Jan. 5, 2022
CD49: digital privacy tools and strategies with @techloreistaken
EPISODE: 49
BLOCK: 717203
PRICE: 2165 sats per dollar
TOPICS: digital privacy tools and strategies, vpns, browsers, operating systems, password managers, 2fa, emails, burner phone numbers
@techloreistaken: https://twitter.com/techloreistaken
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00:00 - Bitcoin miners increasing capacity
00:40 - Migration of Bitcoin mining from China to the United States
01:26 - Access to financing for Bitcoin miners
46:43 - Privacy policies and IP address logging
47:19 - Choosing a secure email provider
48:09 - VPN recommendations
49:48 - Libre Wolf browser
50:54 - Password managers
53:03 - Browsers and privacy
54:26 - Operating systems and privacy
58:32 - Windows and privacy
01:03:30 - Tor and Brave browsers
01:09:31 - Password management and security
01:14:23 - Two-factor authentication
01:23:08 - SMS-based two-factor authentication
01:31:05 - Protecting personal information during the mortgage process
01:31:36 - Using PO boxes and remailers to protect privacy
01:32:19 - Introduction to 'Have I Been Pwned' service
01:33:42 - Benefits of using a password manager
01:34:19 - Introduction to KeePass and StrongBox password managers
01:34:51 - Using SimpleLogin for email aliasing
01:35:19 - Comparison of SimpleLogin to a VPN for emails
01:36:27 - Introduction to SilentLink for eSIM phone numbers
01:37:50 - Discussion on the Calyx hotspot
01:38:46 - Discussion on TextVerify for disposable phone numbers
WEBVTT
NOTE
Transcription provided by Podhome.fm
Created: 3/17/2024 8:08:50 PM
Duration: 6882.351
Channels: 1
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Some of your tweets which which caught my attention, and that is that,
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recently Bitcoin miners are increasing capacity. Now normally that that costs money, and they may have have financed that in different ways. Now it's being financed,
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through banks or or market based financing, which not only could add,
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you know, it it it it could add to the popularity of the whole space, obviously, but it also doesn't take selling of Bitcoin to finance the mining operation. So
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do you see producing more as bullish?
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Or Absolutely. You do? Absolutely. And that's a that's a fascinating thread to pull on, John. Something that has been very overlooked in the market, in my opinion. One of the big developments over the past 12 months was the migration of mining from China, the Bitcoin mining from China. And a lot of that went to the United States, which has two main effects. 1, it changes the narrative around the energy consumption. Moving to North America does give miners access to a much more diversive a more diversified mix of energy sources as well as enable them to participate in the establishment of more renewable sources as well as strengthen some of the existing grids, changing the energy narrative around Bitcoin. But
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even more significantly, perhaps, for the Bitcoin market directly
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is the access that this gives Bitcoin miners to financing, be it through bank based financing, like some credit lines that you're seeing, or through market based financing. We're seeing more and more Bitcoin miners lift on public exchanges and actually do very well. What does this mean for Bitcoin itself? It means that whereas before, miners had to sell Bitcoin
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in order to fund their expansion and operations
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Now they don't need to they can hold on to that bitcoin and we're seeing on chain data support that. Less new Bitcoin coming into the market is bullish. They can be hold
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Happy Bitcoin Tuesday, freaks. It's your boy, Odell, here for serial dispatch
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49.
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I know it's been a few weeks since our last dispatch.
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Hope you guys enjoyed your holidays.
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With friends and family, focus on what's really important out there,
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get your priorities in order.
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I know I sure did.
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I'm really excited about this show. I've been excited since last year.
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So let's get right to it.
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So dispatch is an interactive live show about Bitcoin distributed systems privacy and open source software.
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As always, I wanna thank the rider dive freaks who continue to support this show,
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keeping it ad free and sponsor free and focus purely on actionable Bitcoin discussion.
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And, also,
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as always, a huge shout out to the ride or die freaks who join us,
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for the live shows and participate in the live chat whether that's through Twitter, Twitch, or YouTube.
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Reminder, it is also posted after the fact,
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to our podcast feed and,
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to bitcointv.com.
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I know some of you freaks while live streaming on bitcointv.com.
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It is coming. The functionality is already there. I need to iron out some kinks,
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so I'd leave it disabled for now. But, it will be coming soon in this new year.
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You can support the show via
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I I I I spent 2 weeks off, and I I ruined my show a little bit. You can support the show at seal dispatch.com,
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using Bitcoin, whether that's lightning
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or on chain using a pay NIM,
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or what a lot of freaks like doing is you can support it through podcasting 2 point o apps.
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My favorite too is fountain podcasts
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and Breeze Wallet.
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You simply download the app through the app store,
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load it up with some sats, search Siddle Dispatch, click that subscribe button,
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and you can stream stats directly to my node as you listen. I literally go to my node and it's just every day of the week I just see, you know, 1,
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5, 10, 20, 30 sets coming in, and you, like, literally see as people are listening because they're coming in, per minute. It's really it's really fucking cool, and I appreciate all the freaks out there who continue to support the show that way.
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With all that said,
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this is serial dispatch 49.
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We have a focus on digital privacy tools and strategies,
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with Henry from Tech Lore is taken.
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I'm really excited about this one. How's it going, Henry?
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Really good here. You?
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Very good. Very good. I, have been looking forward to this conversation for quite some time.
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We've had it on both of our calendars.
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I really I just I I mean, before we get started, I just wanted to say I really do appreciate all your work.
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You're an absolute legend, and you're you're a major asset to the space. So I hope all the freaks
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after this conversation go and and and check out all all the resources you've built over there.
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Yeah. And, I mean, same goes for you too. I mean, the stuff you put out is just incredibly good. So, it goes both ways.
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So let's first start with,
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so I guess, we talked a little bit about this before the show,
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but so we have Techlore, which is techlore.tech,
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which is your baby, and you got, like, a whole team there now.
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And then you have, this this new podcast that I'm really enjoying, The Surveillance Report.
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What else are you working on? Are you working on anything else in addition to that?
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No. So,
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I have a big issue of, overcommitting the projects. Yeah. Me too. It's kind of a big deal. So, actually, it's been toning things down over time. We used to do a lot more things, but now it really is just the majority of,
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just the mostly a YouTube channel. It's also on Bitcoin,
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TV as well, which is very exciting.
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And, really, it's mostly just the main content, and then survey and support is the new podcast as well. And everything is built for digital pricing security and to pretty much educate people on how to take back their ownership of their data.
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And, obviously, there's a lot of overlap with cryptocurrencies
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as well.
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Yeah. I mean, I I was
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very excited to get you on bitcointv.com.
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I I guess you had issues with your previous peer 2 provider or something like that?
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Big,
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transition over to privacy guides, and now they split into 2 projects. So we are kind of caught in that mix a little bit because we were in our peer tube instance. It's
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kind of a messy situation, but it's all good. I feel that. Well, anyway, you found a welcome home over at Bitcoin TV, and,
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we're very we're very happy to have you. I think you add a lot to
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to the content on that platform.
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So, I mean,
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our show is,
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very much focused on
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digital privacy. So I think
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you don't have to necessarily be too shy about going into the weeds a little bit as we go here.
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The freaks have gone
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what was that? I love that.
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Yeah. Me too. The freaks have gone on quite a journey,
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with me over this last year.
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So they are pretty
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they're predisposed to a lot of the topics that I I think we're gonna talk about. But
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every good privacy conversation
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starts with the age old question, which is why is privacy important to you and why should everyone else care?
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Are you asking the community or me? I'm asking you.
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Well, for me I think
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first, I discovered privacy mainly because
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I read The Art of Invisibility
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by Kevin Mitnick. Great book. Great introduction to the privacy world. And I think that,
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just the overwhelming amount of dystopian technologies that were found in that book that was it's already an outdated book, was just
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unfathomable.
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Like, things that you see in Black Mirror and things that you see in pretty much any kind of dystopian novel, they're technologies that for the most part can happen today and many of them are used as privacy invasive tools.
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And, I'm sure this will resonate with the crypto community, but
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many of you want control over finances as well as your life, and I think that carries over to data. And, ultimately, I think privacy is just control over data.
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You get to choose what you wanna share with the world.
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I don't necessarily believe everyone needs to be perfectly private, but if you're able to choose what you're sharing with the world, then I consider that an overall win for a lot of people.
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100%. I mean, I
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and within the cyp in the cyberpunk manifesto, I think there's a really clear delineation there where, like, privacy is not secrecy.
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It's the ability to selectively reveal yourself to the world.
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And I think a lot of people,
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tend to fall down that hole, which is like,
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I'm not going to ever obtain a 100%
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secrecy,
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so there's no reason for me to try. But, really, there's bunch of different shades of gray there, and you really want to,
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have control over where you basically end up in that
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in that process. Right?
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Exactly. And it it's funny because,
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a lot of people who do say that, like, oh, I have nothing to hide or I can't achieve perfect secrecy.
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You know that in real life, if they're, talking to a stranger, they're not sharing every little personal detail about themselves. But the moment that it goes into the digital realm,
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we we don't care if we're pretty much seeing the equivalent of that with companies, governments, and everyone in between.
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Just interesting.
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And, I think I had this converse so you were on
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Seth's Seth's great podcast, Opt Out.
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I also joined him on there,
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and I had an interesting conversation with him because,
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and I I mean, you're in you're in the same boat. I mean, the 3 of us are are
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are relatively public figures that talk about privacy.
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And I I imagine
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you get a lot of
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hate about people saying,
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well, you shouldn't be talking if you really cared about privacy, you wouldn't be talking about it publicly. I mean, I've seen your face on a 1000000 YouTube videos,
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quite good YouTube videos.
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How do you how do you counter that when when people bring that up?
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Yeah. Well,
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it's funny because I've gotten a lot better answering that question over the years. I think a few years ago, it was a very common YouTube comment. Like, LOL,
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you're
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talking about privacy and deleting Google, but did you know that YouTube is owned by Google?
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Laughing emojis. And it's like, yeah. We're very much aware.
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It's all about a threat model. It's all about choosing what you wanna share with the world.
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It's unfortunate because I I didn't know TechFlow was gonna become a big thing when I first did it. And if I could go back in time, I wouldn't have shown my face. So it's actually one of the things that is both a blessing and a curse because I think the face adds familiarity.
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I think people feel more comfortable with the content. It makes privacy more presentable,
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because when you're someone who's hiding behind
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just a screen, it it in some ways does make you less of a presentable person. So there is those pros, but again, it's not a sacrifice I'd probably make again.
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But it's something that I can work with. I'm able to hide aspects of my life that I don't wanna share. I'm able to pretty much share with the world what I want to be shared because I'm able to follow my threat model and take proper precautions in the meantime. So, really, like, what we do is exactly what we preach,
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which is
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we let the world decide what they wanna share.
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And and yeah. That's the best answer I have for that. Well said. I mean, I think that,
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I think exposing my face is my biggest regret as well.
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Yeah. We have this guy in the comments,
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Radixrat
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mentioning a full body green suit.
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Our boy, Gigi. Do you know Gigi? He's in the Bitcoin community? I do not.
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Gigi's a fucking legend.
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He's one of my really good friends,
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and he is also very focused on privacy.
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And he's been doing a bunch of videos lately, and he wears a full green bodysuit so that he can green screen whatever face or
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images he wants on his body. And he's actually presented live in person that way as well.
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So for a while, like, I kind of justified
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my,
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me self doxing my face as
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a a necessary
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evil to basically
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try and further education and whatnot. And, also, like you, like, I just didn't expect my content to blow up as much, and I wasn't really thinking about it clearly enough.
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And then Gigi just comes around and just shows that it's possible. He just goes out there and
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just wears the full green suit. It's
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it's definitely a good move.
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The I I yeah. I I'm with you there. If I could go back, I probably wouldn't have shown my face, but it does come with pros.
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The thing with the green suit and this is kind of a side tangent, but,
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it's interesting because the face is something that's so,
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I guess, unique
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to to us as humans. Like, we think of, a face as
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the definition of exposing sensitive information,
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but, there's some people, I I I don't mind naming them, but like the hated one. I think it's a great channel.
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He'll show his hands in some videos.
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And I'm thinking, well, what what if in 10 years, a hand is enough to identify someone?
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So it's just interesting for me to some people that way. There were I it was a drug dealer or a terrorist or
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or, you know,
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some,
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some some type of criminal that they got because he was taking, like, photos of his
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product,
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and I think they pulled the fingerprints off the HD photo.
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Yep. And there was a study done,
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this was many years ago, probably at least 5 years ago, that just a thumbs up in a selfie is enough to get your fingerprint,
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depending on the quality of the image. So yeah. It's just interesting because there is a face, but there's also many other things. So I'd also ask,
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I guess, how well the green suit idea would hold up in the meantime?
