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I found myself wondering, "but why?" more than once reading this. >I realized that Signal is located in Mountain View, Calif. So I downloaded Burner... So, Si

I found myself wondering, "but why?" more than once reading this. >I realized that Signal is located in Mountain View, Calif. So I downloaded Burner... So, Signal is compromised because it's physically near Google? Okay. >and went to Amazon.com A company you can't shop at without leaving a digital trail? Okay. >seeing the 7-Eleven location listed there along with almost everywhere else I’d been in the last seven years You didn't turn off location services before trying a Faraday bag? You're still using your Android smartphone? I guess I can give the author credit for looking around and trying, but most of the privacy benefits likely come from things like: using Signal (or similar end-to-end encryption), using privacy-focused email (or a private email server), not logging into social media, turning off location services, using a privacy-focused search engine like DuckDuckGo or StartPage, and blocking ads (and possibly JS if you're that bold). If it's still not enough for the non-technically-minded, then I'd suggest doing some more research into more advanced techniques like network adblocking, Tor, VPN, or virtual machines.

40four 7y ago
Maybe you are taking the article to literally. I thought it was a great read & enjoyed the writing style. I took it to be very tounge in cheek. It was a good overview of a number of cool products I was unaware of, while also being very funny and entertaining. Pretty silly ending, he just went back to doing the same old stuff he used to do. Fun read!
- mirimir 7y ago
  You took it as "tounge in cheek". I took it as a strawman, and very sarcastic and dismissive toward people who protect their privacy.
  - VvR-Ox 7y ago
    Go easy on him - we'll see who can laugh harder in a few years ;-)
    - 40four 7y ago
      That's interesting. I wonder why we perceived it so differently? I try to protect my privacy more than anyone else I know in my personal life. Doesn't mean I can't laugh at myself. I dropped Chrome for Firefox. I only search on DuckDuckGo. I run my own WireGuard VPN server with Streisand https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand. I use Proton mail e-mail almost exclusively. I try my darnedest to not log into google if at all possible & lock down as many settings that I know of. I keep my activity cleared out https://myactivity.google.com/ https://myactivity.google.com/. Same for Facebook. I won't even consider using an Alexa/ Google home/ etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, also I know there is more I could do. I'm always preaching the privacy gospel to my friends, and I think they are sick of hearing about it at this point. And there in-lies the problem. Many people just don't care, or are not willing to put in the work to defend themselves. Look at all the steps I had to take. I don't have to tell you folks. Trying to protect privacy this day in age is no trivial task. Especially for non tech people. I wonder why you thought the author was dismissive? It's okay if you didn't like the style/ tone. But the bulk of the article was promoting tools for protecting privacy. That's a good thing, no? I learned of a number of products I was unaware of. I plan on trying out Anonyome labs/ MySudo, Burner & the Abine.com products. The author seems to care and be excited about privacy. But in the end, he resigns to the difficulty and amount of work it requires. I think the point is it shouldn't have to be so hard. The article make as good point at the end about laws and legislation. Until we convince our lawmakers to make privacy a requirement, nothing much will change. A small minority of people like us will continue the good fight, but the privacy landscape as a whole will keep eroding. I don't think this article was aimed at hardcore tech people like you find on HN. I think it is aimed at a more casual internet user. A good way to get normal folks to read an article is to keep it fun & entertaining. If it is to dense or feels brow beating, it will turn people off. Just like I have with preaching to my friends. My hope is that casual articles like this will make people more aware & get more people/ lawmakers on board.
      - ENOTTY 7y ago
        WHat's stopping the host of your VPN (or any of its upstream providers) from logging your traffic like your ISP might? I'm personally not entirely convinced that using a VPN provides much privacy benefit.
  - 40four 7y ago
    I just saw the privacy guides page you link to. Look like a good resource I will have to check it out. I take my privacy seriously, but it shouldn't have be so complicated/ time consuming to defend yourself.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      Thanks. And no, it shouldn't. But it is. There are startup opportunities, perhaps. Something like Tails, but more comprehensive. And even more intuitive and user-friendly. Maybe using some lighter type of OS compartmentalization.

40four 7y ago

Maybe you are taking the article to literally. I thought it was a great read & enjoyed the writing style. I took it to be very tounge in cheek. It was a good overview of a number of cool products I was unaware of, while also being very funny and entertaining. Pretty silly ending, he just went back to doing the same old stuff he used to do. Fun read!

mirimir 7y ago
You took it as "tounge in cheek". I took it as a strawman, and very sarcastic and dismissive toward people who protect their privacy.
- VvR-Ox 7y ago
  Go easy on him - we'll see who can laugh harder in a few years ;-)
  - 40four 7y ago
    That's interesting. I wonder why we perceived it so differently? I try to protect my privacy more than anyone else I know in my personal life. Doesn't mean I can't laugh at myself. I dropped Chrome for Firefox. I only search on DuckDuckGo. I run my own WireGuard VPN server with Streisand https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand. I use Proton mail e-mail almost exclusively. I try my darnedest to not log into google if at all possible & lock down as many settings that I know of. I keep my activity cleared out https://myactivity.google.com/ https://myactivity.google.com/. Same for Facebook. I won't even consider using an Alexa/ Google home/ etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, also I know there is more I could do. I'm always preaching the privacy gospel to my friends, and I think they are sick of hearing about it at this point. And there in-lies the problem. Many people just don't care, or are not willing to put in the work to defend themselves. Look at all the steps I had to take. I don't have to tell you folks. Trying to protect privacy this day in age is no trivial task. Especially for non tech people. I wonder why you thought the author was dismissive? It's okay if you didn't like the style/ tone. But the bulk of the article was promoting tools for protecting privacy. That's a good thing, no? I learned of a number of products I was unaware of. I plan on trying out Anonyome labs/ MySudo, Burner & the Abine.com products. The author seems to care and be excited about privacy. But in the end, he resigns to the difficulty and amount of work it requires. I think the point is it shouldn't have to be so hard. The article make as good point at the end about laws and legislation. Until we convince our lawmakers to make privacy a requirement, nothing much will change. A small minority of people like us will continue the good fight, but the privacy landscape as a whole will keep eroding. I don't think this article was aimed at hardcore tech people like you find on HN. I think it is aimed at a more casual internet user. A good way to get normal folks to read an article is to keep it fun & entertaining. If it is to dense or feels brow beating, it will turn people off. Just like I have with preaching to my friends. My hope is that casual articles like this will make people more aware & get more people/ lawmakers on board.
    - ENOTTY 7y ago
      WHat's stopping the host of your VPN (or any of its upstream providers) from logging your traffic like your ISP might? I'm personally not entirely convinced that using a VPN provides much privacy benefit.
- 40four 7y ago
  I just saw the privacy guides page you link to. Look like a good resource I will have to check it out. I take my privacy seriously, but it shouldn't have be so complicated/ time consuming to defend yourself.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    Thanks. And no, it shouldn't. But it is. There are startup opportunities, perhaps. Something like Tails, but more comprehensive. And even more intuitive and user-friendly. Maybe using some lighter type of OS compartmentalization.