Its actually funny and sad but needed that the only way to be out of the creepiness of games is to not use any electronic device with wireless interlinking capabilities. Cant really have a ying without the yang.
Nixie I want to thank you for your great contribution to the Linux help community. I remember trying to play around with Linux around 94-95. Back then just asking a question got you flamed with RTFM and most of the time that was spelled out. It was easy to get disgusted. I can't wait for your followup video. I'm justly paranoid now. :)
It's pretty bad when everybody what's to know where you've been, that's what is wrong with this world nobody knows how to mind their business. The world would be so much better without noisy people . Thank you Nixie you're a very smart person and fun to learn from keep up the great work.
Hey Nixie, just want to say that you were the first person to breach the learning wall in my mind re Linux. I really missed you during your illness. So glad you're back. Don't sweat the dorks who don't get you. Just keep shining. Sincerely, A
Thanks Nixie (&the EFF), i ran panopticlick and got "Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 4,542,117 tested so far. Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys at least *22.11* bits of identifying information." e2a , fwiw i run ubuntu 12.04 with ghostery and adblockplus added to firefox. i'll check out your other videos to see what tips i might find useful .
Here in Bulgaria the policemen stop you for no reason and just ask for money.. just like that, well they don't say it directly but that's what they do mostly.. -_- they break the rules and make others pay fines for what the policemen did.. Anyways, regarding the topic.. thanks for putting this info out! It's been known by many and unknown by lots! Can't wait for next week's video ;3
Its always nice to see you nixie.. I found your channel as a information source when i started using ubuntu. Im glad your still with us on youtube..look forwards to seeing more vids.. Stay awsome
Even though I knew everything you just said about being tracked , I am interested to know what you have to say next. TSA; Terrorizing Security Administration
I remember the time when people were saying you should never use you real name on the internet. Now you are considered weird and anti social if you don't have an email, or even Facebook. Bottom line is that there is escaping surveillance and monitoring if you want to function normally in society today.
I recommend the documentary "Terms and conditions may apply" for more information about what Fb, Google, etc do with our information. And btw, I've been using Ghostery for some time and it's awesome, one of the best privacy tools out there
Honestly, I'm fairly convinced that privacy is an antiquated notion. The only thing I think we can even hope for is industrial and government transparency so that at least everyone is on an even playing field.
Nixie!!! YOU ROCK! Here's part of my solution on Windows: Firefox... With plugins.. Starting with: "Cookie Whitelist" Simply a must. "Better Privacy" a plugin that kills LSOs. "AdBlock Plus" of course! "NoScript"... don't trust a script? Leave it blocked! Especially 3rd party or not-same-domain scripts! Sorry Google, YOU'RE BLOCKED elsewhere. Scripts are a huge culprit since they are what does all the more devious types of tracking like click tracking etc. Another bonus plug-in: "Force TLS" since some sites let you log in from both http and https, you may want to force https for those sites. And of course, I don't use chrome for the simple fact it's a Google product and is suspect. If there ends up being a site I need to access that overly requires me to allow scripts and cookies, I temporarily switch to IE. Meanwhile, protection by default should simply be an option for people. :| Thanks again Nixie. Keep it up!
You're an amazing person Nixie. Thank you for bringing information like this to a wider audience. If the government won't respect the 4th amendment, we must secure it for ourselves.
Ever since my x-employer asked me to look into this privacy stuff, I have known that Google knows everything. But, there are ways to switch most things off. As far as the NSA or other orgs go, I am more than happy that they know everything too, I consider my info private as long as no one else knows.
I've been watching your videos today for the first time cause i wanted to know what i can do after I install ubuntu. I kept on watching your videos one after another. I'm glad things worked out for you. Just so you know you have just gained one more subscriber.
Great video Nixie. Trouble is, when I try to explain these things to the 'non-techno' folks I deal with, they kind of glaze over and loose interest. I need a way to get the average "Walmart shoppers" of the world to take an interest in privacy.
Got to be honest, I was pretty creeped out when I watched this video a few months ago and found out that Google had pretty much tracked EVERYWHERE I took my phone, but it actually somewhat helped me the other day. On Saturday night I had a particularly drunken night out (drink responsibly kids), and to add to the complete crappiness that is a hangover, I realised I had lost my phone. We went to a few bars in town that night and I had no idea which one I had left my phone in, so when I went on Google's location history, I could see that it sent out it's very last location ping at the night club we ended the night at. The location data was at 11am (it must have ran out of battery after that), I had left the club about 8 hours before that so I knew that's where I would find it. I went down to ask them, and voila! I had my phone back :)
I was about to be very critical of your fear mongering but ok, I'll wait for the next video, looks like you're going to give some practical advice. Looking forward to the next one.