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Yeah. Well, I mean, the the green suit's been holding up so far, but I guess he's stress testing the the privacy protections of the green suit for us in in real time. Absolute. I love that for him.
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I, I mean, look. This is one of the reasons why so, like,
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my other show, rabbit hole recap,
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we do a live video stream
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and with our faces. And one of the reasons that dispatch
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is like an audio video hybrid,
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is so that I make sure that my guests don't feel pressured into
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like, I I feel like I want
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we we should kind of as, like, an industry almost,
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especially with with all the lockdowns and stuff that happened around COVID. I feel like there was a major push towards
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digital media, and I feel like
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content just automatically does better if
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you actually have a face there, like you said.
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So
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dispatch was one of the ways of kind of, like, playing with the format
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so that it is an audio only show in terms of participants,
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but there's still a video interaction with this live chat and whatnot.
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I like that.
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It's definitely a little bit of a rebellious take on it.
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Yeah. I mean, there it's it's let me put it this way. It's a topic I think about all the time.
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Some mornings I wake up and I'm like, you're a fucking idiot. Like, why'd you ever go public about privacy?
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And then other times, I'm like, what else
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would be better to do with your life than this?
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And most of the time, it's the latter.
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So that is that is the good news here.
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That's very relatable.
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So one of the things I really like about,
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your channel is
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you don't really
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or just your work in general, you don't really
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you have a very broad demographic.
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You kind of
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you're kind of you're you have videos and guides that are very accessible
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to people that that aren't necessarily very technically savvy, and then you have guides
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and content
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that are for more,
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savvy individuals. Like, I would say I mean, the surveillance report to me is,
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like, I'm the demographic for that. And, like, maybe some of my ride or die listeners are the demographic of that.
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But then and I know this is a touchy subject, but, like, your your main Graphene guide at the time was on a Windows computer to make it more accessible to,
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newcomers.
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When when you when you think about privacy, when you think about someone who is
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trying to basically take the first steps
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to make their life a little bit more private, to not share absolutely everything on the Internet.
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What do you think is, like, the first, like, actionable
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steps that someone should consider doing?
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It's a great question. So first, you're right. We make a ton of different content aimed at different demographics.
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What we're really against is the idea of going to the extreme on every topic,
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which is, like, my biggest gripe with a lot of other channels, which they still have their place and they still have their demographic.
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But,
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I don't think not accessible.
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It's not accessible, and I think that it's unhealthy to set such high expectations for everyone all the time. And it doesn't include threat models.
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Because some people are fine using social media and sharing everything about themselves. Right? Like, we we share our faces, we share certain information about ourselves, and it's totally fair for someone else who's consciously making a decision and understanding the drawbacks, of course, to make a decision that they know might be harmful.
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But we also make several different kinds of content. So some of them you're gonna find are more advanced, and they talk about how to obtain cryptocurrencies anonymously, how to store them safely,
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all about, like, hardware keys, t TOTP,
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things that most people might not want
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to touch. But the people who wanna touch it, they still have that access available.
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It's a very hard balancing act though.
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You know?
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In Go incognito
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yeah. In in Go incognito, the the course,
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that I put together,
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it was like a 2 year project. And one of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to deal with that problem. And one of the best ways I found was each topic
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so let's say it was 2 f a. It starts with the the bare minimum of what you need to understand and know, and it slowly escalates from there. And then, actually, in the background, it's a green screen and the green screen chain changes color,
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to pretty much represent a higher threat model.
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So that's, like, one
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nice way I found of pretty much accommodating different demographics.
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For your second question though, we made a video and I actually this is video was made a while ago, so I don't remember all the tips, but it was like how to get started on your privacy journey.
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I'm trying to find it right now, but it pretty much answers that question and it's,
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here it is.
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One sec.
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Many of the steps are just basic things for most of you listeners, but it's gonna be things like moving to a password
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manager,
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enabling 2 f a on your accounts, just deleting old accounts you don't have anymore,
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being conscious of what you're uploading to the Internet. Those are all basic things that would take people very far. And I think one of the biggest ones that we don't talk about is just moving to end to end encrypted mesh messaging when you can.
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I think moving to an end to end encrypted messenger is already a massive step forward.
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If you combine that with migration to a password manager and enabling 2FA on your accounts, at least people will have basic security
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in mind.
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And you can't have privacy without security, so it's a great starting point.
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What's your favorite messengers?
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I'm big into signal. I by the way, I I'm big into signal, but I'm also very critical of signal.
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Lots of things about signal I don't like. But, overall, I do think it's probably the best messenger to recommend to the people I know. I'd say almost all the people I talk to on a day to day basis in my personal life are on signal.
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Yeah. I mean, I,
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I pretty I pretty much slow and steadily
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onboarded everyone that's important in my life onto signal.
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But, like, I I even got my my family
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basically uses it.
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I have, like, a group chat with my ladies immediate family
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and my immediate family,
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and it's basically almost used as a
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social media type of situation where, like, photos are shared and stuff,
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in that in that single group,
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which is a really nice touch, I think, that people are missing when they're like, I, you know, I don't want to completely detach myself
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from that that social sharing kind of aspect, but I care about privacy.
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100%.
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It's funny,
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my partner and I, we use the one x photo as kind of like a Snapchat feature.
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It's a pretty bad Snapchat knock off, but it does work.
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There's a lot of things signal's good for. I'm seeing some people here. What do you think about matrix with the bridges?
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We actually have a whole community on matrix, and we bridge it to our Discord community.
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It's a pain in the ass. There's really no other way to say it. We host our own bridge
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and,
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it has a lot of problems. It resets permissions pretty frequently, but it does work. It's a very cool project, and I think that bridges are a very cool way.
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If someone's on WhatsApp, you're able to self host your own bridge essentially on WhatsApp and be able to use Matrix with them. So it's it's very nifty. I like Matrix, but I think it's very unpolished, and it's not something I would use,
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for people I know in real life. I mean, I would I would push back a little bit. I mean, the Bridges
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system is a bit hacky.
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I mean, I have people love Discord. I have my own problems with Discord. I mean, Discord's not end to end encrypted. Oh, hey. Hey, Discord.
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Matrix, like, vanilla matrix,
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if you're not using with bridges, if you're if you're using it,
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with, like, Element or one of the other popular clients,
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is is very user friendly. It's it's
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it's pretty easy to get started, especially if you're using, you know, the matrix.org
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home server.
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We have our own self hosted
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matrix room, which I meant to show in the beginning of this chat because, because it's relatively new. That's citadel dot chat. Got almost 300 freaks in there right now.
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But, I'm I'm slowly starting to to fall in love with Matrix because Matrix is is end to end encrypted.
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It's open source. You can self host it.
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It's kind of
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it's kind of like the the dream messaging platform in a lot of ways.
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I I mean, the biggest thing signal has going for it, which is also probably your biggest complaint, but is also the best part of it in a lot of ways is that it uses the phone numbers
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as a,
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like, a contact mechanism,
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which is just very user friendly. People are are
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are used to that with, like, the WhatsApp types of situations and the Imessage types of situations.
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Yes.
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I think everything you said is valid. I those are the aspects of Matrix that I really like as well.
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Really, the only complaint I have with matrix is
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the metadata leakage
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because there is kind of a metadata problem with that signal handles a lot better.
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And, also, I do like disappearing messages on signal. But outside those two things, I still think matrix is an overall great platform.
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Experience as you have personally.
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So,
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that's why I really like signal. But then there are some great things about matrix. Like, I can get element from F droid. Right. You know? Like, I can't get signal from F droid.
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Kind of a bummer.
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So, again, like, I I have issues with signal as well. The phone number requirement would be nice if it was optional. I wish it was available on F droid. I wish they were more open source friendly. I wish that
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they had basic ARM support for Linux.
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What's on on the single desktop app or whatever?
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Yep. I mean, the single desktop app sucks.
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That's another thing that's an issue with it. Yeah. It's not great. Just in general.
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Yeah. And even just like how it, like, it it's basically using your phone as a relay for the
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like, I don't think you can use it. If your phone is off, I don't think you get messages on the desktop client.
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Yep.
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The only
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projects that people should be aware of, but I think really trumps everything else in regards to privacy, security, and anonymity is Briar, b r I a r.
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It's onion routed. It's only available on Android, and it's peer to peer.
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Fantastic. Well, it's it's like optionally peer to peer. Right?
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I believe so, but Like, if No. I if
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I mean, there was all the stories that in, like, China, like, it got censored so then you can use, like, their Bluetooth WiFi to just automatically, like, almost like a mesh net type of situation. Right?
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You can, but I'm pretty sure it's, peer to peer no matter what. I don't think there's any central service because everything's onion routed.
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But I mean, it's it's not purely
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it's not purely
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mesh. Like, if you're in the western world, like, I downloaded Briar
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and, like, I could chat with people on the other side of the world.
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But in, like, a worst case scenario, one of the cool aspects of Briar is that if you could have, like, no cell reception and still use Briar
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if there's people that use Briar that are near you. Right?
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Yeah. Well, those are 2 different. So,
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just because it's global doesn't mean it can't be peer to peer. So peer to peer means that it's just 2 people connecting to each other directly instead of having a central server. The Internet. Yeah.
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Yep. So there's no central server with Briar. So there's no messages being processed through any server. It's just you directly communicating to another device over Tor. But the UX is kind of Oh, yeah. Clunky. Right?
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Yeah. It's not great. Yeah. And then there's someone mentioned session.
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I've I've what what are your thoughts on session app?
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I feel like it needs work Yeah. Polish wise. I've used session. Actually, Nathan from the surveillance support interviewed,
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a team team member from session, Jeffrey Keyes, I believe.
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And, overall, I think it's a really promising
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Right. But it does have some in that way. Right? Like, it give you, like, a code,
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and then Yep. You share with the code. What do you think about 3ma?
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I like it, but I can't convince it's already hard enough to convince people to use a new messenger, not to mention pay for Well, I have, like, 7 messengers on my phone.
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Yeah. I mean, the pay model is definitely friction,
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especially if you're using something like Kallix where you can't even, like, pay for it through the,
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to the app store because there is no Google Play store on on Kallax or or Graphene or something like that.
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So you have to go and I mean, they accept Bitcoin. You can pay with Bitcoin or credit card.
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But I, most of my conversations were at 3
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I I've moved to Matrix now. What was the the what's the metadata issue with Matrix?
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Pretty much whatever home server you're connected to can collect whatever it wants about you. That's kind of the issue with the decentralized model of Matrix. So if you're a part of matrix dotorg, matrix.org is able to collect most metadata on whatever's happening. But if you're in end to end encrypted rooms, they can't actually get the
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what the conversations are happening inside the rooms.
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Yeah. Not the conversations, but, I mean, when you're talking, who's talking is still accessible data, which is the problem. What rooms you're in?
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Yep.
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Now this can be mitigated because on matrix, you can just self host your own home server. In that way, you can assure that everything that's happening on it is is owned by you. So that's kind of the the the awesome thing and the sucky thing about
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you're running your own matrix server, you can still chat with everyone that's on the other matrix servers servers.
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Yep. Exactly. But, obviously,
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you might be unwittingly
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leaking metadata to their servers if they're communicating with you.
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Yep.
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And we we have a freak who's asking how do we know these messenger chat apps are not spook apps like ANOM?
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Well, the number one thing is to be using open source software,
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so that you or other people can verify the code.
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I mean, ANAM was an interesting
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story in itself. Were you aware of this?
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Yes.
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I mean, it was a messenger that I had never heard of until after they arrested everybody.
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Had you heard of it before that?
369
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Not before then. No. A lot of these we, for some reason, like, they seem very popular in, like, the underground world until they, you know, get busted and then we all hear about them. They, like, they, like, push them in through back channels or
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double agents
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and stuff like that, I guess.
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But, like, I think ANOM wasn't even open source.
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But yeah. I mean, look. The number one thing is open source.
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Obviously,
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it could still be a spook operation.
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You know, there's it might not be that many eyes on the code.
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So you gotta be you
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you still should be you should still be careful. You shouldn't, you know,
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blindly trust everything.
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There's no easy answer there. Do you have do you have an answer for that question
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that's more eloquent than mine?
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I think open source is a great starting point. If something's open source, you you already have some assurance there. I think looking at previous history,
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one really cool thing about signal is we can look back at actual attempts
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of trying to get user data, and it's exactly what signal says. They only were able to give up, like, the creation
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the the time and date that they created their account and the last time they were online, and that's it. And that's what they promise.
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You're also able to look at
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actual expert opinions. So not me.
