7 ms·

The Future of PrivacyTools

95 points by freddyym 5y ago

teddyh 5y ago
> Please don't discuss your name suggestions or votes in community channels. To avoid exhausting bikeshedding and ensure a fair result, we want to make this a blind vote. While we obviously can't stop you from discussing it outside of PrivacyTools's rooms, we trust that you'll do your part in making all of this a smooth process! — https://aragon.cloud/apps/forms/cMPxG9KyopapBbcw https://aragon.cloud/apps/forms/cMPxG9KyopapBbcw
kashura 5y ago
What happened to the founder and their involvement?
- freddyym 5y ago
  We haven't had proper contact with him for a while. And even when he was "available", it was so intermittent that he may as well have been absent. (I've been in the team for a year and they have logged on to our Matrix chat about three times). This affected fundamental tasks like updating the site and having our servers for our services work.
  - Radim 5y ago
    Ha! That explains why I never heard back from him in my emails. Freddy, do you mind reaching out to me at radim@pii-tools.com? I'd like to discuss options of support / partnership, for the (formerly) PrivacyTools.
    - freddyym 5y ago
      If you wait until the new name is decided, then you can get in contact with me via email: hello [at] freddym [dot] xyz
      - Radim 5y ago
        Message couldn't be delivered: "NXDOMAIN Domain name not found: freddym.xyz". You guys are taking leave-me-alone privacy really seriously!
      - hundchenkatze 5y ago
        Heads up, it looks like your domain has expired: Domain Name: FREDDYM.XYZ Registry Domain ID: D188258119-CNIC Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.tucows.com Registrar URL: http://www.tucows.com/ Updated Date: 2021-07-13T05:55:57.0Z Creation Date: 2020-06-02T10:18:31.0Z Registry Expiry Date: 2021-06-02T23:59:59.0Z Registrar: Tucows.com Co.
        freddyym 5y ago
        Welp.
  - Rd6n6 5y ago
    How is privacy tools operated? What is the organization behind it? Is it a business or a group or volunteers? I’ve been visiting for years, it’s a good site Edit: looks like it’s becoming a business? > The PrivacyTools team is proud to introduce a suite of privacy-centric online services to connect you with other privacy-minded individuals and stay safe and secure online. No advertisers, no Google Analytics, no tracking, no third-party requests of any kind
    - freddyym 5y ago
      Currently it is a not-for-profit organization, though we plan on creating a new legal organization designed around the community to ensure our long-term sustainability.
      - nugget 5y ago
        Does that mean the new site will be for profit and owned by the mods?
        dngray 5y ago
        No. > Eventually, we plan on creating a new legal organization designed around the community to ensure our long-term sustainability. This will take some careful planning and time to get right, but we’re confident we can prevent this from ever happening again, and keep us independent of any one team member. Just to clarify, we plan to become a 501(c)(3) organization. The site will remain run in the same way, it's just we won't have someone at the very top who is never around, never contributes and owns the domain. Funding is transparently listed: https://opencollective.com/privacytools https://opencollective.com/privacytools https://blog.privacytools.io/privacytools-io-joins-the-open-collective-foundation/ https://blog.privacytools.io/privacytools-io-joins-the-open-...
      - GekkePrutser 5y ago
        It should really remain not for profit if you want to be taken seriously at what you do. At least make it a foundation if it needs a legal entity :) And be really careful who you take money from and under which conditions. See what happened to freenode recently, how well that worked out for them :)
counternotions 5y ago
Weird they are taking this so seriously. I thought this was just another one of those spam VPN review sites?
- apecat 5y ago
  No, I find them to be a lot more ambitious than that. Worth browsing around the site, and you'll see it's not spammy at all. If you run a serious web project, ownership of domain names is critical asset management, especially if you care for privacy. If the current domain was to get hijacked by someone's commercial ambitions, the site would probably be reworked towards the kind of BS VPN blabbering you described. I don't agree with all of PrivacyTools' angles and priorities, making a lot of their advice pretty impractical for most people. But the purist approach is also interesting to follow, even if one doesn't jump on the bandwagon.
- NeckBeardPrince 5y ago
  Why did you think that? Did you ever visit the site?
  - goodpoint 5y ago
    The styling and the stock photos.
    - mm983 5y ago
      which stock photos
- fragileone 5y ago
  Their privacy suggestions are basically the best around and packaged in a pleasant UX.
  - freddyym 5y ago
    Glad you like the site!
- 5y ago
Finger_Fudge 5y ago
I don't get it, are they selling out to some big company soon? This feels weird. Anyhow, blogs come and go, this isn't going to be a big deal.
kosasbest 5y ago
I have adopted many of the tools found on that site, and the novelty of it has worn off. It's rare now that new tools come along in the privacy space. It's a bit of a golden age / renaissance of privacy tools and there are more than enough tools now to be very private online. Some would argue the opposite, but if you put the work in, you can avoid the gaze of Big Brother.
- freddyym 5y ago
  > I miss the old version of PT where everything was all on one page, and I could just save the page for some offline reference. See here: https://privacytools.io/classic/ https://privacytools.io/classic/
  - kosasbest 5y ago
    Brilliant. Thanks.
  - kosasbest 5y ago
    I just grabbed this with SingleFile[0] [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/?
    - mm983 5y ago
      you can also save it as a pdf with cntrl + p
robcohen 5y ago
Just thought I'd point out that I have a standing PR with privacytools from late 2019 and it never went anywhere, even though I was careful to ensure everything was done correctly. https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/pull/1619 https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/pull/1619 After that experience I determined that privacytools is a club for cool kids.
- foresto 5y ago
  Your PR claims to resolve issue 1618, but an open question in that issue is not addressed anywhere that I can see: "tell more about VyOS and how it is a privacy tool and secure and how we won't regret listing it [...] remember citations so your research can be confirmed" Is it possible that the privacytools folks are not willfully excluding your suggestion, but merely waiting until they understand it? I know what VyOS is, but I don't imagine most people do.
  - robcohen 5y ago
    Seems like a bit much to me. It’s pretty clear that the issue is no one maintains the router firmware section.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
Doesn't sound like a great plan really. If I were you I'd work harder with the domain owner to get control. It sounds like he's just hard to reach, not obstructive as such. A name change is a huge thing and you're diluting your userbase. I also think most of your userbase will consider such name changes a bad thing as rebranding is a major marketing tool of big business which a lot of us would be sceptical of. I think you do good work but your name is already perfect.
- dngray 5y ago
  > Doesn't sound like a great plan really. If I were you I'd work harder with the domain owner to get control. It sounds like he's just hard to reach, not obstructive as such. For context, we did bring this up with Burung Hantu, when he was around about 6 months ago. We offered to buy the domain. The exact details were discussed more here: https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rnkyt/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rnkyt/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rrbf4/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rrbf4/
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    Fair enough, I didn't realise it was that bad. It wasn't possible to contact him some other way though?
    - dngray 5y ago
      We don't have any contact details but matrix, email. He isn't responding to either. https://reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6t4rl0/ https://reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6t4rl0/
betwixthewires 5y ago
I'm a user of a couple of your services, specifically those that will be affected by a domain change. The founder is Jonah Aragon right? He used to run an OpenNIC TLD if I'm correct and abandoned that for some reason a long time ago.
- dngray 5y ago
  > The founder is Jonah Aragon right? No, he's the system administrator, the founder was Burung Hantu. https://privacytools.io/about/ https://privacytools.io/about/

