I Need More Privacy! I Need More Security!
Good lord... What have I done...
A couple of days ago I was going through STEEM posts and I stumbled upon one of @steevc 's posts, one about him watching Snowden on Netflix. Me, as a guy that loves politics, tech, economy, and movies, decided to watch it too...What have I done with my life!
So far I've already watched Citizenfour and Risk, and already got the Snowden with me to watch too! I'm starting to turn into a conspiracy theorist!
Back when all the Snowden and WikiLeaks stuff began I was still in Highschool. I didn't care about what was happening. The only thing I cared about was getting good grades and having money to go out, buy a beer, and party at least once a week... I lived this way mainly because I didn't think about "the future", the present was the only thing I cared about! I was a teen... But now, as a semi-grownup I realize that I need to think about my future, I need to think about the future of humanity!
If I don't give a fuck about the problems that are happening, who will? If I can help the cause, why should I leave it to the others? I'm not Rapunzel trapped in a tower waiting for my Knight in shining armor! I am the Knight! Well, regardless of that...
I knew Americans were being watched by the NSA, especially after 9/11 attacks, what I didn't realize is that other countries are also in on the "fun"... Germany, the UK, who knows, maybe my country is also in on "that fun" (I have my doubts, my politicians are too dumb to do that, or maybe they act dumb...). They have control over the main internet cables and can control whatever information goes in and out of a country...
If they have access to this metadata they can easily plot a personality profile, they can know us better then we know ourselves! They have access to everything. They can link our debit cards to our profile and know what we will buy, when we will buy it, where we are going, etc... Just like with trading, if they have enough data they can set the most likely scenario for the future!
Now, I understand that it's supposedly for "security", but should we decrease our privacy to increase our security? Especially when most of the so-called "security issues" are because of the huge outflux of weapons out of the US and Russia? Just looking at a timelapse of Russia VS US weapon's sales makes my point obvious, they've been arming up the same countries that they consider problematic... This gives too much power to the current governments.
The solution to this lack of privacy problem is Cryptography! They can control the internet through controlling the huge cables that distribute it across the world (at least until SpaceX launches Starlink), but if all the information going through those cables is encrypted they won't know what they are controlling... privacy, at last! We have cryptos trying to do this...
Cryptos that intend to decentralize the internet and encrypt it, more or less the same way the TOR browser does. From what I understood TOR basically encrypts all the information going in and out of the browser and sends it through hundreds of relays across the world before it reaches the target... each relay is only able to decrypt the IP address of the next relay!
These relays don't have any monetary incentive to do this, they do it because they want to help spread privacy across the internet, but what if we had monetization of these relays? That's what cryptos like Skycoin, Substratum, MaidSafeCoin are trying to do, decentralize the internet, take away the control from huge powerstructures like government and giving privacy to the world and to the internet!
Linux's logo is a penguin
But this is in the future, what can we do now to increase our privacy if indeed they are spying on us and we want to keep our metadata safe? Especially since most of these governments have power over big companies like Nokia, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Windows...? Windows!
I've been using Windows for years now, and I do like it, it's very user-friendly... but maybe it's time to change to further increase my privacy and security. I'll look around the internet for better alternatives, I'm thinking about going to Linux or a Linux based Operating system, especially since, even if they aren't watching, I'm changing to Software Engineering and I'll need to work with Linux a lot! And in this crypouniverse increased security and privacy is a MUST!
I'm probably in a CyberSpying NSA blacklist or two after writing this post... Oh shit, just saw a shadow in my backyard...Tell my momma I lo...
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Question of the day: Who here uses Linux or a Linux based OS?
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I don't trust TOR very much. After all, 80% of the project funding came from US Governmental Agencies.
If we don't use it, we might be monitored or not but I have a feeling that we're going to be monitored for sure, if we use TOR.
At home I use Linux Mint. On mobile, oddly enough, I think that a Windows Phone is the safest from the 3 main alternatives. Android, even though it is based on Linux, it's the least safe option. It is very flawed.
Yeah, I've also seen that TOR has 80% of the funding coming from the US gov, which is really weird, but I think that it was mainly because it was first used by the spy agencies, but regardless of that those cryptos trying to do a better decentralized, encrypted internet aren't getting their funding from the US, Skycoin for example actually has McAffee has an advisor, and that guy, even though shilled many scam icos, is all about security and privacy, if he trusts skycoin(even going so far has getting a skycoin logo tattoed) I think it's worth a look...
