A reflection of my privacy journey
A reflection of my privacy journey
After about 2 and a half years of battling for my privacy, I'm finally at a place where I can step back and be happy. Technically the seed of privacy was planted 5 years ago, but it hadn't become a goal yet.
I used to use Windows 7 (even 10 and 11, eventually), an iPhone 6, Gmail, Google Hangouts (anyone else remember when it was called that?) and Discord as my main messengers, Snapchat, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, Reddit, ChatGPT, Chrome, Google, Avast and Avast VPN, YouTube, Authy, and so, so much more.
I am so fortunate to be able to be where I'm at now. I use Fedora (Silverblue. I tried secureblue but it was too strict for my taste), a Pixel 8 running GrapheneOS, Proton Mail + addy.io (although I try to use email as little as possible), Signal and SimpleX Chat, a "self-hosted" music library, some cheaper ways to stream movies, Lemmy (duh), HuggingChat (because I don't have the hardware to run my own model quite yet), Tor Browser and another (I want to avoid arguments about my browser choice), SearXNG, Proton VPN (until I can get Mullvad VPN paid for), FreeTube, Aegis Authenticator, and a plethora of other software.
I got quite lucky with device compatibility. My computer and laptop just so happen to be compatible with every distro I've tried, and I've sure dragged them through hell to find the one I want. I'm blessed to have been able to snag a decent phone for GrapheneOS, and so glad to have automated the transition from Spotify.
It's been a good run. I'm glad to finally be satisfied with where I'm at. I started to see the fruit of my labor months ago. Now I can rest easy and do my part to help others become more privacy aware. I'd love to hear your story too, maybe mine isn't far off!
Bonus story: The straw that broke the camel's back that caused me to fully switch to Linux was Windows 11's Efficiency Mode. It's a cute feature that throttles the performance of programs to save on carbon emissions... and (at the time) you couldn't disable it. You could disable it per-process, but it would re-enable itself shortly after. ChatGPT was becoming quite popular at the time, but Efficiency Mode slowing down the browser made it nearly unusable. I did look for ways to permanently disable it, but either I wasn't experienced enough or it didn't exist yet. Well, no way except to replace Windows altogether!
I don't see Immich on your list...
Here you go! I had to take some time to consider its specific use case, but I've decided it's unique enough to be its own entry. Thank you!
This is great! Although I just switched from ProtonMail to Posteo since I've been pretty unhappy with how the company is being directed, and the CEO's recent support for Trump on Twitter was the last straw.
Never tried freetube, but tried LibreTube and NewPipe. However, I did settle on GrayJay made by Lewis Rossman. Can have many streaming services in one single app. YouTube, Twitch, Rumble, odyssey and as many as you'd like. Even has a community where people program other streaming services to be included, if you trust to install those too. Great platform ^^
Sound like a great journey you have taken. Well done. I did more or less the same transition, except iPhone bit , and using the same apps you use. This difference is that it took me 10 years to complete this journey in full but that reflect my age more than anything else. Gen X
I like this. I think it may be one of the only post I have ever seen that shows where a privacy minded folk came from and their journey to end up in a place they're comfortable at. Way too often stories about one's privacy journey is them being in the pit of despair (understandable) or those crazy stories of how someone who spent years researching privacy and hardening their device ended up picking windows and all their old habits from all those years ago because it was too much for them.
On that note, great job. I'm happy for you and wish you a good time on your regular (perhaps minimal) maintenance.
Thank you!
I'd honestly love to share the whole crazy story of how I got into privacy in the first place, but it would reveal too many personal details about me and other people. It's not an easy battle, and I've certainly made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I wouldn't change a single thing about how it turned out. It takes a lot of time and effort, so it is unfortunate to see, as you said, many posts of despair.
It is indeed somewhat frustrating not to be "able" to share the whole adventure for the sake of privacy but that's just another part of the lonely journey that is personal privacy in itself.
I think what most people lack is a roadmap or a goal. From your post, you achieved you goal and that's great. More often than not, people spend years looking at all the horror stories and all that they can put in place without sitting down and looking for a goal they themselves wish to get to.
Can FreeTube get around this?
Edit: no, it can't. You can try by searching for this: why is trump releasing jfk files
You have to create a google account and set a old enough date when creating it. Although I tried it in Grayjay a few weeks ago so I'm not sure if they changed this shit.
