Hope your holidays were cozy and nourishing…with harmonious, balanced connection with your dear ones…and that the transition into the season of ever-lengthening days and the New Year is a gentle and auspicious one…. :-) Warmly, Rich
BACKGROUND
* Privacy/Tracking/Hacking Dangers:
- Hackers/Thieves/Scammers/AI - identity theft + personal data mining
[ I have a tech-savvy friend who's identity was stolen - it was a nightmare for him, almost cost him tens of thou$ands, and he barely got himself out of it after months of hell! ]
- Big Tech - influencing us without our knowledge/consent
- Big Brother/Govt - control
- Anyone - who decides to harm/discredit/evaluate/harass or discriminate against you for whatever reason -- or similarly target any friend/loved one/colleague/etc. with whom you've interacted over a non-encrypted medium. Or Anyone for whom you or any of your contacts are under even a false suspicion...
[ They - and/or their agents or AI - can use the system to go back in time and scrutinize all your logged activity, either online or via your phone or other smart devices (eg, anything using Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, etc). Ie, every person you ever discuss anything questionable with by phone/email/text, every social media post you make or "like", everywhere you go, everything you buy, anything you ever do online, anything you say to Alexa or Siri or Google Voice, every lifestyle decision you make, etc. is being recorded and stored - likely permanently. We are being increasingly profiled in an increasingly judgmental and polarized society!
There are many ways this can come back to haunt us -- or anyone with whom we've interacted via and unencrypted medium -- some not even imagined yet. There have already been proposals to include our online history in our credit ratings. (IMF has been pushing for something similar to the social credit system in China, which will restrict not just credit but where you're allowed to go, what you're allowed to do, buy, etc. To cite just one recent example in this country: Don't use our vaccine, then you can't enter these establishments, or travel to these places, etc.)
But, we don't even need to have those systems in place: Eg, let's say you're applying for anything (job, loan, home or vacation rental, credit card, school or vocational program, volunteer position, health/life/home/auto insurance, etc) and whomever buys a log of your history on the dark web and sees any possible indication of something they consider illegal, immoral, or "disagreeable" from a prejudiced perspective of your lifestyle/identity/beliefs/choices/political or sexual or religious or ethnic or social orientation, etc. And, poof you're out! (Especially if there are other applicants that they don't see that same thing for.)
Or, if someone doesn't like you and wants to dig up dirt on you, maybe get you fired or evicted from where you live or knock you out of the running for something, they might also attack you on that basis...taking facts out of context to derive suspicion from an innocent life...and paint anyone as a wrong-doer. This could be quite difficult and costly to reverse - not just in monetary terms, but also jobs, relationships, other opportunities, etc. Even more so if it's a government, corporate, bank, or other large entity doing the digging/profiling/smearing. ]
Or, if someone doesn't like you and wants to dig up dirt on you, maybe get you fired or evicted from where you live or knock you out of the running for something, they might also attack you on that basis...taking facts out of context to derive suspicion from an innocent life...and paint anyone as a wrong-doer. This could be quite difficult and costly to reverse - not just in monetary terms, but also jobs, relationships, other opportunities, etc. Even more so if it's a government, corporate, bank, or other large entity doing the digging/profiling/smearing. ]
* For more background (eg, from Edward Snowden, former CIA/NSA Intelligence Analyst) and other info that may still be valid (eg, avoiding illegal location tracking on your phone, Public Wi-Fi Dos/Donts, safe apps for private encrypted texts/calls, controlling personally-customized advertising, Google Privacy Settings, "Democracy", etc), see these topics and the "WHY DOES THIS MATTER?" section in my earlier post: https://richraffals.blogspot.com/2019/11/protect-your-privacy-take-back-your.html
RECOMMENDATION
My recommendation for privacy/safety for any interactions/topics/etc. that would be questionable by anyone, any time in the future, is to do those in person with all possible listening devices (including cell phones) OFF, or via an end-to-end encrypted app (eg, Signal, maybe Whatsap).
My recommendation for privacy/safety for all internet browsing/searching, and to wipe out ads, is to use the Brave browser exclusively, with this setting:
* "Trackers & ads blocking" set to "Aggressive" (this will block trackers, ads, malware, phishing, etc)
(Brave -> Preferences -> Shields -> Trackers & ads blocking -> Aggressive)
If that's all you do, you're in FAR better shape than with almost anything else. Use Brave's built in search and you're done!
If you want more Brave web surfing protection, and have 5 more min, read on at Even Better Brave….
If you don't use Brave, skip down to "2nd Best Browser Option"….
