All of the below examples aside, why not? Why should your wanting to hide something be any more sinister than what you want for dinner? And if you yourself don't have anything to hide, awesome. Is it not worth protecting my right to hide things should I want or need to?
There are many reasons to desire privacy other than wanting or needing to hide something. The existence of this site does not invalidate those. But one great technique, when someone holds a rhetorical gun to your head, is to just reach up and pluck out the bullets, reclaiming and sanitizing the opposition argument. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." "Guess what, I do have things to hide, and that shouldn't get stigmatized."
Third parties are happy to extract value from data you share. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, controlling that information has an impact. The way I see it, saying “I have something to hide” is, WLOG, the same as saying “I want to control what gets shared with whom.”
EDIT: If the site author is reading this, tip #6 misspells ‘diaspora’ as ‘dispoara’.
"Would you allow a stranger to enter your home, and look around?"
Yeah, that's how you make friends. Certainly not into government spying but this is a ridiculous comparison.
Reminds me of those piracy ads that try to convince you not to download music by saying "you wouldn't download a car". It's like pretty different and of course I'd love to download a car.
I'm down for the cause but I don't think talking to people like they're idiots is a good way to rally support.
>Yeah, that's how you make friends. Certainly not into government spying but this is a ridiculous comparison.
I disagree. The wording might not be perfect, but the comparison is sound imho.
Potential friends aren't typically total strangers. You are usually at least considered aquaintances at first. And potential friends don't typically go "looking around" your home on the first visit, either. They're usually quite respectful of your privacy from what I have gathered over the years.
They don't just get up and search for a bathroom, they'll ask you where it is.
Really? I always know someone a fair bit before they're welcome in my home. I'd invite some of my co-workers here, people I go to clubs with and the like. There are some local community projects that are effectively run from my home, since that's where we have all our meetings. But even then, the idea of picking a random stranger off the street is a bit... no.
It's not ridiculous at all. Would you? Would you allow a stranger (not a friend, but LEO) to just "poke around" to make sure everything is up and up, and to look through your phone to see if you've taken illegal pictures? Called anyone suspicious?
It's absolutely the exact same thing, and you are incorrect, sir/ma'am.
Not to mention the website wanted to drop a cookie too.
I block cookies by default, and only allow manually selected sites to set them. Even then, the default for allowed is only until end of browser session.
So unless the cookie was something like "irony=true", it should not have been there. (I didn't bother to look what value it tried to set.)
This week's episode was pretty cool from the viewpoint of someone who works on communication efficient distributed computing. The story (for lack of a better non-totally-spoiling word) seems to be ahead of the research community there ;)
> Have your server at home. Why? People would need to break into your house to get your data.
Really?? Don't tell people things that are patently untrue.
Your home server can be hacked remotely. And if you don't fully trust the hardware and software in your server then it is probably already compromised.
Physically keeping your server in your house, by itself, does nothing to increase your cyber-security. Its like trying not to get sick by avoiding handshakes, but welcoming coughs and sneezes in your face.
Could be relevant: http://blog.higg.so/2015/04/29/do-ad-blockers-and-anti-track... I wrote this in response to all the silver bullets being offered as a solution to fingerprinting. It turns out, it's a hard problem and not a quick fix. A small excerpt:
"The EFF have released a tool called Panopticlick that creates a lossy hash of your browser. The idea behind the tool is to issue each user with a very unique browser footprint that is used to definitely verify you are the person visiting a page. I stress the importance of definitely because the tool can zoom right in to an individual at the personal level, or a small sample size of users. (More on sample sizes later). Especially concerning about fingerprinting is how accurate it can be. If a useragent is changed, something else will give an identity away like the fonts installed on a machine, the pixel depth of a screen, or the time you visit a page. Flash and JavaScript are typically disabled by users now because they can prove too invasive"
The phrasing of Flash and JavaScript are typically disabled by users now because they can prove too invasive is awkward. I guess you must mean that is the typical motivation of people that choose to block, the problem I see is that it can be read to mean that typical users block flash/js (of course they don't).
