Bitcoin Forum

Mr Ryan found that Google had labelled him with an identifying tracker that it fed to third-party companies that logged on to a hidden web page. The page showed no content but had a unique address that linked it to Mr Ryan’s browsing activity.

Using the tracker from Google, which is based on the user’s location and time of browsing, companies could match their profiles of Mr Ryan and his web-browsing behaviour with profiles from other companies, to target him with ads.

Mr Ryan found six separate pages pushing out his identifier after a single hour of looking at websites on Google’s Chrome browser. The identifier contained the phrase “google_push” and was sent to at least eight adtech companies.

“This practice is hidden in two ways: the most basic way is that Google creates a page that the user never sees, it’s blank, has no content, but allows ... third parties to snoop on the user and the user is none the wiser,” said Mr Ryan. “I had no idea this was happening. If I consulted my browser log, I wouldn’t have had an idea either.”

Should we expect a senate inquiry similar to what happened with Facebook? Google and die hard supporters will try to shrug this off but I hope this really blows up.

I just wish that DuckDuckGo and Gmail alternatives like Protonmail and Tutanota would step their game up. Gmail is still miles ahead of the privacy-focused email clients in terms of UI and UX.

I just wish that DuckDuckGo and Gmail alternatives like Protonmail and Tutanota would step their game up. Gmail is still miles ahead of the privacy-focused email clients in terms of UI and UX.

It's all down to money. Google and Facebook look slick because they can afford to spend on development after making billions selling data. Privacy respecting companies have cut off their most lucrative income stream, and largely survive on donations or the few users who buy their premium services.

I don't agree with this on proton mail.
I am a proton mail user for years, and their service is better than Google mail. Gmail ads are becoming annoying to me, also

The UI/UX in itself is fine, but the hassle comes in if you control multiple email accounts(not aliases).

Using different browsers and using containers could work, but I used to handle more than a dozen emails. And now that I'm mainly using Brave now, for the privacy features and for webdev stuff, these are not options right now.

In other news.. water is wet.

Bloody good investigation by Johnny Ryan though. Not only did he fire shots at Google, along with it, it's also a great low-key promotion for Brave browser.

If anyone's interested more on the accusation, I grabbed a screenshot from the cover of Financial Times.

I'm also a Protonmail user for a while now. The UI/UX in itself is fine, but the hassle comes in if you control multiple email accounts(not aliases). You'd have to manually log out and login on Protonmail to switch emails, whereas in Google and Tutanota you can easily switch between accounts. This might be a limitation due to Protonmail's better security though; but I'm not sure.

Why not use different browsers for different accounts? Or you could use containers (such as this add on from Mozilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/) to log in to all your emails simultaneously.
You could even set up multiple Firefox profiles for different accounts.

Then how do they make money without violate user's privacy (such as scan user's email, sell user's data and use advertising-model)?

The only problem is that their service is expensive. Very expensive.

Use Firefox or Brave Browser or even TOR. The new 69.0 version of Firefox comes with a built-in option to block tracking cookies.
Google is making money selling your online activity to anyone willing to pay for it.

Proton mail has an auto log out feature that cannot be turned off.so after a few minutes of inactivity or if you close the tab, you are automatically logged off.

Why not use their free tier then? In terms of privacy it's just as good as their paid plans.

Google still can track you if you log in into their accounts, like Gmail or Youtube, and they and other companies like Facebook or Reddit can share some data about their users with each other. I've noticed it myself that sometimes Youtube starts recommending videos about something that I've just read on reddit. And I use Firefox with some adblock, noscript and a few other addons.

Privacy has become a very expensive commodity, at a time when everyone is collecting all the possible information about every internet user. Some do it for profit only, but it should not be forgotten that all security agencies are spying internet users in ways that are largely unknown to us today.

https://blog.lopp.net/modest-privacy-protection-proposal/Pricing people out of privacy

Before we begin, I want to be clear that many of the techniques come at a cost. I had to fill out hundreds of pages of paperwork, spend around $30,000 in legal/banking/service fees, and endure a four-month process in order to achieve my goals. I estimate annual recurring costs of over $15,000 for my extreme setup.

Ofc this guy is a really extreme situation, but it is really a shame that we have come to this situation, where protecting our privacy has that high cost.

I've noticed it myself that sometimes Youtube starts recommending videos about something that I've just read on reddit. And I use Firefox with some adblock, noscript and a few other addons.

There's a turn off function or pause on google account settings

A better option would be to use an entirely separate browser for Facebook/Google/Youtube, and another browser for everything else. An even better option is to not have a Facebook or Google account at all.

I read an article by  Jameson Loop where claims that his privacy set up costs him 30k USD and more 15k USD per year.
This includes renting a fake house (to receive goods bought on the internet for example), buying pre paid credit cards, vpn, hardware, and tons of other stuff

Use Firefox or Brave Browser or even TOR. The new 69.0 version of Firefox comes with a built-in option to block tracking cookies.
Google is making money selling your online activity to anyone willing to pay for it.

Which is why they implemented the incognito browser for the user which care about their privacy.