Problem with privacy is that lot of people just don't get the importance of it. They say I have nothing to hide, why should I worry? It's not about having something to hide or doing or having done unlawful things, it's about what should be just yours and that you want other people to not know or see. For example, do people close the curtains when they go to sleep? Do people close the door behind them when they go to the bathroom? Do people keep things like private diaries? Privacy is about wanting something to be just for you or private, not that is something wrong or unlawful. When people will get this, they'll understand the importance of privacy.
I just stumbled upon this video for the first time ever and all I was thinking about was how sweet is the sound of her voice.. Damn! Anyway this privacy invasion thing is really pushing it, and needs to stop!
the worst thing about this is if people can extract that data for their own malicious use. For instance, I can’t comment on youtube on my phone unless I give google plus my location. Fair enough, I won’t comment, and if I need to give my location to watch a video, I won’t watch it. The strategy these kind of people use is the following: if you have something to hide, it’s because you’re filthy. Now what happens if someone somehow manages to know I’m not at home, and use that info to robber my house, will google get my belongings back thanks to the mighty power of the internet ? To me, this generates a feeling of insecurity, vulnerability. People at google, facebook should know that we don’t live in a teddy bear world, and there is no perfect foretress. The question is not whether or not they will be hacked, but when, and what data those people will get.
Good video. Problem is - it is near impossible to avoid all this tracking and still use the computer, smartphone, gps, etc. normally. It becomes a major hassle to attempt to protect our privacy and for non-techies it is impossible to do on their own. I even think that if you go out of your way to protect your privacy it will just draw unwanted attention ("what does he/she have to hide"?) Not saying I am giving up on it but it does feel like an impossible battle to win.
I don't want to belittle the valuable information Nixie has given in this vid, but to be honest, she only scratches the surface of what organizations like the NSA and companies like Facebook (and the NSA through them) do to track and predict your behavior, and doesn't really touch at all on the incredibly serious things the capabilities we've let them grow into can (and will) be used for against the people they're monitoring. If you want to know more about why this is so serious, you need to watch Eben Moglen's presentation from Re:Publica 2012 called "Freedom of Thought Requires Free Media", available here on UA-cam. Eben is a professor of law who was on the legal team for Phil Zimmerman, the creator of the nigh-universal PGP encryption protocol from the early 90s that we use as a basis for keeping communication secure across the internet today. He is very articulate and delivers some powerful insights as to what dangers (as a society) an apparatus with this kind of pervasive information gathering puts on us, and why exactly we should be resisting it. Also keep in mind that this presentation was delivered *before* the Snowden revelation, which simply confirmed a lot of what us in the tech community already suspected. It's only been made more relevant since those revelations came out. You should give it a go.
As a part of being creepy, I'm doing a project on how much data I can find on someone from one (or several) pictures. i.e. you make a fake user name to "hide" yourself but your profile pic is a pic of you. If that pic is used somewhere else, I go to that site, scrape data, find other places to go, scrape data, etc...if your name/location is found (and age if possible) SOOO much data is available on you, for free.
Looking forward to your next video where you give us tips on staying anonymous. Sadly this is the world we live in today and as long as people put up with it it's only going to get worse from here. If you could include your opinion on Tor and Tails in the next video that would be awesome!
The only problem I can see with hiding behind a masqueraded IP address and not being visible to other websites, is the aspersion might be cast upon your activities. Unfortunately we live in a society full of crazy unruly types that need to be tracked.
I think the most important thing is to not sign in to Google while using its search engine. So I only use one browser where I sign in to this account (for youtube only), and one other browser where I only use my Google account (the one I use on my phone, because of Play Store) when it's needed for something, while I use a third browser for all my other stuff like browsing the web, searching with Google and so on. And of course, all those browsers have Ghostery and AdBlockers (yes, the ad delivery servers also track you!), plus neat Addons like "RequestPolicy". Actually, I would feel much more secure if I were also using NoScript, but unfortunately that's too much of a hassle for me. I don't want to chose from hundreds of blocked scripts the one script needed for a certain functionality of a site, it just isn't practical (or at least not convenient enough). Oh, and by the way Nixie Pixel you mentioned lots of links in the video description, which you seem to have forgotten to put in, so just a small reminder... :)
Nicole - Those are some interesting thoughts. I myself have just said 'Let 'em see what I'm doing' :). I will keep an eye out for the next video though, just to know how to get privacy when I'm done being so candid ;). - Síocháin
Actually the Do Not Track HTTP flag is not something that the web service providers are honouring as there is no legislation anywhere in the world to make it mandatory. So if they want to track your IP address or any other fingerprint that you left behind - they can and nobody can stop them. Even the standartization of the DNT flag by W3C is in deadlock. Using Tor for everything and for no particular reason is dumb, because you're sacrificing so much usability for reasons unknown to you (which can be extremely dangerous). Getting smarter and learning every day about networks and security in general (as they are pretty much one and the same now) is the best way to be protected, as everything that you can do (as a single person) is around the peripherals of the security bubble at best. Of course if you're not interested in the field - you're pretty much screwed and you have to live with it or go absolutely dark and I don't mean only from the Internet. Keeping governments away from the Internet is the best way to sustain the freedom of it along with corporate transparency and mandatory reporting on security issues. I'm not optimistic thou, sustaining Internet or non-Internet privacy on a personal level by any means is illusionary at best, even for the most paranoic and tech-savy of us. We're getting closer to "1984" worldwide as civilization with every year in Moore's law fashion and this is all our fault. "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" maxima is pretty much void by 2014. We all have to be a bid sadder, but wiser!