95 points by freddyym 5y ago

> Please don't discuss your name suggestions or votes in community channels. To avoid exhausting bikeshedding and ensure a fair result, we want to make this a blind vote. While we obviously can't stop you from discussing it outside of PrivacyTools's rooms, we trust that you'll do your part in making all of this a smooth process! — https://aragon.cloud/apps/forms/cMPxG9KyopapBbcw https://aragon.cloud/apps/forms/cMPxG9KyopapBbcw

kashura 5y ago

What happened to the founder and their involvement?

freddyym 5y ago
We haven't had proper contact with him for a while. And even when he was "available", it was so intermittent that he may as well have been absent. (I've been in the team for a year and they have logged on to our Matrix chat about three times). This affected fundamental tasks like updating the site and having our servers for our services work.
- Radim 5y ago
  Ha! That explains why I never heard back from him in my emails. Freddy, do you mind reaching out to me at radim@pii-tools.com? I'd like to discuss options of support / partnership, for the (formerly) PrivacyTools.
  - freddyym 5y ago
    If you wait until the new name is decided, then you can get in contact with me via email: hello [at] freddym [dot] xyz
    - Radim 5y ago
      Message couldn't be delivered: "NXDOMAIN Domain name not found: freddym.xyz". You guys are taking leave-me-alone privacy really seriously!
    - hundchenkatze 5y ago
      Heads up, it looks like your domain has expired: Domain Name: FREDDYM.XYZ Registry Domain ID: D188258119-CNIC Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.tucows.com Registrar URL: http://www.tucows.com/ Updated Date: 2021-07-13T05:55:57.0Z Creation Date: 2020-06-02T10:18:31.0Z Registry Expiry Date: 2021-06-02T23:59:59.0Z Registrar: Tucows.com Co.
      - freddyym 5y ago
        Welp.
- Rd6n6 5y ago
  How is privacy tools operated? What is the organization behind it? Is it a business or a group or volunteers? I’ve been visiting for years, it’s a good site Edit: looks like it’s becoming a business? > The PrivacyTools team is proud to introduce a suite of privacy-centric online services to connect you with other privacy-minded individuals and stay safe and secure online. No advertisers, no Google Analytics, no tracking, no third-party requests of any kind
  - freddyym 5y ago
    Currently it is a not-for-profit organization, though we plan on creating a new legal organization designed around the community to ensure our long-term sustainability.
    - nugget 5y ago
      Does that mean the new site will be for profit and owned by the mods?
      - dngray 5y ago
        No. > Eventually, we plan on creating a new legal organization designed around the community to ensure our long-term sustainability. This will take some careful planning and time to get right, but we’re confident we can prevent this from ever happening again, and keep us independent of any one team member. Just to clarify, we plan to become a 501(c)(3) organization. The site will remain run in the same way, it's just we won't have someone at the very top who is never around, never contributes and owns the domain. Funding is transparently listed: https://opencollective.com/privacytools https://opencollective.com/privacytools https://blog.privacytools.io/privacytools-io-joins-the-open-collective-foundation/ https://blog.privacytools.io/privacytools-io-joins-the-open-...
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      It should really remain not for profit if you want to be taken seriously at what you do. At least make it a foundation if it needs a legal entity :) And be really careful who you take money from and under which conditions. See what happened to freenode recently, how well that worked out for them :)

