Why privacy matters

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Migrating to one email service or another will do nothing for privacy. You are being tracked wherever you go and whatever you do. Use a credit card? Tracked. Check out at the supermarket? Tracked. Make a bank transaction? Tracked. Drive your car? Tracked. Use a cell phone? Tracked. Etc. Etc. I'm not saying it is good or bad, but it is the reality today. Instead, I choose an email service for its security. How safe is my data from the people we really have to worry about--criminals. Gmail is very good at that, and it has been 100% reliable since I first started using it in 2006. ProtonMail is a good service, but you give up a lot of functionality moving away from Gmail along with Drive, Docs, Photos, etc.
 
While gmail has "extra" tracking features (like the ones recently released related to purchasing), if one believes that moving to a new mail service is going to somehow increase privacy, it will not. There is no such thing as being "untrackable" in today's world--far too many electronic transactions, traffic cameras, toll booths, smart phones, computers, social media and the list goes on and on.

It also matters not if you think that you are living off the grid. There was a "unabomber" guy living off the grid in Montana near the location where we hunt. He had gilly nets over his house, no electricity, no TV, blah, blah, blah. I am really certain that no one would ever see the heat plume in the winter, so he was totally "hidden".
 
You don't have any privacy in the modern world. That's the reality.

If you are a privacy advocate-I would suggest getting behind a cause where you could really make a difference........
 
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Originally Posted by BobsArmory
You posted a reply without even watching the video.

He didn't want to be tracked by YouTube.
 
Authoreditor and 2015psd, since you have no issues with privacy, I'm guessing you guys wouldn't mind giving out your passwords to your email accounts to everyone on BITOG? Would you mind if we could connect up with Team Viewer so we could browse whats on your hard drive?
 
Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
While gmail has "extra" tracking features (like the ones recently released related to purchasing), if one believes that moving to a new mail service is going to somehow increase privacy, it will not. There is no such thing as being "untrackable" in today's world--far too many electronic transactions, traffic cameras, toll booths, smart phones, computers, social media and the list goes on and on.

It also matters not if you think that you are living off the grid. There was a "unabomber" guy living off the grid in Montana near the location where we hunt. He had gilly nets over his house, no electricity, no TV, blah, blah, blah. I am really certain that no one would ever see the heat plume in the winter, so he was totally "hidden".

You can certainly increase your privacy. It's not super easy and most people are lazy and gullible.
 
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Authoreditor and 2015psd, since you have no issues with privacy,

We didn't say that. What we said is that there is nothing you can do about the loss of privacy, whether you like it or not, unless you want to move off the grid, not use credit cards, don't get a cell phone, don't drive, etc. Of course there are things you can do to somewhat limit your exposure to random strangers knowing a lot about you, but if someone wants to learn about you there is tons of information collected all day every day that none of us can prevent.
 
Originally Posted by BobsArmory
I remember that thread. Proton Mail is just one step in my journey to maximize privacy.

Probably will be a very long haul. You should consider getting rid of your Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts. Probably shouldn't shop at Walmart anymore (live or online). Might want to consider what information your MetroPCS subscription is collecting. Your onboard GPS system might be watching you, or, did you switch over to Google Maps for your Alcatel A30? And, any thieves that have ascertained your huge investment in firearms had better hope that you are not carrying your beloved 1911 Colt Commander at the time.

Just saying, you share a lot of very personal information here at BITOG, so you can only imagine how much other information your cyber connections are providing to the world. By the way, how has that Empyema episode panned out? 22 days in the hospital followed by a lengthy recuperation had to be brutal.
 
Good for you OP.

Back in 2013 I said,

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And Im personally not comfortable with google reading my emails to sell advertising... which is why I dont use gmail personally. Google has a lot of great services, their scholar search is awesome. Im not tightly integrated into ANYTHING.


That still stands. I'm aware that everyone is being tracked. The data is too extreme currently to be useful (IMO), but new computing tech will allow more data to be condensed more and more. That's good and bad depending upon the use and purpose.
 
Simply fearmongering.

I pay little to no attention to this.
If someone finds my interest in motor oil or organic foods appealing, then good for them.

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Originally Posted by BobsArmory
Glenn Greenwald was on TED and talked about the issue of tech and privacy see this link Glenn Greenwald: Why privacy matters

This is one of the reasons I am migrating from gmail to protonmail.

I would like to see what others here think about privacy in today's world.

You are wasting your time running and hiding. Do you really have something to hide from?
C'mon, big brother watches you at every corner traffic light. Are you going to wear a mask driving? How about a 13gal bag over your license plate too?

C'mon, get up from under that chair.
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Go GMail. Go Google Search. I use both heavily.
 
