Being anonymous is getting harder and harder
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- čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
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00:00 Intro
00:59 Sponsor: Proton
02:17 Data grabbing
05:07 Why this data matters
07:41 Laws make it worse
11:11 What you can do
14:04 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux
15:07 Support the channel
Playlist on how to De-Google your life: • Switching away from Go...
#Privacy #anonymity #private
Virtually everything online now collects data. And this data doesn't just stay at the company that collected it. This data is a giant repository for governments to use and track or monitor their citizens.
See, in a LOT of countries, governments have the right to ask a company to provide all the data they've collected on their users. Companies have no choice but to comply with these, which is also why using end to end, and zero access encrypted services is crucial.
For example, the US can request any company to give them data on a specific user, they've done so more than any other country in 2020. But other countries do the exact same: Germany, Denmark, South korea, France, virtually ever country does this.
If you want even more scary numbers, in 2022, Meta, the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, or Whatsapp, got 827K requests for data. They complied with 76% of these requests.
www.globalsecuritymag.com/Met...
There are a lot of legal offensives being planned, or already implemented in various countries, so let's look at a few.
In Russia, recent laws from 2017 banned anonymous use of online messaging apps, and prohibits the use of tools that would circumvent government censorship. This means that while VPNs aren't exactly banned, if they let people access banned websites, then they'll also be banned. This has happened to at least 15 VPNs, including NordVPN, ProtonVPN, and OperaVPN.
www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/01/r...
In Australia, in 2021, a law was proposed to force people to attach their real name to their social media posts, apparently to fight online trolls, bullying and harrassment. Users would have had to provide an ID before opening any social media account, which would obviously open the door to surveillance, monitoring, and censorship.
ia.acs.org.au/article/2021/go...
In France, we have the recent SREN law. This thing would give the telecom watchdog powers to block websites, and require tools for age verification. On top of that, the law will give the government capabilities to demand web browsers and DNS providers block certain websites.
adguard.com/en/blog/france-we...
in the UK, the Online Safety Bill of 2022 allows the regulatory agency Ofcom to force websites to collect people's personal data, and they'll be able to scan, restrict and remove content that is considered harmful. The bill also mandates online communication services to be moderated, which basically means end to end encryption can be enabled there anymore.
datainnovation.org/2022/05/th...
So, what can you do about this? For protecting your data, there are plenty of things you can do. First, stop using privacy invasive operating systems. If you can't move to something like Linux, try at least to disable all the telemetry you can in Windows or macOS, in Android and iOS. You can try using a degoogled, privacy focused Android ROM on your smartphone.
Leaving Chrome for a more private browser is also pretty much mandatory. Same goes for your online services: stop using Google as a search engine, Gmail, or stuff like Outlook, OneDrive, iCloud, and the like. Using a VPN is also a solid option to at least try and blur the lines. - Věda a technologie
Regain control of your privacy with Proton (and enjoy their Black Friday / Cyber Week deals while they last!):
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your sponsors are usually the best on the market for open-source/privacy practices. that's actually really cool of you. a lot of people would become sellouts for services like honey and shady vpns. glad to see you promoting what you believe in.
Proton mail also collects your email data before they encrypt so there is no privacy. They are a business driven by profits and are part of the problem
You have no privacy when you pay for use online services.
Remember Ottawa? They closed down bank accounts, insurance and other essential services to protesters.
I stopped buying anything online and now use cash only and shop locally.
I do try to contribute anonymously to projects I support... if possible.
A few months ago, I got a .vcf file (virtual ID card). I opened it with a txt editor, it was full of codes. So, I searched for them, it had the v a x status, something to do with overweight, travel looks ups and a lot more...
I don't dare phone or send an email to that person 🤷♂
I always hated the argument of "if you have nothing to hide, there's nothing to fear!". Surveillance is never done for the benefit of the person being watched, so you should never be okay with being watched.
Agreed saying you have nothing to fear also would have to mean you trust all the politicians in your country.... When I bring that up to someone they just get mad.
Its a no win situation.
it depends, if you would get a lot of money by doing so, just like celebrity, then all is OK.
it's like saying "I have nothing to say, therefore freedom of speech is not important for me". Literally the stuff that makes totalitarian states possible
Agreed, 😮💨 unfortunately there are people that stick to that policy themselves 🙄
When I get that response from people I turn it around on them. I say ok, unlock your phone and let me poke around, open your doors to your house and let me look around. They always say no. I then say, I thought you have nothing to hide? After a bit of silence I say, so it's not ok for me to look through your phone but it is for someone in some remote place. I get a kick out of there delusion
Whenever I'm asked "Why does it matter that big tech collects our data?"
I instantly respond with "Why would it matter if I stared at you through the window all day?"
