Cloudflare is a CIA front. They offer “free” DDoS protection + static proxy thereby giving Cloudflare the ability to MitM all TLS connections thru their servers.

I just started to learn about privacy in depth this year, and this little fact about Cloudflare has sat with me more than most things that I've learned. I feel like very few people think about the implications of Cloudflare's practices. Even if its not a CIA front (I feel like it is), we should feel uncomfortable giving any private entity such power. Unrelated, but their crazy lava-lamp wall, as cool as it is, kinda gives me bad vibes lol.

The answer for 1 from EFF: Is my phone listening to me?

Bought a second hand Pixel 7 in like new condition at the time for $250 on back market (dropped it, bought another, still cheaper than the equivalent iPhone 14 lol). That at least means I am not financially contributing to Google, but I do agree that I don't think there is a way to verify that the hardware is completely foolproof even if its the best option we currently have.

I guess that's true of any hardware though, and we have to make our assumptions based off known quantities such as Pixels' unique hardware security features?

But yeah, it's a minefield out there. Let's get carrier pigeons.

It's obvious to me the blackbox radio contains an inscrutable backdoor that negates all privacy aspects.

This is entirely valid as a concern. In my matrix GC someone just said pixel and oneplus are best for modding and I was like.... The whole point of me trying to degoogle is to contribute less to their economy, why would I buy their bs hardware😭☠️

My issue with that is that Pixels are expensive, and in some places are not sold officially (meaning they can only be bought from smaller resellers with usually much less generous return policies). The newest models are outright unaffordable new. The only ones below $150 are either secondhand or out of support, so that's what poor people are left with? Plus, no headphone jack.

I use Graphene myself, but I dislike absolutism. I don't in the slightest regret buying my Pixel even though $300 is a painful sum to spend on a phone (and it was on the cheaper end if we're talking about up-to-date models!), but I know that my mother would never spend this much on a phone - so I look into Divest or Lineage on more common and affordable phones.

How dare you‽ 😂

I don't even care about the privacy aspect per se. Phone number as user ID is a crappy UX that fundamentally does not work when international travel, multiple devices, or needing to get a number changed. It also doesn't work for shared accounts or people who might want multiple identities.

Some of these relate to privacy, secondarily, but my primary concern is the UX.

Neither. A VPN is a tool. It's useful for bypassing geo-restrictions, allows you to act as a local device in the server's local network which is really useful, and can have a benefit to privacy when paired with other tools.

A lot of VPN ads however are overblown with the "VPNs keep you safe online" and "Don't use the internet without a VPN", these are dishonest marketing practices which should be seen as a massive red flag.

maybe neither. and the benefits depend on its kind. a public vpn can easily be contra-productive when the provider is dishonest, but even when its honest and secure, a VPN that you run for yourself at home has different effects

There is no such thing as too many layers of obfuscation. At least until we abolish all empires, states, religions and corporations.

IMO, blurring a house in Street View could lead to the Streisand effect, especially when 99% of all other property is unblurred.

If you want to remain private, in the case of Street View, your best bet is to keep it as inconspicuous as possible, otherwise people will start looking closer and ask questions; the exact opposite of what you want, even if you have nothing to hide.

Genitals pics, NOW