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Not
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other people. Like, people who are actual cryptographers who can look at this stuff and give their actual,
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like,
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really expert advice on these things to give their best recommendations.
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Really, you wanna look for, people who are specialized in their very specific field when you're looking for those kind of solutions. So if you're looking to make sure cryptography is good, you wanna look at the people who are experts in cryptography and what they think about the product.
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One big thing that I've seen a ton, especially in the cryptocurrency community, so this might,
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be a big one for a lot of you. There's a lot of services that are very similar to,
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a ANOM that,
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Matt brought up. Where pretty much,
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you can get this messenger. It's completely off the grid, completely anonymous, and the other big one is,
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an iPhone. It's like an iPhone. I think Skyphones is something similar where they ship you an iPhone that's completely hardened and unhackable, and they make all these massive claims.
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If it's not open source,
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run away as fast as you can. And and usually, like, the massive claims are
401
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:49.740
a a mat are big red flag too when people say, like, unhackable or
402
00:32:50.280 --> 00:32:51.340
absolutely private.
403
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:52.940
Exactly.
404
00:32:54.135 --> 00:32:55.995
Be very careful with all of those things.
405
00:32:56.455 --> 00:32:58.475
Really, like, there's a reason why
406
00:32:59.495 --> 00:33:11.725
the most recommended services are all open source services. If someone's trying to recommend some, like, really weird proprietary thing that no one else is talking about, that should be a big red flag. Yeah. And I mean, a big a big theme I talk about,
407
00:33:12.985 --> 00:33:16.205
a big theme we talk about on dispatch and and my other show,
408
00:33:17.309 --> 00:33:23.169
is just this this whole idea. First of all, everything has trade offs. And most of the time when we're talking about these things,
409
00:33:25.005 --> 00:33:27.665
it's it's it comes down to a trade off between convenience
410
00:33:27.965 --> 00:33:29.345
and privacy and security.
411
00:33:31.485 --> 00:33:31.985
And
412
00:33:32.510 --> 00:33:35.010
you should be you should be very reluctant
413
00:33:35.470 --> 00:33:36.290
when something
414
00:33:38.670 --> 00:33:40.850
something sells itself as both convenient
415
00:33:41.310 --> 00:33:42.050
and private.
416
00:33:43.855 --> 00:33:45.315
Would we do we want
417
00:33:45.695 --> 00:33:46.835
things that are
418
00:33:47.135 --> 00:33:50.275
that are privacy focused to be as convenient as possible? Yes.
419
00:33:51.309 --> 00:33:55.410
But at the same time, like, if you're taking shortcuts, if you're trying to just order a,
420
00:33:57.365 --> 00:34:03.865
you know, just order a hardened phone or something from some fly by night operation that promises to do everything for you,
421
00:34:05.280 --> 00:34:06.720
that is probably a
422
00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.860
that that is probably not a good idea.
423
00:34:11.200 --> 00:34:17.345
Yeah. And actually Yeah. Go on. This brings I have a question for you because I have a few services that I'm very passionate about,
424
00:34:17.965 --> 00:34:25.420
that actually do strike an amazing balance between privacy, security, and convenience, and they're kind of unicorns in the space. So I was wondering if you had any.
425
00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:28.860
Well, I mean, I think signal kind of falls into that category,
426
00:34:29.865 --> 00:34:31.485
especially for Android users.
427
00:34:34.425 --> 00:34:41.590
Because with Android, you can kind of use it as almost like an Imessage alternative where it handles it just becomes your text message client.
428
00:34:44.770 --> 00:34:47.110
I I mean, look. Everything has trade offs.
429
00:34:49.265 --> 00:34:53.125
I I kind of I'm curious. What are what are what are your unicorns?
430
00:34:55.825 --> 00:35:04.200
Signals one of mine. I especially agree on the Android front. Because, like, right now, if I open Signal, I can send a message to all of my contacts through Signal,
431
00:35:04.505 --> 00:35:06.765
through my SIM card, or through Silent Link,
432
00:35:07.224 --> 00:35:08.525
which is just incredible.
433
00:35:10.744 --> 00:35:13.565
And then, I really like Brave and Tor Browser,
434
00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:21.495
which is a little bit unpopular on the Brave front, especially probably in the crypto world. I just turn off all the crypto stuff in Brave personally because I'm not a big fan of Brave rewards.
435
00:35:21.975 --> 00:35:30.155
But, I think the Tor Browser in Brave, it's just download and go. What worries me about Brave is I just feel like there's not many eyeballs on that project.
436
00:35:33.160 --> 00:35:34.860
Tor Browser, I would say,
437
00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:36.860
kinda fits that bill.
438
00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:38.380
I mean,
439
00:35:38.695 --> 00:35:43.115
the question is how you feel about the word convenience. Right? Because, obviously,
440
00:35:44.295 --> 00:35:45.515
tour is really slow.
441
00:35:46.890 --> 00:35:50.750
And then there's a whole trade off of I mean, there's certain websites that
442
00:35:51.450 --> 00:35:54.270
are just gonna break if you try and access them through Tor.
443
00:35:55.665 --> 00:36:00.805
Yep. Thinking like banking websites and stock websites and stuff like that.
444
00:36:02.660 --> 00:36:07.720
But they've done a really good job with Tor Browser. I mean, I have a lot of issues with how the Tor project is run.
445
00:36:08.580 --> 00:36:14.665
I have a lot of appreciation for them, though, and, they've done a good job they've done a good job with the Tor browser.
446
00:36:17.605 --> 00:36:18.745
I know it's it's
447
00:36:19.110 --> 00:36:25.610
it's it's it's difficult. I mean, a lot of times it comes down to defaults. Right? I mean, I think Brave has pretty good defaults.
448
00:36:27.745 --> 00:36:29.365
I mean, I don't use it personally.
449
00:36:30.145 --> 00:36:31.605
They had some kind of
450
00:36:32.945 --> 00:36:36.325
I think it was, like, a couple months ago, they had something that was really bad.
451
00:36:37.569 --> 00:36:42.710
That, like, slipped through the cracks even though it was open source because there weren't that many eyeballs. I forget what it was, though.
452
00:36:43.410 --> 00:36:46.765
And that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. There's a few things. They've had a few,
453
00:36:48.285 --> 00:36:53.560
financial related scandals with the cryptocurrency as well as their affiliate links and also cryptocurrency
454
00:36:54.260 --> 00:37:03.155
token thing is just a major turn off. Yeah. I think that's most people's turn offs from Brey. But you can disable it, but it's still like, okay. I'm using a product
455
00:37:03.615 --> 00:37:05.535
by a team that thinks that's fine. So
456
00:37:06.335 --> 00:37:06.835
Yep.
457
00:37:07.855 --> 00:37:09.075
So, like, you question
458
00:37:09.570 --> 00:37:16.150
you question their decision making and their motives. I mean, signal gets a lot of that shit too because signal just added their own token.
459
00:37:16.690 --> 00:37:17.670
So am I.
460
00:37:18.085 --> 00:37:19.305
Who, like,
461
00:37:20.085 --> 00:37:23.944
I have a lot of respect for him, but Moxie, like, pretend Moxie,
462
00:37:24.724 --> 00:37:26.025
the the creator of signal,
463
00:37:27.150 --> 00:37:29.569
is, like, heavily involved in that token project,
464
00:37:29.950 --> 00:37:32.130
and then they integrated the token.
465
00:37:32.910 --> 00:37:35.410
And he just constantly pretends like it's not
466
00:37:35.914 --> 00:37:41.855
affiliated with Signal at all. And it's like, yeah, we know it's not affiliated with Signal. It's affiliated with you, and you're affiliated with Signal.
467
00:37:44.170 --> 00:37:45.550
Oh, I really like Pop!OS,
468
00:37:48.730 --> 00:37:52.430
the Linux distro. Mhmm. I think they strike a really good balance.
469
00:37:54.285 --> 00:37:58.785
I don't know if I'd go as far as call it a unicorn, but I I think it actually makes Linux
470
00:37:59.165 --> 00:38:00.224
very user friendly,
471
00:38:01.005 --> 00:38:01.905
and accessible
472
00:38:02.640 --> 00:38:04.180
with pretty sane defaults.
473
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:11.045
So I'm pretty happy about that. I mean, I love Kallix. I know you like Kallix a lot.
474
00:38:12.565 --> 00:38:14.825
I think Kallax strikes a pretty good balance.
475
00:38:16.484 --> 00:38:17.865
Yeah. Those are good ones.
476
00:38:19.960 --> 00:38:25.820
So, I mean, you kind of piqued my interest because you mentioned when we were talking earlier, you were talking about
477
00:38:27.615 --> 00:38:30.355
one of the things about signals, they have these court cases,
478
00:38:32.895 --> 00:38:35.714
where they've shown that they've they can't give over information,
479
00:38:38.599 --> 00:38:40.859
And a space that is very
480
00:38:42.680 --> 00:38:43.900
ripe with scams
481
00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:49.655
and requires a lot of trust from their users to the provider is the hosted VPN space.
482
00:38:52.194 --> 00:38:55.720
Hosted VPNs are a massively useful tool for privacy.
483
00:38:57.320 --> 00:38:58.300
They give you
484
00:38:59.720 --> 00:39:01.180
very good Internet speeds
485
00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:03.180
while helping mask your
486
00:39:03.655 --> 00:39:04.155
your
487
00:39:04.535 --> 00:39:08.635
Internet activity from your ISP and also from the sites you visit.
488
00:39:09.895 --> 00:39:12.315
But as a result, instead of
489
00:39:12.620 --> 00:39:14.560
your Internet service provider knowing,
490
00:39:15.740 --> 00:39:20.800
all of your Internet traffic, you are basically handing that information over to a
491
00:39:21.175 --> 00:39:26.155
different third party company that ideally you get to choose and there's competition and whatnot.
492
00:39:27.095 --> 00:39:28.955
And one of the most popular ones
493
00:39:30.430 --> 00:39:33.809
has become private Internet access, which is based in the United States.
494
00:39:34.270 --> 00:39:41.625
And they make, like, all these big claims about no logging, and they have all these court cases where they say they aren't logging and people point to that.
495
00:39:41.925 --> 00:39:45.305
But I just can't get it out of my head that it's a
496
00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:55.420
that it's a massive honeypot and that I mean, all VPN providers are honeypots, but that it's actually a active honeypot where they're tracking users,
497
00:39:57.815 --> 00:40:04.315
partially because they're based in the US and also because some people on their team have really sketchy back stories.
498
00:40:05.970 --> 00:40:07.590
How do you circle that square?
499
00:40:08.930 --> 00:40:09.810
Yeah. So,
500
00:40:10.770 --> 00:40:11.270
first,
501
00:40:12.105 --> 00:40:21.940
what you're saying about VPNs is very accurate. It's a very iffy industry, and, actually, we have open source VPN tools on our site that hope to at least offer some kind of resource for these.
502
00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:31.185
PIA is kind of so I'm gonna get subjective here. A lot of our tools are objective. They're meant to be open source, but I'm gonna give my my thoughts on PIA here.
503
00:40:32.305 --> 00:40:34.885
First off, those court cases, I believe, are from 2013,
504
00:40:35.745 --> 00:40:37.925
based on memory. They're from a long time ago.
505
00:40:39.430 --> 00:40:40.170
What really
506
00:40:40.710 --> 00:40:44.250
does rub me the wrong way outside of the terrible history
507
00:40:44.630 --> 00:40:49.994
and also their recent purchase by Kape. Kape is a malware. They used to produce malware and now they bought Hapen PIA.
508
00:40:50.375 --> 00:40:55.515
And they own a bunch of VPN providers. Right? Exactly. So they own several VPN providers as well.
509
00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:03.460
They really rubbed me the wrong way mostly because there's some basic things they could be doing that they're not.
510
00:41:04.319 --> 00:41:09.945
A warrant canary is a big one, which pretty much says oh, what a warrant canary is is,
511
00:41:12.405 --> 00:41:12.905
essentially,
512
00:41:13.205 --> 00:41:17.720
you put a web post on your website that says we are not compromised.
513
00:41:19.220 --> 00:41:33.665
And if that company is ever forced a gag order or forced to start collecting data, they change the warrant canary or take it off. That's pretty much a legal workaround to be able to let people know that they've been compromised. Because the gag order doesn't allow them to post, we've been compromised,
514
00:41:34.350 --> 00:41:37.010
but they can remove something. They can't add something.
515
00:41:37.310 --> 00:41:37.810
Exactly.
