Privacy and security online, on computers, on cellphones and in general has become an increasingly important topic.
There's a great deal of misinformation. This page is meant to help provide some basic facts. Many tech experts, so-called security experts
and so on will advise you to block online browser fingerprinting and cookies. They may suggest adblockers. But all of that is only part of the story.
Those are feel-good solutions that have little real effect.
The big problem is that a lot of people are making a lot of money from spying. Even privacy advocates don't want to upset the trillion dollar applecart of the tech industry.
For example, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) offers the "Privacy Badger" extension that will only block what they regard as badly behaved advertisers. But they push it as though it's a privacy solution. Brave browser will block ads, but they're
tracking you while they do that. Adblockers will block many ads, but don't necessarily block the spying/tracking. And they won't be
rigorous because the developers of those tools want them to work smoothly.
Long story short, spying, selling personal data, and targeted ads should be illegal.
But too many people are making too much money for that to happen. On this webpage is a compact overview of what real privacy means
and how you might set it up for yourself.
Things are getting steadily worse, with no regulation or privacy laws in sight.
Cars are spying.
TVs are spying.
Devices are refusing to work
if people don't "register" and connect online. Printers are increasingly becoming wifi-only or "wireless". They're not actually wireless, as in battery operated. They just won't connect to your computer.
That is, printer companies are actually
breaking the ability to connect a printer to your computer, insisting that the printer must have wifi access
and print jobs must go through the merchant's website, such as Hewlett Packard. Meanwhile, the US Congress
might do
something to protect kids, but regards spying and exploitation of adults as perfectly fine.
Be aware, though, that privacy isn't achieved by a button click or a browser extension. Privacy with digital
media is very difficult because it's so easy to collect, copy, transfer and analyze digital data.
Topics
Reducing Your Digital Footprint
Extensions and Adblockers
Windows and Software and Firewalls
Spook Spying: Government Surveillance
HOSTS File and NoScript for Online Privacy
Cellphones and Apps
Other Devices
Cloud: The Rental Software Scam
AI: The Ultimate Spyware
Conclusions
The SaaS Scam: Renting Software and Spying
Reducing Your Digital Footprint
Privacy is a complex issue and keeps getting more complex, as spyware companies
work constantly on new ways to make sure they can track people, whether through devices or online.
We'd like to have a one-click solution or a program setting. We'd like to be able to choose privacy. But
that won't work.
All of this is about digital. When data was stored on paper, in file cabinets, it was
difficult to share. Digital storage means that data can be easily copied, transferred, hacked, sold, and
analyzed on a vast scale. If you live on your cellphone or in social media sites... If you use debit
cards or wave your cellphone to pay for things... If you use apps such as Uber, Lyft, Waze, Tinder,
AirBnB, DoorDash, Venmo, etc... If you live that way then you cannot have reasonable privacy,
because your entire life is being lived through for-profit, digital services.
If you meet a friend, buy sandwiches with cash, and maybe eat in the park, that's
a non-digital date. It's not recorded. If you're calling DoorDash and paying via ApplePay then
the details of your life are being collected, organized, stored, sold, analyzed and "monetized".
If you carry a cellphone powered on -- in other words, if you're able to receive a call -- then
you're being tracked like a wild animal with a radio collar. Many apps even require you to be tracked. So if
you're serious about privacy then you need to assess your digital lifestyle. Avoid carrying a cellphone
turned on. Avoid shopping online. If you care about security then also avoid banking online.
Reduce your interaction with digital.
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Extensions and Adblockers
Browser extensions are a big topic. Most browsers can have extensions added for specific
functionality. Extensions are like little programs that run in the browser. Not all of them are
safe. But extensions can be used to block ads, toggle javascript, toggle CSS, and various other tasks.
Some extensions will block ads. Those are not as good as they seem. They'll block ads but probably will not
block tracking. In general, extensions should be avoided in most cases. The more frivolous, the more risky.
