Make me think more whether moving is worth it or not. it’s crazy that in just several weeks, thing has been proposed again.
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If a political discussion about introducing an age verification law is enough to make you doubt, it’s probably not worth moving to Japan. But I hope you can widen your view beyond this particular issue and privacy and consider Japan and your whole situation.
Like @FranklyFlawless said it’s over when we stop resisting. I hope you will keep resisting. We still have time to fight pending age verification laws. We don’t yet know what damage the age verification agenda will cause, but perhaps people will still be able to use digital technologies at some level even if all the pending laws pass.
- Advocate for privacy as a concept, and its importance.
- Fight politically against the age verification agenda where you live and globally. Discuss the problem with the people you know or have influence over. Also support advocacy groups like EFF who are fighting against the age verification agenda.
- Avoid using software and services that comply, for instance Ageless, a noncompliant Debian-based operating system.
- Refuse to submit to age verification when requested.
- Give the Unix-ish 1970-01-01 if you are forced to disclose a birthdate. (post)
- If you’re a software or service provider, refuse to comply or exercise malicious compliance. If you have substantial market share, threaten governments that you will shut down or refuse to service its citizens if age verification laws pass.
- Work on new or existing projects that aim to subvert or circumvent the effects of age verification laws.
In another thread I listed broadly how operating systems could respond if age verification laws pass.
In the interests of resistance, you will probably be far more effective at resisting from where you live than resisting after migrating to Japan. Consider the costs of migrating to another country, restrictions imposed on foreigners in Japan, familiarity and personal connections of your current place of residence, knowing the local language etc.
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I might lose my mind. I’m really frustrated about all the situation it’s all going on in this world. In the past, I would just don’t care or not reading them at all to preserve my mental. But now, I’m just diving in more and more, thinking about it everywhere I go, I can’t find peace inner. Even I stressed about this and cannot sleep, just because I’m overthink all about this. I find myself badly after going through this for so long.
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Don’t feel bad for yourself because this is not your fault. There are some thing in life we can’t control and we should just learn to live with them. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t resist, but mental health is top 1 and your privacy is second. Just calm down and remind yourself that you cannot control everything. Overthinking is just going to do things worse because you’re looking for the fifth leg of the cat as we say in Costa Rica, if you know what I mean.
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Why are you getting frustrated? Stay calm. Did you know about grounding, which is fantastic for human health? It will help you sleep better, think more clearly, heal illnesses, and more.
If you don’t know, I’ll guide you step by step.
And I invite you to explore the 7 mental exercises, advanced strategies, and other methods:
There, I teach you how to persevere even when alone in critical situations. If you need more help, let me know.
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After some thinking, I still don’t know if I should immigrate there. Personally, I’m leaning to yes, because idk, it’s always been a thought for so long, especially in my heart. Maybe one day I will go there and won’t feel this special anymore (if this is true, then it’s my fault to not consider it properly). But after reading a lots on reddit, i realized that no where in this world is safe for privacy now, even Iceland (as an EEA member might comply with future laws), and I’m not really interested into Iceland more than Japan. So cannot really rely on the laws, cause almost politicians are malicious in my opinion. What I wanna achieve is to get the safety, culture and peaceful live in Japan (prefer coutryside areas), along with the reduction usage onto the gov services as much as possible and stick to privacy respecting services (including sim and banking too). Idk if this is a good plan or not so I wanna here more from your opinion.
I’ve never wanted to become a Japanese citizen. I just want to live there, blend in and live like a normal people. I’ve been interested in Japan for so long, privacy is just sth recently.
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Just knew that Edward Snowden is living in Russia (this morning after I researched about countries censorship). Make me realized that it doesn’t really matter that much to choose a country that’s surely on privacy, the more important thing is to adapt it. I don’t know if it’s correct or not.
Edit: the only thing that’s uncertain is the future. Culturally, Japanese deeply care abt privacy. They tried to hide most of their identity online, pseudonym name, avoid appearance on social media, etc. But trully, I’m worried abt the ban (encryption, vpn, etc.) for no reason if I have successfully moved there. Because politicians are really dangerous. Also, they’re 5 eyes plus, which is heavily rely on USA’s infrastructure to surveil.
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It is correct to a certain degree. Every country is adaptable if you’re not doing a sentence there (however as they say, people also live in prison). Other than that, everything else is a matter of perspective, understanding and the will to work it out. Make no mistake, there are no safe havens/countries for the rest of us, common folk. On one hand vpn bans, chat control, age verification, cryptocurrency control, cash flow limitations in favor of local digital currency, military draft policy changes etc., these are measures of preparation for a big conflict that is coming. On the other hand it is a way for a ruling class of any country to secure its position of power, so no “democratic” procedures would stand in its way. Have that in mind and plan your life and actions accordingly. Maybe search for some Russian, Chinese, British and now Turkish public (or not so public) groups that are looking into adapting to their privacy situation. Maybe learn a thing or two from them. Maybe learn something from good people here. Take your time, be spongy about useful information, think it through and then go for it. It’s your choice to make, no one here will make it for you. You got this, friend.
