How To Increase Your Privacy On the Web - For 'Almost' No Cost...
If we have learned anything from Edward Snowden's leaks and from other whistleblowers, it's not just mysterious allegedly 'Russian hackers' in ski masks that have to be careful of when using the internet - the world's 'security' (cough) 'services' also greatly enjoy spying on us as we browse our social feeds and cat videos... But can we fight back?
As it turns out, we are heavily disadvantaged in our abilities to defend against unwanted privacy intrusions since even the computer hardware manufacturers don't have much problem with creating 'backdoors' to allow 'authorities' to access your private data without you knowing. This basically means that no amount of clever software is going to keep your data safe and this is part of why some people decide to completely disconnect their computers from the internet. This being said, there is a very simple solution to defend against one of the more common privacy weak points in our laptops and cellphones...
Many people still have not learned that the most common chat apps, including Facebook itself and other similar services actually have in their terms of service, a clause which states that they can constantly record from your microphone and video camera devices even when you are not using the app! This in itself is a major breach of trust and privacy and yet millions use these services every day as if there is no problem. Add to this the very real threat of hackers and 'security services' doing the same thing... and it seems that maybe your camera and microphone might be being used more by other people without your knowledge than you yourself use it!
There is a simple solution to the camera problem though - it's as simple, in fact, as using a piece of thick insulation tape to cover over the camera! Problem solved!
Even better though, there are now products available on Ebay and elsewhere that provide a thin piece of plastic which can be stuck on to the area of the camera and which provide a slider which allows us to open or close the camera and thus allow or disallow any snoopers from viewing through it without our consent.
I've tested one of these that cost less than a dollar and it works fine. So.. that's one less weakpoint in the security of these devices, however, the rest will probably require us to evolve to the point of having open sourced hardware designs that can be made by 3D printers.. This may be the only way that we can be sure that our hardware is not being deliberately compromised - but it is going to take a concerted effort from specialists around the world to make this happen and so far they are in the pocket, generally, of the groups doing the spying (whether they realise or not).. Maybe the human empowerment program called 'Steem' will change this at some point though.. What do you think? :)
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
View My Witness Application Here
So many people go on living their lives without questioning why all of a sudden there's a camera on the front and back of every new cell phone, cameras on the front and back of most new cars (some cars have 4), cameras in TV's, cameras on urinals(crazy one, I know, but they are there), cameras in many intersections on streets, and so many other places where they weren't before.
But most people don't even care or bother to think if the live feed of their life is going to an organization that uses the data against them.
It's so bad in the USA, I can't even make it through grocery shopping without encountering dozens of zombie-like people holding their phones up to their face, completely oblivious to what's going on around them. There's agent Smith everywhere!
I think it is time for more of us to fly under the radar ~ but this is not so easy, as you say here, due to the devices we use being compromised from the start.
The other day we went to buy a new computer and we were shocked to see Google only laptops! We wondered why anyone would pay good money to be so compromised...
OK we know that all devices are flawed but why make it easy!
Interesting, thought provoking piece.
Hope you have a great week.
xox
sure, the node you use always gives you away unless its a shared one, privacy on a phone is a myth, pc is possible if you use a vpn and your entry node isnt compromised, and then some ... tracking is big business, data might be bigger than oil or anything at all atm ... i not too long ago read a book on marketing by some (true) expert in the field, someone proven, not just some poser, some supermarkets have electronic pricetags that would drop certain items (say snickers bars) 1 or 5 cents when theres a concentration of people who liked snickers on facebook SO
its "their lucky day" but in fact as anyone whos even the slightest bit into crypto or privacy knows, all that is just a myth because the only one who gains is the one selling ... the local cards to get discounts based on how much you buy ... the value lies in what you buy, when you buy it, time of day, weahter condition, the music played in modern stores and malls is based on data gathered from your playlist, and it will adapt itself to the common denominator since its proven that this or that might put you in a mood to this or that more than that or this would ...
if you wanna be private, then be an unsympathetic obnoxious bastard and "like" nothing :p
i dont even have a sim card in my smartphone ... i put that in an old samsung, the kind thats not smart and doesnt have cookies, and thats almost always turned off ...
the other phone has the bare minimum apps, its a €50 huawei before they became popular (well they are here at least cos you get the same as your samsung cosmology for half the price for instance)
i dont keep numbers in my phone, and the few contacts i have are people on the other side of the planet, anyone else i meet when i meet :)
think that's over the top ? cos i was thinking maybe postal pigeons could be the next big thing in crypto
Blimey!