But the thing is if you're the one watching them, they would feel uncomfortable BUT if the person watching them is Google, and as they like using Google services so much, they kinda feel like ah nah it's okay it's Google it can watch me no big deal it gives me lots of features extra anyway if I let it watch me
@vintagewander so what about if you give them some cool services in exchange for being allowed to spy on them? How would that change things?
*stare through the Windows all day
@@ZeStig that's just called being the ceo of microsoft
I would point out that jewish people wouldn't want hitler to look through their windows all day.
It's so bad and it feels so impossible to convince anybody to care.
The weird thing is if you say 20 years ago that you have to carry a tracking device and your computer will send data about you they will say you are mad. This is how much society have changed
@@VioFaxexcept our governments, stupid big corporations etc. are the narcs, psychopaths and groomers.
Sheep gonna be sheep.
Maybe because it is the whitest problem on earth, imagine telling someone who struggles to pay their rent they need to start worrying about online privacy
@@dadigitechman they'll only care once it starts having a direct impact on them. If they for example are forced to buy YT premium instead of using it for free and ad-free and given the current state of global inflation etc. and the fact, that consuming videos is a luxury rather than a necessity, people will figure out ways around it and use those ways, because YTs anti-adblock strategy backfired.
This just brings up so many concerns. We went from the 90s and 00s mentality of “don’t post any private info” to “post everything about you, you have nothing to hide after all”. You don’t even have to post anything people will dig up clips of you from 20+ years ago to judge you under modern mentality.
As soon as companies realized they could make money and the government realized they could invade your privacy.
@@ffwast Is invade really the right word? Annex seems more accurate, they aren't taking our data, we are giving it to them as fast as we can.
Forget the government issues with using your real name online - that'll affect how employable you are & will lead to physical stalking! Internet anonymity is common sense.
The stalking issue is a thing even if the real name is not revealed. Having enough skills anyone can track another person on the net. Once I've had an argument with some dude in the game in the world chat. Called him "hypocrite", for he was one. Next thing I know in about 20min after muting him and for about next 10 hours - messages (with an attempt to keep the argument on) from him on my YT videos, requests for adding in gaming accounts and Discord. Under different names, but it was obvious that this was that particular same guy. And that was just some random dude.
By simply typing one's real name and DOB in the browser search bar you can have as much info about them as the exact registration and living address in less than 5 min.
Guess why? Social media modern ppl love/use so much, mApple and Megahard.
It'll make cybercrime in general much easier.
@@deathemoji Except anybody actually willing to (especially if they know what they're going to do is illegal / immoral, e.g. stalking), CAN still hide their identity, with significant effort.
@@vocassen It is actually pretty easy to hide from most people, the only people you can't hide from are the CIA.
@@TrappedInFloor This, combined with impersonation, harpooning methods of phishing and generally how poorly important data is protected online... Not to forget most gadgets are easy to access. It's a disaster, an ongoing one at that!
and then, there are sites that doesn't allow registration with any domain that isn't gmail or microsoft. These people need to remember that every employee of any company has their own company mail account, and banning it is just causing as much damage as you could imagine to your own business
And some big companies do not allow mails from private servers/domains. T-Online for example. Their support basically said "You'll have to use your ISP mailer". Which then defeats the entire purpose. They won't accept mail from a server that's properly set up with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, (r)DNS and so on, the only argument being "The IP range is an ISP range, you have to use your ISP mailer."
Microsoft is on the verge of making it so that you must have a Microsoft account to login to your personal Windows 11 TPM device.
@@xCheddarB0b42x They've already shoved it in your face once, the account requirement, but the TPM part is likely to get enforced like hell down the line.
@@wombatdk "IP range is an ISP range" They're just literally said nothing, like which public IP doesn't come from an ISP?
@@MIO9_sh IANA assignments I'd assume. ;) Though I know what they meant. The question would be if they also consider datacenter assignments "ISP assigned". Either way they're aholes.
The only way you can be somewhat "anonymous" online is to buy a second hand burner laptop and use tails or something similar, then go somewhere far away from where you live and where there are no CCTV cameras. Use public wifi, never stay in one place too long, and maybe wear a ski mask.
The ski mask would then get you arrested because you look like a criminal.
@@commentarysheep There are many cold places in the world where wearing a ski mask in public is not only okay, it's recommended.
@@commentarysheep Not to mention you're easily identified as that guy in the ski mask... Anonymity sometimes is looking so normal no one can tell your not
"The Art of Invisibility" by Mitnick is the how-to manual on this subject.
@@commentarysheep only pre-2020
I really like how succinctly you put this together. I have been telling my friends and family for almost 20 years about where these patterns of data collection, and wider geopolitical behaviors, were headed... And it isn't good..