I don't have to create it because I had it for years along with 198x year of birth. They wanna get my ID, it seems.
Well done! Make sure to tell some of that to people you meet in person too. Everyone here is a convert already.
So, my story begins with a Suse Linux CD back in 2004. I'd been on crappy Windows XP just like everyone else, a cracked version that was not updated, and it naturally got infected with a trojan. Took me 2 weeks to clear the thing out. But the worst thing about that experience was something deeper: it made me feel violated and helpless. My computer had been broken into because I didn't understand how it worked and I didn't really control it. Something had to change, I wanted to take back control. I'd heard about Linux so I ordered the CD from the Suse website and received it in the mail! And I never looked back. Now I use Ubuntu but that hardly matters. Back then it was blood and tears for me to get Linux working properly, but these days it's easy peasy, anyone can do it.
That same year, I installed the cool new browser Firefox. Even before its 1.0 release it was the best option on Linux. And there too I never looked back. Except for a 6-month flirtation with Chrome when it was first released. Sorry.
Around a decade ago I tried Ubuntu Touch on a phone. Unfortunately it was unusable and even today it's not much better. So Android it remains for now, alas. My approach to mobile is just to use it as little as possible, i.e. camera and music and podcasts and that's about it. The thing stays mostly in airplane mode and has nothing installed except a few F-Droid apps. Everything else I do from my laptop, either using web apps or in standalone apps. Including communication. This is where I am most radical. It means there's lots of stuff I don't have access to on the go. Most people will not even consider this to be an option, but just remember that this is the way everybody lived until basically yesterday. If you want to, you really can decide not to be glued 24-7 to a little screen. Personally I consider it a quality-of-life improvement.
Using the desktop is IMO the single best route to better privacy. A corporate OS on a mobile device with lots of sensors which follows you around everywhere - this is always going to be a privacy minefield. A desktop web browser is the app platform where you have the most control.
GrapheneOS can make a difference here I would say. As long as a you don't fill it with loads of crappy socials apps. These are the real killers.
So Android it remains for now, alas.
A corporate OS on a mobile device with lots of sensors which follows you around everywhere - this is always going to be a privacy minefield.
Have you taken a look at GrapheneOS? It's a "de-googled" version of Android, which means it has none of the trackers and even has a network permission toggle for apps.
Yes of course. But it requires a Pixel. A bit of a pact with the devil if you ask me.
GrapheneOS and LineageOS (I once used CyanogenMod) and Replicant and so on are great. But even better, I argue, is to migrate one's computing back to the desktop. I know this is not a not a winning argument, I'm used to getting eyerolled when I suggest it, but my personal experience is that it's not just feasible but better. So I'm sticking to my guns! But everyone should find their own path to privacy.
Did you get anyone to switch from Discord and Hangouts to Signal and SimpleX? How?
Yes! Most of them just switched when I asked, very easy. A few were stubborn so I did end up cutting ties.
Here are a few good tips on how you can convince people to switch: https://youtu.be/s9Ux8DFgMSM
Thanks for sharing that! I'ma try to use some of those techniques
Are you using Monero yet?
Wherever possible!
In case you had not heard of it yet, check out xmrbazaar.com.
It's a marketplace created by Doug of Monero Talk that's basically similar to eBay or Amazon, but you can request items for Monero or buy items with Monero. Here's my store for example.
Ah Monero, a privacy powerhouse of a solution against centralized banking, truly a beautiful piece of tech. But sadly cursed with the crypto stigma that even seasoned privacy veterans are afraid off.
Hope some day people will set aside their cryptophobia to use Monero, the only true private digital currency. Why else do you think so many countries and goverments try to ben it. Because it actually works and they can't control it.
Even your comment got downvoted... But hey once they called GrapheneOS, Linux, Signal etc. users crazy....
How have you seen the fruits of your labor?
Being able to curate my own news without ads using an RSS reader, never needing to remember or come up with passwords thanks to a password manager, not a single ad thanks to uBlock Origin and Pi-hole, never worrying about songs becoming unavailable or price hikes on streaming services, increased battery life due to no invasive programs running in the background, faster and more reliable devices, and... the list goes on. In a way, you trade convenience in some areas to gain convenience in others.