Just Fired Microsoft

[TWPonKubuntu]

I don't need them at my fingertips (maps). If I travel, I plan my route ahead of need (there are other map sources... think offline or paper).

I also don't travel internationally, so I don't need immediate translation of every language. I'm also good with Spanish and some German and French, not that those are prevalent in my area (US).

It is a question of whether I need immediate gratification or can I wait. Since the cost of that immediate gratification via Google involves my loss of privacy, I find it too high a cost. To each their own.

If someone cannot avoid using Google tools, then they are owned and are "drinking the Koolaid:. In case you miss the reference it is to the Jonestown mass suicide.

I also don't use mobile devices and yes, that does place me in the minority. I also don't run into trees or lamp posts while walking.

I also don't use Microsoft, for similar reasons...

[GreyGeek]

About 5-7 years ago I deleted all my data on my google account and then deleted it. Google warned me that if I deleted my account any data that I didn't download would be permanently lost. I canceled my FaceBook account about 10 yrs ago, within a couple months of creating it. I never joined Twitter. I installed a 1 million + host file from GitHub that automatically updated. It had several thousand IP addresses related to Google, FB, Twitter, and many other corporations. I used FireFox and StartPage. I blocked all ads with ad block tools, making some webpages unreadable, but such is life.

A couple years ago my iPhone 6+ got touch disease and gradually got worse. Last summer I took it to an Apple repair and their only recommendation was to buy a new phone because "Touch Disease" (an Apple euphemism for their poor engineering) "couldn't be fixed". I took their recommendation and bought a new phone, an Xiamoi Redmi Note 7 with Andrid 9.0 Pie. Google makes Android. I wanted the same connectivity with my Android as I had with my iPhone. So I broke down and created a Google account. A few days later I was browsing with Chromium on my Note 7 and a popup from Google said that I could download contacts and URL links from them. I clicked "Ok" and every ULR link I had for the last ten years appeared on my Chromium browser, including login names and passwords for every web account I had created over the last 10 years or so, including those made while using the large host file to block Google's trackers, ads, etc. Either Google has been tracking me despite my host file, or they lied about deleting my data from 5 years ago and previous. Regardless, they definitely tracked me over the last five years. The host file was essentially worthless. And, all my Apple contacts appeared in the Contacts app.

Considering how much the NSA, CIA, and who knows what other gov organizations are spying on us, and Intel's backdoors (are you sure they only have the one that was exposed? Are there others?), I've come to the opinion that blocking spying and ad pixels, and the like are essentially impossible. It is impossible to hide in today's digital society and it will only get more invasive. I want to be able to fire my bank account app and sign in with my thumb print to do my banking business. I want to use a map application to guide me while I drive to parts unfamiliar, or to recommend by passes around road blocks, snow problems, etc. I want to be able to call anyone from anywhere for any reason I want. I want 911 to be active for emergency reasons. I want to check my wife's EKG when ever I want for what ever reason without having to take a trip to the doctor. I want to be able to track my wife's phone and for her to track mine, for what ever reasons we want. On occasion, while shopping, we wonder off on our separate ways. I use the locate app to locate her when I want' to find her again. WIth 15-30' accuracy I can locate her fairly quickly even in a giant department store. All of that means being tracked 24/7/365. My unlocked Redmi Note 7 has a folder that keeps track of my position every moment of every day. Anyone that Google or China allows could access that folder and download those files. It give the date, time, speed, and probable activity for each moment. Basically, I don't care any more. My life isn't that interesting and my politics are not that extreme. I'm too old to be a threat to anyone except my self.

You think you are going to beat the intrusions into your private life by dropping out of the internet and using only cash? Even if you don't use the Internet and pay cash for everything you purchase, your sales receipt contains the data, time, store location and what you bought. The video made at that instant can match up your receipt with your face, which can then be identified via your driver license info, etc, etc., etc., If you use a credit card any corporation that buys your data from the CC company will be able to correlate your info and determine what brand of shorts you wear, what you had for breakfast, and your total physical condition.

Privacy is a myth.

