What are your not so mainstream privacy hacks?

General
21

This advice would be the envy of Edward Snowden himself. :slight_smile: There’s a much simpler way out: go live in Alaska or the middle of nowhere in Iowa. :slight_smile:

On the other hand, if a person uses such serious and diligent means of anonymisation and privacy, his data is collected one way or another. But in case of something serious, the “black helicopters” will be the first to come to such people, because they are out of the typical society by their behaviour. :slight_smile:

Real privacy is about blending in with the crowd and blurring clear lines. That seems like a better strategy to me.:slight_smile:

22

I never save my contacts by their real names. I know that sounds crazy lol. But you’d be surprised how many times I enjoyed nice little benefits of privacy when I’m with someone, phone off on the table, and someone rings whom i don’t want the person I’m with to know they’re ringing me.

Also, even tho my stock contacts app had no network connection, for those who do have connection, there’s another nice privacy benefit there in keeping names obscured.

Btw i just use acronyms or smthn only I personaly know them by.

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23

Local AI, use proxy on top of VPN for apps that support it

24

Yes for that reason I use residential vpns for those invasive sites lol

25

For each Web site that requires a date of birth, I create a new random date of birth, and save it to the password manager (KeePassXC) in the entry notes for the Web site. If the site ever prompts me for the random date of birth, I have it.

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26

yeah my thought is that in case a crackdown on fake birth of dates happen, just have an alt one for those cases so yeah which that whatever system would be used to be valid enough for it.

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29

Being offline

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30

I swear I had planned to ask this very question to the forum for a very long time but you beat me to it! The way I had phrased in my notes was: What are some of your unique privacy habits?

Anyway, glad you started this conversation. Here are mine:

  1. AVOID EMAILING CUSTOMER SUPPORT WITH MY ACCOUNT EMAIL.

This applies mostly to online services. Unless it is absolutely necessary, which is very rare for me, I never email them with the address that is linked to my account with them.

Why I do it

The reason I do this is because I don’t want customer agents to look at how I use my account. I also hate it when I come to a company with a specific issue, and the customer agent makes comments about aspects of my account that have nothing to do with my problem. For e.g., you go to the bank to notify them of your new address, and the bank teller comments on the fact that you recently received $100 000.

This kind of thing has happened quite a few times with me, and it tells me that customer agents look at stuff I don’t want them to look at. Hence, the need to hide my identity from them when I can.

Most of the time, the questions I have for them are general, and could apply to anyone. And even when it’s specific to me, unless I have been locked out, I will not email them with my account email.

Example: Authy

When Authy had a data breach last year, I did not use the email for my Authy account when I contacted their support team. I used an alias with a fake name. And you wanna know what’s weird?

They recognized my fake name as one of their users. They admitted things to me that had happened with “my account” based on that name. Things I didn’t ask about. I did not confirm nor deny that I was not that person.

This is another reason why Proton Pass / SimpleLogin should allow multiple aliases for the same third party website.

  1. USE GENDER NEUTRAL FAKE NAMES

I spent an entire week researching gender-neutral names for all the letters of the alphabet. Every time I watch a TV show, movie or interview of a public figure, and I discover a new name that turns out to be gender-neutral, I write it down.

Names like Alexis, Casey, Jordan, Robin… I got a whole freakin’ list!

  1. USE ALIAS SUFFIXES THAT SOUND LIKE LAST NAMES

When I need an alias that I know I’m going to use to email a real person anonymously, I try to find a suffix that sounds like it could be a real name: travel, grant, chug, sheep, spiny.

Examples:

Robin Grant = r.grant123@passmail.com
Harper Sheep = harper.sheep122@passmail.com
Kerry Spiny = k.spiny123@passmail.com

  1. USE HOTELS FOR FAKE ADDRESSES

I’m guessing this one is pretty common. Sometimes I like to use luxury hotels.
I always make up the room number.

  1. ADD TILED WATERMARK TO DOCUMENTS BEFORE SENDING THEM

This is a very new habit I learned from a article I read. It deters the receiver from repurposing the document without being found out by you or others. The text watermark contains the date and the name of the organization it is destined to.

I am still looking for a good app that allows me to watermark exactly the way I want, which is with tiled text that is repeated all over the image. If anyone has a recommendation, please let me know.

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31
  1. If a site that doesn’t need my real life identity asks for my name, I usually put “noneof yourbusiness” or something like that. So far it hasn’t asked me for my actual name.
  2. I also have “android personalization service” turned off and my ad id on android deleted.
  3. I use multiple emails for different things, one for work/finances/etc, one for personal messages & tech support, and one for signing up for stuff that isn’t tied to my real identity.
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32

Many email servers support dynamic aliases of the form address+alias@example.com, so that you can give each company or person that requests an email address a unique one. This allows you to track leaks and the origin of spam. Of course, nothing prevents a malicious company from stripping out the alias, so it does not offer the same degree of protection as a full alias. I mostly use full aliases since I run my own email server and can create as many as I want, but it isn’t something everyone can realistically do (need a high quality fixed IP and own domain).

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33

Can you share it? :slight_smile:

34

I’m curious to know what are the possible scenarios where this technique could be helpful in any way. What are its benefits?

