Hello. I recently read the book Extreme Privacy by MB to help keep me more safe while I explore the realms of becoming a Webcam model and other avenues of the SW industry. Could anyone answer the question, “Does Pixal phones and Linex systems provide the best safety net in a complicated career such as sex work?” Thank for any tips or suggestions. I have really enjoyed the CS aspect of the book and I’ve gotten so excited to learn more about CS and some coding.
Following the best practices that Privacy Guides and Techlore teaches - from the settings you should have for the private alternative apps you should use instead of big tech products- is almost all you can do. You should also threat model and act accordingly.
To answer your question more directly - yes. You could use GrapheneOS on any Pixel device they support along with the right apps for your correspondances (Proton/Tuta for email, Signal only for IMs, always using a VPN, etc.) and you should be more private indeed! That said, I would not use stock Android as Google collects afar too much data and metadata on you. You’d be better off using iPhone if you can’t or don’t want to install GrapheneOS on it.
Having spoken with several women in the same industry, they seldom use the right tools they ought to be using. So, good on you for taking action and learning more. It will only help.
Also, it is “Pixel” and “Linux”.
Lol, thanks for the correction. It’s getting late and I’m starting to turn into a pumpkin.
I’m following along with all of Michael Bazzell 5th edition of Extreme Privacy. He said he strongly prefers Pixel & graphene. He mentioned ppl like CalyxOS but I paid for the book so it’s easier to follow along with that.
Would you happen to know if you can DIY a farabag? lol . And thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
Aluminum foil. Wrap it well.
And yes, you can always follow MB’s advice. He is an authority.
Edit: It is “Faraday”
Does it really work? Like really work? No issues? I thought that was too good to be true
Yes it works. You can look up some videos on it to learn more. I don’t know if it is 100% but it does work to a great extent.
Faraday. I’m learning all the pro language, lol I’ll look it up on YouTube. Ty!!
“lexicon”
Apologies for the pedantry. But I’m only correcting since you are open to learning.
I did some quick research:
Example: Minimal DIY Faraday wrap
(1) Place device in a plastic bag.
(2) Wrap thoroughly in aluminum foil, ensuring no open seams.
(3) Tape edges or folds to keep them tightly sealed.
(4) Optionally add a second plastic bag + second foil wrap.
(5) Test signal-blocking by calling or sending data to the device.
FYI.
I have some other questions to ask someone too. I hoping someone might know the answer.
I got a new computer to start this all out right. But I did login for a short while once while at home with an alias name. When I go to install Linux will it remove and wipe clean that small history or did I mess up my new computer by not setting it up the right way from the start?? Hopefully that makes some sense. lol
Whenever you install a fresh copy of Linux and choose to agree during the installation that it will wipe your hard drive, that’s what it does. All the data you had before you installed Linux is gone.
So, no - you didn’t do anything wrong. There is always a way to not even boot into Windows and directly go to BIOS and boot from the USB drive to install Linux but what you did is fine too. Nothing wrong.
I don’t want to let any trackers in so I’m glad I can still start it from scratch. Woo Hoo
To ensure absolutely any trackers is a tall order and impossible. If you use Google search, it will install a cookie on your browser at-least for that particular session and that itself can be considered a tracker.
I think you need to learn more about trackers, fingerprinting, and ensuring privacy on the web and on the OS to learn all that you can mitigate if not eliminate with/through however you want to you use your computer for whatever use cases/reasons. (just my two cents).
Edit: re-reading your comment, I now think you didn’t mean it quite so literally. But anyways, be advised.
Well the book gives you step by step instructions. I’m lost with these names so please excuse me. Just starting to get my feet wet. I’m the noob in the group. I’ve been dying to get into Python. What code language does everyone in the privacy community like most?
Ah, I see. Makes sense. Yeah, you;ll get a hand of the lexicon as you keep learning and reading and understanding what’s what and why with privacy tools and tech at large.
Welcome to the forum! You may also want to look at joining Techlore’s forum. I am active there too and not everyone from here is there and not everyone there is here.
This is like asking which superhero is your favorite. Everyone has their preferences for their own reasons and platforms for which people build. No right or wrong answer.
Edit: I think the discussion is getting off topic now. If you have any more germane questions to your original post, please continue asking. If not, you may want to start a different post on another topic if you have other types of questions. We try to keep the threads on topic and relevant for everyone’s sake.
Thank you so much. You really helped me out a lot. I’m so grateful. And thanks for the tips. I’ll check them out.
I might be wary of this, here are some good tests on the subject:
https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/faraday/
“Wrap it in tin foil” is perhaps the most common advice found on the Internet for making a makeshift Faraday cage. In my experiments, I found I could sometimes achieve approximately 90 dB attenuation by carefully wrapping the generator in foil and double folding the seams on all sides, which is quite good (comparable to commercial pouches). Unfortunately the results were extremely inconsistent and difficult to replicate. The same technique that produced 90 dB attenuation in one test would produce only 50 dB the next time, with no visually obvious differences. It is extremely difficult to reliably obtain a good RF seam, at least with the kitchen-grade foil I used.
Compounding the problem is that there’s no practical way to field test an improvised foil enclosure. Because it’s essentially single-use, you would have no way to tell whether you’ve managed to fold and seal it adequately well. (And even if you could, you’d destroy your work as soon as you open the pouch.) So despite excellent best case results, aluminum foil appears to be impractical for real-world use. (There’s no point in providing a table of measurements here; it would be meaningless).
All of the difficulties Matt Blaze encountered when writing this article is the primary reason we do not cover Faraday bags at all on the site, yet. It is trickier than you might imagine to even properly test whether they work at all.
I stand corrected. Thank you for the context and insight.
I commented knowing what I knew but wasn’t aware of such specifics.
MB says that bluetooth and downloaded music is a great way to test. Turn on a show, put it in and see if the music stops.
You may want to reply directly to the comment. What you did is replied to your own OG post so it doesn’t notify the right person.
FYI.