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13 votes
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Signal technology preview: sealed sender
21 votes -
Google Home (in)security
11 votes -
Ban on Chinese mobile giants for 5G 'needed to protect critical Australian infrastructure'
6 votes -
How a 19th-century teenager sparked a battle over who owns our faces
7 votes -
Facebook can't find anyone left at Cambridge Analytica
7 votes -
Tim Cook's keynote address at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners
8 votes -
China blocks website that revealed spyware and "re-education" camp monitoring
9 votes -
What are the best practices regarding personal files and encryption?
Over the past year I have done a lot to shore up my digital privacy and security. One of the last tasks I have to tackle is locking down the many personal files I have on my computer that have...
Over the past year I have done a lot to shore up my digital privacy and security. One of the last tasks I have to tackle is locking down the many personal files I have on my computer that have potentially compromising information in them (e.g. bank statements). Right now they are simply sitting on my hard drive, unencrypted. Theft of my device or a breach in access through the network would allow a frightening level of access to many of my records.
As such, what are my options for keeping certain files behind an encryption "shield"? Also, what are the potential tradeoffs for doing so? In researching the topic online I've read plenty of horror stories about people losing archives or whole drives due to encryption-related errors/mistakes. How can I protect against this scenario? Losing the files would be almost as bad as having them compromised!
I'm running Linux, but I'm far from tech-savvy, so I would either need a solution to be straightforward or I'd have to learn a lot to make sense of a more complicated solution. I'm willing to learn mainly because it's not an option for me to continue with my current, insecure setup. I do use a cloud-based password manager that allows for uploading of files, and I trust it enough with my passwords that I would trust it with my files, though I would like to avoid that situation if possible.
With all this in mind, what's a good solution for me to protect my personal files?
26 votes -
'Do Not Track' the Privacy Tool Used by Millions of People, Doesn't Do Anything
20 votes -
Alexa, should we trust you?
10 votes -
Facebook Says Hackers Stole Detailed Personal Data From 14 Million People
10 votes -
Google's beefing up user data privacy (which includes shutting down Google+)
42 votes -
Facebook Isn’t Sorry — It Just Wants Your Data
15 votes -
DOJ demands Facebook information from 'anti-administration activists'
17 votes -
Panopticlick: How unique is your browser?
29 votes -
Instagram is testing the ability to share your precise location history with Facebook
20 votes -
Did Facebook lLearn anything from the Cambridge Analytica debacle? An even bigger data breach suggests it didn’t.
14 votes -
Why I’m Worried About Google - I used to trust some of its products, like Chrome. I increasingly don’t.
28 votes -
A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services.
14 votes -
What does big data look like when cross-referenced?
Google knows a lot about its users. Facebook knows a lot about its users. FitBit knows a lot about its users. And so on. But what happens when these companies all sell their data sets to one...
Google knows a lot about its users. Facebook knows a lot about its users. FitBit knows a lot about its users. And so on.
But what happens when these companies all sell their data sets to one another? It'd be pretty trivial to link even anonymized users from set to set by looking for specific features. If I went for a run, Google tracked my location, FitBit tracked my heart rate, and Facebook tracked my status about my new best mile time, for example. Thus, Google can narrow down who I am in the other sets using pre-existing information that coincides with theirs. With enough overlap they can figure out exactly who I am fairly easily. Furthermore, each additional layer of data makes this discovery process from new data sets even easier, as it gives more opportunities to confirm or rule out concurrent info. So then when, say, Credit Karma, Comcast, and Amazon's data enter the fray, my online identity stops looking like an individual egg in each different basket but a whole lot of eggs in all in one. And they can do this across millions/billions of users--not just me!
I don't know for certain that this is a thing that happens, but... I have to assume it definitely is happening, right? How could it not? With how valuable data is and how loose protections are, this seems like a logical and potentially very lucrative step.
Right now, is there an aggregate version of "me" that exists in a data store somewhere that is a more comprehensive and accurate picture than my own self-image? After all, my memory and perception are imperfect and biased, but data stores aren't.
6 votes -
A Critical Look at Sovereign Identity Startups
4 votes -
Data Factories
6 votes -
No cash needed at this cafe. Students pay the tab with their personal data.
