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Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

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Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#11

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

nullcipher wrote: post #10

Apps - I selfhost most of my stuff. Very similar to https://axbom.com/indieweb/ OS - Ubuntu everywhere Online Storage - This is part of my selfhosting stack. My server is in my house (but accessible from internet), no need for at rest encryption. Social Media - Not much apart from some reddit and HN. Never got into other things.

At rest encryption helps if your threat model includes someone stealing your server. Junkies probably aren’t going to go through your files, but would you rather worry?

Similarly, offsite backup for if your server is stolen / house burns down /you accidentally rm -rf everything

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#12

Post by ximm »

I use a single device most of the time. Eliminating the need to sync calendars/mail/contacts/… across devices greatly reduces my dependence on big cloud providers.

On the other hand, I mostly work on open source software, so all my work is publicly available in timestamped commits. It is easy for anyone to guess my working hours, timezone, and time off. And all the comments I write can tell you a lot about my views of the world.

I think the privacy impact of open source is not talked about enough.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#13

Post by hgo »

ximm wrote: post #12

I use a single device most of the time. Eliminating the need to sync calendars/mail/contacts/… across devices greatly reduces my dependence on big cloud providers. On the other hand, I mostly work on open source software, so all my work is publicly available in timestamped commits. It is easy for anyone to guess my working hours, timezone, and time off. And all the comments I write can tell you a lot about my views o…

Fully agree. Om this note, I had a brief discussion with an employer I collaborated with once, about some potential employees being forced to work in the open because they open sourced their work. I was terribly surprised to get no understanding that this could be perceived as a problem. Especially since work tasks may not be something you would want on your public record necessarily.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#14

Post by herbst »

- only Linux in my home network (which I prefer either way)

- only using my own cloud (NAS, Home Automation)

- heavily filtering internet (Pi-Hole or AdGuard + ublock when possible)

- no public social media (FB, Twitter, discord, whatever)

- Only throwaway accounts on some social media

- Not having a real phone number

- Using rented throwaway phone numbers when necessary

- Only use credit card for a few trusted services.

- Avoid services with questionable business practice (Forced 2fa over SMS being one common reason) but also things like Amazon, Microsoft, ..

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#15

Post by jacooper »

### Applications and operating systems

- Brave browser

Privacy by default

-- Brave Search / SearXNG

- Pi-hole

Block trackers and ads network wide

- ProtonVPN

I use this to route connections through z morf private country with stricter data laws like the GDPR for example.

- Gnu/Linux

A system that I can trust, and isn't motivated by stocks but rather value.

I won't say its perfect, its not, but it works for me.

- CalyxOS

I also run CalyxOS, a privacy focused OS that is actually usable, and supports SafetyNet, its a very normal experience, apart from the complications of using a work profile for closed source apps(which I'm thinking of removing because its just annoying).

Its of course very important to me not to get stalked by for profit companies.

Privacy is a human right.

### Online storage

I mainly use a local Nextcloud server for this.

The upload speeds are great because its local, and I'm working on backing it up to object storage like R2 or scaleway archive.

Another option is using privacy cloud like ProtonDrive or Mega.

### social media

I don't avoid it fully, and unlike others I personally think HN is a form of social media, maybe more accurately a social network.

I used to use Reddit a lot, but its honestly a crappy platform with tons of negativity and anything inevitability turns to NSFW.

I liked the tech communities on it, so I replaced it with HN.

I also use Twitter, which I think is(was) the best mainstream social media.

Probably gonna setup a mastodon account soon.

No other social media other than these.

Also, not using my public name everywhere. Where possible I use a random username.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#17

Post by blackshaw »

herbst wrote: post #14

- only Linux in my home network (which I prefer either way) - only using my own cloud (NAS, Home Automation) - heavily filtering internet (Pi-Hole or AdGuard + ublock when possible) - no public social media (FB, Twitter, discord, whatever) - Only throwaway accounts on some social media - Not having a real phone number - Using rented throwaway phone numbers when necessary - Only use credit card for a few trusted servi…

What do you mean by "not having a real phone number"?

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#18

Post by mathgeek »

laserbeam wrote: post #5

Not much and I don't plan to do much. It's easy to think "I have nothing to hide", but that's not what I mean. A better analogy is risk analysis/attack surface area you expect. The privacy requirements of someone doing investigative journalism are wildly different from a regular joe who only needs to worry about targeted ads. I'm generally in that bucket, where my only real privacy concern is ads, and I'm ok with tai…

Similar approach here. Adblockers and permissive loading of JS by domain are the only steps I bother with. Anything else is coincidental or done for security/peace of mind.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#19

Post by llarsson »

hgo wrote: post #13
ximm wrote: post #12

I use a single device most of the time. Eliminating the need to sync calendars/mail/contacts/… across devices greatly reduces my dependence on big cloud providers. On the other hand, I mostly work on open source software, so all my work is publicly available in timestamped commits. It is easy for anyone to guess my working hours, timezone, and time off. And all the comments I write can tell you a lot about my views o…

Fully agree. Om this note, I had a brief discussion with an employer I collaborated with once, about some potential employees being forced to work in the open because they open sourced their work. I was terribly surprised to get no understanding that this could be perceived as a problem. Especially since work tasks may not be something you would want on your public record necessarily.

In this case, I would recommend that you get an employer-specific GitHub account, so you can compartmentalize it that way. A bit of a hassle, yes, but then, you're definitely not tying yourself in git history to that employer for your entire career.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do for online privacy?

#20

Post by mwidell »

Nothing. Nothing bad ever happened to me due to lack of privacy protection. I am only happy if I get ads tailored to my interests. Even if Backblaze, where I store backups of all my data, would be hacked and leaked – nobody would probably care enough to dig through my personal data. People wildly overestimate how much other people care about them or their secrets.
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