Let me reiterate: There is no privacy on the internet.
Absolutely everything you do is logged or recorded, even if the service claims it doesn’t keep/use the data. They’re lying.
And just because you think you need to stay away from big bad mean Microsoft or Google (or whoever), doesn’t mean you’re safe with any other non-corporate entity that provides you software either.
“Acceptable levels of privacy at home” is bullshit. It’s a point of emphasis for borderline narcissists that think they’re important enough to need to hide everything they do at all times. Like why would you possibly need an encrypted private email server or IM service at home? No one cares about the pictures you just sent to your wife about the teddy bear you just bought for your daughter. 99% of the population isn’t even interested in seeing those pictures. “Privacy” is often a concern of people that don’t even have shit to hide, and therefore everything they say is irrelevant to the discussion.
I’ve seen firsthand how easy it is to hack into someone’s webcam or remote access their PC. And often these people swear they’ve taken every great precaution. It doesn’t matter what shield you put up, because the attack doesn’t come from the front to begin with.
One should never “expect” a certain level of privacy in modern society. That would be your biggest mistake.
I assure you that any communications protected using correctly implemented 52-round SHA256 are quite private.
Making a claim is one thing, providing proof of it is another. Claiming that “everything” you do online is logged is a pretty big claim.
Also, willingly giving data to an untrusted stranger is very different than capturing attempts to stealthily acquire that data (AKA, you’re an idiot if you give this information and should instead tell any sites requesting it to go fuck itself).
I have never said that. In fact, I believe and have stated before that Microsoft and Google have done some wonderful things for technology and The Internet. But I am also certain of one thing, that (speaking strictly of software) I am capable of being 100% aware of every packet that either leaves or enters my network. Now, I may not be able to discern what the contents of those packets may be, but I most certainly can detect them as well as block them completely and trace their origin to the best of my ability. When that ability has been taken away from me, then I find the product useless and reject it.
I would like to see you naked.
I would like to see your partners and others who are dear to you naked as well.
I would like to listen to your private conversations, perhaps keep a log of how often you argue with your wife or girlfriend, or perhaps track her menstrual cycle for my amusement.
I would also like to record any instance of you committing crimes within your home, such as smoking marijuana in states where it is not legal for you to do so, or downloading copyrighted material without paying for access.
Is it still bullshit? You’re not important enough to be spied on. Yet.
Yet. You don’t have anything to hide yet.
You might have things that you would want hidden that you don’t even know about.
Also, things that you enjoy or benefit from that are not taboo, or illegal might become so in the future. Then you might have things to hide, and you will have supported the very means by which you are spied upon, caught, and made to suffer because of something that was previously completely harmless (anal sex porn comes to mind…)
I’ve seen firsthand how easy it is to just shoot someone dead. And often these people swear they’ve taken every great precaution.
Naturally, the defense against these threats is to simply accept them and do nothing, since obviously you’ll just get pwned anyway.
I’m also pretty sure that even an attack that “doesn’t come from the front” (by which I assume you mean something like a trojan???) cannot just leverage hardware such as your camera on a hardened OC unless you specifically install it and give it permission to. Yes, I’m aware that it’s possible, but the risk is far less than for users who take zero precautions. Masking tape is still the king, though.
So you don’t expect to not be recorded within your own home? That’s a certain level of privacy. I guess that’s a mistake.
So you don’t expect to not have your daily schedule published publicly?
How about pictures of you naked? Can I see them? It would be a mistake to expect that to be unreasonable.
Do you ever call your boss names under your breath? It would be a mistake to expect him to not have mics wired up around your car so he can hear it when you leave work.
Your misconceptions about privacy are pretty common, unfortunately. I really hope that we never do have to worry about needing privacy. But hope isn’t worth shit. We should embrace technology and policies that prevent the erosion of privacy in the first place. That way, we won’t have to just hope that one day porn doesn’t become illegal, that eating meat doesn’t become illegal, that talking bad about someone richer than you allows them to sue you, that your health insurance premiums will go up, or you are denied coverage because you eat like a pig, etc. Those are all examples of places that the erosion of privacy can take us…
But I’m sure you don’t care about any of that, right?
Go on a website (ANY website), use an app that accesses the internet. That login attempt is filed on the server that you just accessed.
There’s a reason why the FBI and government can find the vast majority of people they want to find, and it goes beyond simple IP tracing. People literally leave footprints across the net, even when they think they covered them up.
FYI, I didn’t say that you specifically said that. The other guy was talking about Google/Microsoft before you came along. This is just a 2-way thing that mixes in both of your arguments.
The only way you can block them completely is by turning off your internet.
One of the premier paranoia arguments for years/decades against Microsoft is that Windows lowkey transmits data through background services (which it does). But people are foolish in thinking that every such service is easily seen in the task manager, so they think they’re safe when they don’t see anything suspicious. There’s always some data transmission going on that you’ll never detect. And if they don’t want you to be able to trace where it goes, you won’t.
Yes, it’s still bullshit.
