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jaidedctrl wrote (edited )

So I downloaded Burner, an app run out of Los Angeles by my friend Greg Cohn. It allows users to pay $5 a month to mask their phone numbers with the area codes of their choice. As long as the FBI doesn’t ask Cohn for my call log or texts, he assured me that no one will know what I’m up to.

If the state can just use a warrant to get your personal info, you're not using a privacy-friendly service lol. E2E encryption for chats, no connection to your IP address or real e-mail, etc., is what you need. Also it should probably be outside of the Five Eyes, and not even try to store such data.

Google Maps with every location I've been over the past 7 years…

Literally just disable location services/tracking etc. on your phone, and disallow all applications from accessing it, and delete Google Maps. The former's possible on Android, at least, though I'm not so sure about iOS. Speaking of which…

I got this app on my iPhone to hide photos in a calculator app…

There are several things wrong with this. Obviously he's using an iPhone, which screws you right out the gate. Instead he should be using (at the very least) a rooted Android phone which he has at least a moderate degree of control over; preferably using an Android phone running a custom ROM— or even better, a near- or fully-libre device (Librem, PostMarketOS, Replicant, etc.).

And secondly, who's the perceived threat that's deterred by hiding your photos app? Heck, some “vault” apps even leave photos unencrypted. Is the threat Apple? Well you're already hecked, likely. Is the threat random people using your phone? They shouldn't be getting into your phone, use a secure password. Encrypt your phone, or at least whatever SD card you're using. These apps are often proprietary anyway, I definitely wouldn't trust them.

I used X, Y, and Z services for temporary debit cards…

Personally I'd rather not trust some random service, IMO. If you wanna keep personal info from the seller, most banks offer one-off debit “gift cards” that you can use. (Some require them to be tied to your name, in those cases it's only good for keeping your actual card number private, which is an oof). If you wanna keep it from your bank (or spouse, family, etc.), you can get a one-off debit gift card from a local store, often without providing any personal information. (Though obviously that varies by card, location, etc. A lot of stores/cards will require ID for larger sums of money).

TL;DR this dude tried, and had some cool ideas. The license-plate shirts are awesome, I hear they're useful. The reflective glasses sound nice. But dang that wasn't enough. It would've been pretty easy for him to go very private, too! It's just that any guide or attempt at privacy that ignores libre software/proprietary software and the ways people get tracked online, is very lacking.

EDIT: Also this dude emphasized “getting new devices to save privacy,” when really the answer is mainly getting rid of devices and changing behaviour, instead of adding onto attack surface. Like, he has a Ring doorbell. Get rid of that, lol.

And this is kind of unrelated, but why'd he bother with a Mycroft, lol? Unless you're a developer or hobbyist doing something interesting, voice-recognition-based “digital assistants” are generally useless. I have no experience with them, personally (aside from tinkering with Mycroft a bit), so I really can't think of normal use-cases for them, other than accessibility (which is a very good one, obviously).

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[deleted] wrote

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jaidedctrl wrote

would you say a rooted Android is still better than an iPhone? and why? genuinely curious.

Oh totally. With a root Android phone, you can at least disable quite a bit more than you could with a stock Android phone (Google services, tracking, etc), and you have significantly more control than with an iPhone.

feels like he was trying to do a "use this not that" type thing, which is a fool's errand when it comes to technology and privacy and why it was interesting to me to read. like trying to watch someone solve some unsolvable puzzle or something.

Honestly!

The running gag in the story with the Mycroft was pretty funny, at least, jajaja.

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