Like most people who are reasonably tech-savvy, I assumed the spooks were listening in on what they could but didn't realise the extent. I mean, GCHQ tap the transatlantic cable for god's sake. It was all too much, and I made some changes to try to maintain some privacy. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Email encryption. Not many people I know use it, but I'm thankful for those who do. I no longer discuss matters of particular sensitivity via email if it isn't being encrypted.
- VPN. I now regularly use a VPN for all sorts of privacy reasons, but it has the secondary benefit of letting me get around any regional restrictions I may encounter.
- Browser extensions. I use HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger in Firefox, both from the EFF. Just adding to the noise and watching those tracking cookies!
- Secure backups. My most valuable data are backed up to the cloud for obvious reasons. I closed my Dropbox account and switched to Spideroak who have much better privacy policies, but I also individually encrypt every file I upload anyway. There's pretty much zero chance of any spook getting access to them.
Eh, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I want to use full disk encryption, but setting it up on live partitions is probably a pain in the arse, plus I'd have to do the disk-within-a-disk thing to defeat law enforcement's disgusting authority to force people to give up passwords. That's a project for 2015 methinks.
So what do you all do?
Anything I need saved and secure I've always put on an external drive that I only plug in when using.
My habits haven't changed.
Actually, they have. I use a bit more encryption technology, such as a plug-in for Firefox to encrypt any pages that offer it on their site. Wish Grogheads would use it.
I do that out of protest. I fully expect the powers that be can crack it. But at least they know they're wrong when they do.
Does the NSA even bother to monitor nerf porn?
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on December 23, 2014, 05:51:06 PM
Does the NSA even bother to monitor nerf porn?
Yes. It's a solid indicator of evil plotters.
Snowden = sh_t
Thanks for your devastatingly insightful input.
Sorry, can't stand traitors.
As for what I do, I assume anything I store or send electronically WILL be read by someone else.
If you think you're going to beat the NSA, let me just say :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny:
Setec Astronomy
Quote from: bbmike on December 23, 2014, 09:28:54 PM
Sorry, can't stand traitors.
I'm not exactly happy over what he did, but I'm not sure his actions make him a traitor either. But I digress.
Quote from: bbmike on December 23, 2014, 09:28:54 PM
As for what I do, I assume anything I store or send electronically WILL be read by someone else.
Same. I pretty much take for granted the NSA is looking at what porn I check out.
Quote from: mirth on December 23, 2014, 09:59:04 PM
Setec Astronomy
And give him head.