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Originally Posted by BobsArmory
Authoreditor and 2015psd, since you have no issues with privacy, I'm guessing you guys wouldn't mind giving out your passwords to your email accounts to everyone on BITOG? Would you mind if we could connect up with Team Viewer so we could browse whats on your hard drive?

Project much? I never said or alluded to any of that nor did I say that I had no issues with privacy. What I did say is that becoming untrackable is nearly impossible and if you use a computer or a smart phone, if you go anywhere, if you use a credit/debit card you are being tracked. I have been in IT for nearly 30 years, so I have a slight clue of what I am talking about.
 
Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
Originally Posted by BobsArmory
Authoreditor and 2015psd, since you have no issues with privacy, I'm guessing you guys wouldn't mind giving out your passwords to your email accounts to everyone on BITOG? Would you mind if we could connect up with Team Viewer so we could browse whats on your hard drive?

Project much? I never said or alluded to any of that nor did I say that I had no issues with privacy. What I did say is that becoming untrackable is nearly impossible and if you use a computer or a smart phone, if you go anywhere, if you use a credit/debit card you are being tracked. I have been in IT for nearly 30 years, so I have a slight clue of what I am talking about.


BobsArmory is actually utilizing logic that Greenwald promotes: "people who do not have anything to hide are contradicting themselves because they still hold dearly onto their passwords and security details". Dumb logic, if you ask me. All or nothing thinking. And, it is the point of my post above. The OP presents a case for increasing his privacy, yet he freely shares very personal information on social media and through all of services he uses.
 
There are a lot of misconceptions about what you can do to remain private online. The original video makes some points, but generally speaking, online privacy is a lot of little things. You want to learn something? Forget TED. Check out Richard Stallman's writings and videos. Yes, he's a nutcase. Yes, he takes most issues to their absolute extreme. However, he cogently outlines each area of concern in a manner that's very accessible to the general public, and each person can take each area of concern and make what they will of it, be it do something, do nothing, or go all the way like RMS does.

Protonmail and Hushmail and similar? There are valid points to that, but there's no magic bullet here. The most attractive thing to the average email user would be their privacy policy. To be blunt, though, if you are satisfied with your own ISP's privacy policy, then Protonmail won't do a darned thing for you if you're just doing ordinary emails. In such a case, you're best off using your ISP email. To get the benefit of email encryption through Proton or Hush or their competitors, all participants must be using the same service or the other participant must be versed in using GPG (and the Proton or Hush user must have the proper service tier). Proton email to Proton email is highly secure. Proton email to something else, or the reverse, is just ordinary email, with rare exceptions (the other participant versed in GPG). Gmail encrypts to other Gmail senders, so it has that, but their privacy policy is out to lunch. As far as email security really goes, Proton's and Hush's security is limited by the fact that the user is not in sole custody of their private keys. That's a weakness. The real strength in Proton and Hush, as I've posted here before, would be as an enterprise solution.

Alarmguy uses Proton. I don't. If I had his email address and his public key, I could send him a secure, encrypted email through GPG and my ISP email (or whatever email I so chose). His inlaws using their ISP mail, or Gmail, or whatever, unless they had a working knowledge of GPG or were also Proton subscribers, could not send him a secure, encrypted email. All they'd really be doing is sending an email to a domain with a good TOS sheet.

With respect to what we consent to when it comes to surveillance, there are differences. At a red light, I'm in public. Anyone is permitted to photograph me in public, including Big Brother. How they handle that data is another matter, but I have very little expectation of privacy in a public place. My email, however, is not Google's business. I can't even send a .7z encrypted archive as a Gmail attachment, so Google really can pound sand.

We are tracked when we buy things with credit cards. Yes, but I trust my credit card company much more than I do Google or many other companies. My credit card company is interested in me buying more services from THEM, not selling my info to someone else. In my email account that I use for banking, I receive absolutely no unsolicited legitimate admail (i.e. partner emails, not scam or phishing). I receive no physical mail ads addressed to me. This tells me that my financial institutions aren't doing too bad of a job protecting my information. They had better, if they want to keep doing business with me.

I use Google searches on occasion. Sometimes I want an ad. Ads aren't completely useless. I want to buy something, I'm going to start at Google. I don't need to feed their information sales machine, though, for every little thing I search for.

One could use TAILS for everything or Stallman's bot process to browse the web, if one is very concerned. That's a little extreme. It's not a dichotomy, though. The alternative isn't that you must allow every cookie on your machine for all of eternity and don't worry about privacy. One can use cookies for where they're useful to the YOU. I use cookies to get onto BITOG. That's of use to me. I couldn't care less about ad companies' concerns about ensuring they supply good value to their clients. Accordingly, cookies get deleted (and other browsing history) whenever I exit the browser.
 
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