Saki

@Saki@monero.town

New to Lemmy. A privacy advocate. Interested in number theory.

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Saki, (edited )

Tor Browser is planning to remove Google from the search engine options a user can choose: gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/…/41835

There some say brave onion + no JS is good: …brave4u7jddbv7cyviptqjc7jusxh72uik7zt6adtckl5f4n…

Mullvad team seems to be considering 4 possible options:

PS: Not disgussing ddg / ddg onion too much, basically because ddg is the long-time default search engine of TB. Most TB users assume ddg is a decent, standard, generic option, esp. its non-JS version.

Saki,

While doing this is generally not recommended, EFF does indeed suggest this option in some context: ssd.eff.org/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-you#t…

Saki, (edited )

Don’t worry about e2ee: Even if you get the most expensive plan from e.g. Proton, it’s not e2ee unless both parties use Proton. There is a free, “easy” way to realize true e2e: OpenPGP in Thunderbird (convenient), GnuPG (more secure), etc.

As for mailbox.org: I used it before but it showed Google reCaptcha, which was an obvious red flag:
cf. [Security and GDPR Issue] ProtonMail includes Google Recaptcha for Login, every single time. #242

Also, technical score of mailbox.org has been relatively low, not improving: internet.nl/mail/mailbox.org/1080449/(Don’t worry too much about this score, though. It’s only technical; human factors (philosophies, trust, etc.) are more important when it comes to privacy.) This is not a recommendation. DYOR; ultimately, believe your own intuition.

Saki, (edited )

Not a recommendation but I too trust Disroot pretty much. You can get a custom domain there without “buying a paid plan” once you make a donation. Would that be an option for you?

Using multiple providers (having multiple accounts) is a good idea, though. Don’t put all the eggs in one basket. I’ve never heard the two providers you mentioned, so I can’t tell. If you can sign up anonymously via Tor, if they’re Google-free + not behind CF, and (most importantly) if you feel them “good” (subjective but gut feeling…), I think they’re usable.

If their support use PGP, that’s a good sign too. (Proton even doesn’t share its pub key iirc.) If they also accept the privacy coin like Disroot and Tuta do, that’s nice too. Ultimately, though, believe your gut feeling, because everyone has different priorities, different threat models, etc.

Saki,
  • Tuta (free): you can send only like 6 email per day. Otherwise, Tor-friendly. No onion. Support forum on Reddit 😞 Germany.
  • Posteo.de: 1 €/mo affordable. Nothing fancy. Support via PGP like that’s common sense. Germany. Non-crypto anonymous payments w/ various options (e.g. a prepaid CC): they don’t even ask your name (much less address, cell phone number).
  • Disroot.org: Free, pop/smtp, community-based, trusted even by the Tails team. w/ onion. Netherlands.
  • Cock.li: Free, pop/smtp etc. Very Tor-friendly w/ fast onion. It’s good if you think it like disposal. Irresponsible in a way (aka Freedom), but actually 10-year-old & stable. Romania.
  • Proton (free): bloated, very mixed opinions, yet better than Google. w/ onion (slow). Switzerland. A simple feature like Plain Text view is missing (HTML by default: not serious about privacy).

US govt pays AT&T to let cops search Americans' phone records – 'usually' without a warrant (www.theregister.com)

A senator has complained that American law enforcement agencies snoop on US citizens and residents, seemingly without regard for the privacy provisions of the Fourth Amendment, under a secret program called the Hemisphere Project that allows police to conduct searches of trillions of phone records.

Saki,

See also:

Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records

The French National Police is unlawfully using an Israeli facial recognition software [installed massively and secretly. The Minister ordered an investigation]

Saki, (edited )

about time 😊 that’s not the goal; one of the first basic steps!

EDIT Sorry I should not have said it like this. Even though that was my honest feelings, said as free speech without any meany connotations, this should have been treated as good news, like someone finally ditched Windows.

One of the next steps might be to figure out how not to load GA.js GTM.js Google Fonts etc.

There is a long way to go to de-Google oneself, and unfortunately it’s not easy nor trivial. One subtle example: Google is a broker of Tor Snowflake, which could cause a difficult dilemma.

Saki, (edited )

You’re right. Use a centralized exchange (CEX), and you’ll be KYCed and de-anonymized. That’s why most privacy-coin users prefer DEX. For normal persons, if privacy is important, using anonymous gift cards or prepaid credit cards, which you can easily buy without ID, is more practical, much better than KYC’ed crypto.