516
00:41:38.990 --> 00:41:42.930
PIA not only does not have a warrant canary, they have a massive blog post
517
00:41:43.315 --> 00:41:52.295
detailing why warrant canary is not a good thing to have at all and how it solves the wrong it I'm mostly quoting word for word. It solves the wrong problem
518
00:41:53.190 --> 00:41:59.450
because people should just not keep logs in the 1st place. Like, that's that's not really the issue. It's trying to be
519
00:42:00.715 --> 00:42:01.455
targeted there.
520
00:42:02.475 --> 00:42:04.335
Something else is that with signal,
521
00:42:05.835 --> 00:42:07.695
the encryption's done on your device.
522
00:42:08.840 --> 00:42:15.740
And this is done as well with a VPN, but the difference of the VPN is even though it's encrypted, the the data is still being traveled through their servers.
523
00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:20.724
And at the end of the day, you're still having to trust this VPN company with that data.
524
00:42:21.585 --> 00:42:29.710
I just don't personally don't have enough faith in a company like PIA to be able to handle that data well. Well, your data is encrypted, but they know the entry point and the endpoint.
525
00:42:30.250 --> 00:42:33.069
Right. Right. So they know what sites you're visiting,
526
00:42:36.415 --> 00:42:42.995
and they know your IP address, obviously. So they know who you are. If you're paying with a credit card, then they know who you are even more.
527
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:43.900
Mhmm.
528
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:46.060
I think
529
00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:48.940
we both like the same 2 VPN providers.
530
00:42:49.560 --> 00:42:50.780
IVPN and Mullvad?
531
00:42:51.155 --> 00:42:52.135
Yeah. But I'm
532
00:42:52.595 --> 00:42:53.655
like, I've been recommending
533
00:42:54.195 --> 00:43:02.730
for so long that my running joke with the freaks is that if it is a honeypot, then we'll just all go down together because I'm I'm using it too. So
534
00:43:03.270 --> 00:43:08.810
Yeah. I think, IVPN, Mullvad, and my other 2 that I throw in there would be Proton and Windscribe.
535
00:43:09.855 --> 00:43:12.115
I like those 2 as well. The Proton definitely,
536
00:43:12.975 --> 00:43:21.000
kinda sends some people the wrong way, which I think is valid. I think if you distrust companies, that's fine, though I still like to encourage people to look at all the data points.
537
00:43:21.540 --> 00:43:29.405
Proton's a weird one for me in general. Yeah. That's fair. I I know some a lot of people don't trust Proton. I mean, they, like, came out, like, right after
538
00:43:30.265 --> 00:43:37.050
so I'm, like, kind of a little bit curious about your privacy journey. I mean, my privacy journey really began in earnest with the Snowden leaks.
539
00:43:38.970 --> 00:43:40.750
Like, I thought we could trust tech companies
540
00:43:41.130 --> 00:43:42.030
before Snowden.
541
00:43:42.410 --> 00:43:44.590
After Snowden, I basically realized that,
542
00:43:46.755 --> 00:43:47.255
whether
543
00:43:47.715 --> 00:43:52.935
whether they, you know, do it voluntarily or whether they're forced to, there's a lot of
544
00:43:54.869 --> 00:43:59.770
cooperation. They're basically an extension of the state, but also, like, a lot of these companies have
545
00:44:00.150 --> 00:44:01.930
financial incentive to track users.
546
00:44:02.885 --> 00:44:06.984
And, like, Proton, like, kind of came out of the Snowden leaks, and it was,
547
00:44:08.405 --> 00:44:11.945
you know, championing privacy directly after the Snowden leaks.
548
00:44:12.870 --> 00:44:14.970
And it always felt to me, like,
549
00:44:16.390 --> 00:44:17.850
I don't know. Like, if if
550
00:44:18.150 --> 00:44:19.050
if if
551
00:44:19.350 --> 00:44:22.090
if if you were the state and you wanted to
552
00:44:22.615 --> 00:44:26.954
and you and you wanted to take advantage and and still hold some of your grasp
553
00:44:27.415 --> 00:44:31.355
post note and leaks, like, the best thing to do is, like, launch a Swiss based company
554
00:44:31.670 --> 00:44:34.330
that says we're gonna take care of all your privacy for you.
555
00:44:36.390 --> 00:44:39.210
But, like, the email is a very compelling offer.
556
00:44:39.925 --> 00:44:42.105
It's a compelling project product.
557
00:44:45.285 --> 00:44:54.640
You know, I'm not skilled enough to inspect the code, but I I believe it it is it is supposed to be all everything is supposed to be done client side in your browser.
558
00:44:56.140 --> 00:45:01.035
The whole way they handle, like, their anti spam mechanism or where they're, like,
559
00:45:01.735 --> 00:45:06.475
they wanna verify a phone number or an external email address in order to sign up
560
00:45:07.369 --> 00:45:09.710
kinda rubs me the wrong way. I mean, both IVPN
561
00:45:10.170 --> 00:45:11.070
and MOLVAD,
562
00:45:11.770 --> 00:45:13.950
you don't even have to provide an email address
563
00:45:14.410 --> 00:45:15.150
by default,
564
00:45:16.465 --> 00:45:18.245
which I like that flow a lot better.
565
00:45:19.585 --> 00:45:20.325
I agree.
566
00:45:21.345 --> 00:45:22.885
But, like, I don't I don't particularly,
567
00:45:23.425 --> 00:45:27.890
like, not recommend Proton. I just always had this, like, weird vibe about it.
568
00:45:28.510 --> 00:45:32.930
Yeah. And, that is something that we talk about sometimes. It's like,
569
00:45:33.295 --> 00:45:34.675
there's just some services
570
00:45:35.615 --> 00:45:36.115
that
571
00:45:37.375 --> 00:45:38.515
I just don't like.
572
00:45:38.815 --> 00:45:42.160
And when I cover content, I I recommend them.
573
00:45:43.180 --> 00:45:43.680
But
574
00:45:44.380 --> 00:45:45.200
it's like
575
00:45:45.579 --> 00:45:55.265
I the it's just a subjective thing. So I think it does come back to, like, if you don't trust something, I still recommend you look through the data and make your own assessment on it. But if you don't trust something,
576
00:45:56.285 --> 00:45:57.185
trust that instinct,
577
00:45:57.940 --> 00:46:02.200
to some extent, I I think be aware that it is just a a feeling, but
578
00:46:04.315 --> 00:46:08.895
I don't know. I say, like, to some extent, it's fine to act on that. Personally, I trust Proton.
579
00:46:09.435 --> 00:46:13.295
Our whole team uses Proton. I use Proton in my personal life. I think they're
580
00:46:15.180 --> 00:46:25.665
password protected emails to external contacts is just phenomenal because even Right. Someone who doesn't have Proton or doesn't use PGP, they can still get an encrypted email. That's end to end encrypted.
581
00:46:26.845 --> 00:46:27.665
It's fantastic.
582
00:46:29.485 --> 00:46:29.645
But
583
00:46:30.580 --> 00:46:34.440
yeah. I think it's all based on trust. And if Proton wasn't able to
584
00:46:35.460 --> 00:46:37.935
prove that they're trustworthy to you, then I think you're valid.
585
00:46:38.815 --> 00:46:42.835
And didn't they recently, like, change their privacy policy or something?
586
00:46:43.935 --> 00:46:47.530
Yeah. So there was a recent, there was a French activist,
587
00:46:49.270 --> 00:46:50.090
and pretty much,
588
00:46:51.190 --> 00:46:54.090
what happened was they were part of a nationwide
589
00:46:55.435 --> 00:46:55.935
investigation,
590
00:46:56.315 --> 00:47:07.990
and what happened was Proton then had to start logging an IP address on that one user. So they updated the privacy policy to now better reflect that they do that, but they've always said that they did that. If you looked back
591
00:47:08.530 --> 00:47:10.150
through their articles from 2013,
592
00:47:10.850 --> 00:47:14.150
way back in the day, they post all this information of what they collect.
593
00:47:14.595 --> 00:47:15.255
And most
594
00:47:16.115 --> 00:47:21.680
pretty much any centralized email provider is going to collect that information. And if they're not, they're probably lying to you,
595
00:47:22.240 --> 00:47:24.819
because they're not gonna be able to fight against the massive government.
596
00:47:25.359 --> 00:47:31.300
So, just be aware of what a, quote, private email provider will will offer you. They're not gonna offer you
597
00:47:31.775 --> 00:47:38.755
magical IP address protection, but they if they're promising end to end encrypted and it's open source, you can guarantee that it's gonna be end to end encryption.
598
00:47:39.455 --> 00:47:39.935
Right. But
599
00:47:40.860 --> 00:47:41.840
which is why it's important
600
00:47:42.940 --> 00:47:47.440
to couple that with a VPN so you're not leaking your IP address to them
601
00:47:48.220 --> 00:47:49.120
or Tor.
602
00:47:49.515 --> 00:47:52.655
But if you're using their VPN, it kinda defeats that purpose.
603
00:47:53.275 --> 00:47:55.855
It's funny because they argue other ones,
604
00:47:56.955 --> 00:48:14.900
which I'm kind of iffy on. I don't think that would fly, but they actually argue otherwise because they say their VPN is handled differently and they wouldn't be able to to do anything there. That that's what they're saying. I'm Well, that sounds like a bullshit. The message. Yeah. Yeah. It does sound like bullshit to me. We're gonna shoot you. We're we're shooting you live on dispatch.
605
00:48:15.680 --> 00:48:17.860
Just real quick. Someone asked about TorGuard.
606
00:48:18.240 --> 00:48:19.860
I think you can do better.
607
00:48:20.265 --> 00:48:25.085
Personally, I think you should have higher standards for the pricing security of your VPN. Same goes with NordVPN.
608
00:48:25.944 --> 00:48:31.530
Most people horrible. Nor Nord is a horrible track record. Nobody should use Nord. I'll go just say that.
609
00:48:32.710 --> 00:48:45.005
I I really would stick to to, like, IVPN and Mullvad if privacy and security is your absolute goal, And I think Proton and win and Windscribe are great alternative options as well. I used to like Bolle a lot. Did Bolle
610
00:48:45.800 --> 00:48:48.540
cross your radar ever? No. I've never heard of it. No.
611
00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:53.099
I mean, I haven't used it in years, so
612
00:48:53.755 --> 00:48:56.494
don't count this as a recommendation, freaks. But,
613
00:48:57.914 --> 00:48:59.934
before I discovered Molebat, I liked.
614
00:49:01.730 --> 00:49:03.350
I think they were based in Singapore.
615
00:49:05.250 --> 00:49:05.750
Anyway
616
00:49:06.050 --> 00:49:06.550
so,
617
00:49:06.930 --> 00:49:21.859
I mean, look. The VPN question is not an easy question, and it's a perfect example to me in the privacy world, the digital privacy world, about trying to measure trade offs and measuring it against your threat model and trying to make a decision yourself,
618
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:26.820
because it is a topic that you could literally dedicate
619
00:49:27.185 --> 00:49:29.285
hours to talking about days,
620
00:49:30.465 --> 00:49:35.685
with tons of nuance. And then all at the end of the day, like, a lot of it just comes down to reputation.
621
00:49:39.540 --> 00:49:40.940
So where do we go next?
622
00:49:41.380 --> 00:49:41.790
Do you,
623
00:49:43.515 --> 00:49:47.535
someone asked in the comments about Libre Wolf Browser. Have you ever heard of that?
624
00:49:48.075 --> 00:49:48.475
Yeah.
625
00:49:49.035 --> 00:49:50.975
Libre Wolf essentially is Firefox.
626
00:49:52.070 --> 00:49:58.570
Well, I do you want me to explain it or do you I just want my thoughts. Sorry. I don't know. Explain it. Explain it and then give us your thoughts. Okay. Libre
627
00:49:59.030 --> 00:50:04.955
Wolf is pretty much an open source. Firefox is open source, so Libre Wolf took Firefox and forked it,
628
00:50:05.494 --> 00:50:11.890
and they pretty much applied some out of the box patches to it to make it more private and secure out of the box. So they disable some of the,
629
00:50:12.430 --> 00:50:15.010
analytics and telemetry collected by Mozilla,
630
00:50:15.310 --> 00:50:20.595
and they also, I think, pre install ublock origin, and they modify some I think they modify some of,
631
00:50:22.035 --> 00:50:25.575
it's not flags. It's the other about the about config menu for Firefox.
632
00:50:27.670 --> 00:50:32.650
But, yeah, personally, I I I don't see a need for it. I personally just like using,
633
00:50:33.510 --> 00:50:35.370
Firefox if I'm gonna use Firefox.
634
00:50:35.865 --> 00:50:39.165
But I think that if you just want kind of a Brave esque
635
00:50:40.905 --> 00:50:46.300
alternative to Firefox, which is just like out of the box ready to go, I think that's probably your best bet, something like Libre.
