Competitor alternatives - who can you trust after PRISM?

Well folks...now that you are aware that the 9 leading internet/computer companies are sharing your personal data with the NSA, what are you going to do about it? Some have called for a boycott of those companies. Hit them in the pocketbook by refusing to give your business. But is that really logical, reasonable, or DOABLE? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

As for me, I had moved away from some of these companies long ago due to privacy concerns. I tend to use Tor or Firefox, rather than Chrome or Bing. I use Startpage as my search engine, instead of Google. But as far as OS's go, you are really stuck with Windows, Apple, or Android. No getting out of that one as they are all 3 on the gov payroll.


Which Internet Company hasn't given the US Govt its records?

I really don't see why you would go and stop using Google because of this or any other company that's been caught out.

Why?

Because this has been going on for decades and I have known about it but never let it bother me, i know that while yes Google stores my web history for something like 9 months, but they're not sitting about looking at all the porn i have been watching (it would take them ages and they would go blind).

just like there is not some dude form the NSA listening into me and my best buddies planning a night out.

They are not interested in our "boring lives", even if we do spend our time online ranting about 9/11 and the NWO

as such i am not going to run out and start changing everything i do.

Originally posted by CIAGypsy

But as far as OS's go, you are really stuck with Windows, Apple, or Android. No getting out of that one as they are all 3 on the gov payroll.

Depends on what you want out of an OS.

There are endless Unix/Linux flavors out there.

LPS from the DoD for instance.

You can keep using Gmail and Google Drive. Just TruCrypt your drive space and GPG your email.

It doesnt take all that much to conceal yourself from prying eyes. Ironically in this day and age that act of concealment would likely draw more attention.

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I made the switch to ubuntu, although the "white bread" of linux the change (completely), no more windows OR apple, to a free, secure OS and software was easy.

if you want user controlled encryption that is simple for cloud storage,
use mega .co .nz

its a one step easy to use encryption service that does all the work for you.
end to end encryption for transport security, and its encrypted in your browser,
by you before you send it,

the one stop simple encryption cloud source provider.

its MEGA easy

xploder

Thanks for encryption tips but as I was looking at what is entailed in doing it I realized, Shiiiiit, I got nothing worth encrypting

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

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Love it, dude!!

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Depends on what you want out of an OS.

There are endless Unix/Linux flavors out there.

LPS from the DoD for instance.

Well, I was looking at mostly mainstream users. I would say that only a small percentage of everyday citizens use Unix/Linux. Most go out and buy a PC or laptop which comes standard install with Windows or Mac. So when I made that comment, I was thinking about potential replacements for those people.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
You can keep using Gmail and Google Drive. Just TruCrypt your drive space and GPG your email.

It doesnt take all that much to conceal yourself from prying eyes. Ironically in this day and age that act of concealment would likely draw more attention.

edit on 11-6-2013 by thisguyrighthere because: (no reason given)

Encryption is definitely something that should be used moving forward if you don't already use it. That being said, most ABC agencies have the resources necessary to crack just about any standard encryption method short of quantum (and even that is debatable if you use lasers). The question then becomes whether they want to expend the extra resources to look at YOUR encrypted data when they have the gazillions of other data piling up to be crunched through the algorithms.

Outside of those two great points, what about the companies who facilitate the government snooping? Should they be held accountable?

Reply to post by CIAGypsy

I dont think anything can replace the big two for mainstream users. Part of being a mainstream user is an aversion to learning and an attraction to hand holding.

Ive no doubt the gov could break just about encryption given enough time but as we've seen the gov is unwilling to crack simple passwords to prosecute kiddy porn peddlers so unless youre under suspicion of something so mindblowing grand Ive my doubts theyd bother to put in the work to get at your encrypted info. Their realistic options at of today are to brute force for 700 years or beg and threaten until you give in.

Acccountability should come in the form of massive boycotting but seem my comment above about mainstream users to get an idea of how likely such an occurance is.

Unfortunately everybody loves the police state and just as TSA agents will grope for pleasure you can rest assured that there are individuals who will and likely already have taken advantage of the access to this information.

Cops get caught using "secure and restricted" databases to stalk ex girlfriends and harass people they dont like all the time. I can just imagine what some sadistic nut could do with all the info thats being collected globally.