A primary goal here appears to be one of convincing people to use open and secure tools, but if you are already convinced of that, a far more comprehensive list is PRISM-break https://prism-break.org
I commend you for compiling all of the resources. I would like to point out that your choice of Ubuntu linux is deficient. If one was concerned about privacy the choices that come to mind are tails/whonix. Debian and OpenBSD both respect privacy
Has uBlock reached "just werks" status (not referring to ease of installation)? It was still really unwieldy in terms of what it blocked/didn't block last time I tried it out when there was a thread on it.
First time I'm hearing about Disconnect. Is it really all it's hacked up to be? On first glance to me, they have a pretty package but I feel like in practice they are just as furtive as Ghostery is with the promise of blocking all the bad shit.
Nice site too btw. Great presentation for those looking to make a change with their habits.
uBlock is constantly blocking things that I actually would like to see. Wasn't able to download msu packages from Microsoft's website without turning it off as recently as last week.
It seems to hog less resources than AdBlock/etc, but I still find it breaking a lot of things. Maybe I need to tweak the settings, but with that in mind, I don't consider it to be "just working!"
Neat site. I like the presentation of talking points.
My question, though, is how does this differ from other similar sites such as privacytools.io? How do I reconcile the privacy tools listed there with the ones listed here? Most of them are different.
And thanks for privacytools.io, I wasn't aware of!
We want to spread the word that people should protect themself. Once we manage to convince, people are like "Ok, but what now?"
You'll probably answer: "Well, you have to quit facebook, start using linux and have your server at home". And the person will be overwhlmed and just say "it's too complicated."
We try to offer a gamified way: "Here is the first step, and it will take you 5mins of your time!"
Then people feel they are on the way to get better at protecting their privacy.
And if you feel we don't recommend the right one, please get in touch, we'd love to collaborate to make it better!
For me, I only saw a few things I wasn't aware of. The site itself seems to be more general knowledge about how to keep your info from being scooped up.
Just using some of the tools will thwart most 3rd parties and a significant chunk of government techniques to spy on you.
I would trust their recommendations since you see the same applications popping up repeatedly like Tails, Tor, Linux, Diaspora, etc. These are are well known tools in the hacking community and have been used and tested for years.
Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that the Initializr default favicon is still present? The owner might be wise to find his own (and to make it look less Initializr-y). :)
[+] [-] juanito|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ndarilek|11 years ago|reply
There are many reasons to desire privacy other than wanting or needing to hide something. The existence of this site does not invalidate those. But one great technique, when someone holds a rhetorical gun to your head, is to just reach up and pluck out the bullets, reclaiming and sanitizing the opposition argument. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." "Guess what, I do have things to hide, and that shouldn't get stigmatized."
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
A better phrase could have been, "we, as a society, have things to hide from companies and government", but it was too long :)
[+] [-] egwynn|11 years ago|reply
EDIT: If the site author is reading this, tip #6 misspells ‘diaspora’ as ‘dispoara’.
[+] [-] enraged_camel|11 years ago|reply
...
That's what I thought. Everyone has something they don't want others to know.
[+] [-] 01Michael10|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 9point6|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rgbrgb|11 years ago|reply
Yeah, that's how you make friends. Certainly not into government spying but this is a ridiculous comparison.
Reminds me of those piracy ads that try to convince you not to download music by saying "you wouldn't download a car". It's like pretty different and of course I'd love to download a car.
I'm down for the cause but I don't think talking to people like they're idiots is a good way to rally support.
[+] [-] GigabyteCoin|11 years ago|reply
I disagree. The wording might not be perfect, but the comparison is sound imho.
Potential friends aren't typically total strangers. You are usually at least considered aquaintances at first. And potential friends don't typically go "looking around" your home on the first visit, either. They're usually quite respectful of your privacy from what I have gathered over the years.
They don't just get up and search for a bathroom, they'll ask you where it is.