"iF YoU ArE NoT DoInG AnYtHiNg wRoNg, WhY Do yOu wOrRy aBoUt tRaCkInG" Man, I hate that stupid argument.
youre a conspiracy theorist!!!......why duz facebook ads match my ConVerSAtioN??
I had a buddy know his daughter was pregnant before she and the wife told him cuz of ads..
he knew the kept it secret for a few weeks......
facebook has a standard (about 3 million point) template even on people without an account.
yes they have an account # for your gramma...waiting for her to sign up
@@overpricedjpegs3140 history repeats itself. If you know about the "first they came" WW2 poem it is *exactly* like that.
Sadly most people only care about issues when It directly affects them. Otherwise it might as well not exist. I'm a typical person (searched up some NSFW stuff, had a social media account, uses Gmail) but stuff like this sets a precedent.
Unless something is done (or a Carrington event happens and we're brought back to the bronze ages) we're ALL going to be targeted by the likes of surveillance and corrupt government. That combined with the social unrest all over the world from the US to China is like a ticking time bomb.
Unless we come together to to defuse it we're all gonna die.
From some (unknown to me) reason, people who have nothing to hide still lock their phones, cars and homes 🤔
Internet anonymity was common sense and just the norm 20 years or so ago. Social networking made using your real name normal for most people, always a daft idea. Facebook deleted my account years ago because I was using an obvious pseudonym and refused to change to my real name and supply them with ID to prove it.
place like facebook, if samone dont like you and you use your real name tehy can come after you, happened to me , i didnt use my real name but they started to look after me, now i havent use facebook like 10 years
@@naapsulusmurmurusmurmurus2392Just don't put your address or phone number 🤦♂️. If somebody wants to come after you, all they need is your IP to know where you live (the exact house). Then they can find out all the internet traffic that goes in/out your house and get anything they want about you. Anonymity online is like a lock on your door. It'll keep the honest people away, but the people with the intent to hurt you will still find a way to get in.
As someone living in Eastern Europe... privacy was always a joke here, you can get anyone's leaked data for literally free from TG bots, and their passport or other documents for like $10. The best you can do is pretend to be a boring normie on accounts linked directly with you, and use completely anonymized accounts (like, use different nickname registered on different email or fake phone, preferably with VPN on, also no personal data) for anything else
I'm a proton user, but I'm also going to be one of the first people to point out the irony of a proton sponsorship on an anonymity video. Because proton is private, it is not anonymous
Interesting 🤔, I didn't even know
@@HShango it's a distinction that is beyond most standard users but is rather important. Proton is private because they don't have the ability to share any of the data that is collected. But they do collect some data stuff like IP addresses, credit card info and other things that can be used to identify a user.
Something like the Tor network is anonymous because not only does it not collect that data it actively obfuscates it so that any user looks like any other user. But Tor is not private cuz anything you do over the tor network can be seen and collected by somebody but it can't be tied back to you.
As people in the states have stalked, or allowed it, my life with made up excuses that include the broad brush; "We HAVE To monitor him to make sure he (fits in somehow)":
I have occasionally wished that everybody be forced to experience the oppressive scrutiny, manipulation, harassment, and 'annexation of opportunities' that I have been forced to endure. I never imagined it could actually be done. It seems that my imagination was a bit lazy on this subject. This does drive home the adage:
If you allow the abuse of individual rights of ONE; you allow the abuse of rights of ALL.
I had thought "The Trueman Show" had made that painfully obvious, apparently not.
13:20 This is what dnscrypt (private DNS) providers are for. Not only does it prevent DNS poisoning by your ISP or government, it also encrypts the DNS requests (especially if combined with hardcoded IP addresses and certificate pinning). The ISP can still see the IP addresses you connect to, and with enough effort, reverse-search what sites they belonged to, but it's one less data point they have to work with.
Absolute anonymity is out of the question. You just can't be a total ghost on the web: the sites you visit will always know something poked 'em, because your web request needs to go somewhere and be processed by somebody. But maintaining an isolated, pseudonymous identity with no links to your IRL persona, or any extra alts you create isn't.
The problem with voting for someone who doesn't want to make the problem worse, is it's hard to find one. And when you do find one, they're either not popular enough to get more than 1% of the vote, or it seems like the entire establishment doesn't want them to win and will do everything in their power to destroy them.
You know, there's an expression "if voting meant something and votes could actually affect decisions [on the grand scale] - there'd have been no voting allowed".
Or this representative is also pushing ideas that are far more crazy than you are willing to put up with for the sake of online privacy and anonymity ;)
Voting doesn't actually work in liberal democracy. I wish people actually realize this
Not that your vote ever really mattered to begin with elections are all a sham if you can't personally count the votes then for all you know the numbers are just made up
It's very annoying that we even need a middle man to begin with it. And it's easy for government to simply take down that one individual.
