On Tuesday 07 May 2024 13:57:09 J Leslie Turriff via tde-users wrote:
On 2024-05-07 11:59:03 William Morder via tde-users
wrote:
But I read what Slavek wrote in a separate email,
that you can see what's
being posted without actually logging in. I think that's probably more my
style. I like to know if anything important is happening; I don't
necessarily want to join the party.
Bill
Really, if you connect to a server's webpages, tracking will happen.
Depending on your browser settings, you can mitigate it fairly well, but
can't eliminate it completely; 'tis the nature of today's web. Would that
we could go back to the days before JavaScript and plain-text email...
Leslie
Well, actually ... I am pretty good at evading most tracking. For one thing, I
use dedicated browsers for various activities, each with specialized
settings. I would recommend Icecat, by the way, over Firefox, for your
ultra-secure anonymous browser; indeed, even over the Tor browser, which
often reverts to default settings (in my experience), and leaks data.
It's true, if I am doing something that requires me to use a direct connection
and have javascript and cookies enabled, then I do so, very briefly, take
care of my business; then I clear all that data, and close the browser.
Otherwise, I never use javascript, never, and I always send plain text
emails, and refuse to open html email, except sometimes when I have gone
offline -- and even that can be risky.
For most of my online activies, though, it would be hard to identify me, my
machine or location. I don't claim to be bulletproof, as nobody can escape
notice entirely, and probably they ought not even attempt it, as that might
only attract even more intense surveillance. I have only a reasonable
expectation of privacy.
And that is possible, to control what information and data one gives out.
It takes some work, true, but I find that I gradually need less and less, that
I can still live without constantly checking something online. I use the
internet when it is useful to me, not when I am useful to the corporations
who control it.
I read somewhere awhile back that we are all celebrities now: that this is how
celebrities live, always aware that they are being watched. But since they
know that they are being watched, they choose instead to guard their private
lives, and to satisfy the curiosity of outsiders by thowing them little
scraps of information (which may be accurate or not), allowing them brief
glimpses into their lives.
You are a star now. Start acting like one. ;-)
Bill