[TWPonKubuntu]

GreyGeek, with respect, I hope you like the flavor of Koolaid being offered by Google (and others), it is the only compensation. I will not stop opposing those who don't respect my privacy. I will not concede defeat.

But I will watch your (digital) back if you watch mine. It seems a wise thing to do at our age and in our current society...

[jlittle]

OP, we've hijacking your "fired Microsoft" thread. Is that ok, or should we start a "let's fire Google" thread?

[TexasGuy1988]

No cloud provider is your friend, for the very same reason as Google is not your friend. No one needs your data, they have so much metadata on you and your interests, that the actual data is just a distraction.

Should you stay away from Google? Only if you can stand the inconvenience. There are so many good browser tools to help you shield yourself.

Know where you are, know what you have in front of you, train your email service, refrain from clicking on a link before hovering and actually seeing the underlying link. Never fall for click-bait.

I actually found a promising cloud storage called SpiderOak. They have a policy of "no knowledge" and have 2048 but RSA and 256 bit AES encryption. And I do have a fiber connection, but it is ****ty. I suspect it is only fiber from the local node and the actual infrastructure is not. My cable internet connection I had before I switched was actually better. And that wasn't much better than the dual-bonded DSL I had before that.

[TexasGuy1988]

You are very much in the minority, not that that is any way a bad thing, more a curiosity on how you get by more than anything. As I said in the discussion over on mobile phones, maps is a killer app for me. Anyone who travels extensively internationally just loves maps and translation.

I do and it's a god send

[TexasGuy1988]

OP, we've hijacking your "fired Microsoft" thread. Is that ok, or should we start a "let's fire Google" thread?

It is fine. I always knew the risk of using a company like Google, but I never did anything about it. For me moving away from Google is part of getting away from Microsoft. I'm enjoying the conversation, and I am also picking a few things up. I feel confident that I can redirect the conversation as necessary.,

[TexasGuy1988]

Thanks to all who are contributing to this thread. I learned a couple of things just reading it.

Let me add a personal warning to those who are still using Google and Google tools/utilities:

I strong (STRONGLY) advise that you begin to move away from Google.

Google is NOT your friend, no matter what others may tell you. Stop drinking the Google Koolaid.

If you can't make that change immediately (though I recommend you go cold turkey, bite the bullet, etc.), then start with using another search engine. I recommend Duckduckgo.com. It is my ONLY search engine, I have deleted all other search engines in my browsers. The reason is to prevent my search details and my online profile from being added to the several different databases maintained by the unsafe search engines. Don't be their product.

The next step is to dump the Chrome browser. You have several choices to replace it. I use Palemoon, which is a Firefox fork. I still have Firefox (Mozilla) from the Linux repositories, but I don't use it. Chrome may be pretty, but it is made by Google. 'nuf said.

Lastly, I recommend installing a script blocker. I use NoScript, a third party tool. There are others available. My configuration of NoScript has a hard block on all things from Google.com. I do, occasionally, relax that block if I really, really, really need to see a webpage which is using Google utilities, but that is rare, Very Rare, really. I use the 'temporary' relaxation of the block and when I'm done with the site, I restore all my blocks. I also put a hard script block on most third party scripts, particularly those which are known to be trackers. Do your own due diligence research on these.

Keep your firewalls up unless you have trust in the website you want to view. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "Verify first, even then give only limited trust".

It is a jungle out there, be careful. Be glad you use Linux.

Well what a rabbit hole I have been down. I just spent the last 3 days deleting over 9 years worth of data from Google. over 50,000 emails, 150 gigs of pictures, 300 gigs of video, all my reviews on maps, every comment and like gone from YouTube. I deleted nearly 1 TB of data, files, and backups from my google drive. All passwords and usernames have been deleted from chrome, all credit cards, debit cards, and account have been deleted from google pay, All tracking, microphone, and memory permissions have been rescinded and ask each time for a single use. Every single google app has been deleted if possible and disabled if not. The only google account I still have is my Gmail. gonna monitor it for a few days and make sure I didn't forget to switch over a billing count etc over to my new email.