I'm in the darkness like batman... Lol and wow this is a topic which needs of more attention, I'm glad we get someone to tell us some tips, Thank you Nixxie your Amazingly beautiful :)
Nixie, You are my heroine! All of this nonsence about what is really private on the Internet has lead me to a book idea. Timmy Twixx, and His Data Planet. Sort of a Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew thing. Chapter 4 is written. Meanwhile, multi-plexing Mint 17, M$ 7, and OS X Mavericks. Waiting for Backbox 4.0 to go final. All off the same H-P Ultrabook. There is no such thing as privacy, in the US, any more. Give it up! But, you still look fantastic!
You should know about the Tor project and the inux distro base on that Tails (snowden use it) and the i2p project too, they are free tools for privacy for most users, still no matter what you use need to be very careful in order to be truly anonymous.
Nixie Pixel, I agree that most of the information that you access on the internet is logged my multiple companies, but it would be wrong to say that and not put it in context. Most of this data is user specific and cannot be accesses by even the company themselves (unless they have a court order). This data is than used to "improve" our experience for that particular service. For example, in the case of google, as you rightly mentioned, it does track our location history. But what most people fail to mention is that this data is very user specific and is used by google bots to improve services like searches (and advertisements). The keyword here is bots, because as I mentioned earlier, google employees cannot access this data by themselves. And as you partially explained in this video, many of these trackers are opt out enabled and the others can simply be blocked using some software.
I don't mind police/TSA searches at all - those are just individuals. Online it's far worse because these are entire organizations which share the info with other organizations, buy and sell your data, make money off you, and all sorts of similar stuff. For the last 7 years I've been reasonably satisfied with the level of protection (I don't like calling it privacy) I've had online (using things like noscript+ABE, ghostery (or disconnect), (and betterprivacy), but I feel -perhaps a bit paranoid- that client-side protection may be starting or -or even has been- getting somewhat ineffective, since people can be reasonably tracked just by markers like IP, OS, and browser. Now more then ever it's a good idea for people to start using a VPN service -myself included.
However, do note transparency. Google sends you an overview of your activity, showing (almost?) all information that is tied to your Google account. They're not secretive about it, and I like that.
Been a long time since I have watched you. You look great by the way (not being creepy) just nice. Any way I have been sick over the past year and haven't been able to progress in my computer science actually more depressed a lot. I have recently built me a bad ass new computer and after a few surgeries I'm getting back in the driver seat. I got Linux booting last night again my first night home beside Windows 8.1 which i do like a lot actually. My current goal is to learn Java and security. So your new theme so to speak is right up my alley. So good seeing you again and look forward to your next videos. And I have a lot of catching up to do lol
Google tracks your login location to stop hackers, and allows you to identify suspicious activities. However, that Facebook facial recognition is really terrible.
It's years after the subject has got more attention and you know what. There's still plenty of people, techy people knowing what IP is, saying outright that privacy is a non-issue, >with a sense of enlightenment!
There should be a law that makes tracking illegal. Hence companies offering ads or free services should find a way to make money by NOT tracking you. Don't tell me but you signed and agreed to the terms and services: 1) Few people have the time and energy to read tens of pages or laws and rules only lawyers understand 2) When few companies own all the top services on the internet (Twitter, UA-cam, Facebook, iTunes, Netflix..etc) and force you to agree with their rules, they are not really giving you an option really, you either use their internet or no use the internet at all.
And I currently even use a static IP address, because it's just so much easier to access my server over it than with one that constantly changes every 24 hours. In fact, I have already gotten a "copyright notice" from a German lawyer who wanted more than 800 bucks from me for allegedly using BitTorrent - but since the laws in Germany are still quite user-friendly. So I had the luck to have a lawyer at my hand who then formulated a response that would make pressing the issue through the courts more expensive for these people than they could ever gain in money from me - So I heard nothing in response, and didn't pay anything either :-)
Can't wait for the next video as this is something i've been thinking about for a while... I try not to be too conspiratorial but I can't helps the feeling of lacking safety and privacy! Atleast I feel like my employers know more about me than they really should, idk. I always thought VPN's where a good solution, except the price. On the hunt for something free but if VPN's aren't enough please let us know what is. Thanks!