This depends on your threat model and goals, but oftentimes the winning strategy is not to be anonymous, but be *undetected*. You can’t be found if your oppressors don’t know to start looking.
The best hiding spot? At plain sight
Phil Zimmermann: If privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy
The sad truth of it is most people just don't care. To them, no amount of talking about privacy will get them to stop using Windows and Chrome
Well once they're getting dragged from their home or detained for hate speech they'll understand
Linux is good for gaming now. The only ones that we cant play, are the ones that are spyware or just shitware.@@VioFax
I had a daily driver Linux laptop for 6 or 7 years, but I still use Windows on my desktop because when I finish work at the end of the day I don't want to spend time setting up Linux to run my games, even through Proton. Bethesda game modding is already twitchy at the best of times, let alone trying to run it all through WINE and Proton.
I get that it has gotten better, and it really has, but I just don't want to spend the brain cycles on setting up Linux on my gaming computer. I'd rather spend them actually gaming.
I fully understand I am implicitly contributing to the problem, but I am busy enough in my life that I don't have the energy to deal with daily driving Linux, especially with an Nvidia GPU...
I do use Firefox, though, so there's that, I guess?
@@breakfast7595LMFAO 😂 you'll sooner be dragged for being against Israeli apartheid than "hate speech" that the right scaremongers about. Don't you have a corporation to bootlick?
@@TheKazragore I play modded Fallout and Skyrim through MO2 without an issue on a system with an Nvidia GPU. I mean, if Windows is your thing then hey whatever, but I don't have an issue playing games on Linux, nor do I spend really any time setting games up. Granted I use Steam for most of my games which makes setup nearly identical to that on Windows.
videos like these become ever more important to watch and share with those around us who care about privacy
It's really disheartening, yes. Personally, I've just taken to basic data hygiene for myself with a few extensions, and for others I just direct to either Brave or AdGuard. Still, I do like AdNaeseam and Track Me Not's approach though - it actually feels like fighting back instead of just playing in the whackamole rat race.
Brave browser.
@@macethorns1168lmfao
Being is getting harder and harder
I feel you. But this is also the opportunity to fight for what we believe in. Stay strong and anonymous.
"Saying you don't need privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't need freedom of speech because you have nothing to say."
This is the best answer to this dumb "I got nothing to hide" I read so far
But people who have nothing to say really don't need freedom of speech
Freedom is speech in the west is a lie anyway. It was never free
stupidest metaphor I have ever heard in my life.
There are more realistic arguments against data collection missing here:
1. Let's say you use a cloud service to store your private images there. Now the cloud provider decides to make it not free any more so you have to pay to access your data. The other day the company get's hacked and all your personal data get's leaked all over the Internet. And someone could also hack you specifically to get your sensitive pictures.
2. When a company get sold to another one, your data gets selled too, no matter if u agree with the new companys handling.
3. If a company collects knows everything about you, they can sell u stuff much more expensive then others would have to buy. They can sneak any buying action into your life, making you blind to look outside of your bubble. They will restrict you in the things you can find on the internet. Same as if you go to a car dealer ship for luxery cars dressed poorly, where they won't let you test drive anything. But in the digital world, you won't know and it's waaay more aggressive
I recently attempted to log into a FB account I hadn't used for several years (I know: I hate FB too, but sometimes it's the only way to contact people) and had to change the password because I'd forgotten it. It then tried to force me to upload a picture of government-issued ID. So that was that. I wasn't using FB anyway, but now there's no way I can use it, and if I try to create a new account I'm sure they'll demand my ID again. Also, most "free" email systems require you to have a phone number to create accounts these days. And then there's the likes of the Tech Stasi, or Palantir, who will attempt to track your every emission. I'm sure they're tracking my YT comments, the only place I tend to write publicly viewable stuff these days. The anonymous internet has been over for a long time. Governments, especially the so-called "5 eyes" are watching - and storing - everything we do. Erich Honecker's boys would be weeping with joy.
It doesn't matter that any of us have "nothing to hide." Some things are simply no one else's business.
Google tries to target ads at me and I think all the products are garbage.
These are some good points. We have to think about the long term usage data, not info at a point in time.
It won't end with adult websites. The UK's recent Online Safety Act requires all websites, not just adult ones, to age verify everyone if the content is not "safe for kids". VPN's must also comply with the law or risk being blocked/fined. Regarding the adult websites, a prominent UK politician has stated she wants and the Government is proposing to ban adult content completely in society. And it is likely the opposition party will support or bring in the same proposal. Said party have also proposed to ban VPN's. They will claim to be doing this for "your own safety" and "for the common good".
The UK is legitimately one of the most authoritarian countries on the planet.