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Hmm, can i ask you? What abt Iceland in general?
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IMO Sweden and Iceland are relatively good choices privacy wise. The latter one is also known as a beloved place for hosting some really shady stuff which can be cautiously interpreted as an indirect confirmation that it’s privacy stance is legit. At least for today. Look at Mullvad and their potential problems with servers in Turkey and theoretically other countries that could decide to ban any no-logging vpn service provider. I’ll repeat myself, there are no safe havens. Everything is changing. Look for the country that speaks to you as they say and then get ready for its privacy state as much as you can.
My apologies to moderation team for going a little off-topic.
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I’d like to add something else to the topic:
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As I mentioned before, if they want to spy on you, they will, even if you don’t want them to or aren’t notified.
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I navigate life and use the internet calmly; that is, I don’t get alarmed. I’m calm and it doesn’t bother me when I enter an area with cameras, for example. Sometimes I see a sign that says: Smile, we’re recording you… it’s a useless sign.
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Privacy and personal security are fundamental, but you have to understand that you can’t walk around covered up in the street with masks and things like that; it would attract the attention of the authorities. It’s better to go about your life normally and have inner peace, even if the world around you is falling apart.
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These days, the following two words are very fashionable: theorist and conspiracy. If you say something that’s strange or unusual, you’re accused of being an alarmist, paranoid, etc., but when the time comes, things happen, and only a minority will acknowledge that it’s true.
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To survive in this world, you must persevere to the end with courage, composure, and other personal virtues.
Remember that tools like VPNs, etc., are useful, but don’t be fooled by the words “anonymous” and “maximum privacy,” whether on a technical level or not. Now that AI is becoming fashionable, needless to say, it’s even worse. That’s why I shared these 7 mental exercises + advanced strategies + multiple levels for the Privacy Guides community.
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Considered this post is heavily reflects on my mental health issue, I’m wanna apologized for being too negative here and not spreading anything useful for the community here. Truly, I worried much and coming to privacy recently has drive me badly inside. I can’t sleep, can’t think clearly, brain fog, worst of all, I use sth else to cope with and escape all of these, just to make me feel better for a moment but then returned into the rabbit hole that I can’t escape. I see myself as too polician now. And I need a way to get myself back cause I lost myself all along the way, I can’t recognize who I am anymore, worst is, being overstimulated.
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You don’t have to apologize. The previous message I gave is a guide or help, this is how I am in this world where things are getting worse.
If you allow me to help you, I will help you, I’m ahead of myself:
1. Are you in an area with trees and land with clean grass? If the answer is yes, walk barefoot on the ground for 1 hour and use both hands on a tree. The energy of the earth will help you calm your nervous system, improve the quality of your health and more. Do it every day if possible. This is called grounding.
2. Are you learning the 7 exercises and the rest mentally? If yes, I can create a new message with information for people new to these types of situations to help them have better balance.
3. Opt for natural, nature helps to recover mental health, basic exercises such as walking for example. Do deep breathing as follows: breathe through your nose until you fill your lungs with air, hold the oxygen for 8 seconds and then slowly expel it; Do the same exercise 10 times every day. If it is necessary to repeat more than 10 times, do it and if you feel sleepy, rest.
Do this first like deep breathing and grounding. Then, tell me.
With that state of health you cannot act correctly.
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I personally don’t recommend you to base your decision to move to another country just because it offers you better privacy because there’s a chance that the best country in the world privacy-wise may end up in the future becoming the worst. What would happen if you spend uncountable hours learning and researching a country’s culture and language just to realise it’s going to roll out Age Verification or some random bullshit? I can’t predict the future, but better be safe than sorry.
As @pg.user mentioned…
…and its just a matter of time those governments tackle down privacy for everyone since privacy it’s being abused unfortunately and on a government standpoint they’ll take it as a threat without giving a shit about the importance of privacy. But this is just my POV, where I believe all governments are the same BS, but some of them are just ticking bombs without a timer; some of them will explode sooner or later.
So to buckle everything up, prioritise moving to a country that fulfills you personally, because there’s no such thing like which is the best country but which one is the less bullshittier (and this is not just in terms of privacy). I mean, just look at Privacy Guides being hosted in the US, one of the worst countries in terms of privacy AFAIK. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
So keep it chill mate! Life’s too short to worry about it. 
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