You are mighty disciplined ~ not sure I could be so measured.
xox
i wish , but sometimes i slip ... the vpn slips, vpns on windows are (i think) really unreliable. On linux i had a script that broke all connections when the vpn disconnected but now they all have a killswitch of their own. Some would say paranoid ... cops would say "suspicious!" (i mean why, if you dont have anything to hide, would you now allow big brother to put cameras in your bedroom and a chip up yow aaagh, right" ... i prefer to keep as much control as possible, i once wrote another script that did random urls all day to set off the ip-trackers but it barely ever generated an actually existing one so i scrapped it, too lazy to get me a dictionary list of existing sites ... it shoulda put a lot of garble in the data though ...
thanks for the compliment btw but i think im more a force of chaos than disciplined lol :)
and i simply dont have money for more phones HAHAH
just watch out for criminals AND cops lol
good luck
i didnt know people said blimey anymore :D so that means you're UK ... i nearly went to london on christmas for winter wonderland in hyde park but for some reason i cancelled on the last day (thats more like me) ... people tell me i didnt miss much cos it was one big mudpool ...
still have the voucher ... i should go some day soon ... ANYWAY
(when i start talking ... Tsk)
Thanks for the info - I haven't seen Google only machine yet. The power of primary colours, combined with mass marketing can go a long way to affect the sub-conscious of many people!
Wishing you well too.
Wow a Google only computer sends shiver own my spine. Unfortunately I know may people who would jump at it. A work college said I was paranoid when said I don't use google! He people are against them just because they have all the ideas and are making the money and other company are making cheap imitations..... I don't know what to do hey! 💯🐒
I like the slider, what are the called! I often use random bits of paper to hid mine gets a bit messy! Indeed we need to more savvy to counteract their sly ways! 💯🐒
you can find them on ebay by searching for 'webcam cover' iirc
Right on! Thought they might have a posh name, Thanks 💯🐒
well, anything helps, i just put some tape on the frontside of my phone except when i'm like at some family party or something like last week, otherwise i tend to even keep it off with the battery out unless i need to check it regularly ... i dont even have a simcard in it, i use an old 15 euro samsung for that, and that one's not on much either ... i cant be tracked snowden style cos anyone i know here i dont have online, i dont have facebook or google+ anymore, i dont tweet, and this here thing ?
i wonder how long it will last
...
anyway :::
viewed, voted, commented, and re-steemed ...
anyone follows me i'll follow back within a few days
if you have complaints please check the link, or else just do that content dictator thing you do i no longer care ... a resteem is a resteem, atm to 218 people, thats 218 chances to have it re-resteemed,
https://steemit.com/irrelevant/@rudyardcatling/this-post-is-for-reference-only-so-i-can-link-to-the-most-recurring-explanation-no-use-reading-it-unless-you-link-from-a-reply
In internet world no one is secure @ura-soul,Yes I really agree with us some are expert hackers like black hat hackers which are really watching each network always try to find network which are less secure and exploit the network easily and enters our laptops,computers and even our mobiles.And they hack all our private data,yes they almost hack everything without knowing us.our camera and microphone are also hacked but I really thank you that you have shared how to prevent our camera,I will also purchase on ebay.Upvoted and resteemed.Have a great day
You are welcome - we do what we can!
One of my favorite topics, @ura-soul. I explore many other "cyber-security life-hacks" in my blog. I think it is important that we create more awareness around the technology we use every day, about what is really going on underneath the fancy GUIs.
very nice article you my friends ...
Thanks for your valuable & informative post.
It is a good message for all steemians.
Thanks for your creativity.
I will wait for your next post.
I always visit your site.
@Resteem & upvote done.
Thanks.