636
00:50:46.600 --> 00:50:49.420
But it sounds like for your daily driver, you use Brave.
637
00:50:49.960 --> 00:50:54.460
Yes. I use Brave and I use Tor Browser for pretty much everything. Those are my two favorites.
638
00:50:54.875 --> 00:50:58.174
And then you don't use, like, that built in Tor feature on Brave. Right?
639
00:50:59.915 --> 00:51:03.490
What was that? That that built in Tor feature on Brave?
640
00:51:03.970 --> 00:51:04.710
Very rarely.
641
00:51:05.090 --> 00:51:16.454
I wouldn't trust that for anonymity. Like, the same anonymity you'd get from the Tor browser. Because the Tor browser's built from the ground up to make you anonymous. Brave won't do that. Brave just essentially masks your IP address.
642
00:51:16.915 --> 00:51:30.125
I do use it if someone just sends me an onion URL to download download something, which for some reason is happening more often than than I'd like. Well, actually, you know, it's a good problem to have, but it's just frustrating downloading things that are just, like, gonna be public videos,
643
00:51:31.705 --> 00:51:39.760
through, like Yeah, man. I mean, I feel like me and you are I I think most people aren't getting lots of onion addresses, but I would like to see more of them.
644
00:51:41.420 --> 00:51:41.920
Agreed.
645
00:51:42.380 --> 00:51:42.860
I,
646
00:51:43.340 --> 00:51:46.640
I mean, the browsers is another can of worms that's really
647
00:51:48.335 --> 00:51:51.234
just personally interesting in the privacy world.
648
00:51:51.775 --> 00:51:57.270
I mean, in general, you should probably not be using browsers, I think, that don't have that many eyes on them.
649
00:51:58.770 --> 00:51:59.670
Your browser
650
00:52:00.210 --> 00:52:02.230
has so much information on you.
651
00:52:03.224 --> 00:52:07.964
Capability of collecting so much information on you that it is a really, really
652
00:52:08.505 --> 00:52:09.565
crucial tool,
653
00:52:09.865 --> 00:52:12.285
if you care at all about your privacy and security.
654
00:52:14.670 --> 00:52:17.730
I mean, if we're gonna talk about, like, actionable first steps,
655
00:52:18.110 --> 00:52:21.970
like, you probably shouldn't be using Google Chrome signed into your Google account.
656
00:52:23.165 --> 00:52:27.105
Probably should get rid of your Google account if you have the capability of doing that.
657
00:52:28.684 --> 00:52:34.690
But definitely, you know, your main browser shouldn't Chrome signed in to your completely doxed Google account.
658
00:52:36.590 --> 00:52:37.090
Personally,
659
00:52:37.550 --> 00:52:38.050
I
660
00:52:39.155 --> 00:52:42.055
was I was using ungoogled Chromium for a while.
661
00:52:45.075 --> 00:52:45.474
The
662
00:52:46.700 --> 00:52:49.600
I mean, a lot of the web is, like, built for Chromium
663
00:52:50.380 --> 00:52:51.280
or Chrome,
664
00:52:53.695 --> 00:52:54.675
which is unfortunate.
665
00:52:54.975 --> 00:52:59.795
And then recently, I just switched now I just use Firefox, and I just change a bunch of settings myself.
666
00:53:00.975 --> 00:53:02.760
Nice. That's a good setup.
667
00:53:03.060 --> 00:53:07.800
There's a lot of things that, like, get broken when you use Firefox and go to websites. It's weird.
668
00:53:08.340 --> 00:53:09.480
But my pay grade.
669
00:53:10.100 --> 00:53:10.920
Yeah. No.
670
00:53:11.845 --> 00:53:12.984
I I really
671
00:53:13.285 --> 00:53:15.385
am not a fan of using Firefox
672
00:53:15.685 --> 00:53:16.185
personally.
673
00:53:16.805 --> 00:53:19.945
Very personal preference. But I think the browser wars are pretty ridiculous,
674
00:53:20.579 --> 00:53:29.400
at the end of the day. Like, as long as you're avoiding Chrome and Opera and Edge and you're sticking with either Firefox Brave or Tor or really any other semi
675
00:53:30.125 --> 00:53:31.184
private browser,
676
00:53:31.645 --> 00:53:34.944
you're doing better than majority of the people. So it's always a good step forward.
677
00:53:35.244 --> 00:53:36.944
I forgot Opera still exists.
678
00:53:37.405 --> 00:53:40.980
They're owned by a Chinese company. Right? I believe so.
679
00:53:42.240 --> 00:53:45.540
I think they have a VPN too. One of the interesting things is,
680
00:53:46.480 --> 00:53:46.980
Mozilla
681
00:53:47.365 --> 00:53:51.464
for Firefox now has Firefox VPN, which is just white labeled Movad.
682
00:53:51.924 --> 00:53:52.424
Yep.
683
00:53:53.845 --> 00:53:56.184
Which I feel like makes it a lot more accessible.
684
00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:08.535
Should we talk about operating systems? How do you feel So, like, you have a bunch of guides that incorporate Windows. I've
685
00:54:09.475 --> 00:54:10.775
maybe I've just gotten,
686
00:54:12.830 --> 00:54:14.930
I've, like, gotten to the point in
687
00:54:16.750 --> 00:54:20.770
my privacy journey or my education privacy journey where I just
688
00:54:21.675 --> 00:54:23.615
I just tell people they shouldn't use Windows.
689
00:54:23.995 --> 00:54:25.375
How do you feel about Windows?
690
00:54:26.395 --> 00:54:27.215
Yeah. So
691
00:54:27.595 --> 00:54:28.690
first, we have,
692
00:54:29.089 --> 00:54:33.190
we spent a lot of time on this. This took pretty much all of 2021 to do, but we have
693
00:54:33.569 --> 00:54:37.589
a whole, like, 20 minute per operating system guide.
694
00:54:38.225 --> 00:54:46.885
So we did a guide for iOS, a guide for Android, a guide for Windows, a guide for macOS, and a guide for Linux. So we made 5 different guides for different operating systems,
695
00:54:47.289 --> 00:54:51.230
all covering the same information, but essentially specific to each operating system.
696
00:54:51.690 --> 00:54:53.150
And the Windows one,
697
00:54:53.450 --> 00:54:54.589
it starts with a skit
698
00:54:55.225 --> 00:55:03.325
because it it it starts with someone like, oh, this is the all in one Windows privacy and security guide. And then someone crashes through the door and says, just use Linux.
699
00:55:04.369 --> 00:55:04.869
And,
700
00:55:05.890 --> 00:55:08.549
while I think that probably is the easiest way
701
00:55:09.569 --> 00:55:12.549
to essentially prevent almost all of Windows problems,
702
00:55:13.295 --> 00:55:16.035
at the end of the day, there's just some things,
703
00:55:17.695 --> 00:55:27.640
that Windows still does for people. Like, if someone's dependent on Adobe and they can't switch to the open source solutions, they're either gonna be using Mac OS or Windows, or they're gonna try to get some half baked solution
704
00:55:27.940 --> 00:55:37.255
using wine, using a old version of Adobe, or they have to use KVM to get Windows. But either way, if you're using KVM with Windows inside of Linux virtual machine,
705
00:55:37.715 --> 00:55:43.250
don't you still wanna make that version of Windows private secure? So, essentially, like, we like to be open to different people's,
706
00:55:44.670 --> 00:55:47.650
situations because at the end of the day, you can make Windows
707
00:55:48.030 --> 00:55:49.730
significantly more private and secure.
708
00:55:50.185 --> 00:55:52.125
And just because you can't make it perfect,
709
00:55:52.665 --> 00:56:20.160
doesn't mean that, we shouldn't, like, cater to that audience at all. But in that Well, that's why I appreciate you about about you guys. But, I mean, to me, Windows is just spyware at the OS level. Agreed. I don't even Yeah. And and, like, so we talk about that too in the guide. At the end, we're like, hey. We did a ton. We might have made Windows 80% better, but at the end of the day, there's still, like, the following things you can't do. And if you're still concerned about this, you should really look into Linux or any other operating system.
710
00:56:21.500 --> 00:56:25.414
So that's that's kind of our approach. We like to keep things open ended. We like to cater to everyone.
711
00:56:26.595 --> 00:56:43.345
It's definitely easier though sometimes to just go, yeah, just go use Linux. Because sometimes there's someone who's fully capable of using Linux, but they're a little bit intimidated by it, and I go go try it out. Or if anything, I think the under discussed option, which definitely gets a lot of hate, I'd rather people be using a MacBook
712
00:56:43.725 --> 00:56:44.465
than Windows.
713
00:56:44.845 --> 00:56:48.065
Yeah. I mean, that's where I land on it. Like, I mean, I
714
00:56:49.005 --> 00:56:51.530
I mean, the other thing about Linux, I mean, there's
715
00:56:53.430 --> 00:56:59.015
a there there's, like, a I mean, there's obviously a learning curve. I think Pop!OS does a pretty good job,
716
00:57:00.055 --> 00:57:01.755
bridging that learning curve, but
717
00:57:04.350 --> 00:57:07.970
if you don't know what you're doing, it could be more dangerous than if you're using OSX,
718
00:57:08.270 --> 00:57:09.330
if you're using a MacBook.
719
00:57:12.285 --> 00:57:25.460
I also would say, like, if you need to use something that is Windows specific, if you have work related things or something like that, like, you can have a dedicated machine just for that. I mean, it's still useful that you have your guides to to harden that machine as much as possible.
720
00:57:27.519 --> 00:57:30.260
But, you know, a lot of our conversations end up
721
00:57:31.725 --> 00:57:33.905
what what we see in the Bitcoin world,
722
00:57:34.365 --> 00:57:37.105
and I've seen this on my own personal journey is,
723
00:57:37.829 --> 00:57:38.650
you know, Bitcoin
724
00:57:39.030 --> 00:57:40.089
is a
725
00:57:40.390 --> 00:57:42.329
a purely digital bearer asset.
726
00:57:43.910 --> 00:57:47.369
So all of a sudden there's this direct financial reason,
727
00:57:48.695 --> 00:57:51.595
why you wanna take digital privacy and security safely.
728
00:57:52.775 --> 00:57:58.620
And that's because you're managing these these secrets, these private keys that if they're taken, you lose your Bitcoin.
729
00:57:59.640 --> 00:58:05.825
So when I have people come to me and they're saying, I'm trying to do this Bitcoin thing or this Bitcoin thing on a Windows machine, I'm like
730
00:58:06.285 --> 00:58:08.545
I'm like, man, you just gotta get another computer,
731
00:58:09.245 --> 00:58:11.425
and you it's either gotta be
732
00:58:12.490 --> 00:58:13.870
ideally a a
733
00:58:14.250 --> 00:58:20.270
you you flash Linux on it and you put Pop!OS on it. But even if it's a MacBook, you gotta just have a dedicated machine
734
00:58:20.615 --> 00:58:21.595
that's not Windows,
735
00:58:22.935 --> 00:58:24.235
and use that because
736
00:58:24.775 --> 00:58:29.755
you're just you're just starting off on the wrong foot if you're trying to secure these secrets on Windows.
737
00:58:31.880 --> 00:58:37.579
Agreed. I think that, for sure, for certain, threat models and for people who really wanna start on the right foot,
738
00:58:38.035 --> 00:58:40.855
starting on Windows is incredibly challenging to do.
739
00:58:41.635 --> 00:58:48.980
Yeah. And I think that having separate devices is a great solution. And there's other solutions too. Like, there's virtual machines. There's dual booting. Dual booting is a really nice one.
740
00:58:50.080 --> 00:58:51.620
And you can add different devices.
741
00:58:52.480 --> 00:58:53.220
You can
742
00:58:54.080 --> 00:58:54.900
there's there's
743
00:58:55.904 --> 00:58:59.045
more extravagant solutions, but those are all great solutions as well.
744
00:58:59.424 --> 00:59:02.164
Yeah. I mean, the problem with dual booting for me was always,
745
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:12.535
like, one of the things that I always really liked about Linux is, like, if you just fuck if you fuck something up, like, as long as you have the important files backed up, you can just start fresh
746
00:59:13.095 --> 00:59:16.795
again. True. I feel like when you're dual booting, it just It's messy.
747
00:59:17.174 --> 00:59:22.400
And you're entering, like, all these BIOS issues and stuff like that, and it kind of complicates things.
748
00:59:22.780 --> 00:59:24.080
I agree. You have, like, $500
749
00:59:24.460 --> 00:59:26.640
to buy a dedicated machine kind of solve.
