There's no such thing as privacy.

[Tolkem]

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a nice life!

While checking my feed, I bumped into this https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/p...ch-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/
An excerpt:

ProtonMail, a hosted email service with a focus on end-to-end encrypted communications, has been facing criticism after a police report showed that French authorities managed to obtain the IP address of a French activist who was using the online service. The company has communicated widely about the incident, stating that it doesn’t log IP addresses by default and it only complies with local regulation — in that case Swiss law. While ProtonMail didn’t cooperate with French authorities, French police sent a request to Swiss police via Europol to force the company to obtain the IP address of one of its users.

I use ProtonMail, and though I'm not a member of any activist group, I do believe this is quite worrying, since it means anyone can be exposed, anyone! No such thing as privacy.

 

[Deleted member 111282]

I use ProtonMail as well, and I eventually want to self-host my emails so I can have more control over my data. After watching Mental Outlaw's video about ProtonMail a while back, he showed some evidence of it being a fed honeypot, and your article reinforces it. It seems as if the Snowden NSA leak has caused the feds to change their methods of surveillance by either working with or creating "privacy" companies, such as VPN services.

I wouldn't necessarily say there's no such thing as privacy these days. While its definitely more harder to maintain your privacy these days, simple forms of electronic self-defense will pay off in the long run.

 

[Deleted member 101831]

Ain't no privacy anywhere anymore so like it or not no matter how secret and private you are SURPRISE SURPRISE you ain't.

This is why it doesn't matter what OS you choose to use everyone is up your butt seeking out and collecting what information they want.

I don't like it but I can't change it and Big Brother is here to stay and it don't matter where you live.

Welcome to reality of the WWW where privacy no longer exists.

 

[Deleted member 111282]

Ain't no privacy anywhere anymore so like it or not no matter how secret and private you are SURPRISE SURPRISE you ain't.

This is why it doesn't matter what OS you choose to use everyone is up your butt seeking out and collecting what information they want.

I don't like it but I can't change it and Big Brother is here to stay and it don't matter where you live.

Welcome to reality of the WWW where privacy no longer exists.

While privacy no longer exists on the web, using Linux distros and the software comes with it helps protect your privacy offline, because they don't come with back doors by default. My suggestion for online self-defense would be to use a non-web-based protocol most of the time, and using the web when you absolutely have to. That way, you're minimizing traditional websites data-mining you.

 

[KGIII]

Like most things, the answer isn't binary. There are degrees of privacy, and degrees of severity of actions to which those who'd take our privacy will go.

If you're pirating an eBook, you can take steps to reasonably assume nobody will ever know that you specifically did so.

Or, you can piss off a nation-state who will then go to all ends of the earth to unravel the skein and figure out who exactly you are.

Most of us function somewhere near the first, and some of us function somewhere near the first but think we need to protect against the latter. The truth is somewhat murky, but the gist of it is that usually nobody gives a crap who you are or what you've done. You're just not that interesting and, really, when you irk the big fish your privacy is forfeit.

 

[Deleted member 101831]

The truth is somewhat murky, but the gist of it is that usually nobody gives a crap who you are or what you've done. You're just not that interesting and, really, when you irk the big fish your privacy is forfeit.

Exactly.

 

[KGIII]

I'm half convinced that they pay more attention to the people who try to maintain their privacy by using 'privacy tools'. It's what I'd do if I were a government actor. It'd weed out a whole lot of cat pictures and meme reposts from grandma.

 

[Tolkem]

OHCHR | Spyware scandal: UN experts call for moratorium on sale of ‘life threatening’ surveillance tech

www.ohchr.org

“We are deeply concerned that highly sophisticated intrusive tools are being used to monitor, intimidate and silence human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents,” the experts said. “Such practices violate the rights to freedom of expression, privacy and liberty, possibly endanger the lives of hundreds of individuals, imperil media freedom, and undermine democracy, peace, security and international cooperation.”

@KGIII I think this should be in off-topic, sorry, I "accidentally" posted it here in General Linux, which it clearly doesn't belong to.

 

[Deleted member 101831]

I'm half convinced that they pay more attention to the people who try to maintain their privacy by using 'privacy tools'. It's what I'd do if I were a government actor. It'd weed out a whole lot of cat pictures and meme reposts from grandma.

I read years ago that people who use TOR browser and Tails Linux are monitored by security agencies although can't say how accurate that is.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it weren't true.

 

[Deleted member 111282]

I read years ago that people who use TOR browser and Tails Linux are monitored by security agencies although can't say how accurate that is.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it weren't true.

If the sites on the deep web are using BitCoin and have a V2 link, there's more of a chance it was created by the alphabet boys

 

[KGIII]

@KGIII I think this should be in off-topic, sorry, I "accidentally" posted it here in General Linux, which it clearly doesn't belong to.

