This was interesting. Nothing we didn’t already know.
But I liked that she gives alternative apps. that don’t spy.
All the Best,
Jeff
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I think emails should have the same protections as snail mail.
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Read about SIM swaps.
God, talk about Mrs Scaremonger…sure if you want to go back to the eighties, no apps and so on then that’s fine. Better still don’t buy a smartphone at all. Personally I couldn’t care less if someone knows I bought a packet of peas, in fact it’s a good thing because next time I go they give me a voucher for money off them.
I have used a lot of her alternatives, and I can tell you now none of them work as well, like they are not even in the same ballpark as well.
You can turn of this and that in any browser, but as soon as you turn off too much the internet breaks…sites load mega slow, and some not at all because you turned something off or set it too strict.
I used to worry about all this, but the way I see it, you’re either in or out, you simply have to make the choice. At the end of the day most of your data is already for sale anyway, at least in the UK, you can just buy the electoral roll and get all the info you need, or buy it off the dark web. Virtually every transaction with anybody these days harvests data, they either sell it or they get hacked (like my employer did a few months ago…a HUGE worldwide gambling company lol).
Truth is anyone can already know anything that actually counts about you if they want, and have been able to years before smartphones - the worst of which is our governments…at least with google you choose to sign up to being watched! you have nop such choice with governments, from the minute you are born.
Recently, talking about apps…our local council decided they were going to intall app payments on their parking meters, they also take cash, but then they decided to disable that (largely as it meant still employing a real human to fill and empty it). Well an old lady got a ticket for not paying, she argued she didn’t have the app or a phone that could run it and argued as a resident she had the right to pay by cash ( I believe the council initially told her she could buy a smartphone cheaply lol), she took them to court and won, she said why should she have to buy a new phone, and pay for data usage to park her car in a car park where shed lived for liek 60 years…she won, they all have money in now and can take cash.
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I dont know about apps from big tech companies that use your information for profit, but regular cellular calling I believe is very safe. I heard they use frequency hopping to make it impossible for anyone to listen in (and also to reduce the chance of interference).
It’s complicated but cellular calling is only “safe enough” to protect from laymen attacks.
It’s not end-to-end encrypted (i.e. the provider has the keys and can listen in on you, as can anyone who hacked the provider) and there are various attacks on the cellular protocol itself.
In short: if it’s not end-to-end encrypted it’s not secure.
Use Signal for calls&messaging on your device when you want excellent security and privacy.
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OTOH, there are times I would like to Google search my own mind to find where I safely stored a particular item, or which restaurant had the to-die-for cheesecake.
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Exodus has privacy (permissions/trackers) reports on apps.
F-Droid often has good FOSS alternatives to many common apps. Besides that, keep in mind the Play Store is full of unscrupulous malware-infested apps… Beware what you install and at least check Exodus first.
FairEmail is one of my absolute favorite apps. A privacy-focused email client for android (available from Play Store, F-Droid, or Github). For best privacy, use with non-“free” email hosts, but even with the usual suspects it’s a good start. Can’t say enough good things about this most-used app. Best suited for somewhat tech-savvy users though.
De-googled android ROMs are the next level for more motivated folks.
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Never heard of FairEmail. I use K9.
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1:53, dedicated to privacy nihilists.
Of course there are great conveniences by forgoing privacy, but don’t forget the cost…
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Many K9 users have switched to FairEmail over the years. The developer is very dedicated to privacy. K9 has been “acquired” by Thunderbird, and hopefully it remains and improves as a better alternative to the mainstream mail apps.
I will check it out at some point