My browser is firefox that has ad blockers, tracking blockers, and script blockers.
my search engine is DuckDuckGo
my email is tutanota. It has end to end 256 bit encryption and it requires you to enter an unique pass code that I personally assign in order to read an email.
my mapping app is Sygic. Instead of live tracking it uses maps that have to be downloaded for each state. Location access must be given each time the app is used and then it is set to immediately wipe all data.

I wonder if I missed anything?

[TWPonKubuntu]

Truthfully, yes, there are very likely to be some things we have all missed as we tried to erase parts of our online presence. Read GregGeeks post #17 above for his experience.

I remain optimistic about being able to oppose bad players such as Google. They may simply be lying about our ability to truly delete/erase our content from their database. That doesn't stop me from trying and, IMO, it should not stop you either.

[TexasGuy1988]

Truthfully, yes, there are very likely to be some things we have all missed as we tried to erase parts of our online presence. Read GregGeeks post #17 above for his experience.

I remain optimistic about being able to oppose bad players such as Google. They may simply be lying about our ability to truly delete/erase our content from their database. That doesn't stop me from trying and, IMO, it should not stop you either.

Yes, I did read about his experience. The difference is that he deleted/deactivated his accounts. I have tediously been deleting all activity, files, data, pics, documents, and video...a single line item at a time. I was at it for 5 solid hours last night. Only AFTER all my content had been deleted did I start deleting the actual accounts. I have also revoked all privileges and permission from all google apps so their gathering method for data has been eliminated as well.

[TWPonKubuntu]

Let us know how well your actions work, please.

[GreyGeek]

Yes, I did read about his experience. The difference is that he deleted/deactivated his accounts. I have tediously been deleting all activity, files, data, pics, documents, and video...a single line item at a time. I was at it for 5 solid hours last night. Only AFTER all my content had been deleted did I start deleting the actual accounts. I have also revoked all privileges and permission from all google apps so their gathering method for data has been eliminated as well.

I did everything you did. And then you pushed the final button to "permanently" delete your Google account, as did I. Google flat out lied. And, even if you don't have a google account they are still tracking you. I used DuckDuckGo and then StartPage as search engines. Did you ever notice that when you hoover over a link on any webpage all you see in the lower left hand margin of the screen is the URL of the destination of that link, BUT, when you click on it the actual link in the URL bar is two or three times longer than the URL bar itself. That long hexadecimal URL contains a lot of tracking information linking you to where you are going from where you've been and more, even if you don't have a Google account and use FireFox or whatever browser.

Assuming that Google still has your data, it is fair to assume that your data security depends on their data security, which has had holes and has been hacked in the past. Google doesn't just sit on that data. They sell it to other businesses and give it to Uncle Sam or China, or whom ever asks for it and has the power to hurt their business.

However, Uncle doesn't need Google's help. They are the most massive data hacker in the world, along with various other governments. Uncle owns the data center in Utah, completed in 2012, and is said to have the ability to store yottabytes of data:

n February 2012, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert revealed that the Utah Data Center would be the "first facility in the world expected to gather and house a yottabyte". Since then, conflicting media reports have also estimated our storage capacity in terms of zettabytes and exabytes. While the actual capacity is classified for NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS, we can say this: The Utah Data Center was built with future expansion in mind and the ultimate capacity will definitely be "alottabytes"!

A yottabyte?

One yottabyte (abbreviated "YB") is equal to 1,000 zettabytes and is the largest SI unit of measurement used for measuring data. ... There is no need for a unit of measurement larger than a yottabyte because there is simply no practical use for such a large measurement

That's 10^24 bytes of data. One Yottabyte contains 1,000 Zetabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000 Terabytes, or 10^12 TB. I've read where that facility can hold 10-12 Yottabytes. I've read reports stating that data center was designed to store ALL the Internet and phone traffic in the world for the next 100 years.

Their justification, besides the misnamed Patriot Act, is "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear". Which is utter nonsense.