I'll go through all the linux OS to see which one to install, I was thinking about ubuntu since it is the most user friendly... don't know if there is any actual advantage of getting mint instead of ubuntu...
Just heard about a linux based OS that runs multiple virtual machines in order to compartmentalize each living space. https://www.qubes-os.org/
It seems Snowden recommends it, might be worth a look in the future, depending on how much"safety and privacy" I actual want
The most important decision before installing a Distro is to decide what User Interface you prefer.
Mint is excellent if you like the old Gnome 2 look and feel. Ubuntu is better if you prefer the new Desktop Interfaces post-Gnome 2.
Then there are others (like Mandrake / Mandriva) for people who prefer KDE instead of Gnome.
The best thing is to clean a disk and try several Distros until you stick with one.
But they all do basically the same thing, right? I can do the exact same thing on ubuntu and mint, right? Because I'm accustomed to ubuntu (I've used it before in my last laptop because of hardware problems)
Yes. Of course. It's just the visual look that changes.
Nice, then I'll start with Ubuntu, and maybe with time and experience I'll transition into a safer more secure one like qubes os, especially if cryptos start flying to the moon, increased security and protection are a must to have in this space
I do my best to use Linux and other open source software whenever possible. I like to think that it makes me a little more secure, although I don't know if I believe it. Like you say, the governments pretty much own all the cables that make the internet work. But with Windows 10 logging and recording all your keystrokes, there has to be some difference.
Mostly I notice that my computers run much faster with Linux installed. I hate it when I'm using a Windows PC and it starts heating up and getting slow for now reason. Something is happening in the background, and it's obviously not trying to help me get my work done.
Well, I don't know if we are more secure because of the fact that Linux is an open source program that everyone can contribute too or because of the fact that not many people use it so there are almost no malware or virus being created for it... Still, take a look at qubes OS, it's a Os based on Linux that compartmentalizes your whole workspace in virtual machines, so if one compartment gets corrupted or broken into they can't get access to the other compartments, it's what Snowden uses so the guy must trust at least a little in it...
Regardless of that, I'm probably going to install ubuntu later today or tomorrow on my PC, not only do I feel safer with it I also feel like it makes the whole computer faster... at least it did on my old computer and I don't trust windows very much, especially now after watching Citizenfour and Risk...
Thanks for reading m8!
The more I read about these things I also feel violated but st this point they probably know enough about me to care any more which is crazy but not much can be done about it right now but probably eventually. I have thought about Linux as well but have zero technical capabilities so look forward to seeing your experience!
P.S. Let’s get you to minnow my friend!
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Well, I'm still young, 24, so they still have a lot to learn about me, and let's be honest if this new decentralized world really gets adopted, we, as early adopters will need our security, that's why I want to start using a safer OS.
I've used ubuntu before which is a linux based OS that is extremely friendly to the user, it's been a couple of years since I've stopped using it but I'll talk about it on my next post and my plan to upgrade to an even safer OS after :)
PS: I'm almost at minnow, only 40 SP away, which I'm sure will come fast!
Throw them off by deliberately doing things that aren't quite your profile. If you assume you are being watched, you can try to throw off the scent a little right? Haha I don't know if it really makes that much of a difference, though. Unless you happen to already be targeted for surveillance.... Then yeah I guess it's time to find the covers.
Going to start doing that, dressing myself as a girl from time to time xD
Well... I wasn't a target, but now after making this post I don't know anymore... After posting this on Steem Twitter started recommending me to follow NSA
I've been running Ubuntu on most of my machines since Microsoft pulled the plug on XP. I still boot into XP on occasion though (it is a dual boot machine).
I think a lot of centralized systems like governments, corporations, etc. are showing the signs of future collapse. There are many pressing issues among them the fact that we are overusing our current resources. The larger problem at work is what happens when our present way of doing things is no longer sustainable?
I feel like privacy issues are a symptoms of larger problems at work.
To me, many of the things we are facing as a species are not solvable by our political system, personal actions or lack thereof. It would be wise to prepare for what will come next. With any luck decentralized decision making and organization though blockchain type technologies will provide a new level of cooperation and abundance for the vast majority of the worlds population. I think we can solve many issues if we have some notion about how to do it and the means in which to organize labor and capital in the right way.
That has me worried because the old system will fight back to maintain control over the majority of the population.
I'm sure decentralization will solve most of the problems we have nowadays, we just need to act in unity first and reach a consensus, which is a little hard tbh, the world is full of assholes, but maybe through spreading around the capital and giving more decision power to the people we will finally start acting like normal civilized human beings...
Thanks for reading :)