We really are being spied on!!!

[KubotaCrossing]

Oh yeah. All of your android and apple devices are listening to you, scraping data, compiling, packaging and reselling YOU.

I've been waging asymmetrical warfare with big tech for some time now. It's a lot of work to protect your internet privacy these days.

I'm a retired techie so as a mental exercise I looked into setting up my own virtual private network. Found a hosting service with a global footprint. Setup virtual hosts in both Toronto and Frankfurt, neither are my country of origin.

Installed and configured an open source package called OpenVPN. VPN, or virtual private network, enables your computer device to tunnel securely on the internet. All of your traffic is encrypted. Not even your internet service provider can read it.

Next installed and configured an open source package called Pi-Hole. Imagine the ad-blocker in your browser but setup on your network so ALL of your computers and phones can use it. Pi-Hole does a lot more than just block a static list of advertisers. It includes a set of monitoring tools that allow you to view and optionally blocklist traffic. Why would anybody need/want that?

Here's just one example:
I found that a very high percentage of my network traffic was going to Facebook. Oddly, I don't ever go directly to Facebook - I don't have an account. What I found out was that a lot of web pages have a little block of social media buttons, think Facebook, Twitter, snapchat, etc. Every time you load a page containing one of those buttons, data about you is being collected and sent to their site. That's without you even clicking on one of those buttons.

Today we're averaging about 50% of the overall network traffic being blocked before it even gets to our computers. We don't miss it. In fact the webpages load a lot faster. And it's not just webpages; weather apps, games, etc, everything that goes thru my VPN. All are faster and ad-free.

Finally, installed and configured an open source package called unbound. Unbound doesn't depend on a single source for resolving hosts names, like www.homedepot.com or tractorbynet.com. That's a good thing if you're concerned about somebody tracking where you've been on the internet.

Even with all this work, you do have to pop up on the internet somewhere eventually. With setups in both Toronto and Frankfurt any nosey looker is going to be misdirected.

Could have just subscribed to a VPN service like some people do. Who can you really trust tho. I don't have anything to hide. I just don't like be spied on either.

Next project: either de-googling my phone or fixin on the horse fencing

 

[/pine]

Oh yeah. All of your android and apple devices are listening to you, scraping data, compiling, packaging and reselling YOU.

I've been waging asymmetrical warfare with big tech for some time now. It's a lot of work to protect your internet privacy these days.

I'm a retired techie so as a mental exercise I looked into setting up my own virtual private network. Found a hosting service with a global footprint. Setup virtual hosts in both Toronto and Frankfurt, neither are my country of origin.

Installed and configured an open source package called OpenVPN. VPN, or virtual private network, enables your computer device to tunnel securely on the internet. All of your traffic is encrypted. Not even your internet service provider can read it.

Next installed and configured an open source package called Pi-Hole. Imagine the ad-blocker in your browser but setup on your network so ALL of your computers and phones can use it. Pi-Hole does a lot more than just block a static list of advertisers. It includes a set of monitoring tools that allow you to view and optionally blocklist traffic. Why would anybody need/want that?

Here's just one example:
I found that a very high percentage of my network traffic was going to Facebook. Oddly, I don't ever go directly to Facebook - I don't have an account. What I found out was that a lot of web pages have a little block of social media buttons, think Facebook, Twitter, snapchat, etc. Every time you load a page containing one of those buttons, data about you is being collected and sent to their site. That's without you even clicking on one of those buttons.

Today we're averaging about 50% of the overall network traffic being blocked before it even gets to our computers. We don't miss it. In fact the webpages load a lot faster. And it's not just webpages; weather apps, games, etc, everything that goes thru my VPN. All are faster and ad-free.

Finally, installed and configured an open source package called unbound. Unbound doesn't depend on a single source for resolving hosts names, like www.homedepot.com or tractorbynet.com. That's a good thing if you're concerned about somebody tracking where you've been on the internet.

Even with all this work, you do have to pop up on the internet somewhere eventually. With setups in both Toronto and Frankfurt any nosey looker is going to be misdirected.

Could have just subscribed to a VPN service like some people do. Who can you really trust tho. I don't have anything to hide. I just don't like be spied on either.

Next project: either de-googling my phone or fixin on the horse fencing

No need to go to extremes...but your ISP will always know what you're doing...you have to go through them to get to the Net...your modem has to be recognized and your modem is in constant contact with the service provider...

as for the scripts running on web sites (like this one) for facebook, amazon etc., etc...noscript add on for firefox prevents those scripts from running...