See the
HOSTS File topic for further explanation.
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Windows and Software and Firewalls
Software has been changing. This is partly connected to the "cloud" trend detailed below.
It's becoming increasingly normal for Windows and software to spy. Many cellphone apps spy and sell
the data. Apple devices spy and typically require an "account". It didn't used to be this way. You don't
expect your stove, TV, powersaw, etc. to call home with reports about you, but increasingly that's actually happening.
Microsoft sells you a license to a copy of Windows. They have no business spying or
imposing changes, but that's what's happening. Microsoft have made it difficult to NOT join
their club and log in when you want to use your computer. Windows then sends data back to Microsoft.
They make changes frequently, posing them as "important updates".
If you want reasonable privacy on your computer then you need
to block Microsoft via something like
Windows Update Blocker, a free program to toggle off updates.
Also install a software firewall, such as
Simplewall.
You should not be allowing anything external to make contact through any port.
If you can call your computer from elsewhere then so can someone else. A firewall will also allow you
to block all outgoing contact that you didn't choose to initiate. So when you install Acme photo editor
and Simplewall pops up to ask if you want to let it go online, you can simply say no.
Even if you choose every available setting in Windows to stop it calling home, it
will still try. Simplewall will block that spyware.
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Spook Spying: Government Surveillance
The scope of government spying is difficult to even imagine. There's the case of AT&T providing the US government with direct access to all calls coming from Asia
and
AT&T helping to procure any phone records that law enforcement might want, with no warrant.
There are programs to
get private data from Google, Facebook, etc.
Google sells geofencing data.
There's a pattern here: Government buys commercial data to get around restrictions on their own behavior. Companies are under pressure to cooperate, but they also get paid!
And don't fall for Apple's claims of respecting privacy. They've been caught numerous times lying to their customers.
See
here and
here. The latest issue is Flock cameras, with law enforcement
paying Flock for surveillance of traffic that Flock was allowed to set up at road intersections.
How do we even quantify this ubiquity of spyware? You should assume that anything digital
you do, and most activity in public, can be picked up and recorded by someone.
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HOSTS File and NoScript for Online Privacy
HOSTS is an important topic.
While not being well known, HOSTS is by far the most effective tool to
block spying online; the most bang for your buck. HOSTS dates back to the early days of networking. It allows you to hardcode an IP
address. HOSTS is basically a local phonebook.
When you visit a website, typing in "somewhere.com" or clicking a link your system
makes a call to a
Domain Name Server or DNS. It's basically saying, "I want to go to somewhere.com. What's the number?"
The numeric IP address is the real address. Your browser doesn't go to somewhere.com. It goes to someplace like
10.50.150.250.
The IP address
127.0.0.1 is always here, this computer. Due to that design, you can
assign any domain to be on your computer. It's wonderfully simple. Want to stop
www.googletagmanager.com from spying on you?
Put that in your HOSTS file with the address
127.0.0.1. So whenever your browser tries to call Google's spyware it will be told,
"No need, that's right here." Browsers check HOSTS before making a DNS call.
This may sound complicated, but it's actually very simple. To make it work
even better, install the free
Acrylic DNS proxy.
Acrylic has its own HOSTS file that will let you use wildcards. Thus,
*.googletagmanager.com will block all subdomains. And
with Acrylic HOSTS you don't have to wrestle with Windows security restrictions. For a sample Acrylic HOSTS file to get you started,
you can
download this. Read it over before using to make sure that
you actually want to block all the domains listed.
The beauty of HOSTS is that it stops your browser from ever visiting
spyware companies like Google, Facebook, Adobe, etc. So you're not just blocking ads. You're actually
blocking the tracking, targeting and ad companies from seeing you at all. You're incognito online, for the most part. So you don't need
fingerprinting, VPNs, and so on. Only the sites you actually visit will see you. For the most part, those are NOT the
websites that are spying on you. So you won't need adblockers AND you won't be tracked by any
domains in your HOSTS file. To clarify, with HOSTS you can evade surveillance, and the surveillance companies are also the ad companies.
