I just noticed this report about Google receiving âkeyword warrantsâ
This particular instance involved a hit and run death, but similar tactics have been used in Texas for womenâs reproductive care. If the Supreme Court mullahs do contrive to make Catholic Shariah Integralism the law of the land, everybody is going to be at risk in the inevitable inquisition.
Attention Conservation Notice:
What is crazypants paranoia in mid-2024 will be conventional wisdom a year from now. All of you could do better when it comes to leaving fewer traces. I debated making this a Tool Time post, but I think it needs to be seen broadly.
Google Exposure:
If you use Google products (I do) and that includes using their search engine (who doesnât?) then youâre leaving tracks all over the place. And letâs not have any foolishness regarding alternate search engines. I gave up on DuckDuckGo because 90% of the time I had to manually Google. Microsoft Bing has some utility in certain circumstances, but as a general Google replacement? Hereâs a recent example on what thatâs not such a good idea.
So Google is ubiquitous ⊠how do you protect yourself?
Compartmentalization:
Google searches are associated with your Google ID, so you simply need to break that connection. Iâm going to assume that simply using the guest option with your browser isnât a good idea, because itâll share the origin IP with your other stuff.
The simplest way to do this is a virtual machine and a fail closed VPN. If youâre not comfortable with Linux command line you can get the quite functional fail closed featured with Mullvadâs $5/month VPN service. If you are comfortable, every ProtonMail account comes with a free low speed VPN, and their low speed is plenty fast for just nosing around.
I have written at length about deeper cover, which involves the $40 acquisition cost and $30/month to have a burner phone that provides hotspot. Regarding Your Ass has a detailed exposition on this. Briefly, keep the phone completely off your home/office network, use that old laptop youâve held on to for access, or spend the time to figure out how to use the USB tether function to provide a VM access to the phoneâs network.
Obstruction:
You must be familiar with USC 18 § 1512(c)(1)
c)Whoever corruptlyâ
(1)
alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the objectâs integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or
Doing something simple minded, like wiping your browserâs history after you become aware of potential trouble would be a violation of this statute. Being a sneaky asshole who doesnât leave a trace would get editorialized by a prosecutor during trial, theyâd pitch it as mens rea, but if youâre keeping things neat there wonât BE a trial, because they wonât even get to first base.
Thereâs a little picture ânot leaving an incriminating messâ in your browser history, but thereâs a bigger picture to that. Letâs say youâve failed to read and deeply appreciate Informantspotting, so youâre in some group hug type chat, talking about how youâre too slick to get caught, intimating that youâve been involved in whatever, and in general handing that lurking informant a bunch of stuff thatâs going to read well before a grand jury âŠ
DONâT DO THAT.
It really is just that simple. The tradecraft I describe herein could be employed in all sorts of illicit ways. You will not find any talk of that here, the focus is exercising your civil liberties in times of trouble. You wonât find a legitimate chat room screen shot of me suggesting such things. In act, in this era of shunning walk on talent, you donât find chat room screen shots of me at all, unless Iâm releasing them myself.
Conclusion:
As Winston Churchill so famously intoned âThe era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.â
Consequences are imminent for us, one and all. One of the themes of such times is the material found in Paranoia: Pathological Or Professional. You need to harden your presence against those consequences. And then be mindful of the signs you need a break, which I mentioned in Sounds Of Silence and again in Silent Lucidity. If you donât learn to recognize the warning signs, instead of a week or two off, as Iâve recently done, recovery will require a year or two.
Be careful out there. The dash of the day will be won by the swift, but multi-year marathons are won by those who are patient and prepared.