privacy

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willington, in Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.

A real war has risk for all the participants.

Here you bear all the risk, and the counterparty, the internet company for example, bears no risk.

If and when you create the risk for the counterparty, where no risk has existed before, then and only then do you have a right to call it a war. In other words you have to in some way threaten the counterparty and make good on those threats to be at war.

trippingonthewire, in Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.

Well, if you didn’t take all the precautions you took, over a 1000 data brokers could’ve had access to your address, and so much more about you.

And while I most certainly don’t like it, I know that I’m still stopping them from learning even more about me, and my search results are still secure.

Everyone I get to talk to me on Signal is having a secure conversation with me.

Everything to an extent is a win, so don’t give up king.

MigratingtoLemmy, in My "Smart"TV keeps connecting to Netflix, and i don't even have Netflix

Detach/Desolder the WiFi card from the back of the TV. Connect a device to it and install Kodi.

Synthead, (edited )

Desolder? Just remove the network setting 🤷‍♀️

MigratingtoLemmy,

What is “setting”?

nossaquesapao,

Your wifi ssid and password.

MigratingtoLemmy,

It can connect to any open WiFi in that case. I don’t take such risks.

possiblylinux127,

No that’s not enough. You should burry your TV in at least 1000lbs of concrete

Artyom,

On my TCL TV, it’s impossible to disconnect the wifi after you connect it. The button just doesn’t exist. I had to make a new network, connect to that, and shut down the new network.

crycry,
@crycry@lemmy.ml avatar

Just make it a little faraday cage in the shape of a tin foil hat

MigratingtoLemmy,

I do not understand the downvotes. I mentioned desolder in case some TVs have wiring that cannot be detached easily. People seem to have taken me to be a paranoid agent of sorts (my working assumption) just because of one word. Is this really the privacy community, or a place to discourage people from taking privacy into their own by (sometimes) doing the slightly difficult-to-do work?

southernwolf, in Deciding between Fairphone 5 and Pixel 8
@southernwolf@pawb.social avatar

Really, it’s gonna depend on what your top priorities are. I run a Pixel 6 Pro with CalyxOS and I love it. But for you, it depends on whether you really need top security or want to go for a more open and long term design (which may not be entirely beneficial or all that special now).

For the Pixel 8, you’re gonna get much better cameras and more of those “Pixel Features” even when running something like GOS or CalyxOS. Its really nice cause you can even use GBoard and GCam and just firewall them (or however you do the equivalent in GOS), so you get the benefits without the downsides. Though it will be more expensive too.

With Fairphone, you’re gonna get a more open design that likely will last longer. That said, it doesn’t have a top end processor in it, so you have to imagine what it’ll be like in 6-8 years trying to run Android 20. Longevity is nice, but not as helpful if it can’t keep up physically with new releases. Also, with the Pixel 8 line now set to be supported for 8 years, it kinda… Undermines the Fairphone argument somewhat, though not to a huge degree.

Personally, if it were me, I’d choose the Pixel (and also choose CalyxOS as well, but that’s more a personal choice, don’t let the Graphene folks try and sway you with a bunch of FUD. CalyxOS is just fine, but GOS is a good choice too). It will have higher quality hardware, the processor should be able to handle tougher workloads into the future, and I think you’ll quite like the experience.

But, the Fairphone isn’t a bad choice either, and its definitely supporting a better ecosystem overall. It just won’t have as good of cameras and may not run as well a few years down the road, which could be an issue for the longevity. It can also run CalyxOS as well, so you won’t be missing out on using most other normal apps.

Really, it just depends on your use case and priorities. I don’t think you can go absolutely wrong choosing either one though.

Facebones,

I have a Pixel 8 pro coming, planned on gOS. What do you like about Calyx instead? I’ll look into that one in the morning.

euphoric_cat,
@euphoric_cat@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

not op but the calyx community and owners are far better than the grapheneos ones, that’s enough for me to use one over the other. if you need any other info, louis rossmann and techlore have good videos on the grapheneos side of that.

Facebones,

I know Louis got into it with the go’s guy lol

pingveno,

Longevity is nice, but not as helpful if it can’t keep up physically with new releases.