So you don't need to block ads because none of those ads are on the websites you're visiting. They're piped in dynamically by spyware
companies like Google. You never chose to visit those domains. The websites you visit are linking to them, inviting them to spy on you without your permission.
This is
NOT how the Internet was designed to work. Each website is supposed to be blocked
from other websites for security and privacy. But various tricks like third-party scripts get around that protection.
Example: You visit NYTimes to read news. NYTimes will block you unless you enable
script because they want to track you and show you ads. But the ads are not actually coming from NYTimes. They
can't be bothered. They contract with Google/Doubleclick. Google then tracks you and holds a real-time auction.
Google announces, "We've got a sucker who just arrived at a car insurance article on NYTimes.com. He's 35, 2 kids,
$200K salary, drives a BMW, lives in Chicago suburbs, plays golf and likes boats. What's our bid to put your ad in front of this man?"
The auction takes milliseconds, while the page is loading. The highest bidder gets to insert their ad. If you're unlucky it's
a hacker in Russia who hopes to infect your computer with what's known as a "driveby download", made possible by javascript.
NYTimes couldn't care less. They just want their ad revenue; their check from Google. Google
couldn't care less. They just want the check from the high bidder. The whole process is automated. No one's
minding the store. So by blocking contact with Google you prevent that whole process from happening.
NoScript is a browser extension that allows you to see what script is trying to run on a website and to enable it only as needed.
Script accounts for nearly all online security risks and much of the spying, so blocking it whenever possible is important.
NoScript makes a good companion to a HOSTS file, though it's more work. You might have to make some adjustments
on many websites to minimize spying and still get them to work.
Some webpages only work without script if you disable CSS. That's by design. On the early Internet the
primary design rule was that a webpage should work as widely as possible. Old browsers should be accommodated. Script shouldn't be required.
Today that's reversed. Many commercial websites are essentially saying, "You let us spy on you without
restriction or you won't be able to see our webpage." They actually code it to break without javascript, even where
the script is not needed. A typical design involves placing a blank panel on top of the page, so it appears plain white or black.
Script then removes the panel. Disabling CSS will also usually remove the panel. A newer trick is to claim they have to make sure you're not a bot,
so you must allow script and let them have their way with you.
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Cellphones and Apps
If you carry a cellphone turned on, you're being tracked. A good example is the
case of Bryan Kohberger, convicted of several murders in Idaho. Part of the evidence consisted of records of him
spending time sitting in his car near the house on several occasions, and the fact that he turned his
phone off during the murders. That's a very interesting point. Kohberger planned carefully and even made sure
that his cellphone was not sending a signal to cell towers during the murders, yet it never occurred to
him to leave the cellphone home, turned on, in order to provide an alibi! What kind of nut would leave their cellphone at home... EVER?!
If you really want privacy then you need to consider not carrying a cellphone powered on.
Use it only as needed, not as the hub of your life. That means also giving up apps. Most are spyware. Do you think that's an extreme statement? Here's
a report
detailing several menstrual tracker apps an the surprising amount of data they collect, share, sell. Many of the spyware apps
are things like that -- apps that no one really needs. More mainstream apps like Waze or Tinder will obviously be spyware
as well, but the spying is likely to be mostly in-house.
Here's
a very detailed 2020 Norwegian study
of spyware apps in general.
Another link here.
Apps are not bad by definition. Camera apps, flashlight apps, plant ID apps from Audubon, etc, should be fine.
But fluff apps from unknown sources are almost certainly spyware. And of course apps like Waze are intended to be spyware. They won't work otherwise.
So you might consider learning how to read a map.
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Other Devices
As mentioned above, all kinds of devices are spying now.
Cars are spying.
TVs are spying.
Washing machines and refrigerators want to call home. Police are working to accumulate camera doorbell footage as a form of surveillance. A few
years ago there was even a report of
dildoes calling home.
