Being Safe Online

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If you share an internet network, can you still be safe with VPN? Can they see what you doing online? Living in a group home got me so paranoid.

VPN merely masks IP address and has no real purpose except omitting regional censorship or accessing otherwise unreachable LANs remotely (hence it is Virtual Private Network). Otherwise it doesn't make you private at all, especially with web browser left in default configuration.

^ VPN's are one of the best ways to keep one's online activity private. As well as masking one's IP address that obfuscates the information being received by one's ISP, VPN's encrypt a persons data connection which makes data transit more secure.

There are other privacy steps you can take in an effort to upgrade your privacy online, Kitty, several of them are described here in the following link:

https://www.ipvanish.com/blog/internet-privacy/

Make sure to go into your settings in your internet browser and change the settings so that your browsing history is deleted when you close your browser, if you are feeling especially paranoid.

This info may be accessed by VPN endpoint instead. Why would you trust your VPN provider more than ISP (both run for-profit)?


You don't have to be paranoid, actually. It's a great way to avoid clutter and disk space bloat (in case of cookies / cache)

// https://www.ipvanish.com/blog/internet-privacy/

Unless you are privileged entity like Police, no way you can make actually any use of IP. IP-based tracking is virtually useless as many devices can access something from same IP, and one device may flow thru several IPs per day.
Also, that quasi-"protection" is made void by:
- browser happily identifying itself, it's version, platform and arch and executing every possible bloat it's requested
- browser letting websites to store "permanent" cookies
- user that logs in with same account

That data is already encrypted; TLS, public-key (like that of SSH, as example) encryptions etc. exist for a reason.


If you want to prevent malware on your devices, install possibly the most invasive malware that is deemed legal. Is something that scans *everything* on computer in name of "security" or even sends it to company's server (so-called "cloud") really privacy-respecting?


Valid.


Valid, although it only reduces tracking by what browser limits it.


It depends:
- Local? Gud
- Service-based? Heck no
Though it's just better to use normal file (eventually PGP-encrypt it and remember master password)


It's something more than just software. OS is also an important factor.


Signal expects Google Play Services and offers integrations with not-so-privacy-friendly services. Also primary relays run on Amazon AWS. Really?
Threema seems to be not better with non-free server implementation (You can't trust code that's unavailable), no idea about Wire.


"Trust me, I'm good guy". But there are really no alternatives, so yeah...


Mozilla isn't privacy-friendly at all. Firefox is loaded with crapton of telemetry and default setup is terrible for privacy. At least it can be configured to be actually privacy-friendly, though.
I go akimbo with NoScript + uBlock, it's just the best. I also have set cookies/cache to be cleared on exits (and I have cache directory on RAM, so it's not preserved across boots). After Mozilla fiasco with removal of "we don't sell your data" in legal documents, I moved to LibreWolf fork


Tor is absolute overkill for an ordinary user, and virtually all exit nodes are blocked by most websites


To preserve online privacy, voluntarily give them all of your data. Pinnacle of this article XD

Sorry, but that article was made by somebody completely incompetent.

Hi Kitty, yes a VPN should do what you need, I'd recommend a paid one if you can set one up like proton/mullvad. I was going to have to go to a group home type thing but was group hostel. was scary ish like 50 ppl there... might be looking at other stuff though.
if you are getting ipad they have apps for those two and i think apple might provide it's own but i am not sure of cost.

That is one thing a VPN can be good at. The group home would see the traffic but they wouldn't have any idea where it is actually going. They will just see the VPN end point itself.

Of course, if they can get something on your computer to monitor keystrokes then it wouldn't help much.

That makes sense.
I think it would also help if you can get your own internet plan Kitty that you pay for yourself like a mobile data plan with your cellphone or tablet. Different care places might have different policies on that though.

Hello Kitty4670,

Your "paranoia" is not an unreasonable position. You are merely asking for privacy.

A VPN exchanges data in encrypted form (TLS: Transport Layer Security) between the computer you are using, and the VPN provider's servers. Those servers then act as a middle-man to whatever website you want to browse. This hides where (and who) you are from that website. The TLS encryption hides what website you are browsng and what data you exchange with the website from the local network (especially the router that connects to your ISP).

The usual criticism I have heard of about VPNs is that you are transfering who you have to trust from those in your home to those running the VPN, and many actually look at what you are doing to moneterise it.

I use the Tails operating system, which routes all my traffic through Tor. Tails is just about the most privacy-fulfilling OS there is (Qubes and Whonix are the other two, but they are much more technical to use). If you have a desktop of laptop computer, you can run Tails on those from a USB stick that you prepare especially.

You can find out about Tails at this URL: https://tails.net.

Precontemplative.

Last edited by Precontemplative on 21 Mar 2025, 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This is not true. I am using Tails right now to post this message on this forum. Tails routes all my traffiic through Tor, and uses the Tor Browser (based on Mozilla's Firefox, and already configured for optimum privacy).

The "blocking" is not done by the websites themselves, but caused by badly configured proxies such as Cloudflare being left in default mode. Wrong Planet at least does not use this default, becuase here I am! When I have trouble posting here, it is because I always disable all downloaded javascript. Cloudflare twitches over me including links, but I'm prepared to put up with that. Since Kitty4670's threat model is snooping housemates, she can leave javascript enabled for best user experience, and which should also placate Cloudflare.

Anyone interested in trying out Tails can ask me for help. I've used it for 15 years.

Precontemplative.

Sometimes it is by the server itself, if they decide to ban IPs of known exit nodes. But yeah, maybe "most" is an overstatement...


Though some kind of automated blocker (like uBlock) wouldn't do any harm. Always safer to block unwanted trackers, or to just at least fence off from some modern web's irritations (like cookie banners, which uBlock can remove)

Tails isn't meant for day to day use. It's good for temporary use when you need an anonymity, even better in not your own network but still it isn't magic. For everyday usage there is a better solution called Qubes OS. Still, remember the most weak point is the user. Tools are tools, some are better, some are worse, you have to decide which suits best your use case.

Tails also is meant to be amnesic, not sure if it's a right thing if you want use it everyday.


I can recommend using Mullvad VPN, they accept cryptocurrencies