Maintaining privacy?
 

How do experienced Linux users maintain their privacy?

Encryption, password protected documents, security, hardening...?

What can one do about spyware, remote access, hackers, computer thieves...?

Here is a good introduction to the topic: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=510812

A good rule of thumb is, don't do anything on your computer or mobile device that you would be embarrassed for your family to read about in the newspaper.

I LOVE THIS STATEMENT! :DThere are at least two different topics here.

1. Spyware, remote access, hackers = intentional attacks to get your information or information about you because they wish to target you for advertising or worse intentions
2. Password protection, encryption = these are local protections to your system to avoid people from just sitting down and accessing your information freely

A good router and maintaining that is a start to remove your system from direct access. Making sure that when you sleep the system that it cannot be accessed remotely or from the Internet, or just shut it down. Using password protection is a good idea. I'm not a proponent of encrypting my home directory or the entire system disk. Instead I feel that possibly encrypting personal data, which is also removable data such as a USB stick are better ideas.

I encrypted my home folder upon installing Linux. I set my router to WPA2. I hid my SSID. I periodically will disconnect internet when not in use.
Sometimes use Tor browser using mainly only HTTPS. I am working on getting set up on a VPN. You can also play around with Kali Linux to test your computer and router.
When I want to be real private I use a persistence Tails Linux instead of using the OS on my HD

FYI, hacker may even not notice your SSID is hidden while hacking into your wireless network.

yea, usually the mac address can be found even if SSID is not displayed. In Kali Linux when I hack my wifi I choose the mac address. Im just a beginner when it comes to security but hope to get much better as time goes on.

If privacy-breaking were a crime, then it would largely be a crime of [u]opportunity[/i]. People were lured to send e-mail messages in the clear over Google Mail, and to chat in the clear over Google Chat, and to set their phones to automatically connect to every WiFi network in range. (Which is why stores now offer free WiFi: so they can "scrape" your phone while you shop.)

Therefore: send encrypted emails. Don't "text." Use non-server-centric chat tools like Tox.

Instantly, you make it "not trivially easy" to discover what you're saying and to whom you are saying it.

When you go to a grocery store, don't accept their discount card ... just tell the clerk to apply the discount anyway. (They will. They must.)

If you routinely work in a public place like a coffee shop, use an OpenVPN portal-service to encrypt everything that your computer is transmitting.

Even the slightest obstacle (and, some of these obstacles are anything but "slight" ...) will greatly enhance your privacy.

From a privacy point of view, the majority of people are walking around like the Emperor: butt-naked. It requires no effort at all to collect vast amounts of information from them and to eavesdrop on everything that they say. And yet, the case could be (and, has been) made in court that they voluntarily did everything. That they could have taken alternative steps at any time but didn't.

A trained person may assume there is no reasonable expectation of security or privacy on the web.

To help make it slightly more secure you learn and perform as many "best practices" as you can.

Best practices are settings, programs and ways of doing things that limit exposure. It has taken windows and linux many years to try to harden but still many issues exist. Some of them you can't know about because hackers won't tell you about them to be fixed.

I don't use social media and anything I upload (images, videos) I first ask myself, "Am I ok with everyone being able to see this?" - including in a mocking, critiquing manner.

Some people have told me you have no privacy on your computer at all... I disagree, but if I am wrong, there is a significant difference of privacy between what's on your computer and what you put on facebook / twitter / etc.

There is this online tool that will gauge your browser's security level of tracking ( i.e personal data collecting such as your personal info, interests, purchases and activities )

The project is by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). This company is in the forefront of fighting for our privacy and have a high reputation at stake for it.

The online tool is called Panopticlick.

So, if you have Adblock plus, Ghostery and/or others, give Panopticlick a run.

PS: There are no guarantees that all tracking mechanisms can be avoided or block due to their complexity, but with Panopticlick, you can at least have a guage on how well your browser can deal with tracking.

It's not easy to have privacy in today's world. A VPN is a good starting point, but there is no guarantees either. The NSA has claimed they can decipher VPN and Tor traffic. It could be true, or just FUD to divert us from using it.

When using a VPN, do a DNS leak test and remedy it if possible from your VPN provider or modifying some settings in the browser. Or just do a google search on dns leak fix.

DNS leak test at https://ipleak.net/

I use a custom stateful packet firewall tightened down at the port level, a hardware firewall appliance, and VPNs. I was also thinkng of running the VPNs from within a virtual machine only, and then reverting back to snapshot each time I launch the virtual machine. That way whatever was done to the virtual machine by crackers and ne'er-do-wells won't be there when I launch the VM the next time. But Internet history, passwords, bookmarks, etc. won't be there either. I do not use wireless networking unless it's really important. I 'do' use a cellular modem.