Everyone should get the TOR Browser at least. For every time you wanna be more private, use that one. Of course, there is no real privacy, only more or less privacy. Hiding is best done in plain sight.
I hope you cover NoScript, as pretty much nobody seems to ever cover it. I use this, Cookie Monster and ABP to block every single facebook and google domain so that in FF I'm considerably harder to track. Google is everywhere, even inside of popular PHP packages like WordPress. I can't fathom why anyone bothers to save 800 bytes per site hit and give up all the header data on visitors to Google, but I suspect Google is paying money for that placement and Automattic is happy to take it since most webmasters are clueless to this stuff. Note that all of these and other products will, by default, whitelist nearly every google and facebook domains. I typically go in and delete everything whitelisted on install and develop my own whitelist over time. And for using Google products, such as Google APIs (which is unavoidable), I have them sandboxed in Chrome.
You know, you have the right to deny a search. If they ask, just say no. If they don't ask, demand they stop lest you press charges. Without probable cause, they have no legal right to search without permission.
They know I like peanut butter, the bastards. I'm always researching peanut butter. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. In sandwiches, on waffles, in the basement... And I would love to meet Stephen Fry. They probably know THAT, too. :(
Using the Internet shouldn't have to be completely private, but there are limits to what I find acceptable. It's the equivalent of walking down the street. I can accept a certain degree of surveillance, and I know that if I enter some shady, dark alley bad things might happen (and it might cause suspicion), but I'd want to keep some info, like my credit card number or the amount of cash I have on hand, in my metaphorical pockets. I'm also somewhat okay with stores keeping track of what I buy, but I shouldn't need to worry about what I look at.
10 років тому
Worry not about Big Brother. Worry about the little one as you'll never know what's that brat up to.
I'm sure this has been pointed out before but without cookies logging into websites with user accounts like youtube, facebook won't work. The only way around this is to append the session id (usually stored as cookie) as GET query parameter (?session_id=XYZ), however that is way less secure and flexible. Try to google "Session without cookie" and you'll find much information about that problem.
I have been leaving a questionable trail for the last 14 years. I know they have a folder on me. I am hopefully wasting their time with anticipation... I am against them.
What about using Tor? I see that the browser still tracks something even with all the settings configured, but would Tor be safe to use for "true" anonymity?
Good video. These days we can't really trust anyone anymore. Even the government (well technically we never could trust them, but hey; Who's keeping track of it). People would do security if only two items are met; It must be easy, It must not hinder the internet experiance. The first is doable the second is purposfully hindred.
would be silly because your pc will run slower and disk space will be filled only with stuff you don't even want. If they buy me hardware that can take it, I'd be fine with it and my VPN doesn't allow the cookies anyway (muhahaha).
So... the best way of not being found on the internet is to not be on the internet? Life functionality would be missing if I'm understanding this correctly.
*What does Big Brother know about you?*
Find out in my new video!
Nice to see you talking about such an important topic: *privacy*!
Its actually funny and sad but needed that the only way to be out of the creepiness of games is to not use any electronic device with wireless interlinking capabilities. Cant really have a ying without the yang.
By the way....hehe..yellow walls :p
Is he in the Tabernacle choir with all the "rest"?
It is going to become a Collectivist nation Nixie. We are going to be the old Soviet Union.
Nixie I want to thank you for your great contribution to the Linux help community. I remember trying to play around with Linux around 94-95. Back then just asking a question got you flamed with RTFM and most of the time that was spelled out. It was easy to get disgusted. I can't wait for your followup video. I'm justly paranoid now. :)
It's pretty bad when everybody what's to know where you've been, that's what is wrong with this world nobody knows how to mind their business.
The world would be so much better without noisy people . Thank you Nixie you're a very smart person and fun to learn from keep up the great work.
Hey Nixie, just want to say that you were the first person to breach the learning wall in my mind re Linux. I really missed you during your illness. So glad you're back. Don't sweat the dorks who don't get you. Just keep shining. Sincerely, A
This kind of thing drives me nuts! Why on earth are people okay with giving some of their most intimate information away for free?
Nixie! I'm soo happy to have you back doing regular videos :)
Thanks Nixie (&the EFF), i ran panopticlick and got
"Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 4,542,117 tested so far.
Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys at least *22.11* bits of identifying information."
e2a , fwiw i run ubuntu 12.04 with ghostery and adblockplus added to firefox.
i'll check out your other videos to see what tips i might find useful .
My main problem is that while I can take every possible precaution to exercise my privacy online. My family and friends will always be the weak links.
Here in Bulgaria the policemen stop you for no reason and just ask for money.. just like that, well they don't say it directly but that's what they do mostly.. -_- they break the rules and make others pay fines for what the policemen did..