That same gov't has also been deeming LGBT spaces to be adult content... Sucks to be a sexual minority when authoritarians take power
the slippery slope of "safe for kids", started with youtube and then it spreads to the rest of the internet, then they'll start a crackdown on dark web
bunch of lazy parents who hand out smartphones and pc to their small kids and want the government to parent their kids, instead of targeting internet governments should require IQ and EQ test for procreating
Ewww....who wants targeted ads? I'm so sick of seeing ads for things I don't need. I'll just watch less stuff.
While worrying about the government can be a big deal, I'm more worried about data being stolen to break into my bank accounts, Identity theft, etc.
Lastly, thank you Nick for spreading these messages in a rational way. You're right. So many people seek anonymity to spread hate. ♥️
The main problem is that the web depends on a single user or operator maintaining a given website or service. (e.g. CZcams is owned by google)
According to Wikipedia's pages on "oblivious transfer" and "Private Information Retrieval", the only way to have anonymity in a single server setting is to download a whole database. Otherwise the other party knows what you know. Once they have more than 34 or so bits of information on the other party (which videos have you watched?), they can use fingerprinting to distinguish between 10^10 users, which is the entire current population on earth.
In that sense, fingerprinting is like the other party verifying you know a password, and from that point on any communication you have with them cannot be anonymous. Since a couple large companies own and consolidate information for analytics, exchanging information with pretty much any website will eliminate your anonymity. You would need to cut them out of the loop by putting a website on top of a distributed hash table or something.
Until the late 2000s most traffic was unencrypted and easy to sniff, it wasn't really a privacy era either..
But it wasn’t done to the extent it is today
@@TheLinuxEXP That you are aware of.
Today, even our 70yo grandmothers are using the internet meaning more people for heroes like youself to educate on what's happening. And the more people that become aware, the more resistance. That forces govs have to implement these laws to maintain control. In the past, resistance was negligible so nobody really exposed this stuff, so not many people really knew what was being collected and govs had no need to reach so far.
Facebook started out for *college students* only, and colleges have your name, dob, ssn, ethnicity, sex/gender, financial stats, photo etc all on file...
Compute power and storage back in those days was also prohibitively expensive, so storing everything was not only difficult but tremendously expensive.
I was worried, balling up at the gut. I had sweats. I was breathing rapidly and heavily. I had a panic attack about the thought of online anonymity disappearing. I remember the days when the net was for geeks and everyone said "never give out your real name and info online" and those days are dead and gone. I started to cry, certain of humanity's self-imposed doom.
Then I saw a light at the end of the darkened tunnel in my mind. I clawed my way out into the light. I stretched my arms and basked in the reassuring and calming glory before me in the video. What was it? What pulled me out of the darkness and brought me back to life? It was a message from the sponsor.
After the vote for Brexit here in the UK ( and the American win for Trump ) the government, having had that loss of control shock, quickly passed an almost emergency mass surveillance Act. So I've kinda been living the 'you're not getting my data' since 2016. One of the many reasons I now only use Linux and no longer use 'phones'. I wouldn't say I was hiding, I'm happy to stand by the things that I say, but it has made me considerably more conscious of what data I'm willing to share and more selective of whom I'm willing to share it with. I feel those two political touch papers set an earlier motion for infringements to our rights we are currently experiencing. I agree its time to start getting political about what is going on. Great video Nick.
I agree and that's why I use Linux too
Wait but I thought the Tories were freeing the UK from the USSR 2.0 Fourth Reich that is the EU?!
i absolutely agree with everything you said in your video!! the governments also nowadays have become more authoritarian, even countries having democracy today have a autocratic government which will not let us keep our privacy secure and they want to know everything about everyone!! we have to keep fighting with it in whichever form we could and cast our vote wisely whenever possible!!
This. Lack of anonymity wouldn't be such an issue if you could trust the government and judicial system. In an age of "hate" laws anything you say can be made criminal and can trigger legal proceedings that WILL financially ruin you and destroy your life.
How many information requests has North Korea made from major tech companies? 0. Conclusion: North Korea is the most privacy-respecting nation.
US insurance companies buy personal data and don't insure or take more money from people they deem risky. Especially cool when a relative does a cheap DNA test and the health insurance of your entire family gets a nice bump and everyone suddenly has a "preexisting condition" that disqualifies them from getting insurance benefits. Good stuff. This is bit more tangible to an average person than government spying and helping others.
4chan and its various splinters are all cesspits but... I'll give them one thing. They have the whole anonymity thing down.
Thank you for spreading the message!
Nice summary. Loving your work.
We cannot prevent but we sure as hell give a tough time
I miss the days when cyber bullying wasn't a thing, it was so nice when everyone was anonymous.
Thank you for making a video on this
Thanks for the support!
