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Time to start de-Appling

heatherburns.tech

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Re: Time to start de-Appling

#111

Post by exe34 »

disambiguation wrote: post #83
thw_9a83c wrote: post #29

From the article: > Otherwise, please make sure you de-Apple, de-Google, and de-American Stack yourself when you have time, clarity, and focus to do it. Start today. I don't understand the core of this advice. So if you're in the UK and do all the above, can you suddenly get similar E2EE cloud storage from a different provider without a UK government-mandated backdoor?

# Encrypt a file openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in secret.txt -out secret.enc # Decrypt openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -in secret.enc -out secret.txt Wow that was hard.

Re: rubber hose attack on cryptography.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#112

Post by hex4def6 »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #100
omnicognate wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can encrypt anything and store it in anything that provides storage. Why are people acting like "end to end encryption" is a feature you need a cloud service to provide to you. Rather the opposite - it's really something you can only do yourself.

And you must then give the password to your data. https://thblegal.com/news/can-i-be-prosecuted-for-failing-to... https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/in-edicola/articoli/2025/01... etc.

This seems like a job for a truecrypt style system. Either you do it at a file-level, or you have it split into (say) 10MB file chunks, and if you want to access a certain file you have an encrypted local db that acts as a magic decoder ring ("file test.csv is spread across CLOUD1.DB CLOUD3443.DB CLOUD132.DB").

Combine that with steganography (Enter real_password, and test.csv is a list of bank accounts, enter fake_password, and test.csv is a list of apple store locations, enter random_password, and it decodes junk). Maybe combine that with multiple layers of passwords (one ring to rule them all, except certain files).

Obviously, you'd want to steganographize the decoder ring as well.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#114

Post by exe34 »

anonymousiam wrote: post #97
cmsj wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual straightforward fix isn't available to us - namely, we aren't due a general election until 2029 and right now the "good guys" are in power, so it's not at all clear that anyone would even offer to reverse this TCN if they were elected instead, in 4 years time.

At least the US hasn't postponed the general elections to keep the unpopular party in power. https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/devolution-and-lgr-hub/...

I wish they would help get as many reform councils as possible. Given how incompetent they have been in the ones they did get elected, I think it would put a damper on the enthusiasm of their supporters.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#116

Post by 0manrho »

> We are all liabilities to our own opsec now.

Always have been.

It's unfortunate that gross government overreach and corporate cooperation with it is what it takes for people to even recognize the concept of data privacy and data ownership is a thing, much less that they should do something about it and that their data is and never was "safe" in the cloud, no matter which corporate overlords walled garden you called home. Apple has never been an exception to this rule.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#117

Post by kakacik »

thw_9a83c wrote: post #29

From the article: > Otherwise, please make sure you de-Apple, de-Google, and de-American Stack yourself when you have time, clarity, and focus to do it. Start today. I don't understand the core of this advice. So if you're in the UK and do all the above, can you suddenly get similar E2EE cloud storage from a different provider without a UK government-mandated backdoor?

On personal level, you have to choose whether your priority is privacy or convenience. If its privacy, no whining about 'I want this and that and I am too lazy to rollback' is relevant.

Never trust US services, 3-letter agencies are endlessly greedy to fill your profile with another tens of thousands of data points. As do all advertisers all around the globe. As do (with various success) all other governments and private companies who have something to gain, HDD storage has never been cheaper and all personal data are worth gold and beyond.

Or if you have to use them, use your own encryption with strength to not be broken for next few hundreds of years, to stand a chance. That is, if you actually have something to hide, but I have never met a person who really doesn't :)

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#118

Post by benoau »

nine_k wrote: post #99
benoau wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully pretty soon Apple will have to provide the same functionality iCloud monopolizes so you can have an equivalent service. But right now you can do an encrypted transmission to a privately-owned NAS like Synology and then E2E cloud storage provider of your choice, with the caveat that things like background syncing are strategically monopolized and no app may backup your full phone. https://www.catribunal.org.…

It's a bit like the famous HN post where somebody said that Dropbox is not needed if you have rsync and friends. Technically this can even be correct. You can build and operate a good, secure solution for yourself if you have time and skill to build . Could make sense for a company handling sensitive data. Would hardly make sense for most individuals who are not professional SREs / SWEs. (To check how it feels, an en…

Sure but in this case most of the difficulties are artificially imposed by Apple, depending on how the tribunal responds to their alleged iCloud monopoly it could become as simple as choosing a compatible provider and putting your username/password in.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#119

Post by buran77 »

benoau wrote: post #36
codexb wrote: post #28

Sounds more like people need to de-UK. It's going to be a problem with any company or technology.

It's more likely to be a problem with Apple (and Google) because they have put themselves in a position where they are a gateway to everybody . There are multitudes of online storage providers outside of the UK's reach and jurisdiction but 0% of iPhone users back up to them because of technical limitations that inhibit iCloud competitors or any compatible storage solution.

> they are a gateway to everybody

They are, and most time this allows them to abuse you. But what do you think happens once you that gateway is blown open, isn't your front door next?

> There are multitudes of online storage providers outside of the UK's reach and jurisdiction

What I said above means that once you normalize the situation that providers have to open the gate to your yard whenever the state comes knocking, the state will just come knocking directly at your door. In other words I'm not sure the state will stop in its pursuit of access to your data when it can just incriminate trying to evade the law by storing it out of reach.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#120

Post by yearolinuxdsktp »

exasperaited wrote: post #34
iwontberude wrote: post #6

Wouldn’t it be easier to just move away from the UK? (I jest, but actually…)

Not as many easy paths anymore for a British worker, tech or otherwise, thanks to The Foolishness. And the most popular choice -- the USA -- is off the table for the majority of Brits, I think, who cannot comprehend The Other Foolishness. (Mind you, the ones it encourages... I hope they follow their hearts)

What about the Republic of Ireland?
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