I hadn't even noticed. Moved, thanks.

 

[KGIII]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it weren't true.

I have some stories, but sometimes the best way to hide is to do so in plain sight. Don't do anything that draws attention to yourself.

 

[Vrai]

For anyone using ProtonMail, this weeks episode of Security Now with Steve Gibson may be worth checking out.

To summarize: it's not really anonymous.

ProtonMail is located in Switzerland (which is loudly touted) and must abide by Swiss law. So when the Swiss government demanded logs ProtonMail had to hand them over. Which is to be expected of any company in any country. The real question is; did they need to keep or even collect the log data?

In summation, no email is truly anonymous. Just something to keep in mind.

Security Now Episode #835 | 07 Sep 2021

ProtonMail Amends Its Policy After Giving Up an Activist’s Data

The email service says it was unable to appeal a Swiss court’s demand to log the IP address of a French climate advocate.

www.wired.com

 

[KGIII]

I merged your threads to clean house.

Steve Gibson knows his stuff. It's good to see he's still around as I haven't paid much attention to him in ages, largely due to time. I've also used his SpinRite with some success.

 

[Deleted member 111282]

If anyone's interested, use BitMessage as an alternative to email https://wiki.bitmessage.org/

 

[Fanboi]

Clearly, everyone's forgotten this tech called "pen and paper". I have my own "language". The alphabet's a dynamic cypher for the standard alphabet plus some extra modifiers for two-letter+ sounds (for example, sh may be written as S with a modifier). There are plenty sound modifiers to mess with word length. The language itself contains a mix of English, slang from my country (I grew up in what Americans would call the ghetto), and a lot of my own made-up words. So, no system/person can crack it because the characters change dynamically and there's no single language as a comparison...

Of course I can't send messages to anyone but myself, though. But when I developed it in junior high, I had a diary -- laaaaaame -- which is why I invented its precursor. Of course I used to write things in plain sight too like, "Fck you <teacher's name>", "I love <name>", etc. and I thought I was so cool... Then I grew up and developed it properly. It's useful for private notes, passwords, etc. but I've become too lazy to use it nowadays. Nobody can penetrate my isolated machine (it's off-grid) without physical access and a keen eye for miniature encrypted virtual disks (~2GB files). So, I'm not too worried.

I'm not tracked well either. I setup my browser to use different settings each run and I have carefully configured NoScript to look like Adblock. I have automated visits to every type of site from fashion to porn. I use DDG, too. Also, my IP is dybamic. Whenever I reset my router, I'm a new person. It ain't perfect, but it's enough to have Google's adds baffled.

But all that is a waste of time now, since I cancelled my plans of world domination years back because I got a pot plant and couldn't have juggled the responsibility with world domination.

 

[Deleted member 101831]

Clearly, everyone's forgotten this tech called "pen and paper".

Best password keeper in the world imo.

 

[MatsuShimizu]

Yeah, I read similar news from various sources a few days ago, including The Hacker News.

This video below explains what technically happens - from Digital Forensic Science Youtube Channel

You can also read the explanation from the Proton Mail blog:

Important clarifications regarding arrest of climate activist | Proton

We would like to provide important clarifications regarding the case of the climate activist who was arrested by French police.

protonmail.com

ProtonMail transparency report

I don't know about others, but the ProtonMail transparency report is nothing new to me. I read about that in 2018 on Wilders Security Forum but I keep using it since it is better than Gmail, Yahoo, etc. But I use ProtonMail for security purposes and not privacy purposes. Check out the video and link above for details.

ProtonMail Onion address

If you want to hide your IP, you can use the TOR browser and then surf to this URL from the TOR browser: https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion/

Proton Mail alternatives

If you are looking for alternatives, check out this list: Mailfence, Tutanota, Mailbox.org, Posteo, Runbox, CounterMail, CTemplar, Kolab Now, Start Mail, Soverin, Thexyz, CyberFear. Reviews from this link:

10 Best Private and Secure Email Services for 2025

This guide examines the best secure and private email services that protect your privacy and will keep your data safe.

restoreprivacy.com

If you read the Restore Privacy link above, you can read this quote, nearly at the end of the article:

 

[Deleted member 101831]

I don't use any email client and never have and I never have understood why anyone needs to use an email client.

If I want to sent an mail I log into my email and compose a message and send it.

I get an alert when people send me an email.

 

[KGIII]

I don't use any email client and never have and I never have understood why anyone needs to use an email client.

I do! It keeps everything in place while adding a ton of features that are easy and consistent to use.

I also make good use of the client's calendar and task scheduling.

It should probably be noted that I have a whole lot of email addresses. I'd use an email client even with just one or two email addresses. Thunderbird is open 24/7, or at least as long as my devices are on.