750
00:59:28.855 --> 00:59:29.175
But,
751
00:59:29.655 --> 00:59:30.555
Totally agree.
752
00:59:31.095 --> 00:59:31.595
Yeah.
753
00:59:31.975 --> 00:59:34.315
It's always a battle of trying to
754
00:59:36.250 --> 00:59:37.630
decrease your attack surface,
755
00:59:38.170 --> 00:59:39.150
increase convenience,
756
00:59:39.850 --> 00:59:44.270
make it a little bit less shoot shoot yourself in the foot capability there
757
00:59:44.744 --> 00:59:46.125
where you fuck yourself over.
758
00:59:49.465 --> 00:59:51.965
Have you ever used, live operating systems before?
759
00:59:52.910 --> 00:59:55.810
Oh, I love tails. Tails, I feel like is a,
760
00:59:57.150 --> 00:59:58.210
there's a unicorn.
761
00:59:59.470 --> 00:59:59.970
Agreed.
762
01:00:01.075 --> 01:00:10.100
Tails is Tails is fantastic. And for the Bitcoiner crowd, they have Electrum built in, so you don't even have to download additional software in order to use Bitcoin with it.
763
01:00:13.060 --> 01:00:17.640
Yeah. It has KeePass as well out of the out of the box, which is really Yeah. I love KeePass.
764
01:00:18.275 --> 01:00:21.875
That's a good that's a good next topic, password management. Before we get there,
765
01:00:22.275 --> 01:00:23.335
I feel like Tails
766
01:00:23.715 --> 01:00:31.420
let's just talk about Tails for a little bit longer. Tails used to be easier to use, but now I feel like a lot of the modern computers, like, they have all these different, like,
767
01:00:31.880 --> 01:00:36.385
quote, unquote secure features that, like, make it difficult to boot from the drive.
768
01:00:36.765 --> 01:00:37.825
Have you noticed that?
769
01:00:38.285 --> 01:00:47.869
I haven't. I haven't used tails in probably about, like, a year, year and a half personally. So if there were any, like, recent depends on what machine you're running it on or
770
01:00:48.330 --> 01:00:51.310
but, like, I was helping out a friend, and I think it was, like, a Dell.
771
01:00:52.855 --> 01:00:56.875
And it was, like, a pain in the ass in the bios to get it to run.
772
01:00:59.250 --> 01:01:05.110
And and because they had some kind of secure elements that was, like, making verifying what was running.
773
01:01:05.970 --> 01:01:07.670
They, like, made it, you know,
774
01:01:09.725 --> 01:01:15.425
under the guise of security, they were really just trying to make it difficult for you to run Linux off of the USB drive.
775
01:01:17.430 --> 01:01:29.225
And I have no idea. I'm not really familiar with how it works on on Mac. Are you I yeah. But but the cool part about tails for the freaks that are just completely confused about what we just were talking about
776
01:01:30.165 --> 01:01:42.010
is it tails is a specific Linux distro that has Tor built in that you run on a USB drive. You plug it into your computer, you boot up the computer, it boots into tails. You have this nice little Linux environment.
777
01:01:42.789 --> 01:01:47.985
As Henry said, it has KeePass on it. As I said, it has Electrum on it. It has a bunch of other tools on it
778
01:01:48.525 --> 01:01:49.025
towards
779
01:01:49.485 --> 01:01:50.625
it tours the default.
780
01:01:51.030 --> 01:01:56.570
And then when you unplug the USB drive, it's it's supposed to just wipe everything from memory.
781
01:01:58.155 --> 01:02:05.935
So you have you have you have nothing left on the machine that could compromise you if you're doing something. So if privacy is of the utmost importance,
782
01:02:08.320 --> 01:02:10.340
Tails is a extremely useful tool.
783
01:02:11.120 --> 01:02:18.645
Yeah. It has some other things too, like MAT 2. MAT 2 is a tool that wipes metadata on pretty much any file type, just really
784
01:02:20.385 --> 01:02:25.125
neat. Yeah. I mean, that is a that's something I don't really discuss on this show.
785
01:02:26.940 --> 01:02:29.520
Image metadata specifically is a
786
01:02:30.220 --> 01:02:31.119
is a big
787
01:02:31.500 --> 01:02:33.119
foot gun moment where people
788
01:02:33.595 --> 01:02:38.575
leak more information than they realize. I mean, a lot of modern phones now embed, like, GPS locations
789
01:02:38.875 --> 01:02:40.734
into the into the photos.
790
01:02:42.950 --> 01:02:44.730
It's how John McAfee was caught.
791
01:02:45.510 --> 01:02:48.010
Yeah. Well, John McAfee didn't kill himself.
792
01:02:51.705 --> 01:02:53.405
I I still think I
793
01:02:53.865 --> 01:02:56.025
I mean, I still think. I don't know. But,
794
01:02:57.850 --> 01:02:58.350
I'm,
795
01:02:58.810 --> 01:03:03.790
like, 10, 15% on the side that he's still alive somewhere. But I I would I would argue that the biggest
796
01:03:04.945 --> 01:03:11.685
thing against me is is that I think he has too big of an ego to just not publicly say anything for this long.
797
01:03:14.190 --> 01:03:18.369
But it'd be, like, completely in his MO to bribe a Spanish prison guard and
798
01:03:18.750 --> 01:03:19.810
fake his death.
799
01:03:20.190 --> 01:03:21.329
Never saw a body.
800
01:03:24.855 --> 01:03:29.035
So what were we talking about right before I pulled us back to Tails? Oh, password managers.
801
01:03:30.550 --> 01:03:35.770
So I feel like this is a very interesting one because, I mean, there's these memes in, like, the privacy security
802
01:03:36.230 --> 01:03:41.045
community, like, just use Linux, just use signal, just use password manager,
803
01:03:41.505 --> 01:03:42.805
just use Tor.
804
01:03:44.224 --> 01:03:46.484
And there's a lot of pushback that it's oversimplified,
805
01:03:48.330 --> 01:03:51.150
And I feel like password managers really embody that.
806
01:03:53.610 --> 01:03:54.110
Yeah.
807
01:03:56.105 --> 01:03:56.605
Really?
808
01:03:57.145 --> 01:04:03.965
Okay. The the the goal of password managers, right, is to get people to use strong and unique passwords.
809
01:04:04.290 --> 01:04:05.830
So they're not reusing passwords,
810
01:04:06.370 --> 01:04:07.990
and they're using strong passwords.
811
01:04:09.170 --> 01:04:13.510
In my opinion, anything that does that in a safe, secure way
812
01:04:14.125 --> 01:04:23.345
is better than reusing same passwords. So I think that's already a great start. If you're not using a password manager, even if you're writing them out and you're keeping them in a in a safe or something,
813
01:04:24.410 --> 01:04:27.630
I still think that's better than reusing the same password on every website.
814
01:04:28.410 --> 01:04:28.910
However,
815
01:04:29.530 --> 01:04:36.025
I would really caution people away from generally unsafe password managers. Look into the history of your password manager.
816
01:04:36.565 --> 01:04:37.065
See,
817
01:04:37.445 --> 01:04:41.224
if they suffered several security issues. See how they handled those issues.
818
01:04:41.619 --> 01:04:46.119
See if they're I I think you shouldn't be using a password manager. It's not open source in my opinion.
819
01:04:47.700 --> 01:04:52.655
So, really, like, the main options that we pretty much end up leaning everyone towards are Bitwarden and KeePass.
820
01:04:52.955 --> 01:05:00.789
So Bitwarden is cloud based like a traditional password manager, but everything's open source and you can self host it yourself if you wanted to.
821
01:05:02.369 --> 01:05:04.869
KeePass is completely offline by default
822
01:05:05.315 --> 01:05:09.895
and it's all open source, and it's probably one of the most secure ways to go in regards to password management.
823
01:05:10.355 --> 01:05:16.080
But the problem is it's a little bit less, noob friendly. It's like it's clunky because you have to actually either
824
01:05:16.380 --> 01:05:20.320
I mean, if it's if you keep it completely offline, you have to type out the password yourself.
825
01:05:21.525 --> 01:05:30.105
Yeah. Though, actually, I just dis I discovered this feature way too late, but KeePass XC has an auto sync feature. So you can pretty much give it 2 KeePass,
826
01:05:31.309 --> 01:05:34.530
documents and it'll sync them into 1. It'll merge them together.
827
01:05:34.910 --> 01:05:46.115
So, like, my phone is offline and my computer is offline. They own they have their own password managers. I can pretty much combine them, and it'll sync everything properly, which is really dope. To me, the unicorn product in
828
01:05:46.735 --> 01:05:48.835
the password management world is
829
01:05:49.770 --> 01:05:50.510
a notepad
830
01:05:50.970 --> 01:05:51.870
and a pen.
831
01:05:52.570 --> 01:05:55.550
That's fair. I just feel like it's just so simple.
832
01:05:57.105 --> 01:06:00.404
Just write it down on paper. Use unique passwords.
833
01:06:01.265 --> 01:06:02.645
Keep it somewhere secure.
834
01:06:03.664 --> 01:06:09.270
And someone has to come into your come into your house or office to get it, like, don't put it on a post it note.
835
01:06:11.570 --> 01:06:15.955
It it it accomplishes the goals. Right? I've heard passwords.
836
01:06:16.575 --> 01:06:18.835
I I I like KeePass a lot.
837
01:06:19.455 --> 01:06:21.795
I've heard very, very good things about Bitwarden.
838
01:06:25.119 --> 01:06:32.260
The switching cost for your password management is a lot in terms of, you know, if you already have a lot of passwords, so I've never actually
839
01:06:33.545 --> 01:06:34.444
used it myself.
840
01:06:36.265 --> 01:06:39.405
What really scares me is, like, the last passes of the world.
841
01:06:40.105 --> 01:06:40.605
Agreed.
842
01:06:41.470 --> 01:06:59.900
Did you see we published survey and support this morning, and it was the last pass security incident. Oh, I haven't listened to it yet. By the way, that's a great. It's a really great show. I recommend all the freaks listen to it. You don't really have to listen to it, freaks, if you don't want to because I listen to it every episode. So I do talk about things they talk about.
843
01:07:00.520 --> 01:07:05.740
But if you wanna go direct to the source, it's, it's a really fantastic show. You do a great job with that, Henry.
844
01:07:06.075 --> 01:07:06.815
Yeah. And then
845
01:07:07.595 --> 01:07:12.015
Nate does too. He he Yeah. He he really can't do. Yeah. He's fantastic.
846
01:07:15.690 --> 01:07:19.150
Yeah. I mean, LastPass is, like, a perfect example where it's like
847
01:07:20.170 --> 01:07:21.630
I mean, talk about a honeypot.
848
01:07:22.090 --> 01:07:22.990
That's just,
849
01:07:24.665 --> 01:07:26.125
I mean, I don't even know
850
01:07:28.105 --> 01:07:31.245
I mean, I obviously, you shouldn't reuse passwords,
851
01:07:31.545 --> 01:07:32.045
but,
852
01:07:32.900 --> 01:07:39.640
like, if all of if all of your passwords are in LastPass, like, literally, you're just one compromise away from just
853
01:07:40.474 --> 01:07:42.415
having absolutely everything compromised.
854
01:07:45.675 --> 01:07:49.620
So I don't even know if that's a I guess it's still an advantage over
855
01:07:50.740 --> 01:08:00.085
I don't know. This is, like, a perfect example of us getting into the weeds. Like, most people are just using horrible fucking passwords, and they're reusing them over and over again, and they have them in their Apple Notes unencrypted.
856
01:08:01.505 --> 01:08:02.405
Super common.
857
01:08:02.865 --> 01:08:03.365
Yeah.
858
01:08:03.690 --> 01:08:07.310
Yeah. Don't do that. But then it becomes kind of a personal choice. Like,
859
01:08:07.770 --> 01:08:14.835
if one of my friends comes to me with all their notes in an Apple Notes thing, and they're like like, yeah. The only thing I use is LastPass.
860
01:08:15.695 --> 01:08:20.435
I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna be very mixed about it. I'll probably be like, hey.
861
01:08:21.860 --> 01:08:29.240
Just so you know, here are all the concerns of LastPass. And by the way, here are other solutions that are better than LastPass and will accomplish literally everything that it does.
862
01:08:30.085 --> 01:08:33.525
So I'll do my hardest to convince them, but, ultimately, I I really do think
863
01:08:34.965 --> 01:08:43.550
I I hate saying this because I really dislike LastPass, but I do think in that situation, for me, personally, I lean them towards using LastPass instead of, like, unencrypted Apple Notes. But
864
01:08:44.010 --> 01:08:46.270
Just tell them to use a pen and paper, the unicorn.