counternotions 5y ago

Weird they are taking this so seriously. I thought this was just another one of those spam VPN review sites?

apecat 5y ago
No, I find them to be a lot more ambitious than that. Worth browsing around the site, and you'll see it's not spammy at all. If you run a serious web project, ownership of domain names is critical asset management, especially if you care for privacy. If the current domain was to get hijacked by someone's commercial ambitions, the site would probably be reworked towards the kind of BS VPN blabbering you described. I don't agree with all of PrivacyTools' angles and priorities, making a lot of their advice pretty impractical for most people. But the purist approach is also interesting to follow, even if one doesn't jump on the bandwagon.
NeckBeardPrince 5y ago
Why did you think that? Did you ever visit the site?
- goodpoint 5y ago
  The styling and the stock photos.
  - mm983 5y ago
    which stock photos
fragileone 5y ago
Their privacy suggestions are basically the best around and packaged in a pleasant UX.
- freddyym 5y ago
  Glad you like the site!
5y ago

Finger_Fudge 5y ago

I don't get it, are they selling out to some big company soon? This feels weird. Anyhow, blogs come and go, this isn't going to be a big deal.

kosasbest 5y ago

I have adopted many of the tools found on that site, and the novelty of it has worn off. It's rare now that new tools come along in the privacy space. It's a bit of a golden age / renaissance of privacy tools and there are more than enough tools now to be very private online. Some would argue the opposite, but if you put the work in, you can avoid the gaze of Big Brother.

freddyym 5y ago
> I miss the old version of PT where everything was all on one page, and I could just save the page for some offline reference. See here: https://privacytools.io/classic/ https://privacytools.io/classic/
- kosasbest 5y ago
  Brilliant. Thanks.
- kosasbest 5y ago
  I just grabbed this with SingleFile[0] [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/?
  - mm983 5y ago
    you can also save it as a pdf with cntrl + p

robcohen 5y ago

Just thought I'd point out that I have a standing PR with privacytools from late 2019 and it never went anywhere, even though I was careful to ensure everything was done correctly. https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/pull/1619 https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/pull/1619 After that experience I determined that privacytools is a club for cool kids.

foresto 5y ago
Your PR claims to resolve issue 1618, but an open question in that issue is not addressed anywhere that I can see: "tell more about VyOS and how it is a privacy tool and secure and how we won't regret listing it [...] remember citations so your research can be confirmed" Is it possible that the privacytools folks are not willfully excluding your suggestion, but merely waiting until they understand it? I know what VyOS is, but I don't imagine most people do.
- robcohen 5y ago
  Seems like a bit much to me. It’s pretty clear that the issue is no one maintains the router firmware section.

GekkePrutser 5y ago

Doesn't sound like a great plan really. If I were you I'd work harder with the domain owner to get control. It sounds like he's just hard to reach, not obstructive as such. A name change is a huge thing and you're diluting your userbase. I also think most of your userbase will consider such name changes a bad thing as rebranding is a major marketing tool of big business which a lot of us would be sceptical of. I think you do good work but your name is already perfect.

dngray 5y ago
> Doesn't sound like a great plan really. If I were you I'd work harder with the domain owner to get control. It sounds like he's just hard to reach, not obstructive as such. For context, we did bring this up with Burung Hantu, when he was around about 6 months ago. We offered to buy the domain. The exact details were discussed more here: https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rnkyt/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rnkyt/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rrbf4/ https://old.reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6rrbf4/
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Fair enough, I didn't realise it was that bad. It wasn't possible to contact him some other way though?
  - dngray 5y ago
    We don't have any contact details but matrix, email. He isn't responding to either. https://reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6t4rl0/ https://reddit.com/comments/osvuf9/comment/h6t4rl0/

betwixthewires 5y ago

I'm a user of a couple of your services, specifically those that will be affected by a domain change. The founder is Jonah Aragon right? He used to run an OpenNIC TLD if I'm correct and abandoned that for some reason a long time ago.

dngray 5y ago
> The founder is Jonah Aragon right? No, he's the system administrator, the founder was Burung Hantu. https://privacytools.io/about/ https://privacytools.io/about/