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·
    11 months 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.
    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      0·
      11 months ago

      ProtonVPN is full of lies and will get you no where. You can’t just pay to make yourself invisible

      • Lemongrab@lemmy.one
        1·
        11 months 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·
      11 months 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·
        11 months 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·
          11 months 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.