If you can somehow get KYC-free coin, maybe from DEX, i.e. if you can get it personally from your friend or peer without showing ID etc., then and only then, you have real private crypto. There are two popular ways for this (Bisq and LocalMonero). Another option called Haveno is hopefully usable soon, but that is still iffy.

Using DEX is not essentially difficult, much safer than you might imagine due to a mechanism called multisig, but maybe this option is not for normal people. When you feel experimental, you might want to try to buy a small amount via DEX, to see what it’s like. If you’re a popular programmer or artist, accepting donations in crypto is also an easy way to get no-KYC coin. Another option is p2pooling—you can get a few Euro worth of XMR relatively easily; yet this last option is time-consuming and not very effective. Many of p2pool users or full-node people are privacy-advocating volunteers, maintaining/participating the Monero network for philosophical reasons, fully aware it’s not profitable in terms of money. This might be part of the reason why Monero tx fees are almost zero (like 1/100 of that of BTC). At the same time, there are many sketchy people around crypto too 😟 Be careful and stay safe!

Saki, (edited )

It depends on how much you have, etc. If it’s just like 10 or 100 €, maybe you don’t need to be super careful.

The following is just one possible way—get a safe and libre “poor man’s hardware wallet” quickly and easily without paying:

1. Main wallet

  • Get a USB stick, install Tails. This takes about an hour (most time is for downloading the .img file)
  • Create a persistent storage, with a strong password (maybe 7 or 8 random words).
  • Install Feather. This takes 10–15 minutes; 30 minutes if generating a new wallet. Use it as your main wallet, and send your Monero to it.
  • When ready, shut down Tails. Pull out the USB and save it in a safe place. Now your wallet is physically disconnected from the Internet, air gapped. Very hard for any attacker to hack it.

2. Hot wallet

  • Set up whatever wallet(s) you like on your daily device(s) for daily use. It too can be Feather, or it can be something different. Just don’t have too much money in a daily wallet.

3. When you send Monero from 1 to 2

  • Insert the said USB, boot into Tails, send a necessary (small) amount from 1 to 2. Unlike BTC, the tx fees are like 1 cent or less. You can make a lot of small TXs without worrying about fees.
  • Once you signed and sent, immediately close your main Feather, shut down Tails, and physically disconnect the USB again. You don’t need to wait for confirmations. It’ll be fully confirmed in 15 or 30 minutes, and for which your wallet doesn’t need to be online.
  • So your daily wallet will be moderately funded, ready to use. You can enjoy private transactions, e.g. buying VPS or making anonymous donations to support your favorite software. Even if your daily wallet is hacked, your main wallet will be safe, physically disconnected from the Internet.

In theory this should work pretty well, if not the strongest possible. It’s not a recommendation, though. Do your own research. You may want to ask the same question in !monero; hearing various opinions, not just trusting one person (me), is a good idea.

Saki, (edited )

If you’re familiar with Electrum and migrating to the privacy coin, Feather may be a convenient choice.

The fundamental problem for you might not be the wallet; but KYC vs. non-KYC. Is it allowed to post a link or mention specific platforms here? You may want to check a website about no-kyc and try a trusted, no-kyc platform—not a CEX but a DEX (pure P2P), so no company can monitor your private life (related to shopping). You can browse monero.town, which is a friendly Lemmy instance of !privacyguides in the sense that Monero is recomended on the official site of Privacy Gudies: www.privacyguides.org/en/cryptocurrency/ (I’m a mod from !privacy)

The tricky part is, if you have been once KYCed, your privacy invaded, then you couldn’t undo it (un-KYC it). You may need to start over, creating totally new addresses, doing everything anonymously over Tor. If you’re not that privacy-oriented, you can just swap the KYC coin you have to Monero, and you’ll be invisible from that point.

But Moneo is not magic to solve everything. DYOR and stay safe!

Saki,

Let’s say I’m selling you a book B and accepting a crypto payment. What if you sent me your crypto C trusting me, but I exit-scammed, vanishing without sending you B you’re trying to buy? That’d be bad. But what if I sent you B first, trusting you’ll send me C as soon as you receive B? Now you could cheat and vanish without paying. That’d be bad too.

To prevent any of those things from happening, there are a few methods. One is a 2-of-3 escrow service. Another is 2-of-2. Both based on multisig. A simplified example follows.