A leak proof firewall is probably the single most important application for securing a PC, network etc...

 

[KubotaCrossing]

Shut off your location on your phone. They know when you visit a store.

That doesn't work. You know how you can bring up the WiFi screen on your phone and see the list of wifi routers in range (btw those are just the ones broadcasting their SSID. There are of course a ton that aren't broadcasting their id), well Google and Apple have the world's largest database of those devices along with their locations. Each device, including your phone, has a unique MAC address (think of social security number). Doesn't matter if your location is turned off, if you can "see" those routers, then they can "see" you. They use triangulation to locate your phone to within 6 feet of where it actually is. Then upload your location to the Google/Apple databases.

Once 5g is up your triangulated location will be accurate to unches.

It's brilliant really, incredibly accurate. Why so? Because it's crowd sourced.

 

[SylvainG]

@KubotaCrossing, read about 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, & 14 Eyes Countries. It should give you some idea who can offer the anonymity you want/need.

 

[SylvainG]

No need to go to extremes...but your ISP will always know what you're doing...you have to go through them to get to the Net...your modem has to be recognized and your modem is in constant contact with the service provider...

as for the scripts running on web sites (like this one) for facebook, amazon etc., etc...noscript add on for firefox prevents those scripts from running...

A leak proof firewall is probably the single most important application for securing a PC, network etc...

Not true, by setting up a VPN correctly, all your provider will see is encrypted traffic reaching the VPN site, nothing more. They won't even know what sites you're trying to reach if you redirect your DNS queries through the VPN tunnel.

 

[/pine]

Not true, by setting up a VPN correctly, all your provider will see is encrypted traffic reaching the VPN site, nothing more. They won't even know what sites you're trying to reach if you redirect your DNS queries through the VPN tunnel.

If your ISP does not recognize your modem and account credentials (user id and password) you will have no connection...you can't connect to the VPN without going through the ISP...

 

[SylvainG]

If your ISP does not recognize your modem and account credentials (user id and password) you will have no connection...you can't connect to the VPN without going through the ISP...

This is the not true part "but your ISP will always know what you're doing". All they'll know is there is encrypted traffic from and to my connection to a remote site. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[KubotaCrossing]

This page does a good job of explaining what the ISP can and can't see when using VPN

Can Your ISP See Your Traffic When You Use A VPN? - New To HR

Using a VPN should hide your web browsing. But just how true is that statement? Here’s everything you need to know about what ISPs see when you use a VPN.

newtohr.com

Think about it. It would have to be so. Think of the gazillion technology workers working from home because of the CCP flu. Do you think their employers; government, military, financials, banking, pharmaceutical, high tech, etc would TRUST yours or my ISP to not snoop traffic going over their portal?

 

[SylvainG]

From your link:

• They’ll still see your real IP address. They’re the ones who assigned it to you, and you’ll need to go through their server first before connecting to the VPN server.
• Your ISP will also see the IP address of the VPN server. But that’s it. They won’t know what websites you browse after you connect to the server.
• They can see or guess what VPN protocol you are using based on the port. For example, OpenVPN uses port 1194 by default, and IKEv2 uses UDP port 500.
• Your ISP can see when you connect to the VPN server, and how much data you use during that period.
• And lastly, your ISP can see the encrypted data stream. But they can’t do much with it since it will just look like gibberish.

All in all, not enough to compromise your privacy.

So, like I said, they can't know what you're doing. All they see is you send traffic to a VPN host. That's BTW, how Netflix blocks VPN. They have a list of VPN's IP addresses and block these. Some VPN have servers that come and go so it's hard for Netflix to keep blocking them. By connecting to a server that Netflix hasn't registered yet, you get access to that country's library of movies and series and can binge watch while it lasts.

 

[the old grind]

Worst thing is "they" are using this kinda stuff to sort which ads I'll see.

Y'know "they" are spying on our mail, too, orders shipped by common carrier, you name it. Next thing "they" will be putting junk ads in out mailboxes, not just in our newsapapers, phones, and browsers.

Still makes me wonder if all those ____s of spying personnel make minimum wage or more, how "they" take notes, how many people "they" get the goods on in a XX hour work week, how many of these diligent workers there really are, and if "they" have to have a security clearance. Are "they" CIA, FBI, NSA, what? Or is China behind that too.

Whether I have a dog or a cat shouldn't matter to anyone, and it's nobody's biz which pet food I prefer. Man, I hope I can sleep tonight knowing how many man hours have been spent already to make sure I'll buy the right stuff.

btw, you're next.