its ok buddy. i know they’re characters here and other places too that speak to us like we’re morons. but these people also exist in real life. just gotta ignore them and dont reply to them.
re privacy.
well done on looking after yourself.
yes its a more non fun journey.
at the end of the day, its your life, your cake.
you cut the cake how you want it.
i do basic privacy stuff, just the average joe.
for me i enjoying making it harder for whoever wants my data. Ad blocker, eg ublock origin, signal, having a password manager etc.
Maybe take some timeout and pull back a bit.
At the end of the day have some fun. All work no play makes us dull.
Take care.
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Well said Viper. I just try to reduce exposure now that I have become aware of this “information collection” Business model that crept up on us at the lowest of threat levels. Then, when a more serious threat comes up, the folks on this community have been able to provide sound actionable steps to hopefully reduce even that situation.
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With pleasure man 
Im using MacBook 13" (2021 model) currently on macOS Sonoma. Its with plenty of tracking/listening/logging/telemtry collectors etc features either turned off omn Mac directly or blocked network-wide (on router).
Software I use:
Mail: Proton Unlimited
Aliases: Proton Pass +SimpleLogin + Addy.io
VPN: ProtonVPN
Browser: Safari Developer Preview with 99% of whats in Developer menu turned OFF. Am not touching classic Safari
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What’s wrong with regular Safari? Developer preview is just for testing out new features before the new version is out. The Safari that comes in your OS is protected by System Integrity Protection so it’s actually going to be more secure. Beta software comes with more telemetry, more bugs, and potential uncaught security vulnerabilities.
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From standard-user perspective: nothing.
From the perspective of webdev basically 2 things
- if I spot bug in Safari and report it, it will not be patched until next stable (know this as I reported 2 bugs in the past). Whereas in
Developer Previewthey fix bugs in days time; next release contains either complete patch or walkaround of sorts (if bug complexity is high). - In regular Safari you have slightly less control over advanced features (there are less entries in
Developermenu)
It’s more of a fun journey for me as well. The way I do it is that I use the best of both worlds. For example, I use YouTube with an ad blocker, so I enjoy videos with the added convenience of zero nasty ads. I use DNS with ad-blocking ability to use my favorite apps without being bothered by locating the small close button over the ads, etc. You get the point?
On a side note, I’m not against ads, but I hate it when they involve collecting my data without consent. Since the majority of ads are always served targeted, there are no options other than blocking all.
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Windows 11 Enterprise with most invasive features turned off manually using Group Policy Editor. The rest blocked at the DNS level by NextDNS.
Brave for desktop as the primary browser, ProtonMail for personal use, and Gmail for work.
Now, I’m aware of the privacy implications of W11 and Gmail, but I need to use them anyway for running some Windows-only software and Gmail provided by my employer.
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Hope you’re doing well man
I will say, it’s a balance and knowing where the trade offs are worth it.
For example, I replaced Google search with Kagi, but I still have my Gmail for certain things.
I switched to signal but every once in a while will use messenger if the group chat is really big, and am fine with some of my group chats being on iMessage.
No need to be a perfectionist
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On my PC I dual boot Fedora and Windows 11, but mostly use Fedora because at this point I just have W11 for Tarkov. I have NextDNS on both and on W11 I used WinUtil by Chris Titus to disable some of the telemetry.
Then I have a Macbook Pro M3 Pro (God, I love the name lol) for college where I just disable all analytics and also have NextDNS.
Browser: Firefox (Just disabled telemetry and Strict mode, nothing special) + Been testing Safari on my mac.
Search: Brave Search 80% + Ecosia 20% (Ecosia mostly for shopping)
Mail & VPN: Proton Unlimited (Also using Proton Pass + SimpleLogin).
Been thinking also about trying out Kagi Search, looks really good tbh.
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Convenience is how big tech trap you inside their hamster wheel to keep making money off your data and usage patterns. I personally look back at my privacy journey as having this urge to seek more if not ultimate control over ownership of my personal data.
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I’m not an apologist for Google but they seem to attract a particular level of ire. In my experience their privacy policies tend to be upfront about what data is collected. There are also privacy settings e.g switch of YouTube history , web history etc which can go someway to help with privacy.
On other forums there often seems to be “knee jerk “ distrust of Google in particular and even outright disbelief about anything they say.
There’s a very good reason for this. Google tracks you across the entire web, and not just their little corner.
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That distrust was well earned over many years. Google isn’t the absolute worst, but they are the tech conglomerate that most people have the most exposure to, so I understand why they receive an outsized amount of attention and criticism.
A 2019 study found that Google trackers were present on 86% of the top 50k websites, another study (2018) found Google trackers were present in 88% of the top 1 million Android apps. (For comparison Facebook/Meta trackers were the 2nd most prevalent in both studies, but at must lower rates 36% and 43% respectively)
They also just fundamentally have a business model that is opposed to and threatened by privacy, and built on tracking and profiling users. It is not in Google’s shortterm interest to respect your privacy.
In my experience, their privacy policies tend to be upfront about what data is collected.
This is not my experience at all. It’s been a while since I’ve read a Google Privacy policy but my impression from past reads is that Google is one of the least clear and explicit, and least detailed about what they will and won’t do.
There are also privacy settings e.g switch of YouTube history , web history etc
You can and should disable all of those settings, but you should also read closely, and pay attention to the subtle slights of hand in the language.
And be aware that Google has in some cases not honored these settings in the past (for example, it was discovered that even when users disabled location history, and could no longer see their own location history in their account, Google continued tracking location data regardless).
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Frontpage review of Google’s Terms of Service rates it a Grade E. (awfully low). Chrome rates a D.
Google (E)
[They store data on you even if you did not interact with the service]
- [Your identity is used in ads that are shown to other users]
- [The service can read your private emails]
- [This service can view your browser history]
- [This service holds onto content that you’ve deleted]
Chrome (D)
[They store data on you even if you did not interact with the service]
- [This service can view your browser history]
- [This service may collect, use, and share location data]
- [This service shares your personal data with third parties that are not involved in its operation]
- [If you sync with your Google Account, many different types of personal data are collected]
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@Smartbirb In case you still observe this forum, I hope you don’t give up, and one day you find a way to manage privacy and mental health simultaneously.
I interpret this as frustration with maintaining privacy in a context of near-total fascist surveillance, rather than privacy itself being BS. The world we live in puts a high burden and stigma on people who strive to uphold human dignity.
While an extreme privacy lifestyle has a burnout risk, I see a dilemma that some people may get trapped in. Even when people want to retreat from extreme privacy, they may have no appropriate means to reach out to other people, seek help, seek happiness etc within a surveillance dystopia while maintaining physical, mental and emotional safety. An example might be someone in Lithuania not wanting to join the socially mandatory Facebook. I know threat modeling is relevant, but generally speaking how best to negotiate this dilemma?
And be aware that Google has in some cases not honored these settings in the past (for example, it was discovered that even when users disabled location history, and could no longer see their own location history in their account, Google continued tracking location data regardless).
No, this is wrong. They kept tracking when this option was active. The issue was in the test itself, the put airplane mode/disabled location on device (not sure which) and thought no location tracking will happen. So the explicit permission for location tracking for that account was still toggled.
The claim that you claim is wrong appears to be close enough to the truth, as far as I can see. Google paid compensation to several states after deceiving millions of people into believing their location is not tracked when they turn off location history and then tracked their location without their consent. Whether or not those users correctly interpreted the location settings and performed all steps to prevent location tracking is irrelevant.
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The question is a complex one, because any “guideposts” in this direction carry a lot of responsibility and even consequences.
Definitely if there is pathology, the % of personal recognition of this is less. it makes things more complicated. I mean no one cares about you and you should just go to a professional who has spent his whole life in science and took the Hippocratic oath, this decision can take 30 minutes to arrive (best case scenario).
The other thing is when someone needs you, I mean wanted, etc.
Here, I have no experience, my threat model does not and hopefully never will include the State (not potential crazy and evil individuals who may get there), law enforcement and special services,
a law abiding (no nepotism and corruption) ISP.
As the others said, you should’ve threat modelled properly. Furthermore, Linux isn’t for everyone. I, for instance, am using Windows 11, currently writing a substantial number of questions about Linux, for clarity. I don’t want to install any Linux-based operating system without research and blindly following PrivacyGuides’ recommendations. Remember, they are only recommendations.
You don’t need to feel pressured, by those people. It’s not supposed to feel tedious, and you can slowly migrate, like I am. (Although I do admit that I dropped loads of software once having a privacy-focused mindset.)
Just gradually drop software if you don’t need it. For instance, I can’t drop Microsoft Office yet since I’m forced to use it for school.
Ultimately, I hope you return stronger with an improved, balanced threat model 
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The ire concerning Google is valid, and it should be avoided. However, people rely on the company since they may be forced to for work, school, or simply know no adequate alternatives. That’s why people said that there needs to be a balance.
Although that is true, the average person isn’t going to spend time disabling those features. I know people who simply accept the defaults, and what’s easily available. They don’t even bother to use a browser with content-blocking abilities when suggested a browser like Brave, for instance.
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