As a citizen I consider that my country should have the right to collect any data that was archived about me.
Otherwise it is like saying that any entity other than the government I depend on can keep record on me without justifying themselves.
Data collection and protection of citizen is as much as a regalian power as any other.
It should be well into the power of states to demand the collected data or force any company to collect data.
And I think that in a way we all expect that power to belong to the state, as we would consider it normal that (if such law allowing that existed) one person could sue a company refusing to give them access to their data. We wouldn't mind that a judicial system serve a citizen to strong-arm a company, right ?
Sure since the start of the millennium, with the mainstream and heavy use of the internet, the amount of data and their specificity has increased. And states have embraced it a lot, enforcing mandatory data collection sometimes. Still, ultimately it should be in their power to do so.
The issue when a government is trying to force companies to access their databases, is not that government shouldn't be able to do that, but rather that companies are collecting way too much in the first place.
The whole concept of state is an entity able to handle things that individuals cannot do on their own or that wouldn't be practical to do on their own. And I think that asking anybody to encrypt their data is not the way to go. It's like saying every door on your house needs to be locked in because a random passerby, a mailman, a burglar, a murderer or a government agent could come in otherwise. I mean sure that should help but wouldn't it be better to actually have a safe house because random people are not likely to get in your house as they would be considered home invaders, burglars and murderer are rare because the state keeps its citizen wealthy enough to not need or want to steal and its police able to catch the rest ?
Even if there has been good thing coming from the EU about data collection and overall tech companies abusing the laxity of the states to regulate what data can be lawfully collected about their citizens, the EU is still very flawed. Still it shows that this power is held by the states and that as citizen we should push our governments to make what we consider to be unacceptable data collection illegal.
If we (tech minded people) turtle up in our encrypted data bastions we won't do any good to those who don't have the time, energy or knowledge to secure their data.
Ans we as individual also have a lot to gain by not having to mind our data safety as much. Think about how taxing it would be to have to guard your house because at any time someone can barge in to take pictures and notes or even steal your stuff.
If you want an emotional argument, think about your grandma getting scammed because some scammer group bought a list to a data collection company that sold them a list of the right kind of people most vulnerable to. Sure you may set your grandma up with what's needed to protect her, but come on, who like to be the tech support line of the family ? Wouldn't it be better if the whole data collection business was more or less outlawed ? Wouldn't you prefer your grandma to be scammed by a local mom-and-pop con artists instead of a foreign industrial scamming call center ?
Excellent video Nick. Thanks!
i wish i could call all these laws a skill issue because from what i know it sounds like it but i still dont know much about all the ways governments currently try to catch cybercriminals
If someone says he has nothing to hide I respond: Then you should not hesitate to show your browser history / provider log, to anyone in the group!
Most get this look in their faces when they realize.
Excellent video 👍 Thank you 💜
Merci de parler de ça. C'est super important
Cool video! And there is a lot more going on...encryption and online privacy are being targeted on different front at the EU level. Problem with protonmail is from the moment you write to a google email account (high probability..), then your email is not so private anymore. Proton lacks community. Let's hope that can change. A lot has to be done...
it's either convince the other person to create a proton account, or convince them to use signal, session or other end to end encrypted messenger
the problem is when the other person doesn't want to create new accounts and just want to stick with spyware, then privacy-conscious people pay for it
The one big thing I've never figured out is how these VPN's and privacy providers circumvent your ISP. No matter what, even if I open a proxy connection someplace else, that connection is passed through my ISP. Even if I DDNS, it's still hitting what my router has as in it's routing table as my MAC address.
The way they circumvent your ISP is by making all of those connections you make look like they're coming from a different IP address that you don't own. Whenever you're connected to a VPN you connect to the VPN first and then to the website you're trying to visit. A VPN is a virtual private network, meaning you're just routing your traffic first to a router you don't own (a local network that isn't yours)
Simply put, they open up a single encrypted connection from your computer to their servers and run all the actual connections inside it, so your ISP can see that traffic is flowing between you and them but can't tell what it is (aside from guessing based on things like volume and flow patterns), where it's going, or how many individual connections there are.
The idea is that your ISP has no incentive to preserve your privacy because they've got a monopoly on the physical wires, but the VPN provider has tons of competition that should hopefully keep them honest.
Pretty much as has been said, but to add on to it: the connections are end-to-end encrypted. What this means is that the websites you access or connections you make over secure protocols undergo asymmetric encryption - i.e. both sides have public keys and private keys. Only the public key can decrypt content encrypted with the private key; and only the private key can be used to decrypt content encrypted with the public key. When you connect, the server you're connecting to does a handshake with your PC and you both exchange public keys, such that in theory only the other party can decrypt the traffic they receive as only they should have the corresponding private key.