If petty shit like being seen naked, in an era where people willingly/unwillingly show themselves naked on websites and social media everyday, is supposed to be a big threat to somebody, then that person shouldn’t be online at all. Private convos? Yes, because the most dreadful private convo somebody can have about something hasn’t already taken place millions of times in the world by other people.
What it is, is people being scared to be embarrassed. Nothing they can possibly say/do hasn’t already been seen or heard already. They just don’t want themselves to be seen in that situation. And sure, it makes total sense for people to want to take the precautions necessary to prevent that embarrassment. As long as they understand that even after taking said precautions, it can still happen… and it can happen whether they’re important or not.
I don’t. Because I’m meticulous when it comes to file organization, so I know exactly where everything is at all times.
I have pics in the cloud of my younger days, smoking weed and throwing up fake gang signs. I’m fully aware they’re there. You already know I have a porn collection on deck and I never hide it. I’ve pirated so much shit online/offline that I still have bootleg VHS tapes from the 90s. And I’ve never taken a nude, but if I did, fuck it, I’ll put it on the cloud too.
When people are really too up on themselves and scared of embarrassment, they run around demanding for more privacy. But in reality, what they’re hiding is usually nothing special.
Unless Utah becomes the only state in the USA, we don’t have to worry about none of that.
We always see people getting busted for child porn possession. Because again, if they want to find you, they can. None of what we do is really private. So if they really want to come after you some day, they will.
I can’t tell people what to say/do, but I will say that every chain of events can be stopped before they even start.
If you don’t want a nude getting out… don’t take nudes.
Don’t want your boss finding out you were talking shit… don’t fucking do it while at work.
Don’t want your schedule published… don’t save it in the cloud, or lock it down offline.
Don’t want to be recorded at home… uninstall drivers for your webcam or take other measures.
I find that people like to complain about things after the fact, instead of taking the precautions beforehand. People do not think things through, and they want to be bailed out for bad decisions after they happen.
Now of course, it is your right to do any of the above. I mean if a guy wants to impress/disgust some chick with his dick pics, he can have a blast. But there are always risks that people do not add to the equation. This is the foundation for why dumb shit happens every day.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely see your perspective on all of this. And in some spots, I agree.
I don’t have any misconceptions about privacy. I know enough about it that I know that fighting for it is a tedious, unwinnable situation with each passing year.
What was once far fetched and only in movies is now a reality. The body scans that can find a person in a crowd… that shit is already here. Fucking street cams that can tell people where you’re at (and are publicly visible on sites like Earthcam). These phones that have fingerprint scanners… those things are getting saved and put in a database. Everything is about hoarding data, being able to know everything about people and to sell things to them. Your life is already collected and processed if you’ve used the internet for excess amounts of time.
So when we talk about fighting for privacy, I laugh because these companies already have all this data about us. So what exactly are you fighting? We already lost.
If embarrassing files and convos are the most people are scared about, they’re missing the big picture.
I am taking Precautions beforehand, by avoiding M$/Google products that are designed in a very “Eager” fashion to cloud sync my data. Microsoft took the liberty of downgrading people to Windows 10 without permission, what makes you think they get permission to cloud sync nearly randomly any of the above you mentioned.
I don’t want any of the above to take place and I wouldn’t do it, Google and Microsoft two of the worst offenders always try to automate this even after you have turned it off.
Yes, the login. The (easily spoofed/hidden) IP address from which the login originates and the account being accessed. You might be able to fingerprint the device that was used to perform the login, but again, this could be spoofed (that’s basically what a proxy does).
This much more closely represents how The Internet works and it does not inherently betray user privacy.
I’m pretty sure that my router can deny all packets if I ask it to. Assuming that I have a 100% functional and trustworthy router, of course, but that is a different discussion altogether.
Yes, WINDOWS does that. As do other operating systems and softwares. But since I’m not utilizing the software to detect these transmissions, instead my network infrastructure, then the methods used to conceal them via software are irrelevant.
Again I assure you that a functioning router, by necessity and by design, captures all of these transmissions within logs and also can block them before they ever reach a destination node.
I’m not going to continue arguing with someone who insists on the “nothing to hide” argument.
You argue from absurdity. The idea that the only value that can be placed on privacy comes from what is possible with technology. You completely miss the point that privacy is different for each individual. Embarrassment is not the most serious consequence that I stated, in fact, I used that as an example as a mild consequence. The actual consequences, depending on the details, might be far worse:
No one may not want your nudes, but they would definitely want a celebrity’s.
A leak of your nudes is inconsequential to YOU, but could devastate a famous figure.
And even that is still a mild case. No one is facing death or harm because of nude leaks, most likely. But there are people who would be murdered if their sexual preferences and behaviors were exposed, as well as s whole host of other situations where you would not want data leaked. To simplify the issue down to just a few nude pics is ignorant of the diversity The Internet and the world itself.
You’re also missing the point by asserting that just because something is possible, it makes the outcome inevitable. Street cameras exist, so we may as well just give in to full-time tracking, right? The very reason that privacy has become such a concern is because of technological capabilities. If it weren’t possible… invasion of privacy wouldn’t even be a valid issue, would it?