31 votes -
In test case, US fails to force Facebook to wiretap Messenger (voice) calls
9 votes -
Does a trustworthy VPN provide privacy? If so, how do you know if a VPN is trustworthy?
It's hard to get a straight answer on this because there are allegations of shilling everywhere when it comes to VPNs (particularly when you discuss specific providers). There's also this post...
It's hard to get a straight answer on this because there are allegations of shilling everywhere when it comes to VPNs (particularly when you discuss specific providers). There's also this post which gets linked pretty frequently and which seems to throw a wrench in the whole idea.
For context, I ask because I have two main concerns:
- I have been the subject of a mild internet stalking/doxing, and I have no wish to relive that experience.
- I live in the United States and, if I am understanding things correctly, my ISP now has the right to sell my browsing data without my consent.
I have no love for my ISP and am all about the idea of blocking them from gathering data about me, but it seems the only other option is to hand all of my data over to another company who simply promises not to do anything with it. While I'm sure some of them are legitimate, how can you tell the difference between a genuine privacy tool and a honeypot?
23 votes -
The government wants airlines to delay your flight so they can scan your face
15 votes -
Chrome's new forced login policy is a violation of user privacy and trust
50 votes -
Encrypting SNI: Fixing one of the core internet bugs
8 votes -
Firefox just installed two addons into my browser without consent... again
Here is what just happened to me: Firefox installed two addons - fxmonitor@mozilla.org.xpi and telemetry-coverage-bug1487578@mozilla.org into my browser silently, even though I've explicitly...
Here is what just happened to me:
Firefox installed two addons - fxmonitor@mozilla.org.xpi and telemetry-coverage-bug1487578@mozilla.org into my browser silently, even though I've explicitly turned all the telemetry off.
This have happened before, and Mozilla apologized for it, however it seems that they learned nothing and are willing to do so again.
There goes the last scrap of my trust into Firefox. I suggest you check your browsers too.21 votes -
Amazon is invading your home with micro-convenience
13 votes -
For hackers, anonymity was once critical. That’s changing.
10 votes -
Google confirms it's letting third parties scan your Gmail
21 votes -
A life insurance company wants to track your fitness data
10 votes -
Purism Announces The "Librem Key"
8 votes -
NCIX Data Breach - after bankruptcy, terabytes of unencrypted customer/company data have been sold to multiple buyers
20 votes -
Introducing the CloudFlare Onion Service
12 votes -
US mobile giants want to be your online identity
11 votes -
Battery saver had been turned on for a lot of Pixel users unintentionally, according to Google employee
21 votes -
Google China prototype links searches to phone numbers
10 votes -
Leaving Apple & Google: /e/ first beta is here
14 votes -
How Game Apps That Captivate Kids Have Been Collecting Their Data
11 votes -
Today, Europe lost the internet. Now, we fight back
10 votes -
GCHQ data collection violated human rights, Strasbourg court rules. Spies breached right to privacy in programme revealed by Edward Snowden, judges say
10 votes -
Mozilla co-founder's Brave files adtech complaint against Google
15 votes -
Feedbin goes private by default, explains design desicions to enhance user privacy
10 votes -
A call for principle-based international agreements to govern law enforcement access to data
7 votes -
Trend Micro says sorry after apps grabbed Mac browser history
6 votes -
On an internet run by personal information, what do you do to manage yours?
Almost every content provider online tries to access some of your personal info, whether it's to keep itself afloat, improve functionality, or create profits. In 2014, Google made [89.4%]...
Almost every content provider online tries to access some of your personal info, whether it's to keep itself afloat, improve functionality, or create profits. In 2014, Google made [89.4%] (https://revenuesandprofits.com/how-google-makes-money/) of its profits from advertising, all of which attempts to target users with their interests (though Google does allow this to be disabled).
What do you do to try and protect yourself from data collection? What software, programs, or browser extensions do you trust to protect you, and not just also monitor your activities?
If you don't do any of this, why not? To what extent do you think companies should be allowed to use your data?
30 votes -
/e/ first beta soon to be released
9 votes