You also have to imagine what that longevity is going to really mean. Even a sturdy phone with a good case is in an unfriendly environment. They live in pockets, purses, and get dropped. Getting updates for 10 years is great, but it’s not too useful if the phone is dead. It’s always good to pursue increased longevity, but there is diminishing return for many reasons.

southernwolf,
@southernwolf@pawb.social avatar

This is absolutely true. The Fairphone kinda gets around this since its got open parts and can be user serviced for most things, but the honest question for that is how many are gonna go to that trouble, not next week when your phone is still new, but 5 years from now? The dedicated certainly will and I commend Fairphone for it, but a lot of average folks with a slower phone are gonna want to upgrade at that point.

pingveno,

Yeah, I think you nailed it there. Even a repair-oriented phone like the Fairphone has it’s limits, especially when it gets on to later years.

dukethorion, in Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.
@dukethorion@lemmy.world avatar

USPS sold you out. (If in the US). They literally sell “change of address” updates to marketing companies. You think they survive on selling stamps?

Catsrules,

I never updated my address and they have still found me. Personally i think it is mortgage companies.

I guess that is one good thing about renting. Your name isn’t really tied to a property at least as far as public records are concerned.

rob299, in Google memes itself with an admission of spying on customers via a new ad on reddit!

Ever heard of the game i spy? and with that they are advertising gaming for a Chromebook. This may all just be a coincidence.

While these tech comapnies have people look at the how users might see phrases like “hey guys.” Not sure how Google thought people wouldn’t do the same to them with this. Chromebook’s don’t sell as well so this is the worst product to do the worst with for marketing, but at the same time maybe they really do think this and think they can get away with this meme because no one is really buying a Chromebook unless it’s like for school work. (although I actually do use my personal Chromebook on the daily i’m in that small minority.)

Facebones, in Facebook on separate device

IDK if it’s available on mobile, but Firefox has a Facebook container plug in that automatically isolates any Facebook or meta adjacent site to keep them from accessing anything else. It auto blocks FB elements on other sites (like those embedded comment sections or like button sticks)

barthol5280,

@Facebones @cosmicrookie Facebook and its community is a cancer that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole whether it spies on me or not.

I stopped using it in 2019 because of the toxic political atmosphere that was present.

Facebones,

I was deactivated for a couple of years, just using messenger. Probably going back to that soon.

ultratiem, in Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.
@ultratiem@lemmy.ca avatar

“Phone company, internet”

Lol, there you go. Your ISP and wireless carrier are THE worst. They also have a lot of your financial info that they sell off. Tracking too. Your carrier routinely pings your phone for get location and records the calls, where you were at the time, how long etc. Unless it’s encrypted, they see and harvest it all.

ISPs don’t have as much liberty but they too track and sell off a fair bit of your life. They also have your financial info as most almost run a background check these days.

wuphysics87, in Deciding between Fairphone 5 and Pixel 8

Fairphone only partners with organizations who pay living wages. I.e. their phones aren’t made in a sweatshop

BaumGeist, in Feeling like Privacy is a lost war.

there is no such thing as a zero-trust society (although I now want to write that scifi story and tease that idea out). As such, the cost of living in a society will always be some amount of infringement of privacy beyond complete anonymity. Even you were comfortable giving your address and name to 4 other parties (under the presumption that only they would use that information), and even then how many individuals within those organizations have access to that information?

Thus privacy cannot be thought of as an all-or-nothing battle. Privacy is a compromise between total anonymity (un-people) and convenience (you can’t get public utilities to your house if they don’t know where you live). The fact is that we have the level of privacy we do right now because of a lot of resistance and hard work. If it wasn’t for all the survivalists and conspiracy theorists and paranoid software devs and whistleblowers and tech journos and anti-authoritarian content creators and anti-surveillance artists and even ordinary joes like me who just want to use online services withouth the digital equivalent of the weird kid in class who stood over your shoulder and watched everything you did (x1000), things could and would be much worse.

If you must think of it as a war, consider it to be analogous to state-vs-collective wars of history: our “opponents” are organizations that are constrained by their hierarchical nature to certain unspoken rules of engagement, and we are a guerilla collective bound only by our shared value(s). Think the Texas Revolution, Vietnam, African National Congress, Zapatistas, IRA, Black Panthers or pretty much anything the Romans did with northern European Barbarians. I won’t sit here and lie to you that the devastation that happened to these peoples and their homelands was “winning,” but I can tell you that the dominators certainly didn’t get their way either.

ReversalHatchery,

Even you were comfortable giving your address and name to 4 other parties

They have never said that, did they?

BaumGeist,

Have only given my real address and name to the DMV, Phone Company, Internet, and rental property

ReversalHatchery,

Where did they say that they were comfortable doing that? I don’t see a word or an acronym of it.

Sometimes you must do things that you are not comfortable doing, but you just can’t avoid it. Doing that for the ISP (who need to set up the cable into your home and the gateway) is not the same as doing that for e.g. netflix or facebook.

