network a set of VMs.

Let's imagine Docker had a child with Tails, and that child married Qubes!

merOS-virt comes not as a replacement for the aforementioned tools, but rather as a new, modular, minimal and flexible solution to an age old problem- Security.

By providing a flexible framework for building and managing VMs, we can come closer to a more open and accessible framework around the concept of security-by-isolation.

Other uses of the project could be Custom Virtual Labs:

For secure application testing.
For sensitive authentication procedures.
For penetration testing against Vulnhub/ or custom machines.
Whatever obscure networked/ or not set-up, one might imagine.

As stated also in the README ( Along more detailed descriptions of the project parts ) I am by no means a professional developer.

I only mean to help, towards a more flexible and secure solution\- not for the novice users ( initially, at least ) but for Linux power-users as well- Those who want granular control, and to audit every part of the code.\-

Please feel free to check out the code, clone the repo, and try out this 1st alpha release!

​

Cheers!

AA

https://redd.it/ssz3gk
@PrivacyGuides

Surveillance ​​Tech Firm Offers Cops Facial Recognition to ID Homeless People
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdp7x/tech-firm-facial-recognition-homeless-people-odin

https://redd.it/stdy8k
@PrivacyGuides

Alternative to Microsoft To Do?

Hello! Does somebody know a good and free privacy-focused alternative to Microsoft To Do?

https://redd.it/st5d2k
@PrivacyGuides

Is raindrop.io safe to use

the UI looks cooler than wallabag but the dev is russian

https://redd.it/st0j8v
@PrivacyGuides

Privacy-Centric Alternatives To Bit.ly

I need a service that shortens URLs and tracks clicks on links. Other features helpful, not mandatory.

https://redd.it/stimh6
@PrivacyGuides

I'm getting bull$hit Results from Searx and DDG etc.

So I did a search on various Republican candidates I'd like to know more about and ended up with the first 6 or so coming up with glowing reviews and conspiracy theories.

Beyond those initial results it wasn't so rosy and actually showed them to be complete Wingnuts a la Qanon and Palin.

Ok. That's the preamble, I use Searx normally so decided to change over to DDG and I was getting the same bull$hit. My Searx is public but is Google, DDG, Qwant and Bing.

My question is how do I set this up to get objective results instead of the nonsense I'm seeing?

https://redd.it/stjrmt
@PrivacyGuides

When should a computer be considered EOL?

This post is inspired by the critique of Fairphones and the recommendation of using GrapheneOS or CalyxOS over DivestOS that I have seen many times on this subreddit.

The story usually goes like this: even if EOL phone is still being supported by DivestOS, it's still insecure because it's only getting OS updates but not firmware updates as Qualcomm no longer provides firmware updates for their SoC.

The same argument is being used against Fairphones: Fairphone company is lying about providing 6 years of support because their SoC only has 2 years of support remaining from Qualcomm, so the best they can provide is OS updates.

I am wondering how this applies to computers, and especially custom built desktop PCs. Normally I would assume that as long as my hardware supports the latest Windows or some major Linux Distro, I'm going to get firmware updates through Windows Update or APT or any other Linux package manager and I'm good to go. For laptops sometimes you have OEM updaters like Lenovo Vantage which can also update firmware. You only need to update BIOS manually.

1. Since OS support does not equal firmware support, how can you tell whether your computer is still going to get firmware updates? For example Thinkpads don't seem to have EOL dates published anywhere and some very old Thinkpads are still compatible with latest Windows 10 (and let alone Linux) releases.
2. Can you extend the support by upgrading EOL parts?
3. How important is it as compared to phones? I have never seen PC firmware updates topic mentioned here, which makes wonder if firmware updates are for some reason much more important for phones than PCs and what is this reason?

https://redd.it/srjwac
@PrivacyGuides

Running Zoom on GrapheneOS?

How's your experience running Zoom on GrapheneOS, and do you use dedicated profile for it?

https://redd.it/stlu2c
@PrivacyGuides

Is TOR really private?

Hi guys,

I recently read few articles about TOR network, which saying that TOR is not that private as VPN? Is it true or just another bullshit to make people stop using it?

https://redd.it/stpzjz
@PrivacyGuides

Thoughts about SafeSwiss and Tox??

I'm looking for the "ULTIMATE" chat application. I used wire, signa, session and xmpp so as you see i'm kinda of a hopper.

I like xmpp, it's seems decent got the privacy and secrutiy but I feel it's limited and not so easy to use so now I want to use more feature-rish application so i'm now thinking between tox and safeswiss.
Both seems good and according to: https://securechatguide.org/centralizedapps.html#safeswiss safeswiss seems perfect, got all fields green and good.

So i'm asking if there were any bad from privacy or security side about tox or safeSwiss? happend in the past that i'm not aware of

https://redd.it/stqqy9
@PrivacyGuides