This already happens over HTTPS, but when you connect to a secure VPN the exact same thing is done to the traffic between your PC and the VPN servers. All your ISP will see is you connecting to a server or group of servers, and they can't snoop on what's being looked at (not even IP addresses or domains).
There are some situations where you can get DNS leaks depending on the software you use, but the gist of it is they can only see that you're doing *something*, and not what that something is.
man that segway really did cheer me up
thanks
Thanks Nick.
I know it would be bad for the general public but a high profile data dump from a government agency that would be both embarrassing and potentially dangerous would get A LOT of attention even from the general population. Its just bad that this is likely the only thing that would work… ish
A lot of attention, sure... but from like 2% of the population who can't do anything about it.
What will happen is that the one who dumps the data will be labeled a traitor. They will become the sole target of criticism. An Edward Snowden. Every media company, every outlook, like clockwork, will attack them ruthlessly, and they will flee the country or die. And the people? They'll support it. They'll be the ones sharpening the guillotine, crying about national security. They won't blame the government for having the data, they will blame the whistle blower for telling the truth. We've already seen this play out.
We've already had that, leak due to keeping track of everyone's social credit scores in one of three forced places that are impossible to opt out of. Sorry, credit scores.
Nobody cared at all.
Remember that affair website having all their users leaked? That was pretty funny and got cheaters of all people thinking
Your concern raises a valid point about the dynamics of global information access. The notion that the USA and other countries can request information from any company worldwide does pose questions about the broader implications of data control and sovereignty.
Here's an extended and refined version of your text:
"In the realm of global information flow, a striking paradox emerges when we acknowledge that the USA and other nations wield the authority to request data from any company operating on a worldwide scale. This practice prompts contemplation on the broader landscape of data control and sovereignty.
The concern arises not from the act of seeking information itself, which is a routine practice for national security and legal reasons, but rather from the potential double standards in expecting compliance while expressing apprehension when other nations, such as China, employ similar measures. It becomes a matter of who can have access to information, who can exert control, and ultimately, who defines the boundaries of data governance.
The underlying issue appears to be a reflection of power dynamics, where certain nations assume a dominant position in the global information ecosystem. The implicit idea that 'only we can have the palms, only we can have the information, only we can control you' raises questions about fairness, equality, and the principles of a truly interconnected world.
It's essential to navigate these complexities with a nuanced understanding, recognizing that the landscape of data governance should ideally transcend unilateral dominance. Rather than pursuing an exclusivist approach, fostering international cooperation, transparency, and a collective commitment to ethical data practices could pave the way for a more equitable and responsible global information order.
In essence, the concern isn't about whether access to information is justified but about promoting a global environment where information access and control are exercised judiciously, devoid of arbitrary power dynamics. After all, the principle of reciprocity reminds us that what we can do, others can as well. It's a call for a more mature, inclusive, and cooperative approach to navigating the intricacies of our interconnected digital world."
Is there a point to use proton mail since in the moment when you send it out to your friends the „security” is gone because they are on gmail etc.? It makes sense to send emails inside proton service… correct me if I`m wrong…
Yes privacy would be compromised if not between 2 services respecting privacy.
But this is true only for clear text e-mails. You can use GPG encryption (the advantage is that it is totally integreted in the user interface so it's very easy to use with proton and other privacy oriented e-mails), and if your friend doesn't even have a pair of key, you can still share a password from safe communication (like IRL) and encrypt with this symetrical password.
But yeah, at this point this is only convenience as you could totally do the same encryption without using proton.
What the world needs is mail clients all automaticaly handling by default this GPG encryption (with localy generated and stored private key of course) so that the average user has nothing to do. This is the kind of law we should think about.
In the era of selfie people don't care. Not only they want to show their face, they want to make themselves known, they show their daily like and activities. In short this concern of privacy is only a personality treat. If you're an introvert like me you'd be shy to show off and tend to hide. But other people want exactly the opposite
You cannot be anonymous without tor anyway. VPNs give your IP and browsing behaviour to your VPN provider and browsing "normally" hands your IP to every website you visit.
Thank you for this helpful video.
I have to clarify: China's social credit system doesn't really exist. It was piloted in some towns back when the scandal broke out, but it never got implemented. Of course, it's really possible something like that exists in the shadows, so you can conviently get services denied for some reason after you have shown to be problematic for the government, but that already exists everywhere else, like we have seen in this video. I'm talking about the public score affected by how well you behave as a citizen that can get you publicly banned from certain privileges and access to certain services and rights.
If we are talking about security for web browsers, I feel like LibreWolf (a pre-hardened versions of Firefox with the tracking stripped out) should be a part of the conversation.
