Shutting out big tech
Dec 14, 2020 18:19:44 GMT 10
via mobile
SA Hunter, Frank, and 3 more like this
Post by milspec on Dec 14, 2020 18:19:44 GMT 10
The recent US election and the big tech info war that went along with it has prompted me to disconnect from big tech and ramp up my internet privacy where at all possible.
I've deleted my primary facebook account and created a shell account which I use to track some photography and off grid groups I'm interested in. No friends added. No use of messenger.
Deleting my main fb means my messenger history gets deleted too.
The fb & messenger apps are deleted from my phone. I dont use whatsapp or tik tok or snap chat.
I access the shell fb account only via firefox browser. It is the one & only thing I use firefox for. This means fb cant link my limited use of that fb acct with any other browsing activity in firefox as there isnt any.
Chrome is disabled. I use it for nothing. Ever.
Ive installed SIGNAL for end to end encrypted instant messaging (it does sms & phone calls too). Ed Snowden gives signal a thumbs up. So does the ADF btw.
I'm winding down my gmail & hotmail accounts. I'll use them only for registration of unimportant stuff, nothing with banking or finance attached.
Ive setup a paid encrypted email account with protonmail which will be my front end email for registering other more sensitive sites like bank accounts etc.
Ive set up a second protonmail encrypted account (not an alias) which is used only for messaging family & friends who also give a fcuk about their privacy and use protonmail so that protonmail to protonmail emails are encrypted. This is because the other 'front end protonmail' acct will receive emails from unencrypted senders which include personal info such as my name. Those emails from unencrypted senders which include your personal info weaken your privacy.
Ive disabled youtube and installed NEWPIPE as my means of watching youtube content. Once I bookmarked my fave channels it was all good.
I disabled chrome.
I dont use google drive or microsoft one drive, or backup any images to the cloud or the samsung equivalents.
I installed duck duck go as my primary browser/search engine widget. It blocks all the google & fb trackers.
I installed the BRAVE browser and use it only by exception and only to access the google web page & my registered youtube account, not for anything else... I see myself using those two links rarely. That minimises googles opportunities to track me and since I do nothing else with that browser google cant correlate that activity with anything I do in any other browser. (Aka Browser solation).
Next step will be a hardware vpn in front of the router and then a degoogled phone to eliminate google at the Android OS level... especially its wifi & home network mac address tracking.
I use very strong passwords and they are different for all my important accounts.
I use 2FA where possible and I use a bitdefender software vpn on my mobile devices.
I avoid using google maps and use the car nav where possible.
I thought I'd put this out there for anyone else thats interested but maybe doesnt know where to start.
These steps will not make you invisible by any means but they will reduce big tech's ability to know evey god dammned thing about you and make relationship mapping more difficult. They will also reduce your vulnerability to hackers.
I've deleted my primary facebook account and created a shell account which I use to track some photography and off grid groups I'm interested in. No friends added. No use of messenger.
Deleting my main fb means my messenger history gets deleted too.
The fb & messenger apps are deleted from my phone. I dont use whatsapp or tik tok or snap chat.
I access the shell fb account only via firefox browser. It is the one & only thing I use firefox for. This means fb cant link my limited use of that fb acct with any other browsing activity in firefox as there isnt any.
Chrome is disabled. I use it for nothing. Ever.
Ive installed SIGNAL for end to end encrypted instant messaging (it does sms & phone calls too). Ed Snowden gives signal a thumbs up. So does the ADF btw.
I'm winding down my gmail & hotmail accounts. I'll use them only for registration of unimportant stuff, nothing with banking or finance attached.
Ive setup a paid encrypted email account with protonmail which will be my front end email for registering other more sensitive sites like bank accounts etc.
Ive set up a second protonmail encrypted account (not an alias) which is used only for messaging family & friends who also give a fcuk about their privacy and use protonmail so that protonmail to protonmail emails are encrypted. This is because the other 'front end protonmail' acct will receive emails from unencrypted senders which include personal info such as my name. Those emails from unencrypted senders which include your personal info weaken your privacy.
Ive disabled youtube and installed NEWPIPE as my means of watching youtube content. Once I bookmarked my fave channels it was all good.
I disabled chrome.
I dont use google drive or microsoft one drive, or backup any images to the cloud or the samsung equivalents.
I installed duck duck go as my primary browser/search engine widget. It blocks all the google & fb trackers.
I installed the BRAVE browser and use it only by exception and only to access the google web page & my registered youtube account, not for anything else... I see myself using those two links rarely. That minimises googles opportunities to track me and since I do nothing else with that browser google cant correlate that activity with anything I do in any other browser. (Aka Browser solation).
Next step will be a hardware vpn in front of the router and then a degoogled phone to eliminate google at the Android OS level... especially its wifi & home network mac address tracking.
I use very strong passwords and they are different for all my important accounts.
I use 2FA where possible and I use a bitdefender software vpn on my mobile devices.
I avoid using google maps and use the car nav where possible.
I thought I'd put this out there for anyone else thats interested but maybe doesnt know where to start.
These steps will not make you invisible by any means but they will reduce big tech's ability to know evey god dammned thing about you and make relationship mapping more difficult. They will also reduce your vulnerability to hackers.