Why Republicans, why? Internet security.

April 02, 2017, 06:10 PM

sigcrazy7

It was stopped because, as already mentioned, it would not have protected your privacy, but it would have created winners/losers by regulation. You get internet packets by varied ways. They should all have to play by the same rules, not just the cell carriers.

April 02, 2017, 06:27 PM

Veeper

quote:
Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
1. The information described in your original post was almost certainly shared by Google, Bing, Facebook or Yahoo, not their ISP.

2. The proposed rules would NOT have stopped ISPs from sharing your information, they would have required a disclosure, like a pop up you have to click to install software and/or a yearly disclosure that you would have thrown in the trash.

3. The proposed rules were never implemented.

4. The proposed rules did not stop Google, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo, etc. from sharing your information...Why you ask? Because they donate heavily to democrats and practically run the DNC.

5. The tech blogs like Gizmodo are massively anti-Trump.
http://gizmodo.com/tag/donald-trump

6. Article linked in other thread to NPR interview of the CEO of a privacy advocacy group and even he was not very concerned about this. Little or nothing will change for consumers.

YMMV

QFT. Please read this again.

April 02, 2017, 06:32 PM

Opus Dei

quote:
Originally posted by g8rforester:
Yes, this is an extremely disappointing turn of events.

In light of this, I installed Opera browser, enabled the VPN feature, and installed HTTPS Everywhere. It's not the total privacy of the Tor browser, but it's pretty damned good. One of these days, I may make the leap to Tor, but I'll need to do a bit more research about it.

Here's a couple of good articles:

How to set up a VPN in 10 minutes for free (and why you urgently need one)

How to encrypt your entire life in less than an hour

Maybe you can help me out. How does one add extensions to Opera? I go to their extensions page, click on "add extension" and don't see any icons added or listings under Extensions. But I can get other themes just fine.

I've searched online and don't see anything helpful. I even tried to make an account to ask on Opera forums, but I can't get a password accepted. I get a prompt saying to create a password in the correct format but nothing about (say) how many characters/numbers/case. Any help is appreciated.

April 02, 2017, 08:11 PM

g8rforester

Open the Extensions page, and look for "Get more extensions" on the left side. That's the search function that will lead you where you want to be.

April 03, 2017, 04:19 AM

Opus Dei

Thanks, but I knew about that. What happens is you go to the Opera extensions, find one and click it. Nothing happens. You get no icons in the tool bar, nothing showing under extensions.

Something in settings as I've configured it has to be blocking Opera from adding extensions, even as I can download themes. I also can't figure out why I can't see a prompt that dictates the configuration of password to join Opera forums.

April 03, 2017, 05:44 AM

fpuhan

Here's a tip for your Internet usage:

If a web site is free, YOU are the product.

April 03, 2017, 12:33 PM

chongosuerte

The more I learn/read/know about this subject, the more I want to trash my smart phone and forget about the internet. It's, frankly, scary as hell.

Especially the location information. We are all carrying our own, personal, "Here I am" devices and putting our lives all over them.

George Orwell would have never been able to imagine all this.

Any other tips on protecting our selves?

Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here.

Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard.
-JALLEN

"All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones

April 03, 2017, 08:00 PM

g8rforester

quote:
Originally posted by Opus Dei:
Thanks, but I knew about that. What happens is you go to the Opera extensions, find one and click it. Nothing happens. You get no icons in the tool bar, nothing showing under extensions.

Something in settings as I've configured it has to be blocking Opera from adding extensions, even as I can download themes. I also can't figure out why I can't see a prompt that dictates the configuration of password to join Opera forums.

Oh, sorry! Both of the extensions I added put icons in the top right corner of the browser, so I know it worked.

This is my first foray into Opera. I'm not the best person to ask.

April 03, 2017, 11:35 PM

exx1976

Holy crap I'm so tired of seeing this everywhere I turn.

April 04, 2017, 01:08 AM

akcopnfbks

quote:
Originally posted by chongosuerte:
The more I learn/read/know about this subject, the more I want to trash my smart phone and forget about the internet. It's, frankly, scary as hell.

Especially the location information. We are all carrying our own, personal, "Here I am" devices and putting our lives all over them.

George Orwell would have never been able to imagine all this.

Any other tips on protecting our selves?

If you can manage without a smart phone, do it. Download and install the TOR Browser, and use that (and only that) to go online. There's even a TOR browser for your smart phone.

Look at encryption programs for your email....email tends to be particularly vulnerable.

Opera/VPN is good, but TOR is better. Just use the stable version, not the experimental version. Depending on your level of comfort with the TOR browser you can increase the security settings. It's as close as you're going to get to being invisible online unless you learn mad hacker skills.

April 04, 2017, 07:30 AM

Bombarde32

Not to get too far off topic, but can someone tech savvy help me answer a related question please? I have been reading that Google tracks using "device ID" in addition to other parameters. I would take this to mean that even if I am using VPN software, if Google sees a request coming in from my device then they can still associate it with me. (They would know it is me from previous access to Google accounts (e.g. YouTube or Google Docs from my device), thereby giving them the critical link between gadget & person). Is this correct? i.e., that even with VPN I can be tracked by my device? Thanks for any help.

April 04, 2017, 08:58 AM

chongosuerte

quote:
Originally posted by Bombarde32:
Not to get too far off topic, but can someone tech savvy help me answer a related question please? I have been reading that Google tracks using "device ID" in addition to other parameters. I would take this to mean that even if I am using VPN software, if Google sees a request coming in from my device then they can still associate it with me. (They would know it is me from previous access to Google accounts (e.g. YouTube or Google Docs from my device), thereby giving them the critical link between gadget & person). Is this correct? i.e., that even with VPN I can be tracked by my device? Thanks for any help.

I think (requesting clarification here) that they can see that you used the VPN, but they can't see where you went with it. Like I can watch you walk into the Holiday Inn, but I don't know what room you called somebody from.

It is possible to see ultimate sites accessed from a VPN system, in general, and the original entry point of one specific IP. What cannot be determined is the trajectory of the user between entry and exit, making it difficult or impossible to know where a specific person visited, as when they become visible, their IP has switched multiple times.

That's my understanding based on my limited training.