So I should avoid all that stuff just cause the governement might change? Like, what could be considered bad in the future? Watching youtube? Not convinced
don’t try to be anonymous…be random enough so any algorithm cannot figure out who you are..
main reason google ads still cannot show anything related to me even though my accounts already exist for 15+ years and i use google products daily.
Is it secure to use a linux distro in the vw ware on a win 11 machine, and after surfing around in linux, just using a restore point where the new data was not available? also using while browisng libre wolf or tor
a VPN is not the best option for privacy. tor is a much butter option. Also, proton doesn't have the best history...
I need to rewatch that movie "Sneakers."
Right, I'm swapping my laptop for a 1950's typewriter.
Such a unique step would make you easily identifiable :D
Thanks I forgot how bad things were for a second there.
Imagine having to provide an ID for visiting adult pages lol... Make a local stash folks...
What do the cool people use for that nowadays? I think the last time I had to do some mirroring I used wget.
Internet anonymity is important for privacy reasons. People who say: "if you have nothing to hide, there's nothing to fear" completely forget that without privacy there is no democracy!
i agree, because if you say samething agains people in power they could come after you
I spotted the never ending curse of cat hair on your shirt....
Good talk. I use Cloudflare WARP on some devices and it seems to work. But am I not just transferring the problem to another server?....
The government: "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!"
Also the government: " why did you use genshin impact for 300 hours? Bro. "
Don’t let the government catch you in your feels. Because that’s how they get you with these “We’ll save you from yourselves” laws
That ship sailed.
Libre wolf is very good
I use LibreWolf on Desktop and Mull on Android from F-Droid.
Client side scanning laws means basically you cannot trust any device that is not fully open source and audited. Android and iOS are out of question, and unfortunately, you cannot find GrapheneOS phones on stores.
Scary times.
Welp, settles that; the best anonminity seems to be from just playing games where you can assign your own username without real name and using its chat lobby, then sending encrypted instructions to peers via a bigger service you meet on.
Je viens d'apprendre que tu étais français, t'as un accent presque parfait!
Really living in the find out age...
Ah, Proton is good. They're based in Switzerland, and they seem like a really fair company. I've always wondered why we don't see it more. Probably they do not have an ad budget as large as the other VPN providers.
When you see an annonymity video sponsored by "Nord VPN," you know it's gonna be full of real tips and tricks
VPNs are not private. you are basically trusting Nord and not you ISP you should not trust them both, All VPN providers are required to keep logs by law and they are forced to provide it to law enforcement in case of investigation, and lets face it any gov agency can make up a couple charges to be granted such warrant , decentralization is the key
What happens when I de-Google but no one else in my family/friends circles does? Thanks.
DNS Over TLS!
Of course you don't mention, Intel IME, AMD PSP, or Echelon/Cypress programmable transistors (IoT/IzoT/IoB) - the spyware is still at the hardware level
You can analyse all your network traffic with Zeek and confirm every single packet is legitimate, if you also trust all your software which is very feasable.
The Internet in China is completely unusable if you want to stay anonymous. Almost every service requires not only accounts, but also personally identifiable data, such as phone numbers and ID cards/passport numbers etc. And I see the Internet of the West going into the exact same direction.
because west europe far left fanatics love what china is doing
Woohoo, Proton!!!
Good video.
This is why I'm hopeful for Veilid.
Freedom die under a thunderous applause from the ignorants and the opportunists.
one point you missed was identity deft
if every website needs to collect ID data it would be a perfect target for hackers
Because every website covers your screen and require you to make an account just to read it ...
What are your thoughts on PureOS, especially as far as security and anonymity?
The unfortunate part of being inside Apple's "walled garden" is that you have no expectation of privacy within that garden by Apple. I think I've come to terms with that. However, outside of my instantiation of the garden I expect privacy and Apple is not doing a very good job in that realm. Actually, they're doing pretty poor job within that instantiation as well.
Excelente 👍
Woooo baby my country been planning for some sort of online ID card for what seems like since the start of the pandemic
Isn’t it a bit ironic for Proton to be sponsoring this video considering they had a big controversy in the past with sharing activists IP information with, of all places, the French police?
Using the argument "If I'm not doing anything wrong then I have nothing to hide" is actually making the presumption that anyone who wants privacy does have something to hide. In short, they are saying privacy is not important, and even implying it is bad. On top of that, as you said, you might not being doing anything wrong now, but in the future it might be considered wrong and you could be profiled and targeted for it. That's all very surface level, though. There are even deeper implications, especially when it comes to religious beliefs. Real "mark of the beast" type stuff. It's not ultimately even about privacy for me, because I know I answer to a merciful and just God. There. Now CZcams can flag me as a dissenter when I refuse to take the mark of the beast and therefore I will no longer be permitted to buy or sell, or participate in the System.
Data and the seven deadly sins are a self-sustaining sun.