Tommy @Tommy@social.privacytools.io
- Pronouns
- he | his | him
- OpenPGP
- https://frama.link/openpgpTommy/
Privacy enthusiast,
learner,
supporter,
Happy 
/
user,
Love #Life
Joined Jun 2020
Tommy
boosted
Questions to ask when evaluating an online service
1. Are they open source to an extent that you're comfortable with? Do they ask you to run proprietary software on your devices? Is the code running on their servers open?
2. If they claim to be open source, do they use an OSI-approved or FSF-approved software license? If not, they're misleading you.
3. Is your personal data handled by such proprietary software? Do you ever transmit your personal data to their servers? Even if open source, they would be able to read and use this data however they wish and you wouldn't be able to tell - do you trust them to? What if they're compelled by law enforcement?
4. Do the needs justify the personal data they are collecting about you? If not, why are they collecting it?
5. If they claim to use encryption for the data which is transmitted to their server - question whether or not it's really private. Do they ever handle the unencrypted data? For example, if an email service claims to encrypt incoming emails, they have an opportunity to read the unencrypted email before they store it. Do they disclose these "gotcha"s, or do they make clear the limitations of their encryption? Is any encrypted information decrypted by software they control, like their web application, or a desktop application which is automatically updated without your consent? If so, they could decrypt it on your computer and transmit the decrypted data back to their servers.
6. Are they responsible for any scarce resources, like an email address, phone number, and so on, which you wouldn't be able to take with you if you leave? Are there ways to provide the same functionality without scarcity, such as the use of your own domain? If so, why aren't they offering them? How important are these resources to your identity, will your friends be able to find you if you choose to stop using the service?
7. How do they make money? What is their motivation for providing services to you? If their circumstances change, will their values change? How likely is change?
@alcinnz
Hello!
Your explaination is very good and I do believe that is something to be aware of.
But still, I wouldn't say information would be sent to the provider of the search results as Searx is a Metadata search engine and it will only "copy" the results of other search engines.
That is only of my knowledge and I could be wrong.
Stay Safe!
@abhishek
Very good question!
The reason I didn't mention Duckduckgo is because it isn't counted as free software, more like freeware.
There have also been troubles over time like data getting sent after favicon change on mobile and bad things like that.
Even though they are better than Google, I feel DDG as a profit-motivated "private" search engine(e.g. ads on by default).
I prefer not to use it.
Ask me any questions and Stay Safe!
@crazydeepgrowth
For sure!
But many people on Twitter don't know much about (general) Privacy and that's where I can spread the message to more people :)
But don't worry, Mastodon is still and will forever be my main Social media ;).
Much love to you as well!
Stay Safe!
@hyperfocal @resist1984 @Wetrix
That's correct sadly..
@marc0janssen
Thank you!
Really appreciate you being here ;)
If you ever wanted to contact me privately, some info is below ;)
Stay Safe!
----Contact----
Email: tommyw@cryptolab.net
OpenPGP Fingerprint:
8ff2 9d3c bbfa f115 e532 01ff 5c40 4ace 77e8 1cad
Just DM or email me your Public key and I'll be happy to send mine!
Jabber:
tommyw3@jabber.calyxinstitute.org
OMEMO Fingerprint(s):
59ccbf65 a61b2994 bca4434a bc9bcd8b e870d606 8dbdc75f fd0d160c f352bc58
OR
50898558 90603a12 0268a218 c57895ec 81811080 0aad2105 d6535f19 9392da34
----End----
@carcinopithecus
Wow, that was actually a good question ;)
When I mean tracking, I mean sending your information to 3rd partys like Google, or something like that.
Stay Safe!
@sp1rit @marc0janssen
Yep, that is what I favor too. It's a fork of Keepass, which you can learn more here: https://keepass.info/
@marc0janssen
That one's not the worst!
But I would still recommend andOTP since Bitwarden's not completely open source.
Up to you though ;-)
@x@noid.me
Aegis is also a great one ;)
If you still wanted to know how to use a seperate pin for andOTP, go to Settings<Database encryption=Password/PIN<Authentication=PIN.
But of course Aegis is awesome as well ;)
Stay Safe!
@jonah
Yes!!
I just made a account and I can't wait to discover!
Maybe I can even make videos too! 
Stay Safe!
That is very true. Something "free" would usually mean paying with your data(or a user's in terms of a website)
Thank you so much for offering me something that is so good! I really appreciate it and you basically just made my day!. I decided you can keep your domain and extra storage as I can pay for one myself when I get older ;).
Again, thank you for your toot and kindness!
Stay Safe!
@armitage
Nice! I will check that out and possibly use it! It's open source ;-)
@nikolal
Yeah, that is true.
Welp, maybe I'll wait till I get older so I can have a credit card or any of that sort.
Found a list of good services here: https://www.privacytools.io/providers/hosting/
Thanks to PrivacytoolsIO
@jonah
Oh, sorry, I didn't read that the server is not open to registration lol
If you ever wanted to securely send files to someone or just sync files, Syncthing would be perfect in my opinion.
Details are below! ;)
What it is: A #foss P2P File Syncing/sharing tool
Features 
: File versioning, Easy to use, uses TLS, Data stored on your device
Site: https://syncthing.net/
For:, 
, 
, NetBSD, Dragonfly BSD, 
, Illumos, 
, Solaris, 
I hoped you enjoyed and Stay Safe!!
- Pronouns
- he | his | him
- OpenPGP
- https://frama.link/openpgpTommy/
Privacy enthusiast, learner, supporter,
Happy / user,
Love #Life
Joined Jun 2020
