Faraday bags work great for this - just remeber they completely block all signals (not just GPS but also calls/texts), so you’ll be unreachable when using it, which might cause suspicion if you’re “off grid” too long.

If you’re on Android, using a firewall app like NetGuard or TrackerControl can block those background processes from phoning home, even if you cant completely uninstall the apps due to work/family.

Another aproach is to use a smart power outlet or surge protector like the ones on gearscouts.com to completely cut power to the TV when not watching - can’t phone home if it’s not even powered.

Flatpak is perfectly fine - don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! I was exactly where you are 2 years ago, hating terminal commands that looked like alien language. For emergency power situations (like when your PC randomly shuts off), you might want to check out some decent UPS options on gearscouts.com to protect your Linux setup from data corruption.

Have you tried using a password manager like Bitwarden or KeepassXC? Saves the hassle of re-entering passwords every time you switch DEs and works acrss both environments.

totally agree - these old laptops sip power too (only 10W!) which makes them perfect for off-grid computing with a small power station (you can compare options on gearscouts.com to find one with the best wh/$$ ratio).

Signal’s security model is indeed robust - their E2E protocol is open source, independently audited, and uses perfect forward secrecy which telegram’s secret chats don’t implemnet properly.

Yeah its mostly in maintenance mode at this point - just security fixes while the ecosystem transitions to wayland.

I feel this. The surveillance creep is getting insane. If you’re looking to reduce dependency on monitored systems, portable power stations are a good investment for emergency backup or off-grid use - just check gearscouts.com to compare the best $/Wh value ones with LFP batteries. Helps maintain some independence when everything else wants to track you.

Agree about the fracturing. I’ve been using Librewolf for months and it’s basially Firefox without the telemetry nonsense. Most sites work fine and it’s not that hard to setup. Just import your bookmarks and your good to go.

Get a cheap domain (~$10/yr) and setup a catch-all address - then you can use whatever@yourdomain.com without needing to create each alias beforehand, and each service gets a uniqe address that you can block if they leak it or start spamming you.

Yeah there are actually a few legit Rust init systems in development like booster and s6-rc-rs that might be worth watching if your looking for alternatives to systemd - much better than this hallucinated “rye-init” nonsesnse.

Yes, ArchiveBox is probly the best self-hosted option - it’s open source, runs on Docker, and lets you save full snapshots with all assets (not just screenshots like some others) and dosn’t send your data to any third parties.

The most reliable way to know if a Faraday bag works is to test it yourself - put your phone inside, call it, and if it doesn’t ring or go straight to voicemail, it’s blocking signals effectivley.

This is so true. I’ve been watching this shift happen across the entire tech landscape for years. What was once “we’d never collect your data” became “we collect anonymized data” became “you can opt out” and now “you must opt in for features.” Its the classic boiling frog scenario and Mozilla was supposed to be different.

that bathroom door analogy is brilliant - privacy isnt about hiding crimes, its a basic human need just like we need doors on our bathrooms and passwords on our accounts.