Yes that was brought up, and after some discussion, dismissed because it would be too much work for the listener to implement, even if the listener could get good results.
But my main point is you no longer have any reason to be upset about the HKSs.
Thank you for cheering me up! I hate Big Data!
And were there any other sensors in the room when you declared intent for the mustard?
Do you have a TV in your house? If so, follow: https://www.komando.com/kims-column/your-tv-is-spying-on-you-but-you-can-stop-it/873894/
the problem is that I was not at my house. I was at work and the TV is in the name of the company and I never use it (I couldn’t put any data about myself on this device) and my colleague has an Android cell phone. But how could the mustard ad have appeared on the Youtube page that I was looking for on MY Librem14?
Google analytics on the websites that you visit with your Librem 14 give Google your IP address, which is shared with Andoid users on the same network. Those Andoid devices report locations down to the meter. The TV shares the same public IP address. WiFi scanning can identify devices near by, including your laptop’s WiFi MAC address. Bluetooth scanning might also be used between Android devices, not your Librem 14. If you want to avoid this, then you need to block Google analytics or use a VPN and randomize the WiFi card’s MAC address before turning on WiFi. There are downsides to this: Blocking trackers can cause websites to think that you are a “robot” and may prompt you to solve a puzzle and using a VPN ties your traffic to your credit card (as opposed to mixing your traffic with others).
In short, unless you’re a real connoisseur and totally on guard, they follow us with all the Big Tech devices that surround us… even if you’re personally equipped with devices manufactured by Purism. Everyone would have to decide to switch only to ethical technologies to totally block Big Data? I console myself by saying that I do my part and that when I’m at home, I’m more protected since I’m careful about what I buy and there are no televisions or other connected toys in my house.
Yes. Also, I have noticed that a lot of companies are asking for mobile phone numbers for the purpose of sending security codes. Because of SIM cloning and other hacks that involve tricking the mobile phone provider, I consider this to be a bad security practice, but I suspect that the other reason is that it forces people to provide a useful unique identifier that can track people across all sorts of services.
I would say that creating privacy in your own home is a great start. Purism is more focused on the phone right now. Randomizing the MAC addresses is something that I would like to see some day. You could use one web browser for home and anything that requires signing into an account, and use a separate browser out in public and either use different accounts or stay signed out on that one. Using privacy mode in pubic works too, assuming that you do not have any non-private tabs open (to avoid those web pages that know your home IP address from tracking you in public). Just remember to shut the home browser down before joining a non-home WiFi.
This may not be perfect, but I am not sure if everyone needs to be. It certainly reduces the amount of data that they collect, and that may be enough. I remember one tip that said that if you cleared your cookies once a week, it would make things more difficult for Google. I am not sure if that was true, or is still true, but I could see how that might help. Clearing your cookies after leaving one network and before joining another network may be enough. It may be fine to stay signed into some non-Google accounts. Google analytics might not be tracking things at an account level. In other words, it may be fine to use a non Google account across multiple networks provided that you clear your cookies between network changes.
I am not an expert. I won’t be able to keep up with everything all the time. Really… I’m thinking that the surefire way to be tracked as little as possible is to have as few devices as possible.
On your Librem 5 and with opensource browsers, there are no agreements nor terms of service that give Google a license to spy on anyone. I am looking forward to the day when Librem 5 users and Pine Phone users start class action lawsuits against Google for violating our privacy and stealing our data without any permission. Google thinks they own the internet and everything on it. It might be next to impossible for Google to turn off all of their spying machines when they suddenly realize they’re committing crimes against thousands of people who did not opt-in on their free opensource devices. In the meantime, after I get my Librem 5, I don’t plan to flirt with them nor be tempted to use their technology. I’ll have an Android phone at home for banking. My Librem 5 will not have Waydroid nor any other Spyware compatability layer nor unreasonable terms of service. Everything I use will have to live in native Linux software. We can all create a new community and eco-system there.
It made me think of one of the “Alien” movie franchises but with a mutated phone on a gurney saying “Kill me… Kill me …”