So I don’t understand how you can conclude that the magnitude of a problem somehow means that is no longer an issue. You seem to be hung up on your values about privacy and projecting them onto every other Internet user, as if you are the only person that matters. You fail to consider those whose lives, quite literally, depend on remaining anonymous over private channels of communication.
Anyway, I’m done trying to impress upon you the seriousness that a broken Internet carries. And yes, an Internet without privacy is a broken Internet.
Bash on Windows 10 is a fucking joke. You can’t even connect to a MySQL server with its current implementation, making it completely useless. It was an honest attempt, but w/e.
Lol @Jion_Wansu there are numerous KDE’s that already have “Windows” like environments for Gooey-tards. You can rice them to your heart’s content, instead of having M$ create one for you.
I don’t like the Windows environment; I use Window Maker on my Nix machines. As for Windows 7 and Windows 10, I just use a picture of goatse as the background knowing that MS takes snapshots of my computer whenever connected to the Internets.
You’re a fool if you actually believe that, especially when the router is made by certain manufacturers. But hey, ignorance is bliss.
An activist from a foreign country has a far bigger use and need for a private communication setup than the typical person, but your argument runs with the silly ideology that everyone’s need for privacy is on the same level. And no, I’m not projecting shit. I’m telling you examples of what the typical person wants more privacy for: things that are not truly important. And you know it’s true, but yet you kept dancing around it.
The public internet has been broken since its inception.
I reiterate what I said in the very beginning: there is no privacy on the internet.
People have been fighting this for years and losing. It’s always 1 step forward, 2 steps back. The consumer gets more protection, then the corporations get more access and control. And the cycle goes on and on. There has yet to be any major reform as it relates to our safety during online access. Meanwhile everything about us is logged.
So you can keep on “talking about it.” Because that’s all people can do. “Talk about it.” You want to fight and win something, you don’t just talk. But that’s the extent of your power as an online user, and you don’t seem to get it.
I said a functioning router that acts as it is advertised. This is supposed to be a perfect world thought game, where you don’t have to account for backdoors.
Why would we establish one set of privacy rules for one type of person, and a different type for everyone else? That is still BREAKING THE INTERNET!!
I’m pretty sure supporting open software and becoming aware of what my hardware and software is doing through the use of tools like packet analyzers and checking my logs is doing a whole lot towards making The Internet safer for everyone. I may not be a developer, but I still contribute on forums and more importantly, by using and promoting open products. If you think that’s not contributing enough, then I guess Greg Kroah Hartman is just bullshitting everyone about that being the #1 way most people contribute.
Finally, perhaps the most important thing I want to despell is this:
No. Everything that is leaked about us is logged. There is a HUGE difference here. Stop supporting products that collect unnecessary data.
Sure, open source is the way to go. But it still represents a small portion of the software available. Some of the better progs/apps are sadly not open source. And you can replace the software on your router with an open source equivalent, but that wasn’t part of your original statement on the matter. So let me clarify: if you or anyone thought running certain routers straight out the box was secure, that’s being foolish.
Keep fighting the good fight, Manx. Keep hoping for a fantasy world where a pro-consumer Internet is on the horizon. Keep hoping for more privacy for people while gobs of information about them is already in corporate hands without them knowing. You can make changes to allow yourself a little more security for the future, but you can’t undo what they already know about you. But… whatever provides you with good sleep, broski.
Come on Manx, just leave GeoG2 be. The dude is pretty adamant on remaining blue-pilled.
When Big Brother feels it’s necessary to implement martial law, Geo will be one of the first dudes to get rounded up into a FEMA camp by the suits. Meanwhile, the trail-blazing and freeman niggas gotta make some Kalashnikov’s from a 3D printer and start the revolution. :karate:
Let’s get one thing clear. I’m a former employee of certain tech companies that I will not mention. What I said is from actual insider knowledge, not dumbass paranoia or pessimism. I know things that these companies really want implemented, and will fight the FCC or whoever to get them done. I’m not the one that’s uninformed here.
There are corporations that are trying to get the ball rolling on taxing people for using VPNs right now, or trying to make VPNs completely illegal in some countries. Countless ideas in place to turn people’s privacy against them, monetize it, or strip it away completely. You’re here looking like a lost puppy.
You know absolutely nothing about what’s going on.
That makes no sense, since you’re the ones that are blue-pilled. I’m just informing you fools that nothing you’re doing or using right now matters, because ya’ll really don’t seem to grasp what’s on the horizon for how we use the internet in the future.
Using various registry tweaks and other settings, you can disable pretty much all of the telemetry. However, it isn’t easy to find all the relevant settings and to re-enable them every time Windows resets them.
So here’s a free program that will do it all for you. It’s called Anti Beacon, from the people who make the well-respected Spybot anti-malware tools.
Noticed ever since W10 came out last year that it makes jpg wallpapers disgusting (lowers quality to 85%). So I found a way to force Windows to use 100% quality.