865
01:08:46.755 --> 01:08:49.495
True. Like, pen and paper, Bitwarden,
866
01:08:50.195 --> 01:08:51.015
even Apple's
867
01:08:51.555 --> 01:08:53.895
key chain. Like, Apple has its own password manager,
868
01:08:54.730 --> 01:08:56.989
you know, like and it's end to end encrypted
869
01:08:57.369 --> 01:09:00.110
and Apple generally has decent security.
870
01:09:00.809 --> 01:09:06.495
So, like, I'd still choose Apple's keychain over both LastPass and just keeping it in notes personally.
871
01:09:07.114 --> 01:09:12.889
Yeah. I mean, I have a lot of problems with Imessage too, but obviously, I think Imessage is a significant improvement over
872
01:09:13.349 --> 01:09:14.250
using text.
873
01:09:15.110 --> 01:09:22.335
I like Jonah's comment. What really gets me are the people who have all their passwords in Apple Notes, and also their passwords are all basically the same week 1.
874
01:09:22.795 --> 01:09:23.295
Yep.
875
01:09:23.915 --> 01:09:25.375
Seen that many times.
876
01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:30.380
Yeah. It's,
877
01:09:32.060 --> 01:09:37.915
Good point by someone here. Apple keychain sucks to get out of. Look at that too before you move to a passive manager.
878
01:09:38.295 --> 01:09:40.955
Like, how are these do. Right? It's like
879
01:09:41.815 --> 01:09:43.515
their switching costs are massive.
880
01:09:44.790 --> 01:09:45.450
It depends.
881
01:09:46.630 --> 01:09:49.610
Like, I think last pass to Bitwarden is relatively straightforward.
882
01:09:50.710 --> 01:09:54.170
Bitwarden to anything is straightforward. It really depends on how
883
01:09:54.545 --> 01:10:00.725
user friendly they wanna be. Apple, as you can imagine, is trying not to be user friendly with exporting things.
884
01:10:02.065 --> 01:10:03.045
So it just depends.
885
01:10:03.489 --> 01:10:05.429
The way I kinda look at it is
886
01:10:06.290 --> 01:10:10.630
and this is also I I wonder I mean, you probably struggle with this too is,
887
01:10:13.375 --> 01:10:18.195
talking about privacy and security, but not, like, completely doxing your own setup and
888
01:10:18.495 --> 01:10:20.035
exposing how you do things,
889
01:10:21.389 --> 01:10:26.929
is really difficult. I mean, I had one freak put me on the spot when I was drinking beers with him in person, and
890
01:10:29.995 --> 01:10:35.135
and I I stopped doing this. I'd it was, like, 2 years ago, two and a half years ago, and he's like
891
01:10:35.515 --> 01:10:46.220
he's like, what's your favorite option for this or whatever? And I told him this option, and he was like, but you said something else on the show. I was like, oh, that's my second favorite option because I didn't want to. I didn't want to talk about my first option.
892
01:10:48.025 --> 01:10:48.505
The
893
01:10:50.345 --> 01:10:53.885
with passwords, there's there's an argument to be made about
894
01:10:54.505 --> 01:10:56.605
convenience and security being different.
895
01:10:57.060 --> 01:11:02.200
Like, the trade offs you wanna make are different depending on what the password is for.
896
01:11:03.940 --> 01:11:04.920
So to me,
897
01:11:06.605 --> 01:11:09.745
as as, you know, you can cell phones, bit warden,
898
01:11:10.205 --> 01:11:13.505
I've already said earlier that I don't I haven't used it personally.
899
01:11:15.630 --> 01:11:17.890
To me, my most secure passwords,
900
01:11:18.190 --> 01:11:19.090
you know, things
901
01:11:19.630 --> 01:11:25.915
I mean, first of all, you should be using multiple email addresses, but important email address is, like, important bank account information.
902
01:11:26.775 --> 01:11:28.875
Like, the really important stuff, I'm
903
01:11:29.495 --> 01:11:30.635
just a
904
01:11:32.219 --> 01:11:43.915
offline only kind of person. Like, I think those things should be offline, and then you have other things that are maybe more easily accessible because you're not as worried if they do get compromised. Would you agree with
905
01:11:44.535 --> 01:11:47.655
that? Yeah. I I think that that's a good way to do it. I think,
906
01:11:48.590 --> 01:11:52.849
and you don't have to answer this, but I'm curious. What do would you store your seeds offline?
907
01:11:53.710 --> 01:11:56.929
Yeah. All my seeds are offline. Got it. That makes sense.
908
01:11:58.255 --> 01:11:58.755
But
909
01:11:59.215 --> 01:12:00.355
but I have, like,
910
01:12:00.735 --> 01:12:02.115
I have a mobile wallet,
911
01:12:02.575 --> 01:12:06.915
right, that has a less amount of that has, like, spending cash in it,
912
01:12:07.760 --> 01:12:11.460
and and that is that is on Internet connected device. That's on my phone.
913
01:12:12.240 --> 01:12:16.660
Right? But, like, for for my my life savings, I go through extreme,
914
01:12:18.784 --> 01:12:19.844
extreme offline
915
01:12:20.145 --> 01:12:20.645
scenarios,
916
01:12:21.344 --> 01:12:24.324
to secure my life savings, especially as a public person.
917
01:12:26.800 --> 01:12:27.300
Because
918
01:12:27.760 --> 01:12:28.480
the second
919
01:12:29.040 --> 01:12:32.340
it the the amount of improvement you can make,
920
01:12:32.720 --> 01:12:34.340
especially if you're not someone,
921
01:12:36.095 --> 01:12:53.785
who can verify code themselves and check line by line what is running. The amount of improvement you can make by simply just keeping something offline, keeping a secret offline is dramatic. Like, it is it is significant. I mean, you're you're basically entering a situation where someone has to get physical access to whatever that secret is.
922
01:12:54.905 --> 01:12:57.325
And in Bitcoin land, it's even better
923
01:12:57.785 --> 01:12:59.885
because we have this concept called multisig,
924
01:13:00.985 --> 01:13:02.925
where you can have multiple secrets,
925
01:13:03.790 --> 01:13:04.290
and
926
01:13:04.670 --> 01:13:05.810
they all need,
927
01:13:06.590 --> 01:13:12.290
to be compromised in order to access your funds, and you can keep them offline in different physical locations.
928
01:13:13.055 --> 01:13:19.235
So then all of a sudden you enter a situation where an attacker needs to actually get physical access to
929
01:13:19.935 --> 01:13:21.235
your home, your office,
930
01:13:21.540 --> 01:13:24.520
some other place, some other place, and then it just adds,
931
01:13:26.180 --> 01:13:27.640
it adds protection there.
932
01:13:29.625 --> 01:13:35.724
It is like a main it is a mainstay of my privacy and security journey is that for the most important things,
933
01:13:38.780 --> 01:13:42.400
yeah, for the most important things, you should try and keep them offline.
934
01:13:43.820 --> 01:13:48.414
I like that there's a freak accusing me of using Bitward and then pretending I'm not using it.
935
01:13:49.275 --> 01:13:49.775
No.
936
01:13:53.010 --> 01:13:57.429
So we talked about VPNs. We talked about messaging apps. We talked about
937
01:13:57.890 --> 01:13:58.949
operating systems.
938
01:13:59.925 --> 01:14:01.385
Talked about password managers,
939
01:14:04.245 --> 01:14:05.305
talked about browsers.
940
01:14:07.610 --> 01:14:09.070
What should we talk about next?
941
01:14:15.575 --> 01:14:16.475
Good question.
942
01:14:17.415 --> 01:14:22.555
That really does sum up a good portion of the areas in the pricing. Oh, 2 factor.
943
01:14:23.095 --> 01:14:24.075
Oh, good one.
944
01:14:25.270 --> 01:14:29.930
What's your recommendations on 2 factor? How do you go about how do you go about that process
945
01:14:30.790 --> 01:14:31.530
of education?
946
01:14:32.550 --> 01:14:33.030
We
947
01:14:33.645 --> 01:14:38.625
so TOTP is probably, like, the most popular one. So TOTP is time
948
01:14:40.205 --> 01:14:41.985
time based one time passwords.
949
01:14:43.610 --> 01:14:52.190
And what that is is, like, Google Authenticator is TOTP. Google Authenticator is just an open standard. It uses TOTP, which is an open standard that's used in pretty much everything else.
950
01:14:53.595 --> 01:14:59.440
That is probably the easiest and most convenient, best balance like, that's probably the unicorn option for a lot of people.
951
01:15:00.080 --> 01:15:00.980
You can download,
952
01:15:01.520 --> 01:15:02.020
aegis
953
01:15:02.640 --> 01:15:04.180
from F droid on Android
954
01:15:05.199 --> 01:15:05.600
and,
955
01:15:06.000 --> 01:15:06.500
Aegis.
956
01:15:06.915 --> 01:15:10.935
Is that your favorite? That's probably my favorite TOTP app that I've used.
957
01:15:11.875 --> 01:15:12.935
I know there's AndOTP,
958
01:15:13.795 --> 01:15:21.480
but in my opinion, Aegis is better than AND OTP in, like, every way. I really like Aegis' backup mechanism. It's really good.
959
01:15:22.420 --> 01:15:23.880
Yes. It's very nice.
960
01:15:26.205 --> 01:15:32.065
So that's really my main recommendation. Go through all your accounts. See what supports. They'll probably call it Google Authenticator.
961
01:15:32.940 --> 01:15:48.580
I'm doing quotes in the air, but it's really you can use any TOTP app. They give you, like, a QR code. You scan it with Aegis. I guess Aegis is Android only though. Right? Yes. But they also give you your seed, so you can import that into any iOS app. And you can use Rivo,
962
01:15:48.980 --> 01:15:50.040
r a I v o,
963
01:15:50.420 --> 01:15:55.080
on, iOS. That's probably the best one I found. That's your favorite iPhone one? Yes.
964
01:15:56.565 --> 01:16:05.850
Probably hands down. It's like the only one that actually lets you export your seeds, which by the way, the seeds are what the QR code is. Just like you you guys know this because you're in a crypto world.
965
01:16:06.650 --> 01:16:15.115
Lots of 2FA apps, once you scan the code, don't let you view your seeds. So there's no easy way to migrate all of your Right. I think Google Authenticator doesn't let you.
966
01:16:15.515 --> 01:16:22.815
No. They're just change that. Yep. I don't think they do unless they did it in a newer version, but Authy doesn't either. It's my biggest gripe with Authy.
967
01:16:23.470 --> 01:16:26.290
So I really try to avoid, people using Authy.
968
01:16:26.590 --> 01:16:31.864
I put Authy in, like, the last pass boat. Yeah. Same. It's not not a great situation.
969
01:16:33.125 --> 01:16:35.784
Now someone's also bringing up physical 2FA devices.
970
01:16:36.485 --> 01:16:42.190
I have been I've actually never used a, hardware 2FA thing until the last, like, few months. Yubikey
971
01:16:42.570 --> 01:16:43.870
sent us a couple test,
972
01:16:44.410 --> 01:16:44.910
units
973
01:16:45.285 --> 01:16:48.745
review, and so I've been using it the last couple months. And it's it's pretty nice.
974
01:16:49.205 --> 01:16:50.425
The only problem is
975
01:16:50.965 --> 01:16:51.285
it's
976
01:16:51.845 --> 01:16:56.710
I can't convert as many accounts to a hardware key as I can to TOTP.
977
01:16:57.489 --> 01:16:59.989
So I'm now probably gonna have to use a combination
978
01:17:00.755 --> 01:17:05.175
of YubiKey and TOTP. Now the YubiKey does support TOTP. You can use
979
01:17:05.555 --> 01:17:07.975
your YubiKey to also support those codes.
980
01:17:08.530 --> 01:17:12.950
But it doesn't, to me, feel as clean of a solution, and I'm not a fan that it constantly
981
01:17:13.330 --> 01:17:17.670
it's something I either have to keep track of or that constantly takes up, a port on my laptop.
982
01:17:18.005 --> 01:17:23.945
Right. It's a physical device you plug into the USB port. Yep. So personally, I'm I'm on team TOTP,
983
01:17:24.405 --> 01:17:25.764
but I think it's pretty much,
984
01:17:26.610 --> 01:17:27.270
a nonnegotiable
985
01:17:27.650 --> 01:17:30.630
that, generally speaking, hardware keys are more secure.
986
01:17:32.210 --> 01:17:41.730
But, again, like, we're talking, like, the top because it's the same thing. It's the offline it's the offline concept. Yep. Because most people will just
987
01:17:42.530 --> 01:17:44.070
have Aegis on their phone.