BaumGeist,

Fine, in that case: more comfortable than the alternative. No one’s kicking down your door and forcing you to get phone or internet, you don’t have to live on-grid to survive, it’s not illegal to not own a vehicle.

sxan,
@sxan@midwest.social avatar

there is no such thing as a zero-trust society (although I now want to write that scifi story and tease that idea out).

It’s been done, kinda. Guy named Hannu Rajaniemi wrote a dilogy called “Jean le Flambeur.” I think it’s in the second book, The Fractal Prince, the lead character visits Mars, which has a society where everyone has the ability to encrypt and/or sign all interactions; citizens have an organ that facilitates this, making the operations as fluid and natural as speaking. It’s well thought out, well written, and the series is an entertaining read. It reminded me of John C Wright’s “The Golden Oecumene” trilogy.

BaumGeist,

I was hoping someone would comment telling me they already read that story! Thanks, gonna read it asap!

Templa, (edited ) in Deciding between Fairphone 5 and Pixel 8

Just wanted to share my experience as someone that just updated to a p8p with GrapheneOS.

This is the first time I install a custom ROM in a smartphone and it hasn’t been easy but I’m pretty impressed so far. I installed their sandbox Google Play/Services to keep using banking apps and other apps that need it. Everytime I install an app it asks if it should have internet access permission so I can use Gboard without the need to use NetGuard.

I can limit storage scopes for every app. If I want WhatsApp to only be able to access my Downloads folder, I can. If I want to trick it saying that it has access to my contacts, I also can.

The biggest issue for me now is probably install/use things in a way that just don’t throw all the OS purpose out of the window and without asking questions considering how awful people can be when they think a question is dumb.

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of microSD but I realized I probably wouldn’t use it. I also had to install a custom launcher to customize icons and such.

One thing that worries me is how to setup a way to find my phone in case I lose it.

Scary_le_Poo,
@Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org avatar

AirDroid. It’s not free, but it’s pretty good(or at least it was, years ago)

mozzribo,

Try Prey and/or Cerberus.

Pantherina,

Try shelter from fdroid

adamnejm, (edited ) in Was forced to use a third party to fill a rental application. The application failed and now they're demanding significantly more sensitive information than what I ever provided before they'll comply. In UK. This can't be legal?
@adamnejm@programming.dev avatar

Most companies I’ve sent data deletion request just do it, but when they start to argue I just hit them with most ridiculous bullshit while acting like the most privileged bitch until they do it my way.

Try saying no, see what happens.
Fearmongering, gaslighting, lawful threats, technical jargon and the word ‘rape’ are your friend.


Just recently when requesting GDPR data deletion from UK-based company they also wanted to confirm my identity, hell they will.

I hit them with the fact that a person controlling the e-mail address can use their ‘Forgot password’ feature to take control over the account and access my sensitive data they’re in possession of or steal my identity using their own services. I also not so kindly suggested that I’ll report them so their security practices are investigated for the safety of their customers.

…they deleted the data without any further questions.

PS. Not sure about UK laws, but for GDPR: Always request confirmation of the deletion and the detailed steps they’ve taken to ensuring your data has been properly erased. They’re obligated to tell you that upon request.

AdvicePleaseThankyou,

I hit them with the fact that a person controlling the e-mail address can use their ‘Forgot password’ feature to take control over the account and access my sensitive data they’re in possession of or steal my identity using their own services.

this was their excuse to why they won't delete my info without proof of ID.
I told them no, I told them that if my bank or phone provider or online grocer who all have much more important and sensitive info, namely my payment/bank details, can verify me without extra documentation, so can they, they still said no.

So I've filled a complaint with the ICO, there's fuck all else I can do unfortunately..

elias_griffin, in Proton Mail CEO Calls New Address Verification Feature 'Blockchain in a Very Pure Form'

So, every identity verification of your email address will be forever in the public domain? That’s counter to privacy. Your email address will be married to a block and chain? There is no thorny issue. That’s a solution to a problem that hardly anyone has. Ridiculous nonsense.

If you are one of those people that thought CERN was looking out for your privacy, here is the rude awakening.

DonkeyShot,

It is not counter privacy. It is (potentially) counter anonymity.

root, in Deciding between Fairphone 5 and Pixel 8

Not what you’re looking for but the Asus Zenfone 10 still has a headphone jack. I don’t think you’ll find a privacy oriented custom ROM for it though.

Iaitoo, in Deciding between Fairphone 5 and Pixel 8

Have you checked out /e/OS for your oneplus? They do their own version of aurora and f-droid mixed together. Works well!

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