Should I use a public wifi or my home wifi for cases where anonymity is paramount?
I would always use Tor and maybe (an anonymous (Mullvad/IVPN)) VPN upfront.
But for the case they fail I want to have a fallback, so that I am still anonymous.
I think that most concerns regarding public wifi security are outdated and only relevant if you connect to http sites, which I don’t do anyway.
Is there any important reason why I shouldn’t use a public wifi for maximum anonymity?
Doesn’t really matter, just make sure you have MAC address randomization turned on for public WiFi.
It’s important to know/note that VPN does not make your anonymous. But you can buy it anonymously should you so choose to.
VPN and Tor are different tools for different purposes. Tor should be used if anonymity is the goal.
For maximum anonymity, if your activity is high risk, I suspect operating from home is a bad idea. You would not want any trace of your activity tied back to your identity or where you live.
Instead find a public wifi that
As @fria mentioned ensure you enable MAC address randomization.
What’s the risk of failure here? In either case, Tor is likely your best answer without more information.
depends on your threat model, but generally public wifi would be better, in case your IP address gets leaked. Just make sure you have MAC randomization turned on, and be mindful of CCTV.
I don’t think that VPNs make me anonymous and for this use case I would buy Mullvad or IVPN with crypto and only use the account from public wifi.
I would connect my laptop to my Pixel running GrapheneOS and then connect the Pixel to the Wifi, is there any way the laptop could leak identifiers?
I think if I’m the only person on the cafe that is for example sitting there with a laptop, and the activity get tracked back to the public wifi, then they maybe could look at the CCTV and then tell that I am probably the person they looking for.
And since Corona time is over I can’t sit there with a mask without drawing extra suspcision.
What places to you people think where there is public wifi but no CCTV or at least CCTV that has a very short storage time?
Hard to say, but maybe a public library.
Most libraries, universities and cafes have CCTV from what I have seen. Even if you find a corner/room inside that is not under CCTV, you’ll be compromised by walking around inside. I wouldn’t worry about CCTV recording storage time because there’s no way to know.
Older buildings like churches, community centers/halls, etc, and buildings which are often used for private/confidential activities may have less CCTV. But using these may require a reservation.
It’s up to you to do your own research of locations that have wifi but not CCTV.
I don’t know how hostile your area is to mask wearing, but if you want maximum anonymity you will want to weigh up the risks of exposing your face versus receiving unwanted attention by wearing a face mask. To add plausibility, cough, sneeze and sniffle every now and then while you wear a face mask.
I went with directed (aka “beam”) antenna, directly from my house to nearest café.
It is free, not the fastest, but free.
If you wanna repeat something like that enable MAC randomisation + VPN/Tor (for full system)
Personally, i went further and created CRON job with macchanger that randomize my MAC each 1h (but thats pretty radical)
Can you give a specific example of a beam antenna and wifi card which could be used to achieve your setup? Can you see the shop from your house or is it obstructed? I’ve tried this in the past with terrible results, couldn’t get the range. Would be nice to see how my setup compared to someone who actually got it working.
Yagi type (my setup)
This one if it is too far away (I didn’t test it)
P.S: if you are mounting it outside, beware of lighting bolts! Disconnect antenna from adapter during thunder and don’t forget to get proper grounding (follow mounting instructions)
This seems to be the best.
If shop near you, it should be enough to have just alpha on the windowsill. If it is indeed near you, you should just get something like this.
You may also need 50Ohm cords, connectors, adapters and mounting equipment. It depends of your setup and highly individual.
P.S: it is all a bit pricey…
It is clear view (with some trees). If you have buildings between you and AP, then you will need to mount antenna HIGHER than buildings (but it will still not be the best).
My speeds around 50mbit/s. As I said, not the fastest, but it depends on following factors: AP load, space between your antenna ad AP, weather.
It makes a difference if its stored locally for 48 hours and then auto deleted or if gets unencrypted send to a cloud and then sits there for the next few years
Tor, but the biggest anonymity risk are usually account linkage, browser fingerprint,device identifiers, and endpoint mistakes rather the access point is public or private.
Recording time technically does matter, but the problem is people under surveillance generally have no knowledge of such details (unless they have been informed otherwise) thus can only assume the worst case that everything in view of CCTV is recorded, shared and stored forever.
Aside: Footage may be publicly viewable in real time by sites like this.
Good suggestion.
As far as I remember they also have computers in some public libraries, which could even more advance privacy
I think this is an important point OP might be missing. The ip you connect from is just a small part of what is used to deanonymize you online. And the steps you have to take to reach something even remotely “anonymous” is… difficult.