I really need to get started with this stuff.
I started using Signal texting, but it killed the battery in my phone - processing the encryption was too much for it.
The battery is not replaceable so I have to get a new phone.
I've been hearing about the changes coming since Congress has rolled back rules requiring internet service providers to keep their customers' browsing history private. Now that they'll be able to sell those, should I start taking more precautions? Any suggestions on good VPN services to use? What else might make sense?
Try also using TOR browser exclusively for hobby-related things. I use it with VPN.
For non-hobby things, I use Firefox with the HTTPS Everywhere extension and VPN. Better than anything else I know of.
I try to type in the URL directly for sites I visit, to avoid search hijacking.
ChatSecure is a good encrypted messaging app. You might also want to use an email that supports PGP encryption.
All of this is available for your phone and your PC.
All of this will make it more difficult for your data to be mined, although if NSA wants to find you - they can and will.
Visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation website... they are top privacy advocates and offer recommendations and tutorials to help you protect your online privacy.
I really need to get started with this stuff.
I started using Signal texting, but it killed the battery in my phone - processing the encryption was too much for it.
The battery is not replaceable so I have to get a new phone.
I also use TOR for mundane things, just to create some background noise. It's not perfect, though, since even the use of TOR creates the impression that you have something to hide.
I also mix it up with Firefox https everywhere & constant cache cleaning.
to computer nerdiness.
I attached a link to the thread.
It's raising money to go and buy the browsing history of the congresspeople responsive for this bill, starting with Mitch McConnell. They think it might take almost a million.
Yea, but Congress uses a VPN of their own, unless they are stupid and use something like gmail for outside stuff.
That's kind of a immature way to handle this, as it won't kill the bill.
The real question here is what can be tracked and what cannot.
Typically, most of your traffic is over HTTPS, and doesn't reveal anything about your browsing.
The main exception is your DNS queries, those are send in plain text to your DNS provider. You can use a service like DNScrypt, but it slows browsing down considerably. It's worth noting that your computer/phone/whatever keeps a local DNS cache, so you don't have to make that DNS lookup that often (usually once a day).
Now, the easiest way to get around this is to use a VPN. The main things to look for are \
1)Can you pay anonymously? and
2)Do they keep access logs?
Without both of those things, a VPN is trivial to snoop on for the powers that be.
You've probably also heard of TOR browser, and the privacy wonders that creates. Well, there's good evidence to show that the NSA is heavily monitoring the TOR network, and likely runs a significant number of TOR nodes. What does that mean for you? Likely nothing, they're more interested in catching terrorists and whatnot.
Personally, I don't use TOR because it invites unwanted attention. Your ISP can absolutely tell that you're using it, as can anyone else who's watching.
All of that to say, the law they rolled back was passed in 2016, so we're back to how the internet always was, a privacy nightmare. The bigger threat here isn't individual privacy, but instead the ability for large amounts of data to be used to profile and predict individuals of interest. Statistical fortune telling, if you will.