Online privacy

[Abhi]

How concerned are you when you are online ? What precautions do you take to keep your privacy ?

After reading a news which says that Avast sold our browsing data, I don't know what to do. We are being spied on, offline and online.

 

[phenomlab]

> @Abhi I don't know what to do. We are being spied on, offline and online.

Join phenomlab.com This is my area of expertise (among others)

https://phenomlab.com/news/privacy-settings-updated/

 

[Abhi]

Visited your website already. Not sure I can understand any of the contents. It is a real good work from you as a webmaster and a security expert. ️

 

[phenomlab]

@Abhi It's mostly a live news feed presently, but it's aimed at people of all abilities and walks of life. What that means is you can register, and post anything related to technology and security you like. have a look at this for example

https://forum.phenomlab.com/d/577-are-we-winning-against-cybercrime

 

[Abhi]

I will try

 

[admin]

There is no such thing as online privacy. There is just common sense. Some safe practices that will help you from small to medium level fraud. Bigger ones will always get you. One way or another.

But yes, who knew that WoT plugin itself will act like a malware ?

 

[Abhi]

But it is still available. Why it was not taken down ? If I remember correctly, they were accused of running JS without permission on the browser. Their own brand of JS, something shady. That is what I read.

 

[phenomlab]

> @admin There is no such thing as online privacy. There is just common sense. Some safe practices that will help you from small to medium level fraud. Bigger ones will always get you. One way or another.
>
> But yes, who knew that WoT plugin itself will act like a malware ?

If you are looking for *true* privacy, then the only way to acquire that would be to live completely off the grid. No address, no cell phone, no email.... not really plausible in today's world unless you are living in a log cabin with no electricity in a remote location (think Ted Kaczynski) and refuse to adhere to modern living in terms of technology.

There are a number of things you can to improve your privacy. Running JS on the browser can easily be stopped by either using a browser extension, or Brave which has this on by default.

 

[Abhi]

Flarum doesn't work without JS. Most websites do not.

It is either take it or leave it. Submit to data sharing or as you said, go off the grid. What would a normal person choose ? Or, can choose.

 

[admin]

> @phenomlab There are a number of things you can to improve your privacy. Running JS on the browser can easily be stopped by either using a browser extension, or Brave which has this on by default.

We cannot be paranoid as well. Need to find a balance between fearful and smart. In the end, how can I stop Google showing suggestions on YouTube based on the folder contents of my PC ?

People say Google keeps the mic open or keep on hearing you through the mic. I don't think that is a lie. I have got suggestion based on things I have never typed.

 

[admin]

> @phenomlab Brave which has this on by default.

How is this Brave browser ? I got mixed reviews. Still not clear how they generate revenue.

 

[phenomlab]

> @admin How is this Brave browser ? I got mixed reviews. Still not clear how they generate revenue.

I like it personally - it's essentially a fork of Chromium, and they generate revenue via their own rewards scheme

 

[admin]

Thanks.

> @phenomlab they generate revenue via their own rewards scheme

Which is ? Just like in apps ?

 

[phenomlab]

@admin No - seehttps://brave.com/faq/#what-is-brave-rewards

 

[Abhi]

I still didn't understand

> your browser tallies the attention you spend on the sites you visit and divides up a monthly BAT contribution among sites based on your attention.

English, please..

 

[phenomlab]

@Abhi it's essentially a way for you to donate to the sites that you find useful using a digital currency.

 

[Abhi]

You are the first person to explain it to me properly. Many thanks.

They have their own form of digital currency ?

 

[phenomlab]

@Abhi Yes. It's known as "BAT" which is the "Basic Attention Token" - seehttps://basicattentiontoken.org/. However, it does seem odd that a browser that has it's primary focus on suppressing ads seems to promote it's own mechanism (seehttps://www.wired.com/story/brave-browser-will-pay-surf-web/) - it's also drawn a fair amount of criticism, accusing Brave of hypocrisy - seehttps://practicaltypography.com/the-cowardice-of-brave.html

 

[Abhi]

I read a lot on it. It was there all over the internet at that time. A lot of hype. Some people were even considering it as a companion to Tor browser. All praise and hype. But none of articles were as clear as you about how their revenue generation system works.

 

[phenomlab]

@Abhi i wouldn't consider it as a companion to TOR - it's essentially using the TOR browser when you select "Private Window with TOR".