I think we all draw a line between privacy and convenience and I think I found mine and settled into a comfort zone of sorts. I use Fedora 38. My browser is Mozilla Firefox with it’s “strict” setting. uBlock origin and uMatrix. When I need/want to use a site that doesn’t work due to blocked connections I relax the restrictions in uMatrix or temporarily disable it entirely if I get frustrated or I’m in a hurry. I watch videos on YouTube. Don’t use social media, but I do use Facebook messenger (although I prefer to use Signal with the handful of people I can). I use a Xiaomi phone with custom ad blocking DNS (I’d like to get a Pixel with GrapheneOS someday). I look for an app on F-Droid first, but install it through Google Play if I can’t find what I need there. I use Qwant and DuckDuckGo. I use ReVanced. I do not use a VPN. I think that’s all the relevant information. My question is: how easy do you think it still is for big tech to track me? Are there any suggestions you would have for a person like me that wouldn’t sacrifice too much convenience?

  • Lemongrab@lemmy.one
    1·
    1 year ago

    Easy, but I wouldnt suggest you make things too inconvenient (I personally am fine with unbreaking things).

    Some thoughts/suggestions:

    • uMatrix is dead fyi.
    • Librewolf is arkenfox but with less fiddling if you want to give it a try.
    • Set your browser to us a DNS over HTTPS (like mullvad).
    • You can use NewPipe as a youtube app alternative, FreeTube on desktop, and Invidious or Piped in browser.
    • ProtonVPN is free and trusted.
      • Lemongrab@lemmy.one
        1·
        1 year ago

        Willing to expand on that? They are well audited, and changing your ip helps to disassociate from your approx location (also allows for multiple browsers to come from a common ip).

        Also of course a vpn isnt going to make you invisible. Fingerprinting can allow you to uniquely identify browsers through using a handful of metrics.

    • Aspaldiko@feddit.de
      0·
      1 year ago

      Hey, i used a fresh version of Tor, Mullvad and on moblie the browser Vanadium. Every time it says I am unique. How do you become “not unique”?

      • Rez@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        As far as I understand, if you wanted to not be unique you would have to not use any special privacy tools. Use default Chrome installation and Windows 10/11. There will be millions of people using the exact same setup as you.

        • Illecors@lemmy.cafeEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          @Aspaldiko@feddit.de This is what I would’ve said. Hiding in plain sight is the solution. It gets tricky when you want to send a message and not leave a trail at all, but in essence - privacy != anonymity.