Customer Privacy Guide: Difference between revisions

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{{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}

{{Delete|I have changed my mind on this, since I am new here I didn't dig deeper in such guidelines and I haven't bothered to ask an admin about this, I do not want to maintain this anymore, and I don't want to deal with this guide anymore, I will focus on making guides that is appropriate for the wiki itself, and not for my own self-interest like I have made here as an example. My apologizes if I have made any inconvenience to any staff out there, I wish I could have done better then this one, kinda new to making articles to be honest.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==

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===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===

It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform ~~actions~~ actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]] or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.

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For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG]

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG] (There are many reports that indicate its untrustworthy in recent news)

*[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]

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The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.

== Manual One (1) - The basics ==

===Why should my traffic be on Tor Browser?===

It depends, if you are in a country known for state surveillance or "police state" then you should, otherwise, it is optional as long as your ISP isn't known to sell data about your internet activity (sometimes this is called "logs" in my case). For that to actually hide your usage of Tor, you need to use Tor bridges, which is in the connections tab.

===How do I manually audit the code for malware (e.g backdoor, spyware, keylogger...)===

In order to actually do this, in a literal sense, you would need to have a programming knowledge, and for this reason, you must learn the programming language it is written in, if it is C, learn C, if it Python, learn Python, and so on and so forth. However, if you don't have time for doing so, you gotta use an LLM or an AI "chatbot" to do so for you, however it may lead into inaccuracies or [[wikipedia:Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)|artificial hallucination]], which may be a drawback but it is worth the risk, if you don't want to do so, learn programming and then learn a easy to learn programming language like Python or Go, this is an advice, so bear with us.

==Manual One (1) - The basics==

let's start off with the things you use.

=== Google LLC ===

===Google LLC===

We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.

{| class="wikitable"

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|Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>

|Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.

|Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.

|Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.

|-

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|None. It is obvious.

|-

|

|Artificial intelligence training data about you

|

|If you shared something sensitive, like your medical or disability status, your vulnerabilities, or as such. It could lead into increased AI capabilities that it will understand natural language processing, and for the worst, reinforced bias (which is a ethical implication).

|

|Don't use artificial intelligence, simple.

|

|There is a [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-privacy-warning/507818/ article] that details it. However, for the time being it is at least for now okay to use alternatives such as Duck.ai and Brave Leo, all of which are for now, safe to use as an alternative.

|}

==Manual Two (2) - Consumer-friendly alternatives==

Just a clear heads up, we do not endorse any of these, just that it is recommended, nothing else.

===Software-level alternatives and recommendations===

====Operating System (OS)====

A side note: if you are going to use those distributions for production work, make sure to encrypt your hard drive upon installation (the partitioning), this will increase security in case of theft or the law enforcement or dubbed as "feds" trying to snoop in on your unencrypted hard drive.

#[https://linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint]

##Often recommended for beginners to those that are familiar with the traditional Windows desktop experience. Stable, but it is generally a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Does not contain any form of OS-level tracking whatsoever.

#[https://www.debian.org/ Debian]

##A one distribution that has inspired many distributions that are based off of, such as Ubuntu for example. It is rock-solid stable, it is lightweight, and has customization options in the installation menu when you start Debian for the first time.

#[https://www.kicksecure.com/ KickSecure]

##Based on Debian (but hardened), it is secure, and has a great documentation detailing your usage on that said distribution. It is free software, as they have claimed to be, and has [https://xfce.org/ Xfce] as its default desktop environment, making the distribution lightweight and performant.

==References==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{StubNotice}}
 {{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}
+{{Delete|I have changed my mind on this, since I am new here I didn't dig deeper in such guidelines and I haven't bothered to ask an admin about this, I do not want to maintain this anymore, and I don't want to deal with this guide anymore, I will focus on making guides that is appropriate for the wiki itself, and not for my own self-interest like I have made here as an example. My apologizes if I have made any inconvenience to any staff out there, I wish I could have done better then this one, kinda new to making articles to be honest.}}
 ==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
@@ Line 9: / Line 11: @@
 ===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
-It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>
+It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>
 Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]]  or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.
@@ Line 34: / Line 36: @@
 For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.
-*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG]
+*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG] (There are many reports that indicate its untrustworthy in recent news)
 *[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]
@@ Line 42: / Line 44: @@
 The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.
-== Manual One (1) - The basics ==
+===Why should my traffic be on Tor Browser?===
+It depends, if you are in a country known for state surveillance or "police state" then you should, otherwise, it is optional as long as your ISP isn't known to sell data about your internet activity (sometimes this is called "logs" in my case). For that to actually hide your usage of Tor, you need to use Tor bridges, which is in the connections tab.
+===How do I manually audit the code for malware (e.g backdoor, spyware, keylogger...)===
+In order to actually do this, in a literal sense, you would need to have a programming knowledge, and for this reason, you must learn the programming language it is written in, if it is C, learn C, if it Python, learn Python, and so on and so forth. However, if you don't have time for doing so, you gotta use an LLM or an AI "chatbot" to do so for you, however it may lead into inaccuracies or [[wikipedia:Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)|artificial hallucination]], which may be a drawback but it is worth the risk, if you don't want to do so, learn programming and then learn a easy to learn programming language like Python or Go, this is an advice, so bear with us.
+==Manual One (1) - The basics==
 let's start off with the things you use.
-=== Google LLC ===
+===Google LLC===
 We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 61: / Line 69: @@
 |Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>
 |Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.
 |Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.
 |Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.
 |-
@@ Line 79: / Line 87: @@
 |None. It is obvious.
 |-
-|
+|Artificial intelligence training data about you
-|
+|If you shared something sensitive, like your medical or disability status, your vulnerabilities, or as such. It could lead into increased AI capabilities that it will understand natural language processing, and for the worst, reinforced bias (which is a ethical implication).
-|
+|Don't use artificial intelligence, simple.
-|
+|There is a [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-privacy-warning/507818/ article] that details it. However, for the time being it is at least for now okay to use alternatives such as Duck.ai and Brave Leo, all of which are for now, safe to use as an alternative.
 |}
+==Manual Two (2) - Consumer-friendly alternatives==
+Just a clear heads up, we do not endorse any of these, just that it is recommended, nothing else.
+===Software-level alternatives and recommendations===
+====Operating System (OS)====
+A side note: if you are going to use those distributions for production work, make sure to encrypt your hard drive upon installation (the partitioning), this will increase security in case of theft or the law enforcement or dubbed as "feds" trying to snoop in on your unencrypted hard drive.
+#[https://linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint]
+##Often recommended for beginners to those that are familiar with the traditional Windows desktop experience. Stable, but it is generally a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Does not contain any form of OS-level tracking whatsoever.
+#[https://www.debian.org/ Debian]
+##A one distribution that has inspired many distributions that are based off of, such as Ubuntu for example. It is rock-solid stable, it is lightweight, and has customization options in the installation menu when you start Debian for the first time.
+#[https://www.kicksecure.com/ KickSecure]
+##Based on Debian (but hardened), it is secure, and has a great documentation detailing your usage on that said distribution. It is free software, as they have claimed to be, and has [https://xfce.org/ Xfce] as its default desktop environment, making the distribution lightweight and performant.
+==References==
 <references />