Here is their words bragging about their ability to violate the 4th Amendment:

Why We Collect Your Data

In the past, domestic law enforcement agencies collected data AFTER a suspect had been identified. This often resulted in lost intelligence and missed opportunities. But what if data could be collected in advance, BEFORE the target was known? What if the mere act of collecting data could result in the identification of new targets?

What if we could build a national data warehouse containing information about every person in the United States? Thanks to secret interpretations of the PATRIOT ACT, top-secret Fourth Amendment exceptions allowed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and broad cooperation at the local, state, and federal level, we can!

All of these people, and the politicians that took oaths of office promised to "support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic, and they take that OBLIGATION willingly, without mental reservations or purpose of evasion". They lied about supporting the 4th Amendment:
[/quote]

Amendment 4
- Protection from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

Here is how they get the data:

and


You've often heard police say "If you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide". Same pap. Same purpose. Here is what a legal scholar says about that in his video "Don't talk to the police":

EDIT:
Here is an excellent video which explain's Shor's algorithm. Keep in mind that while this video claims that 2700+ qubits would be needed to break an AES-256 key, D-Wave Systems D2 quantum computer is now using over 5,000 cubits.

[TexasGuy1988]

An excellent post, thank you. Learned a lot. I didn't gather that you did all the things I did before deleting your accounts. I have minimum control over what they already have, but I can control what I continue to give them access to. I'm having fun imagining a meeting where the topic of discussion is what to do with users that have disappeared off of everything Google. At the end of the day, however slightly, I am still in a better position data security wise than the average user that doesn't think about these things.

[TexasGuy1988]

@ TWPonKubuntu


Were you talking to me? So far so good I think. The map app I downloaded doesn't track you, but it uses maps that you have to download to your phone. When I did that I realized that I did it through...Google's Play Store. So I immediately made a fake google account with false information where possible and no information where possible. Then I logged into that account on my phone and had to block and disable all apps and permissions again. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days and see what's what.

[GreyGeek]

... At the end of the day, however slightly, I am still in a better position data security wise than the average user that doesn't think about these things.

If you have ufw running, and a wifi router that has a firewall as well. That will keep the script kiddies and non-governmental hackers out.

I doubt that even using VPNs would be helpful to avoid being tracked. The Onion RIng browser (TOR) was funded by the CIA to give its agents in foreign countries a way to report in without having to leave messages at drops, using carriers, etc... The gov hackers can use what they call "signatures" that are unique to each computer, based on hardware, OS, browser, applications running, etc., to identify specific data streams. In addition to that, they have "partnered" with ISPs to add tracking numbers to each HTML packet header, which gets passed along regardless of what VPN or TOR triplet you access. Using a P2P protocol, like FreeNet, IPFS, etc..., will establish a tunnel from your computer through your ISP to your destination, providing they are using the same protocol, and the information passing through it is encrypted. However, they can still identify the tunnel and save its packets for later analysis. A story of how the feds attacked the Dark Web is here.

I suspect that progress on quantum computers is occurring faster than researchers are saying, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Feds (or Russia or China or Israel) have been using them for over 5 years to crack many passwords. Look how quickly Israel hacked into a locked Apple iPhone. Therefore, it also wouldn't surprise me to learn that the gov has been throwing shade on quantum computer development for that long as well.

Shor's and/or Grover's quantum algorithms may be farther along that we realize. It is often claimed that the AES-256 requires an attack time (or string size of 2^128 (9007 TB), but actual has been reduced to 2^56, which is less than what was required of the AES-128 key. Besides, AES-256 keys derived from text string passwords could have less than 256 bits of entropy because of pattern similarity: greygeek1234, greygeek1235, greygeek1236, etc....

So, want to keep it secure? Don't save it on a computer, especially one connected to the Internet. For me, running Kubuntu and my firewalls to keep normal hackers out, and 4096 key to sign my emails so that they can't be altered by recipients who could claim I wrote something I didn't, is all the security I will bother to support. The rest just takes too much time and bother, and is a pain to maintain. I even remove apparmor, which is also a big pain.