Encryption will at least keep turds like that from snooping on your business.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

And we have come full circle back to personal responsibility. As consumers you are going to have to start to think about the stuff you consume. You can ( at this very moment) buy computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. When people are sick and tired of paying for unsecured, bloated, OS they WILL make the change. Necessity has ALWAYS been the advent for change.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere



Can't say I disagree with anything you wrote here.....

reply to post by CIAGypsy


Hmmm - well...

Lets look at nature for a minute.

Say your are little fish..or even a little frog as the case may be. You can't get rid of the big, mean, ol' alligator that lurks. I mean, lets face it - if a big, mean ol' alligator has a you in its sights you are pretty much toast.

So what do the little fishies and froggie do? Well, they do much same thing talked about thus far and it all hinges on not being noticed doesn't it? Staying low and out of sight, using camouflage, and blending in with the vast school of other little fishies and froggies.

That's about all little fish and frogs can do unless they evolve something different and/or leave the pond all together.

You can you trust after Prism? Take another lesson from the fishies and froggies. They trust their mamma for a little bit after they are born - and that is about the extent of their trust.

Originally posted by Frogs
reply to post by CIAGypsy

 

Hmmm - well...

Lets look at nature for a minute.

Say your are little fish..or even a little frog as the case may be.

You can't get rid of the big, mean, ol' alligator that lurks. I mean, lets face it - if a big, mean ol' alligator has a you in its sights you are pretty much toast.

So what do the little fishies and froggie do? Well, they do much same thing talked about thus far and it all hinges on not being noticed doesn't it? Staying low and out of sight, using camouflage, and blending in with the vast school of other little fishies and froggies.

That's about all little fish and frogs can do unless they evolve something different and/or leave the pond all together.

Yeah...there was a group of colonists who tried that tactic once.... Wanna guess how that worked out??? Those individuals learned that THIS was the only real answer to such a quandry. Why?? Because eventually, "staying low and out of sight" won't be enough.

Originally posted by Frogs
You can you trust after Prism? Take another lesson from the fishies and froggies. They trust their mamma for a little bit after they are born - and that is about the extent of their trust.

Yet another reason why this DOCUMENT came about.....

Another very thoughtful reply.....

The first thing that someone stealing your privacy will tell you is "don't worry." That's the standard line after they have been exposed stealing your privacy. That, in turn, is reinforced with suggestions that you don't matter to them anyway, you're insignificant and that they have netted so much data they don't have the means to really snoop into what you're saying and thinking, not little old you.

What they don't tell you is that if they did, for some reason perhaps known only to them, they could very easily snoop into just about everything you've been thinking and doing provided you've been communicating to someone about it.

Their bottom line is "trust me." In other words, trust me with your privacy and I'll use that power only against the bad guys. I promise. Trust me with the most important right you have, the one upon which hinges most of the other rights you might recognize and many that you don't.

In sum, in any system, democracy included, the apparatus of the state must be controlled. Without controls, the natural tendency to increase power will not be restrained. And without information, the necessary controls, whether at the ballot box or through judicial challenge, are absent. Constraining the “apparatus of the state”, to borrow Mallory’s term, depends on the people being informed about what government is doing.

In other words the same people who tell you to "trust me" with your privacy are those least willing to trust you with theirs. This is powerful evidence of rising despotism and a process of deliberate, steady and covert dismantling of our democracy. That this seems to be standard practice in 21st century petro-states ought to, if nothing else, put us on our guard.

Are we heading for Despotism?

Originally posted by CIAGypsy
Encryption is definitely something that should be used moving forward if you don't already use it. That being said, most ABC agencies have the resources necessary to crack just about any standard encryption method short of quantum (and even that is debatable if you use lasers).

Not really. There are no practical breaks for AES. There are ways around specific implementations and use cases, such exploitation of bugs, trojans, tiny cameras, rubber hoses, etc. But there are no ways through the encryption itself, correctly implemented, unless you have geological time and computational resources measured on the Kardashev scale. AES is approved by NSA for protection of classified information, and they wouldn't do that if they thought it was meaningfully broken.

Gurer ner bgure pelcgbflfgrzf, bs pbhefr, juvpu ner gubebhtuyl oebxra. EBG13 vf bar bs gurz.