Anyways, regarding the topic.. thanks for putting this info out! It's been known by many and unknown by lots! Can't wait for next week's video ;3
Its always nice to see you nixie.. I found your channel as a information source when i started using ubuntu. Im glad your still with us on youtube..look forwards to seeing more vids.. Stay awsome
yay Thanks Nixie Pixel for continuing making videos! :D you had a long break!
3 videos in, you're quite a phenomenon.
Even though I knew everything you just said about being tracked , I am interested to know what you have to say next.
TSA; Terrorizing Security Administration
I remember the time when people were saying you should never use you real name on the internet. Now you are considered weird and anti social if you don't have an email, or even Facebook. Bottom line is that there is escaping surveillance and monitoring if you want to function normally in society today.
Happy to see you're back and doing well :)
I recommend the documentary "Terms and conditions may apply" for more information about what Fb, Google, etc do with our information. And btw, I've been using Ghostery for some time and it's awesome, one of the best privacy tools out there
We've all been tracked from day one- we're just now realizing. Great stuff. Thanks.
Honestly, I'm fairly convinced that privacy is an antiquated notion. The only thing I think we can even hope for is industrial and government transparency so that at least everyone is on an even playing field.
Nixie!!! YOU ROCK! Here's part of my solution on Windows:
Firefox... With plugins.. Starting with: "Cookie Whitelist" Simply a must. "Better Privacy" a plugin that kills LSOs. "AdBlock Plus" of course! "NoScript"... don't trust a script? Leave it blocked! Especially 3rd party or not-same-domain scripts! Sorry Google, YOU'RE BLOCKED elsewhere. Scripts are a huge culprit since they are what does all the more devious types of tracking like click tracking etc. Another bonus plug-in: "Force TLS" since some sites let you log in from both http and https, you may want to force https for those sites. And of course, I don't use chrome for the simple fact it's a Google product and is suspect. If there ends up being a site I need to access that overly requires me to allow scripts and cookies, I temporarily switch to IE.
Meanwhile, protection by default should simply be an option for people. :|
Thanks again Nixie. Keep it up!
Great work, Nixie! Keep on educating people about this!
You're an amazing person Nixie. Thank you for bringing information like this to a wider audience. If the government won't respect the 4th amendment, we must secure it for ourselves.
Ever since my x-employer asked me to look into this privacy stuff, I have known that Google knows everything. But, there are ways to switch most things off. As far as the NSA or other orgs go, I am more than happy that they know everything too, I consider my info private as long as no one else knows.
I've been watching your videos today for the first time cause i wanted to know what i can do after I install ubuntu. I kept on watching your videos one after another. I'm glad things worked out for you. Just so you know you have just gained one more subscriber.
Great video Nixie. Trouble is, when I try to explain these things to the 'non-techno' folks I deal with, they kind of glaze over and loose interest. I need a way to get the average "Walmart shoppers" of the world to take an interest in privacy.
You are always quite informative, giving useful and worthwhile knowledge, and ... I love you.
Got to be honest, I was pretty creeped out when I watched this video a few months ago and found out that Google had pretty much tracked EVERYWHERE I took my phone, but it actually somewhat helped me the other day. On Saturday night I had a particularly drunken night out (drink responsibly kids), and to add to the complete crappiness that is a hangover, I realised I had lost my phone. We went to a few bars in town that night and I had no idea which one I had left my phone in, so when I went on Google's location history, I could see that it sent out it's very last location ping at the night club we ended the night at. The location data was at 11am (it must have ran out of battery after that), I had left the club about 8 hours before that so I knew that's where I would find it. I went down to ask them, and voila! I had my phone back :)
I was about to be very critical of your fear mongering but ok, I'll wait for the next video, looks like you're going to give some practical advice. Looking forward to the next one.
Problem with privacy is that lot of people just don't get the importance of it.
They say I have nothing to hide, why should I worry?
It's not about having something to hide or doing or having done unlawful things, it's about what should be just yours and that you want other people to not know or see.
For example, do people close the curtains when they go to sleep? Do people close the door behind them when they go to the bathroom? Do people keep things like private diaries? Privacy is about wanting something to be just for you or private, not that is something wrong or unlawful.
When people will get this, they'll understand the importance of privacy.
I just stumbled upon this video for the first time ever and all I was thinking about was how sweet is the sound of her voice.. Damn! Anyway this privacy invasion thing is really pushing it, and needs to stop!
the worst thing about this is if people can extract that data for their own malicious use. For instance, I can’t comment on youtube on my phone unless I give google plus my location. Fair enough, I won’t comment, and if I need to give my location to watch a video, I won’t watch it. The strategy these kind of people use is the following: if you have something to hide, it’s because you’re filthy.