[+] [-] 6d0debc071|11 years ago|reply
Really? I always know someone a fair bit before they're welcome in my home. I'd invite some of my co-workers here, people I go to clubs with and the like. There are some local community projects that are effectively run from my home, since that's where we have all our meetings. But even then, the idea of picking a random stranger off the street is a bit... no.
[+] [-] ZoFreX|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] worklogin|11 years ago|reply
It's absolutely the exact same thing, and you are incorrect, sir/ma'am.
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dkns|11 years ago|reply
Oh great!
piwik script in source code
Oh great! That really helps to drive the message.
[+] [-] bostik|11 years ago|reply
I block cookies by default, and only allow manually selected sites to set them. Even then, the default for allowed is only until end of browser session.
So unless the cookie was something like "irony=true", it should not have been there. (I didn't bother to look what value it tried to set.)
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
But common, we are not using GoogleAnalytics :)
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lorenzhs|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evv|11 years ago|reply
Really?? Don't tell people things that are patently untrue.
Your home server can be hacked remotely. And if you don't fully trust the hardware and software in your server then it is probably already compromised.
Physically keeping your server in your house, by itself, does nothing to increase your cyber-security. Its like trying not to get sick by avoiding handshakes, but welcoming coughs and sneezes in your face.
[+] [-] signaler|11 years ago|reply
"The EFF have released a tool called Panopticlick that creates a lossy hash of your browser. The idea behind the tool is to issue each user with a very unique browser footprint that is used to definitely verify you are the person visiting a page. I stress the importance of definitely because the tool can zoom right in to an individual at the personal level, or a small sample size of users. (More on sample sizes later). Especially concerning about fingerprinting is how accurate it can be. If a useragent is changed, something else will give an identity away like the fonts installed on a machine, the pixel depth of a screen, or the time you visit a page. Flash and JavaScript are typically disabled by users now because they can prove too invasive"
[+] [-] maxerickson|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rizumu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] userisuser|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
There is the TL;DR on top.
The idea here is if you need privacy right now, use Tails. And then for yor day to day life, here are the steps.
[+] [-] egwynn|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Dirlewanger|11 years ago|reply
First time I'm hearing about Disconnect. Is it really all it's hacked up to be? On first glance to me, they have a pretty package but I feel like in practice they are just as furtive as Ghostery is with the promise of blocking all the bad shit.
Nice site too btw. Great presentation for those looking to make a change with their habits.
[+] [-] aesthetics1|11 years ago|reply
It seems to hog less resources than AdBlock/etc, but I still find it breaking a lot of things. Maybe I need to tweak the settings, but with that in mind, I don't consider it to be "just working!"
[+] [-] noir_lord|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] geekamongus|11 years ago|reply
My question, though, is how does this differ from other similar sites such as privacytools.io? How do I reconcile the privacy tools listed there with the ones listed here? Most of them are different.
Ultimately, whose recommendations should I trust?
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
And thanks for privacytools.io, I wasn't aware of!
We want to spread the word that people should protect themself. Once we manage to convince, people are like "Ok, but what now?" You'll probably answer: "Well, you have to quit facebook, start using linux and have your server at home". And the person will be overwhlmed and just say "it's too complicated."
We try to offer a gamified way: "Here is the first step, and it will take you 5mins of your time!" Then people feel they are on the way to get better at protecting their privacy.
And if you feel we don't recommend the right one, please get in touch, we'd love to collaborate to make it better!
[+] [-] at-fates-hands|11 years ago|reply
Just using some of the tools will thwart most 3rd parties and a significant chunk of government techniques to spy on you.
I would trust their recommendations since you see the same applications popping up repeatedly like Tails, Tor, Linux, Diaspora, etc. These are are well known tools in the hacking community and have been used and tested for years.
[+] [-] feld|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skimmas|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rayalez|11 years ago|reply
http://imgur.com/dILU51x
[+] [-] rpcope1|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pierreozoux|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] J_Darnley|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] inverba|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrek0|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thejrk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] poiuytre|11 years ago|reply