(08-09-2024, 12:28 AM)k0rn Wrote: I mean as long as I have my smartphone within a few feet of me I know I’m being monitored by apple or google. I kind of just accepted that if you want to use modern tech privacy isn’t really an option anymore for those kind of things unless there is some way around it and I was unaware. I have to have a smartphone for work so…
First thing I do when I get a smart phone is to turn off every single feature that uses sync or AI or says anything about sending anything to anyone. I don't use a Google account on the phone. I have my own server running at my home and I use 3rd party apps to sync all the data to it. I don't use the Chrome browser, I use Firefox with ublock origin and noscript. I manually unblock any scripts I want to run from parties I "trust". I also disable basically everything in the browser that sends or syncs data. No 3rd party cookies. I block all additional features (cam, mic, etc). I keep passwords in a 3rd party encrypted store. I have the browser set to delete all data at close. I also run my own secure DNS server that is encrypted. When I'm off the home network I send the data outbound over a VPN which I also operate myself. I also use a GPS changer 24/7 and never allow it to use Wifi and Bluetooth for "improved location access" which really means, find all the access points that can be heard by the phone along with the phone's estimated GPS coordinates to Google so they can be mapped. At home, I only use WPA3 on the Wifi - WPA2 and earlier are compromised. I also make sure 802.11w is enabled so management traffic (broadcast) is also encrypted.
It sounds exhausting, and maybe it is, but there's actually no loss in functionality. My phone can do everything everyone else's does, it just doesn't sync or store anything in "the cloud." Once its all setup its pretty easy to keep it going.
I've considered setting all this up and selling it to the public as a service, but I'm not sure I want the kind of attention, and I'm sure that will get it from the wrong parties.
If I only had to have a phone for work given to me by the company, I'd request that they give me a dumb phone. I assume you're on call or something as I can't think of any other legitimate reason an employer needs you to have a smartphone at your house after business hours. I went rounds with this decades ago when Blackberries were the thing, and all future employers after that time were flatly told NO when I was asked to carry one and take it home with me. No problem carrying at work during business hours. They pitched a fit about it, but I wasn't fired. I don't think they'd have a case. At 5pm work time is over. Once I'm not being paid, I'll do what I like and gladly leave work at work. Any employer who cannot respect that isn't an employer I'd work for. If you're not being paid after hours, they don't have a leg to stand on.
(08-09-2024, 02:41 AM)Maxmars Wrote: "Do you have kids?" Seems appropriate to ask...
The problem is that no one seems alarmed at just how much of you - as a product - is marketed, and to whom.
TikTok is unapologetic about it... as most internet "service-providers" are... it's all about the love of real money for virtual nothing.
None that I will admit to!
I agree with you there. The customer is the product now, in a LOT of businesses. Scary times really. Another example is FedEx - their trucks are photographing your vehicles and house and they're selling that data to the government. They're also setting up their own "police department" (no joke!) and they're planning to investigate more than just package theft.
Honestly, I don't know where these businesses get off collecting most of this data in the first place much less "sharing" it or selling it to anyone else. This isn't just customer contact lists and emails, this is personal data they are harvesting and reselling.
Very strange times we are living in here. This type of intensive surveillance of the consumer class is unprecedented in all of history.
