We havenât got much done on #OpPillowFort, mostly due to my startup duties. We managed how to get to a Secure iPhone, then promptly plunged into the deep end, with Life In Interesting Times. I didnât want to write about kidnap protocols, but life had other ideas.
Letâs go a bit more on that, this is truly a time to stay out of the way. The best time to disappear is twenty years before you really need, but most of you have not had the curious careening career path I did, and youâve got to start somewhere.
So letâs see if we can reduce your digital shadow a bit.
Attention Conservation Notice:
Just a follow up to When Itâs Too Late, some practical advice on not leaving such a wide trail behind you.
Digital Shadow:
Have you ever paused to think about your digital shadow?
Your cell phone is a voluntary ankle monitor.
You public IPs are associated with your profiles, and everyone else who uses those IPs is entangled with you.
Every single service you use, with the rare exceptions like ProtonMail and Mullvad VPN, are spying on you as a portion of their revenue stream.
If your car doesnât have a collectible plate, itâs got technology that is collecting information on you, and information about where you youâve been is prey to license plate readers, that toll pass gadget attached to your windshield,
You CAN NOT have anything that looks like a normal life with this stuff happening, and avoiding it is devilish tricky.
Minimization:
You canât escape, but you CAN minimize ⊠except when youâre intentionally laying a smoke screen.
Did you read Throw Away Your Cell Phone? Didnât do it, didja? Let me show you something ⊠I know some things about how that tracking works. Iâve been using ProtonVPN for a while and theyâve got a nice âfail closedâ service. This is by no means perfect, but it works well on the low grade civil pursuers, and I suspect itâs a headache for anyone whoâs authorized to look more closely.
Have you separated your life savings from the phone that you not only did not throw away, but that you actually take with you when you leave the house?
Do you have a HARDWARE method to disable your phone from chattering endlessly? Donât be a weirdo like me with a SIM removal tool and stuff in a keychain pill container, maybe just get a Faraday bag?
Did you get another account at another bank with another debit card, specifically for online shite?
What cryptocurrency exchange are you using to turn things like Bitcoin and Ethereum into untraceable Monero?
How much cash did you put in your fireproof safe?
Did you get the memo that gold rings and necklaces and such are much less suspicious than having gold coins, and just as liquid?
Did you put some thought into maybe driving less? Do you think rideshare is less trackable? What public transit options do you have?
Did you keep that old cell phone? And an old laptop? Do they have fail closed VPNs on them?
Do I sound like a prepper, scanning the skies for black helicopers? Well, do I?
Conclusion:
Things are getting ugly out there, which is no surprise to those of you whoâve at least sampled from the top ten articles that appear below this one.
I wobble back and forth, from âdonât scare the civiliansâ, to âOMFG you fools, STAHP THAT THIS INSTANT!â
I know when this started it was supposed to be for regular people, one phone, one laptop, one overt life. Iâm sorry, but every time I hit that key combination that brings up my Inoreader, I get a sinking feeling.
There is no value to you being scared, that just raises your cortisol levels. There is no value to orthopedic injuries from looking over your shoulder. Paranoia: Pathological or Profesisonal? remains an evergreen read.
The closing from Stages Of Genocide bears repeating.
I am a singular talent and I lack a functional sense of self preservation; I donât expect any of you to do what I did for the last fifteen years âŠ
But youâd damn well better do SOMETHING âŠ