Wireless printers are one of the latest trends, selling printers that will no longer connect via USB. They must use wifi and be allowed to call home.
There's a pattern here of brazenly asserting that simply because a company sold you a product,
they have a right to spy on you and sell your personal data. This also ties into the next topic: The cloud rental scam.
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Cloud: The Rental Software Scam
Cloud and rental software have brought a radical shift to the tech world that most
people are not actually aware of. When software and computers became a big industry, in the 90s,
companies like Microsoft and Adobe were selling wildly overpriced software and managing to sell
updates once per year. It was a Big Tech heyday. The cost of MS Office was absurd, but the
usefulness of it for businesses easily made up for that. People were happy to pay through the nose for every update.
Over time software matured, hardware matured, and people didn't need to update either so often.
Open source products steadily improved. Today most people can do what they need to with Libre Office.
People who do graphic editing can usually get what they need with free or cheap products.
The writing was on the wall. The feast of cash for Big Tech would have limits. The reaction from Big Tech was to push rental software
and so-called cloud. Adobe and Microsoft both started pushing rental software, casting it
as cloud-based and offering some online storage.
These programs are not cloud. They're still installed locally. At most, some of their functionality works
via script in your browser. But they pretend to operate online and they typically offer some online file storage.
By making them rental-only and pretending that they're not installed on your computer, the option to actually buy the software is eliminated.
These companies
are essentially sneaking into your driveway, replacing you car with a taxi. This is a radical change masquerading as
a new option. Once software is rental, a software company can charge a regular fee and they gain an excuse
to spy on you, calling home. It's not just an excuse. For them it's a necessity to continually assert that they
run the software, you just rent it, and therefore they have a right to commandeer your computer. By storing some of your files online, they take co-ownership
of your files, make you more dependent on their alleged service, and also justify the cloud idea. Imagine renting
office space and the landlord claimed the right to access and use your paper files.
With this rental model, devices become little more than services kiosks. In fact, Microsoft
now casts Windows itself as a service. Apple have been controlling devices for some time already. People
are increasingly forced to "log in to the cloud" when using their own devices. If you go along with this trend
then eventually you'll be paying for computing itself, while ALSO paying for the device.
Another aspect of this is constant dripfeed updates. That's another way in which companies
justify rental. Their product is presented as never quite being safe/ready/finished. You'll need constant
updates to avoid disaster. You'll also get constant, vaguely defined update goodies. Thus, another excuse to control your device. The dripfeed updating also ties in
with "agile programming". Agile programming is a fad that brings stability to software companies. It's no
longer a scenario where a few people work really hard, write a successful program, then make a lot of money,
followed by a dry period. Agile programming theory says software should be constantly updated, with minimal
stability testing. That's why both Firefox and Chrome version numbers are into the hundreds, with new updates every 10 days and major updates monthly. They usually don't get around
to fixing serious bugs, but they keep their "team" busy with a regular work schedule. Much of that work
is just the effort required to publish a new version. It's pure insanity, and it's also very unstable.
Microsoft are also on the agile bandwagon, releasing untested patches monthly that often
break things, rather than releasing a thoroughly tested update every 1-2 years. (XP had three service packs.
Windows 7 had only one.) Agile mania is another piece of the rental/cloud scam, justifying why you
can no longer be allowed to buy software or keep your own files. Software is being redefined as an online service, constantly under construction.
This is a massive, semi-clandestine scam. It's happening gradually, such that
most people don't notice it happening. Somehow renting software became normal. Would you think
it was normal if your frig or power tool started a fee plan, spying, calling home, shutting off if you don't pay the rent?
Actually, that's starting to happen, too. For
example
the Snoo Bassinet,
a "smart" bassinet selling for $1,700, began charging rental fees for some of the features. And if
you give/sell your bassinet to new parents after your baby gets settled, those new owners
will be charged fees.
Car companies are also getting in on the scam, charging rent for options like heated seats.
This is part of a trend toward products that are simply broken -- non-functional -- until you go online,
sign up for an account, agree to pay rent, and let the device call home.
Companies always call these fees "subscriptions". But that's misleading. A subscription
is a periodic fee for a periodic product, like a magazine. These fees are simply rental charges, sometimes for extra features, usually
just purely a scam.
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AI: The Ultimate Spyware
In the August 2024 issue of Wired, Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal,
said the following:
AI is a product of the mass surveillance business model in its current form. It is not a separate technological phenomenon.
Very few other people have noticed this glaring aspect of AI. People are too busy talking about what it can or can't do.
But AI relates to the cloud/rental scam. AI is being positioned as a ubiquitous personal assistant. Soon you'll start your computer,
an AI "agent" will greet you, and you'll be invited to use services.
That's the vision of Microsoft's head of AI.
Imagine that you want to buy new shoes. You tell Copilot, which comes back with suggestions. Likely
those suggestions are from companies willing to pay Microsoft a kickback. Copilot then handles all the details and lets you know when the shoes arrive.
You used to go online for news, research, shopping, etc. Now you no longer "do".
Copilot handles everything and even anticipates your desires. It's a blend of Star Trek futurephilia and a brazen
land grab, taking over your life and selling it back to you. Think back to the Jetsons. Do you
really want to live like that, being managed by robots on an assembly line?
Your whole computer is a service. Your phone and tablet are services. Your Meta glasses and Apple watch are services. Microsoft, Google, Apple and Zuck, inc. now know
and track every intimate detail of you life, monetizing that data in any way possible. It's
an industry-wide movement to hijack personal computing and sell it back to us.
Then there's also the fact that AI has no intelligence. It's been marketed as "artificial intelligence"
but it's actually what's known as LLM. Large language model. An LLM takes in vast amounts of data,
especially text, and then predicts patterns. When it answers your question it's predicting, based on its data, what the actual answer would be.
Often AI answers sound like a politician's speech --sounding important and meaningful without actually saying anything.
Other times it's pure nonsense. The AI makes up an answer that it guesses you'll like. Typical examples are the lawyers who asked AI for case precedent
and
AI cheerfully made it up.
In another case,
AI issued nonsense tsunami warnings.
That's not to say that AI is useless. It can help to eliminate
some grunt work when used carefully. But it's no miracle solution. And the
purpose of it is control, not better computing.
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Conclusions
What does all this mean for privacy and modern computing?
• First, reasonable privacy means reducing your digital footprint.
Use cash when possible. Avoid apps. Avoid carrying a cellphone turned on, if possible. Only use it for
phone calls or emergency Internet searches. Get away from social media. Learn to read maps and don't use Waze.
• Try to remove from your life the myriad services (Uber, AirBnB, Venmo, Tinder, etc) that middleman your life,
controlling it, selling it back to you, and in the process exploiting labor laws. These services are not a sharing economy.
That was a heady dream of a shared culture. Socialist socializing. What resulted is the opposite -- exploitive commercialization
of all aspects of life.
• Move back toward non-digital lifestyle. Call your friends. Go for a walk. Meet for coffee.
Invite someone over for lunch or dinner. Buy local. Then DO NOT record or "journal" your day on social media. The loss of privacy and exploitation of personal data is
all connected with digitization. When your personal data and records were store on paper, in file
cabinets, the only way to spy on you was an expensive plan with LexisNexis, a company that collects data and charges for access. Today, accumulating and cross-referencing
that data is almost effortless. Countless companies are doing it. So eschewing digital is the only option.
• In terms of computers, set up a HOSTS file, install the NoScript extension,
avoid shopping online. Swear off Amazon, if possible. Their good prices will only last until they've put
viable competition out of business. Don't do business with Google at all. Obviously don't use social media.
Maybe consider setting up your own website and having some fun with it. Then you can also have numerous email addresses that you control.
No more GMail or Outlook spyware.
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