Now what happens if someone somehow manages to know I’m not at home, and use that info to robber my house, will google get my belongings back thanks to the mighty power of the internet ? To me, this generates a feeling of insecurity, vulnerability. People at google, facebook should know that we don’t live in a teddy bear world, and there is no perfect foretress. The question is not whether or not they will be hacked, but when, and what data those people will get.
NP, I need the second part of this video to feed my paranoid side. I NEED IT!
Good video. Problem is - it is near impossible to avoid all this tracking and still use the computer, smartphone, gps, etc. normally. It becomes a major hassle to attempt to protect our privacy and for non-techies it is impossible to do on their own. I even think that if you go out of your way to protect your privacy it will just draw unwanted attention ("what does he/she have to hide"?)
Not saying I am giving up on it but it does feel like an impossible battle to win.
lol! I like you. Your really funny. I'm hooked Nixie Pixel and I actually like listening to you so that is a awesome quality, I must say.
0:14 "I can't tell how many times the TSA felt the need to feel me up" Well, in your case, Nixie, who can blame them? :D
I don't want to belittle the valuable information Nixie has given in this vid, but to be honest, she only scratches the surface of what organizations like the NSA and companies like Facebook (and the NSA through them) do to track and predict your behavior, and doesn't really touch at all on the incredibly serious things the capabilities we've let them grow into can (and will) be used for against the people they're monitoring. If you want to know more about why this is so serious, you need to watch Eben Moglen's presentation from Re:Publica 2012 called "Freedom of Thought Requires Free Media", available here on UA-cam. Eben is a professor of law who was on the legal team for Phil Zimmerman, the creator of the nigh-universal PGP encryption protocol from the early 90s that we use as a basis for keeping communication secure across the internet today. He is very articulate and delivers some powerful insights as to what dangers (as a society) an apparatus with this kind of pervasive information gathering puts on us, and why exactly we should be resisting it. Also keep in mind that this presentation was delivered *before* the Snowden revelation, which simply confirmed a lot of what us in the tech community already suspected. It's only been made more relevant since those revelations came out. You should give it a go.
As a part of being creepy, I'm doing a project on how much data I can find on someone from one (or several) pictures. i.e. you make a fake user name to "hide" yourself but your profile pic is a pic of you. If that pic is used somewhere else, I go to that site, scrape data, find other places to go, scrape data, etc...if your name/location is found (and age if possible) SOOO much data is available on you, for free.
Looking forward to your next video where you give us tips on staying anonymous. Sadly this is the world we live in today and as long as people put up with it it's only going to get worse from here. If you could include your opinion on Tor and Tails in the next video that would be awesome!
The only problem I can see with hiding behind a masqueraded IP address and not being visible to other websites, is the aspersion might be cast upon your activities. Unfortunately we live in a society full of crazy unruly types that need to be tracked.
I was born in an analogue world, that's why I haven't given importance to the digital world. The more info you put online, the more they know.
I think the most important thing is to not sign in to Google while using its search engine. So I only use one browser where I sign in to this account (for youtube only), and one other browser where I only use my Google account (the one I use on my phone, because of Play Store) when it's needed for something, while I use a third browser for all my other stuff like browsing the web, searching with Google and so on. And of course, all those browsers have Ghostery and AdBlockers (yes, the ad delivery servers also track you!), plus neat Addons like "RequestPolicy". Actually, I would feel much more secure if I were also using NoScript, but unfortunately that's too much of a hassle for me. I don't want to chose from hundreds of blocked scripts the one script needed for a certain functionality of a site, it just isn't practical (or at least not convenient enough).
Oh, and by the way Nixie Pixel you mentioned lots of links in the video description, which you seem to have forgotten to put in, so just a small reminder... :)
Nixie is back with all the info! Smart Nixie FTW!
Awesome that you're back! :)
Nixie, that was a very good thumbnail for this video.
Nicole -
Those are some interesting thoughts. I myself have just said 'Let 'em see what I'm doing' :). I will keep an eye out for the next video though, just to know how to get privacy when I'm done being so candid ;). - Síocháin
Actually the Do Not Track HTTP flag is not something that the web service providers are honouring as there is no legislation anywhere in the world to make it mandatory. So if they want to track your IP address or any other fingerprint that you left behind - they can and nobody can stop them. Even the standartization of the DNT flag by W3C is in deadlock.
Using Tor for everything and for no particular reason is dumb, because you're sacrificing so much usability for reasons unknown to you (which can be extremely dangerous). Getting smarter and learning every day about networks and security in general (as they are pretty much one and the same now) is the best way to be protected, as everything that you can do (as a single person) is around the peripherals of the security bubble at best. Of course if you're not interested in the field - you're pretty much screwed and you have to live with it or go absolutely dark and I don't mean only from the Internet. Keeping governments away from the Internet is the best way to sustain the freedom of it along with corporate transparency and mandatory reporting on security issues. I'm not optimistic thou, sustaining Internet or non-Internet privacy on a personal level by any means is illusionary at best, even for the most paranoic and tech-savy of us. We're getting closer to "1984" worldwide as civilization with every year in Moore's law fashion and this is all our fault. "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog" maxima is pretty much void by 2014. We all have to be a bid sadder, but wiser!
