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  • Ponder_MD

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 9, 2020
    4,559
    Maryland
    Is this a thread already? I'm not seeing it anywhere. I wasn't sure it was appropriate to lump this under "offgrid digital comms" because...info technology is inherently NOT offgrid.

    If someone points me to an existing thread, I'll let this one drop. In the meantime, l'd appreciate some advice.

    Ok, I'm trying to de-Googleify myself. I've downloaded DuckDuckGo on my mobile devices and I'm using their plug-in on Mozilla on my laptop. I've read that Mozilla is already turning against conservative speech. Does the plug-in adequately block/control Mozilla or should I consider a different browser altogether on my laptop?

    I never had Insta, Twitter, or Tik-tok.

    Is there a safe way to watch Youtube without being tracked?

    I use Gmail. What is the anonymous/secure, private alternative? (I realize that nothing is perfect, but there has to be something better.)

    Lastly, Facebook- I do have a FB account. I use it mainly for communicating with my sailing club and my old military unit for reunions and such. I rarely post anymore.

    There are pros and cons to abandoning Facebook:

    Pro: No more tracking, personal freedom. Escaping the echo chamber.

    Con: When you "leave the Plantation" it looks suspicious to the government. Should I maintain a generic, milquetoast Facebook presence merely to give the illusion that I'm a happy participant in our newly fascist society or does it not really matter?
     

    pennyanfernee

    Member
    Nov 2, 2020
    15
    DuckDuckGo is good about searching without tracking. The top pentest linux builds (Kali, Parrot) include Firefox with DDG as default.

    Youtube, you should be good as long as you use whatever secure browser you use and a VPN. VPN should be used for all traffic actually.

    Gmail is secure but you are just beholden to Google. They encrypt but they log, so hackers will likely not be able to get into your stuff, but Google will spill all your business if a three letter organization comes calling. For maximum security you can buy a domain and host your own email, or if you really wanna get nerdy, build your own email server on a home server or in a hosted AWS or MS Azure instance.

    As far as Facebook, I had similar concerns lol so I keep it to maintain appearances and keep regular convo going. I mean if you've already been on there for years, no point in pulling EVERYTHING. There's already enough data on you at that point. Use it to maintain it's convenience and because it really can't hurt but so much. But just don't link Facebook to any other sites you use or navigate to any sites from off of Facebook since their cookies track you even when you leave their site.
     

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