35

I use a script on windows startup to randomize my Mac for my wired connection. Simple but useful.

36

Are you not in control of your LAN or stuck using an ISP provided modem/router combo?

Randomizing your MAC on a wired connection doesn’t really do much unless you are trying to hide your device from other local devices.

37

A few things I haven’t seen mentioned:

  • Alternate front ends. Reddit and Twitter are covered in trackers, for example. Even if you’re not logged in, it’s a browser fingerprint risk. There’s a list here of options (https://privacyredirect.com/) but search out other instances as well, don’t just give all your browsing to one frontend. I have a set of 6 bookmarks of redlib instances, for example. This is for not logged in browsing, so it cuts down on data you give away and VPN errors.
  • Likewise, Invidious online instances and DuckDuckGo or Startpage video searches to enjoy YT without directly touching it.
  • Because of family and friends I am stuck needing an IG account. I don’t doomscroll or really use it for much beyond seeing things I’m sent when my spose says “did you see the thing I sent you?” I go through every few weeks and search for cats and cooking, just engaging randomly with anything that looks neutral or stupid. It’s my canary in the coal mine - if something throws my baseline off and I’m NOT seeing cats or people tasting food and acting like a fool, I can assume there’s a leak, and it’ll be specific enough to track the source. Typically it’s delayed by a day or two, so if I physically go somewhere AND enable IG and open it, posts about that location seep in for a while.
  • Using the Fediverse. It’s not for everyone. But if you find a corner you like, it’s nice.
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38

GENDER NEUTRAL NAMES:

A

Alex
Alexis
Alix
Amari
Andrea
Angel
Ariel
Arlie
Arya
Ash
Ashley
Atlas
Aubrey
Avery

B

Billie
Blair
Blake
Brett
Brooklyn
Bryce

C

Cameron
Camille
Casey
Cassidy
Charlie
Cody
Cory
Courtney

D

Dakota
Dallas
Daniele
Darcy
Darryl
Drew
Dylan

E

Ellis
Emerson
Erin
Eris

F

Fallon
Fergie
Finley
Flynn
Forest
Frankie

G

Gabriele
Gaylen
Geordie
Georgie
Gerry
Gwyn

H

Harlem
Harley
Harper
Hayden
Haylen
Hollis

I

Ira
Irie
Iman
Indiana
Indy
Iniko
Issa

J

Jacky/Jackie
Jayden
Jesse
Jody
Jordan
Jordy

K

Keagan
Kelly
Kelsey
Kennedy
Kerry
Kodi / Kody
Kori

L

Lacy
Laurel
Leslie
Lindsay
Logan
London
Lynn

M

Mackenzie
Mallory
Marion
Marley
Max
Merry
Messina
Mika
Montana
Morgan

N

Nat
Navi
Nicky
Noa
Noor / Nour
Nuri

O

Oakley
Ocean
Odell
Ora
Ori
Oriel
Orla (Danish)

P

Paris
Parker
Pearson
Perry
Peyton / Payton
Presley
Phoenix
Porter

Q

Quincy
Quinn

R

Raleigh
Rey
Reagan
Reese
Remy / Remi
Ren
Riley
River
Rizzo
Robin
Rory
Rosario
Rowan
Rylen

S

Saige
Sammy
Sasha
Sandy
Scottie
Shay
Shannon
Shiloh
Sky
Skylar / Skyler
Sofiane
Soren
Sydney

T

Taylor
Tarryn
Tegan
Terry
Tori / Tory
Tracy
Tylee

U

Ulli
Uri

V

Val
Venni
Vic
Vicky
Viv
Vivian

W

Whitney
Willow
Winnie / Winny
Winter

X

Xan
Xylon

Y

Yaél
Yafe
Yafumi
Yale
Yardley
Ynes
Yuval

Z

Zane
Zaylyn
Zayne
Zephyr
Zuri
Zuriel

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39

As I explained, the goal is to deter the people and organizations who receive my document from sharing it with a third party without my consent. For example, when you start a new job, it is very common for your new employer to ask for a copy of your ID.

I don’t want my employer to share my ID with anyone I didn’t consent to. If I put a visible watermark on it, with the name of the company, the date, and the purpose of its use, they are less likely to share it without asking me first.

If they do share it with a third party without my consent, that third party will know exactly where the document came from. If the third party is a good actor, they will know that they received my ID in bad faith. If the third party is a bad actor, they are limited to what they can do with the ID because the watermark will be a red flag to anyone who sees it.

This article from Adobe explains the utility of watermarks well.

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40

Mp3 players is a hidden gem. And is probably the most private way to listing to music, podcasts and audiobooks that isn’t totally outdated.

I have seen my car has a iPod mode I have been thinking if I should hop on hippie/vintage tech trend with modding IPods.

I wouldn’t mind using a iPod in my car and when I working around my house. But all depending on how good they are for audiobooks.

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41

my god how much I wanted an iPod touch as a kid.

My mom would refuse to buy me a phone, mostly due to it’s calling capability, I proposed an iPod touch but that also got rejected

for some reason I wanna come back and see what that would actually be like.

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42

Same story here my mom also refused to buy me a iPod. :smile: