Internet Safety
Censorship and tracking are an increasing reality. Like a plague, spreading.
We hear of various cites being "banned"; and if you have searched the internet for various things from movies, music, products, etc you likely have found "this isnt available in your country".
Lots of things are simply invisible, not there. What is seen is what polititians and corporations want you to see.
If you cherish knowlege, intellectual freedom, options, and want less control of what you see on the internet or who sees you then here are some easily available and simple suggestions.
Note: these are useful for the average person, and by no means are a comprehensive list.
In the "settings" menu of your internet capable device find "location" and "permissions". Turn off "location".
Personally I would delete Facebook and X accounts. If you are just too attached to do that then carefully comb through the "settings" menus and disable or delete things to suit your privacy needs.
Tor browser is the most secure browser. Tor is the gold standard, imho. It routes traffic through a network of thousands of others. So it functions as a router but also as a VPN.
Brave or Firefox are fairly secure browsers. And selecting a non Google search engine is easy to do. For recommended examples:
Duck Duck Go is a search engine that uses less tracking than Google.
Ecosia also is a search engine that promotes eco friendly causes.
Qwant is another option based in Europe.
VPNs help skirt censorship by giving you a different IP (identity and location)
I like Orbot, but thats me. It routes traffic over the Tor network, works as a VPN, and allows you to select which apps it runs on.
I use Psiphon at times to search for movies, etc.
Proton is one of the easist VPNs to use and effective. They also offer a secure and anonymous email: Proton Mail
One of the ways one might benefit: use an old android or desktop pc and set it up to run over wifi. Use a public wifi. Employ the apps and suggestions above.
I used to use Proxy Mask on a windows os desktop. Loved it. Basically it is a Tor based vpn that allows one to change IP to selected countries.
Last bit of advise that if nothing else can help reduce clutter from unused temporary internet files, etc is to clean cookies and history frequently. Most browsers have, in "settings" an option to "clear browsing history". There are further options regarding the range.
On an android there is, in settings, "storage". Within "storage" one can clear "temporary files". If that seens too much trouble you can install aps that will clean a device.
On a desktop I used Bleachbit. (HRC . famously used the same program...)
I would also take a hard look at your security programs, and would not rely on US based antivirus prigrams ir cliud services. The Dutch and other nations have actually said this.
Here is a good resource for finding akternatives to US based software, cloud etc:
https://github.com/anitwek/alternatives-to-us
Addendum:
Sage advice is to never use your name, photo, or real or accurate information on social media or email profiles. Who knows who may track you down?
Set up such accounts using emails or phone numbers that cannot be tracked back to you. This requires thinking things through.
Facebook is a particularly bad idea precisely for this reason: if some agency or pissed off psycho decides to find you, Facebook makes that easy with all your contacts, places visited, etc. The police always pour through such cites...
X is no better. And with its current owner turning it into a hub of conspiracy theories and Russian/ right wing disinformation it is dangerous in that its a magnet for riff raff...the kind of people you can be tracked or harassed by.
Even if you are a Nazi or Klansmen it is exactly the spot government would follow and track your posts.
Put a piece of black tape over the camera lense on your phone or pc- it can be easily removed when talking to someone you know, but prevents snoopers or worse from seeing your face and surroundings.
A good article on Internet Safety is here
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