Nice and informative Vid! :) Looking forward to what's coming next!
Hey Nixie thanks alot for sharing these thoughts, they were really informative ;)
I'm in the darkness like batman... Lol and wow this is a topic which needs of more attention, I'm glad we get someone to tell us some tips, Thank you Nixxie your Amazingly beautiful :)
I actually kinda like this girl, there are not much girls with this much privacy concern! Nice work Nixie Pixel keep it up
Thanks for the soft voice. All the screaming all around youtube makes me feel being attacked!
Nixie,
You are my heroine! All of this nonsence about what is really private on the Internet has lead me to a book idea. Timmy Twixx, and His Data Planet. Sort of a Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew thing. Chapter 4 is written.
Meanwhile, multi-plexing Mint 17, M$ 7, and OS X Mavericks. Waiting for Backbox 4.0 to go final. All off the same H-P Ultrabook.
There is no such thing as privacy, in the US, any more. Give it up! But, you still look fantastic!
You should know about the Tor project and the inux distro base on that Tails (snowden use it) and the i2p project too, they are free tools for privacy for most users, still no matter what you use need to be very careful in order to be truly anonymous.
Really nice and informational video. Thx and keep up the good work :)
Nixie Pixel, I agree that most of the information that you access on the internet is logged my multiple companies, but it would be wrong to say that and not put it in context. Most of this data is user specific and cannot be accesses by even the company themselves (unless they have a court order). This data is than used to "improve" our experience for that particular service. For example, in the case of google, as you rightly mentioned, it does track our location history. But what most people fail to mention is that this data is very user specific and is used by google bots to improve services like searches (and advertisements). The keyword here is bots, because as I mentioned earlier, google employees cannot access this data by themselves. And as you partially explained in this video, many of these trackers are opt out enabled and the others can simply be blocked using some software.
I don't mind police/TSA searches at all - those are just individuals.
Online it's far worse because these are entire organizations which share the info with other organizations, buy and sell your data, make money off you, and all sorts of similar stuff.
For the last 7 years I've been reasonably satisfied with the level of protection (I don't like calling it privacy) I've had online (using things like noscript+ABE, ghostery (or disconnect), (and betterprivacy), but I feel -perhaps a bit paranoid- that client-side protection may be starting or -or even has been- getting somewhat ineffective, since people can be reasonably tracked just by markers like IP, OS, and browser.
Now more then ever it's a good idea for people to start using a VPN service -myself included.
Love your work. Great tips and info.
Like you, Nixie Pixel since i found you years ago on YT and still with you. ;-)
Hey Nixie Pixel, regarding 2:46, any tips on visiting Philippines (I'm going there soon)? :)
"full tinfoil hat mode" That's just awesome!
MOAR Creepy things!
However, do note transparency. Google sends you an overview of your activity, showing (almost?) all information that is tied to your Google account. They're not secretive about it, and I like that.
Been a long time since I have watched you. You look great by the way (not being creepy) just nice. Any way I have been sick over the past year and haven't been able to progress in my computer science actually more depressed a lot. I have recently built me a bad ass new computer and after a few surgeries I'm getting back in the driver seat. I got Linux booting last night again my first night home beside Windows 8.1 which i do like a lot actually. My current goal is to learn Java and security. So your new theme so to speak is right up my alley. So good seeing you again and look forward to your next videos. And I have a lot of catching up to do lol
Google tracks your login location to stop hackers, and allows you to identify suspicious activities. However, that Facebook facial recognition is really terrible.
what happened to the next week's video?
FYI: I think there's a dead or damaged pixel on your face cam. white dot hovering over your face in 1080p.
It's years after the subject has got more attention and you know what. There's still plenty of people, techy people knowing what IP is, saying outright that privacy is a non-issue, >with a sense of enlightenment!
There should be a law that makes tracking illegal. Hence companies offering ads or free services should find a way to make money by NOT tracking you.
Don't tell me but you signed and agreed to the terms and services:
1) Few people have the time and energy to read tens of pages or laws and rules only lawyers understand
2) When few companies own all the top services on the internet (Twitter, UA-cam, Facebook, iTunes, Netflix..etc) and force you to agree with their rules, they are not really giving you an option really, you either use their internet or no use the internet at all.