That's not just the cost of privacy, it's the cost of vanishing and fixing your mistakes. If you make sure that your personal info doesn't touch the Internet - no KYC, no personal photos, no real names, etc., then the cost of privacy is much lower.

I mostly agree with you. He made his mistakes.

However, don't you have a verified account in an exchange? You cannot even sell your Bitcoin for fiat without handing over your personal documents. You can't live without doing some kyc from time to time (in real life and virtual life)

Don't you use Google products? Gmail, Google, Android?
Facebook products? Instagram, WhatsApp...

We are surrounded by those services, and we can't avoid them. Browsing the internet on tor is a pain in the ass, blocking cookies is even dangerous because you need to enter you password Everytime, and so on.

However, don't you have a verified account in an exchange?

You cannot even sell your Bitcoin for fiat without handing over your personal documents.

Don't you use Google products? Gmail, Google, Android?

Facebook products? Instagram, WhatsApp...

Browsing the internet on tor is a pain in the ass, blocking cookies is even dangerous because you need to enter you password Everytime, and so on.

Nope. I have exactly one exchange account, opened under a brand new email and fake name not used for anything else.

Nope, nope, and nope.
Instead of Gmail use Protonmail, Tutanota, or Disroot. Instead of Google use Duckduckgo, Startpage, or Searx. Instead of Android use GrapheneOS, LineageOS, or Ubuntu Touch.

Again, nope, nope, and nope.
There is no need to actually ever use social media.
Instead of Whatsapp use Signal.

I used to play a little game called “Let’s See How Completely I Can Ruin My Internet Experience.” I used a Firefox browser with about 50 privacy-related plugins. Any website I visited had large chunks missing due to blocked JavaScript (thanks, NoScript). Once I’d allowed the barest number of scripts necessary, I had to talk my zealous cookie managers into allowing me to log in. That is, of course, after I closed the alerts of analytics packages tracking me, since they typically covered up login forms. Browsing the Internet was, frankly, a chore.

 I treated myself like a criminal, obsessed with keeping a very low online profile. I deactivated my Facebook and ran a Diaspora node instead (no one ever friended me), I left Twitter for Identi.ca (you wouldn’t know her; she’s from Canada), and I ran an unstable build of CyanogenMod on my Android phone that let me remove permissions from applications. I was a ghost in the shell, communicating only in dark alleyways of the Internet like a nerdy drug dealer.

 Regular Internet users rolled their eyes at me when I said, “I don’t use Facebook,” or “I won’t see your tweets; just find me on identi.ca.” In my righteous stand against being tracked online, I became an Internet hipster. And like a hipster, I was pretty smug about it.

I was fighting the good fight, ready at the drop of a hat to offer my cool, insidery 2 cents. “Oh, you’re using Google Chrome? You know, Google knows everything about you now.” “You allow scripts? You’re letting Facebook know every site you’ve visited.” “Do you know how many ad networks you’re plugged into when you visit the Wall Street Journal online?” I felt that if everyone did what I was doing, the big companies would learn their lesson. They’d change, and the Internet of the mid-2000s would come back. We’d have our privacy.

And fake documents? Is this exchange really reliable? Would you send 10k usd there ? I doubt you could do that in bitstamp or coinbase for example.

Use signal and talk to whom? To only 3 nerds from bitcointalk?

Do t you have a personal life? Don't you meet people in parties and they ask for your WhatsApp?

Don't you rent a house in airbnb and talk to the hoster via WhatsApp? You may even be bad rated if you cannot be contacted.

I am sorry but what you are describing is just a shitful internet experience.

Searching ddg is like searching in Altavista.... Using bugged and broken Android versions..

I used to play a little game called “Let’s See How Completely I Can Ruin My Internet Experience.” I used a Firefox browser with about 50 privacy-related plugins. Any website I visited had large chunks missing due to blocked JavaScript (thanks, NoScript). Once I’d allowed the barest number of scripts necessary, I had to talk my zealous cookie managers into allowing me to log in. That is, of course, after I closed the alerts of analytics packages tracking me, since they typically covered up login forms. Browsing the Internet was, frankly, a chore.

Use Firefox or Brave Browser or even TOR. The new 69.0 version of Firefox comes with a built-in option to block tracking cookies.
Google is making money selling your online activity to anyone willing to pay for it.

Signal is more popular than you think, it has over 10 million download on Google Play

I don't agree with this on proton mail.
I am a proton mail user for years, and their service is better than Google mail. Gmail ads are becoming annoying to me, also

They are now going to launch their calendar. When that calendar is done, and if it is good and easy to use (with some automatic update like trips ) there will be no reason to keep using gmail., Imo.

The only problem is that their service is expensive. Very expensive.

Additionally, their UI is amazing, their Android app is nice and clean.

Proton mail also allows you to use an email like bitmover@pm.me for free, which is very cool.

About duckduckgo, unfortunately, it is a shitty search engine. Can't find anything there.
Maybe some customization is necessary in a search engine, such as location based results... I don't know why, but ddg is useless to me.