The book costs you 100€. You’ll send, say, 200€ to address A controlled by both you and me via multi-signature. I too will send 100€ to A. Now Wallet A has 300€. When 2 persons (you and I) sign, there will be a 2-output transaction from A to you (100€) and to me (200€), but any single person can’t move fund from A. That’s multisig.

Now I must send you the book in a good condition, because I don’t want to lose my 100€. So I’ll act carefully and honestly, and sign when I ship the book. You too will be willing to sign when you receive the book, because otherwise you can’t retrieve your 100€ (you deposited 200, when the book only costs 100). Sometimes an unexpected accident may happen, but usually something like this will work pretty well. This is one way how a P2P platform works (not very accurate, but I hope you get the idea).

Saki,

Confusing but the official site is not monero.com but www.getmonero.org, where you can see the full list of officially suggested wallets. Official GUI is a safe option. Feather is also good, Electrum-like.

Cake (Monero.com) is one of the suggested options too & is popular, but certainly not “most private“. With Feather, you can do everything over Tor, more privacy-friendly.

Most Monero users only use non-custodial wallets; so they just say “wallets” meaning that. Technically running a local node yourself is the most secure & private—though this option is not for everyone.

Saki,

www.getmonero.org

The monero.com domain has been taken by a for-profit company, Cake. The Monero community is not wealthy (nor motivated) enough to buy it back.

Saki, (edited )

@ride I know the background: this info could be very useful, and you commented, “Even if not directly Monero-related, this draws attention to the community when such contributions come from here.”

The problem is, !privacyguides has a different set of rules than Monero.town does, explicitly stating:

This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.

Hence, as you can see in monero.town/post/1085883 (you double-posted the same thing, too), a negative comment about this:

I feel like this might count as self-promotion, given it’s mentioning a particular website, their GitHub, their running service, etc. Regardless, it is informative

@LWD is not “childish”, even stating “it is informative.” But even if this post may be useful, we should follow the rules of !privacyguides when (cross-)posting here; otherwise, Monero.town may look bad.

Saki,

Leave it to the cryptocurrency people to turn a simple tutorial into an ad.

I’m from the same Lemmy instance monero.town (technically a mod?) and can see your point. Initially I was vocal about perceived link-spamming, advertising this SimplifiedPrivacy thing; at least a few users there were/are feeling the same way, as you can see e.g. here. So please don’t lump crypto (esp. Monero) users as a single kind of people.

Like @leraje pointed out, some of info provided by this user (ShadowRebel) can be useful. Perhaps some people prefer a video to text. Monero users tend to respect freedom (of speech) and advertisement is not forbidden in Monero.town anyway. Perhaps you can understand that this does not mean “the cryptocurrency people” are the same.

Saki,

That’s a good point. One of the two biggest weak points of a so-called e2e provider/platform is, the e2e provider itself.

The only true e2e is e.g. Alice does gpg -ea on an offline computer, copy-pastes ascii and sends it to Bob via an online computer, who copy-pastes this ascii to his offline computer and does gpg -d there. Their seckeys are airgapped from the communication channel. Sharing your sec with a provider is especially ridiculous (e.g. Proton). At least that’s what I think.

Saki,

Just fyi: recently EFF is creating Privacy Badger browser add-on and GNU also has LibreJS. They’re technically not ad-blockers, though; apparently a tracker-blocker and a non-free-script-blocker, respectively.

Saki,

The SimplyTranslate front end has many languages, translate engines selectable: Google | DeepL (Testing) | ICIBA | Reverso | LibreTranslate. Some instances are Tor-friendly, even onion. The project page seems to be codeberg.org/SimpleWeb/SimplyTranslate

Refusing to use Google is just common sense. LibreTranslate itself is decent (at least not Google), except a website hosting it may have some opaque JS or Google things (Font, Analytics, TagManagers, etc.)

Either way, translation can’t be super-private in general. For example, if you use it to write a private message or love letter in a foreign language… even including real names and physical addresses…

Also, metadata like “a Danish-speaker is reading this German text about X” can’t be hidden, and if the language pair is uncommon and/or if text to be translated is specialized (not generic), the engine provider may easily guess “this request and that request yesterday may be from the same user”, etc. if they want to. A sufficiently powerful “attacker” might de-anonymize you, helped by other info about you, already gathered. In practice, maybe not a big concern, if you’re just translating generic, non-sensitive text, not showing your real IP, and clearing cookies frequently.

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