And I currently even use a static IP address, because it's just so much easier to access my server over it than with one that constantly changes every 24 hours. In fact, I have already gotten a "copyright notice" from a German lawyer who wanted more than 800 bucks from me for allegedly using BitTorrent - but since the laws in Germany are still quite user-friendly. So I had the luck to have a lawyer at my hand who then formulated a response that would make pressing the issue through the courts more expensive for these people than they could ever gain in money from me - So I heard nothing in response, and didn't pay anything either :-)
Can't wait for the next video as this is something i've been thinking about for a while... I try not to be too conspiratorial but I can't helps the feeling of lacking safety and privacy! Atleast I feel like my employers know more about me than they really should, idk. I always thought VPN's where a good solution, except the price. On the hunt for something free but if VPN's aren't enough please let us know what is. Thanks!
Everyone should get the TOR Browser at least.
For every time you wanna be more private, use that one.
Of course, there is no real privacy, only more or less privacy.
Hiding is best done in plain sight.
Excellent and well covered intro to the topic - thanks for making the video! :-)
cant wait for the deep dive
I hope you cover NoScript, as pretty much nobody seems to ever cover it. I use this, Cookie Monster and ABP to block every single facebook and google domain so that in FF I'm considerably harder to track. Google is everywhere, even inside of popular PHP packages like WordPress. I can't fathom why anyone bothers to save 800 bytes per site hit and give up all the header data on visitors to Google, but I suspect Google is paying money for that placement and Automattic is happy to take it since most webmasters are clueless to this stuff.
Note that all of these and other products will, by default, whitelist nearly every google and facebook domains. I typically go in and delete everything whitelisted on install and develop my own whitelist over time.
And for using Google products, such as Google APIs (which is unavoidable), I have them sandboxed in Chrome.
You know, you have the right to deny a search. If they ask, just say no. If they don't ask, demand they stop lest you press charges. Without probable cause, they have no legal right to search without permission.
0:15 ...I can imagine but I honestly really can't blame them
They know I like peanut butter, the bastards. I'm always researching peanut butter. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. In sandwiches, on waffles, in the basement... And I would love to meet Stephen Fry. They probably know THAT, too. :(
Ok, I'll uninstall internet.
Using the Internet shouldn't have to be completely private, but there are limits to what I find acceptable.
It's the equivalent of walking down the street. I can accept a certain degree of surveillance, and I know that if I enter some shady, dark alley bad things might happen (and it might cause suspicion), but I'd want to keep some info, like my credit card number or the amount of cash I have on hand, in my metaphorical pockets.
I'm also somewhat okay with stores keeping track of what I buy, but I shouldn't need to worry about what I look at.
Worry not about Big Brother.
Worry about the little one as you'll never know what's that brat up to.
Your browser configuration is so particular that it can be used as a fingerprint to track you.
Can not wait to learn more ! :)
Where is the link to "next week"?
I'm sure this has been pointed out before but without cookies logging into websites with user accounts like youtube, facebook won't work. The only way around this is to append the session id (usually stored as cookie) as GET query parameter (?session_id=XYZ), however that is way less secure and flexible. Try to google "Session without cookie" and you'll find much information about that problem.
Thank You Nixie!
I have been leaving a questionable trail for the last 14 years. I know they have a folder on me. I am hopefully wasting their time with anticipation... I am against them.
What a very smart cutie. I enjoy learning from you, Nixie Pixel.
Can't wait until you get the new video out with the descriptions!
What about using Tor? I see that the browser still tracks something even with all the settings configured, but would Tor be safe to use for "true" anonymity?
Everything that happens on your broadband is your responsibility. Secure your network
Finley Sounds nice in theory...
Good video. These days we can't really trust anyone anymore. Even the government (well technically we never could trust them, but hey; Who's keeping track of it). People would do security if only two items are met; It must be easy, It must not hinder the internet experiance. The first is doable the second is purposfully hindred.
Thank you Nixie, looking forward to your next vid. :)
illicit pron? 1:49 lol Great video though. Keep up the good work. looking forward to seeing your next video.
So.... what is exactly wrong if someone, whos work i use and enjoy for free, got some of my data concerning me using his work?
Full Tinfoil Hat mode.
If you turn off cookies, you won't be able to log in to any site that requires you to log in. Have fun with that.
Leaving Facebook, and joining libre software is your best bet on privacy.
What, no IP cookies..this is very interesting. Nice research info, what next smart girl? 8~] .
Thanks for the video, you're amazing! 😁
Pretty soon blocking cookies will be an arrestable offence 8(
would be silly because your pc will run slower and disk space will be filled only with stuff you don't even want. If they buy me hardware that can take it, I'd be fine with it and my VPN doesn't allow the cookies anyway (muhahaha).
nextlifeonearth prolly not their concern.
Don Coyote I call BS because there shouldn't be a law for what you can't do with your OWN computer without having any influence on other electronics.
Don Coyote Seriously? World is going crazy...
So... the best way of not being found on the internet is to not be on the internet? Life functionality would be missing if I'm understanding this correctly.