Even Better Brave
Type brave://settings as the website address (URL) and adjust these:
* Shields -> Block fingerprinting set to On
* Shields -> Block cookies set to "Block third-party cookies"
* Privacy and security -> WebRTC IP Handling Policy set to "Default public interface only" (for IP leak protection)
This setting tells the browser to restrict the information WebRTC can gather, but it keeps WebRTC enabled so that video/audio chat services can still function.
Reason: This hides your private internal IP while keeping the necessary functionality alive by only exposing your public (VPN) IP. Also good to have enabled even if you're not using a VPN.
[ This is better than "Disable Non-Proxied UDP" in case you DO need web-based video/voice calls in Brave: It allows services like Google Meet, Zoom, and WebTorrent to function normally. But, you probably have zoom launch its own app from the browser so it's not actually running in Brave — if so, for you maybe this applies only for non-zoom web-based voice or video calls/conferencing like the others - if so, see ADVANCED below at your own risk. ]
ADVANCED:
* Privacy and security -> WebRTC IP Handling Policy set to "Disable Non-Proxied UDP" (for IP leak protection)
(Better If you DO NOT need services like Zoom, Google Meet, or WebTorrent in Brave)
Reason: This provides the most robust protection against any potential WebRTC leak by functionally disabling the feature.
[ I've not had any problems using this setting. While I haven't tried Google Meet, Zoom in Brave opens its own app...so doesn't run in brave and works fine. ]
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* 2nd Best Browser Option: FireFox + uBlockOrigin extension + (see SEARCH below)
* NO: Chrome, Safari, Edge
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VPN
In addition to that, you can install/use the ProtonVPN extension to further cover your tracks by masking your IP address. Certain VPNs can also allow you to view content from other countries:
* Recommendation for in-country use: ProtonVPN
(NOTE: Free version no longer allows manual selection of country for server location)
* Recommendations for adding ability to access foreign country content:
- Free Brave browser extensions: CyberGhost (no login required, but only 4 country options), Windscribe (requires login, many country options)
- For an example, see "DETAILS FOR VIEWING FOREIGN CONTENT VIA CYBERGHOST" below
- Free Opera browser with its built-in VPN
(You need to enable it: Settings/Preferences -> Advanced -> Features -> VPN -> Enable VPN,
then you can supposedly set the region you want to browse in - haven't been able to find this myself but YMMV)
- Better/paid options: NordVPN, iVPN, Mulvad
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SEARCH
* Best: Use the Brave browser + Brave's built-in search
(NOT: Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge for browsing - all specifically designed to steal your data, track your usage, etc)
(NOT: google.com for search - specifically designed to steal your data, track your usage, etc)
* Next Best: Use the Firefox browser + a non-Google/non-tracking search engine
- Brave search, SwissCows.com, PreSearch, StartPage
- Not as solid privacy, but plants trees: Ecosia
- NO: DuckDuckGo - now doing Censorship + Tracking + under US Jurisdiction
* Bonus/Absolute Best: Use the Brave browser + Brave's built-in search + ProtonVPN
- Without using a VPN, your ISP can legally watch/record whatever you do and sell this data
- IMF is recommending that your private browsing history be put on your credit report!
(You can guess where that's going, esp if you've looked into China Social Credit Scoring)
- Get a VPN you can trust = they can see your data
- Recommendations: ProtonVPN, NordVPN, iVPN, or Mulvad
More info on non-tracking search engines:
Out of date, but possible useful for those who want to dig deeper:
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DETAILS FOR VIEWING FOREIGN CONTENT VIA CYBERGHOST
(this example is for if you’re outside the US and want to view a geo-protected site in the US)
INSTALL:
Install/use CyberGhost VPN extension on Brave browser:
Enable CyberGhost VPN extension at brave://extensions/ (move slider in bottom right corner to the right)
Click on Details -> Enable "Pin to toolbar" (if not already selected)
TURN ON VPN:
Click on grey (might be yellow) "ghost" icon in browser toolbar
Click on <country> under "Connected to", select "United States" (if not already selected)
Big "On" button should be highlighted and should say "Connected" (if not, click on it)
[ OPTIONAL: Can double check by going to https://www.whatismyip.com/ (Should list US as Country) ]
You should now be able to view any content in the US (eg, tubi.tv)
TURN OFF VPN:
Click on yellow "ghost" icon in browser toolbar
Click on big "On" button - should become unhighlighted and should say "Start a Connection"
Yellow ghost in toolbar should turn grey
When you're ready to use it again, go to TURN ON VPN
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If don't want to use any more:
Disable CyberGhost VPN extension at brave://extensions/ (move slider in bottom right corner to the left)