988
01:17:44.850 --> 01:17:48.710
They'll have a 2 factor app on their phone, and that's obviously connected to the Internet.
989
01:17:50.295 --> 01:17:51.915
But I I personally
990
01:17:53.175 --> 01:17:56.715
I personally think the hardware device is overkill for most people.
991
01:17:57.670 --> 01:18:00.170
You should already have a secure password on the account,
992
01:18:03.350 --> 01:18:04.630
and there's never
993
01:18:05.615 --> 01:18:08.275
and at least that I'm aware of, there hasn't been a
994
01:18:09.135 --> 01:18:11.075
a real, like, sweeping compromise
995
01:18:11.535 --> 01:18:13.715
that has affected people that have used,
996
01:18:14.255 --> 01:18:16.680
2 factor apps, even the bad ones.
997
01:18:18.420 --> 01:18:21.640
In general, attackers tend to go for the lowest hanging fruit,
998
01:18:22.580 --> 01:18:26.675
and that's the people that are not using secure passwords that aren't using 2 factor.
999
01:18:28.655 --> 01:18:29.875
Yeah. And,
1000
01:18:30.335 --> 01:18:37.240
at like someone mentioned, well, a few things. 1, someone corrected and said Google Authenticator does give you an export option. Yeah. I think they added it recently.
1001
01:18:37.700 --> 01:18:41.755
So that's cool. I'm happy to see that. And someone else is saying t0tp
1002
01:18:42.135 --> 01:18:48.795
2FA isn't connected to the Internet and they're right. And that's kind of why personally, I don't think there's a huge difference between a hardware.
1003
01:18:49.679 --> 01:18:51.539
Well, if you have I mean,
1004
01:18:52.239 --> 01:19:00.465
if the app is doing what it's saying it's doing, and if it's open source, then you or someone else can verify it, And it's not supposed to be connecting to the Internet.
1005
01:19:01.005 --> 01:19:01.505
Sure.
1006
01:19:02.525 --> 01:19:04.545
Theoretically, you can have a
1007
01:19:05.380 --> 01:19:13.160
spare Android phone or tablet that is running KeePass and is running Aegis that is never connected to the Internet, and it will still work,
1008
01:19:13.815 --> 01:19:15.275
with your two factor codes.
1009
01:19:16.455 --> 01:19:18.395
And then you kind of get some of that
1010
01:19:18.775 --> 01:19:19.275
that,
1011
01:19:21.390 --> 01:19:27.890
you you get that, like, air gap benefit. You get that offline benefit because you're just not connecting it to the Internet, period.
1012
01:19:29.310 --> 01:19:29.810
But
1013
01:19:30.255 --> 01:19:31.155
I would caution
1014
01:19:33.534 --> 01:19:34.514
the good apps
1015
01:19:34.815 --> 01:19:40.690
for a lot of these things do things locally. They're not connecting to the Internet when they're not supposed to be connecting to the Internet, but, ultimately,
1016
01:19:41.550 --> 01:19:45.810
your mobile phone is this black box device that is always connected to the Internet.
1017
01:19:46.830 --> 01:19:48.050
So I wouldn't necessarily
1018
01:19:48.430 --> 01:19:49.330
assume that,
1019
01:19:50.335 --> 01:19:52.755
in your threat model. But all that said,
1020
01:19:54.175 --> 01:19:56.915
I do think for the overwhelming majority of people,
1021
01:19:58.180 --> 01:19:59.320
using a solid
1022
01:19:59.780 --> 01:20:00.280
TOTP
1023
01:20:00.660 --> 01:20:01.800
two factor app
1024
01:20:03.700 --> 01:20:06.680
is is a massive improvement and is probably
1025
01:20:07.235 --> 01:20:11.014
sufficient. I would add that, you know, we talked about exporting,
1026
01:20:11.635 --> 01:20:17.270
but a key element here of the good the good apps is that is that you can easily back up.
1027
01:20:17.650 --> 01:20:18.150
Because
1028
01:20:18.450 --> 01:20:20.070
if you've ever been in a situation,
1029
01:20:21.970 --> 01:20:24.630
people have gone in this situation many times
1030
01:20:25.755 --> 01:20:33.855
where they if if their phone breaks or something, if you lose those codes, you're gonna have a really hard time accessing your accounts after that.
1031
01:20:34.930 --> 01:20:36.390
So you wanna have a backup
1032
01:20:36.770 --> 01:20:43.110
so so you can still access your important accounts without going through a massive customer service process. Because if
1033
01:20:43.535 --> 01:20:44.515
if you can circumvent
1034
01:20:44.975 --> 01:20:57.930
the 2 factor code through a customer service process, so can a malicious actor. So they're they're the good services are designed in a way that if you lose those 2 factor codes, you're gonna have a really bad time. So make sure that you can back them up.
1035
01:20:58.535 --> 01:20:59.035
Absolutely.
1036
01:20:59.495 --> 01:21:00.955
Just like backing up your seeds.
1037
01:21:01.495 --> 01:21:08.280
Yeah. I've I the way Aegis does it is really cool because you can just back it up directly to a USB drive, never connect anything to the Internet.
1038
01:21:10.199 --> 01:21:12.539
They also have this option that is
1039
01:21:13.960 --> 01:21:15.500
very familiar to,
1040
01:21:17.215 --> 01:21:18.675
Bitcoiners in that
1041
01:21:19.775 --> 01:21:28.770
they'll link they encrypt your backup. So you can actually just store it in any cloud service even if it's untrusted cloud service, and then you write down the the encryption code
1042
01:21:31.230 --> 01:21:34.130
on on your trusty pad and paper that you keep offline.
1043
01:21:35.155 --> 01:21:38.455
Definitely. Just a nice nice little balancing act there.
1044
01:21:40.114 --> 01:21:44.295
Just wanted to add that Jonah brings up a really good point in the chat here.
1045
01:21:45.460 --> 01:21:49.320
He pretty much is saying the main benefit of a hardware key are that they're unphishable.
1046
01:21:49.620 --> 01:21:55.085
Because of TOTP, you still have to enter the code, which could be used on the phishing site. True. Whereas,
1047
01:21:56.264 --> 01:21:59.804
with a hardware key, which uses, FID02, VIT02,
1048
01:22:00.505 --> 01:22:04.230
it'll only access the legitimate domain. So it's a good phishing prevention.
1049
01:22:04.849 --> 01:22:07.670
Oh, that's a really good answer. Yeah. So that actually
1050
01:22:08.690 --> 01:22:10.869
that actually might change my opinion because
1051
01:22:12.385 --> 01:22:15.364
everyone gets phished. People get phished a lot, man.
1052
01:22:15.744 --> 01:22:27.619
Yep. And there's real so this didn't used to be a problem, I feel, because back in the day 2 f a used to be, like, a good phishing prevention. I think it still is, but a more sophisticated phishing attack will, in real time,
1053
01:22:27.975 --> 01:22:39.000
log in given given a 2FA code from a TOTP app. Yeah. And you see it with a lot with the the Bitcoin sites because the Bitcoin sites have kind of any sites that have kinda standardized on 2 factor.
1054
01:22:40.179 --> 01:22:51.825
Those attackers have obviously moved to actually phishing the the code as well. So they'll they'll pretend you're signing in, you give them your password, then you give them the code, and then they quickly sign in to your account. It's how that attack looks,
1055
01:22:53.060 --> 01:22:58.040
which is why you shouldn't click links and you should always type where you're going directly into your browser.
1056
01:22:59.140 --> 01:23:01.880
This conversation wouldn't be complete without a
1057
01:23:02.565 --> 01:23:05.945
conversation about using text based 2 factor authentication.
1058
01:23:08.405 --> 01:23:10.105
Do you wanna go into that for us?
1059
01:23:11.370 --> 01:23:16.110
Yeah. I I I hate it because it's bad on, like, almost every level.
1060
01:23:16.730 --> 01:23:20.205
You know? Like, SMS is the the closest thing to public
1061
01:23:20.585 --> 01:23:21.485
as it can be.
1062
01:23:21.945 --> 01:23:23.405
Someone can set up some
1063
01:23:23.945 --> 01:23:39.675
few $100 devices outside your home and intercept SMS messages fairly easily. It's like a postcard instead of an envelope. Exactly. It's super easy to for for a random person to investigate what's going on. It's super easy for your cell carrier. There was a recent story that you might have seen this on Twitter,
1064
01:23:40.535 --> 01:23:41.355
where someone
1065
01:23:41.815 --> 01:23:43.835
someone's cell carrier injected
1066
01:23:44.135 --> 01:23:50.510
an ad into the Google 2FA code sent to their phone number. So it says, like, oh, your Google number is 123456.
1067
01:23:51.130 --> 01:23:52.990
And it said your Google number is 123456.
1068
01:23:53.655 --> 01:24:01.915
Check out this product online underneath it. The cell carrier injected that because obviously your cell carrier sees all your SMS messages. They're not end to end encrypted.
1069
01:24:03.680 --> 01:24:06.820
So just avoid it. But the thing that sucks is if you use
1070
01:24:07.520 --> 01:24:10.980
I think, like, almost every bank out there with very few exceptions
1071
01:24:11.425 --> 01:24:14.885
only gives you phone based SMS as an option for 2FA.
1072
01:24:15.665 --> 01:24:16.805
And when that happens,
1073
01:24:17.185 --> 01:24:18.645
you just gotta tough it out.
1074
01:24:19.025 --> 01:24:21.125
The banks are really bad about it.
1075
01:24:21.910 --> 01:24:24.170
Yep. I the I mean, the banks run on
1076
01:24:24.790 --> 01:24:33.765
30, 40 year old technology. So, it doesn't surprise me. Yeah. If you ever if you ever want a fun time, just walk into a bank and just look at all their computer systems.
1077
01:24:34.945 --> 01:24:39.540
If you really want a fun time, try and open a bank account and just sit down with them. But I'm
1078
01:24:39.920 --> 01:24:44.640
gonna I have I have a couple promises to myself, and one of them is I'm never gonna open another bank account. So
1079
01:24:45.885 --> 01:24:50.145
You might like this. I recently have been going on a journey to pretty much,
1080
01:24:51.165 --> 01:24:53.810
decredit everything. I wanna stop using credit.
1081
01:24:54.930 --> 01:25:02.310
Say say fuck the credit score. You know? I think it's very hippie, but it's something The society really fucks you if you don't have
1082
01:25:02.965 --> 01:25:05.445
your least basic credit. It does. But,
1083
01:25:06.085 --> 01:25:11.385
I don't know. Such a perverse system, the credit system, the, like, credit scores and stuff.
1084
01:25:12.060 --> 01:25:20.960
Yeah. It's a it's a general gauge. I think a a better they say it's how well you use your finances. It's how well you use your finances while still giving people money.
1085
01:25:21.955 --> 01:25:28.695
And they're just massive surveillance holes. The whole thing is just surveillance capitalism, like, packaged in a rewards card. Yep.
1086
01:25:29.130 --> 01:25:36.670
And it's funny because people always you know, not to discount China's problems, but people are always, like, China is a surveillance state. They have these social credit scores.
1087
01:25:37.085 --> 01:25:39.665
And I'm like, what's your credit score, bestie?
1088
01:25:40.925 --> 01:25:43.265
Like, obviously, it's it's not a fair comparison,
1089
01:25:44.050 --> 01:25:47.910
but it still kind of really pushes me the wrong way that we're given scores to essentially
1090
01:25:48.290 --> 01:25:50.550
represent how our financial status is.
1091
01:25:51.065 --> 01:25:56.764
Yeah. And we're moving to more social credit systems. Like, what China's doing is just they're just 5 years ahead of us.
1092
01:25:57.065 --> 01:25:57.565
True.
1093
01:25:58.560 --> 01:26:06.020
This is what I like to say. And this is why I mean, it's you know, I'm very Bitcoin focused person, but this is why I love cash. I mean, cash is
1094
01:26:06.625 --> 01:26:09.685
cash is king, and and it's a very private way to transact.
1095
01:26:12.145 --> 01:26:15.685
And in a lot of ways, it's more convenient than using a credit card. So
1096
01:26:16.290 --> 01:26:20.310
you can't if you pay with cash at the bar, you're not gonna accidentally leave your tab open.
1097
01:26:23.385 --> 01:26:31.600
And you don't have to wait around for the waiter to come back with the piece of paper if you if you just pay cash. Give them a little tip there. Round it up.
1098
01:26:33.420 --> 01:26:38.160
So what were we talking about? I just had an oh, so the other issue with SMS two factor
1099
01:26:38.860 --> 01:26:40.080
is it is it's
1100
01:26:40.465 --> 01:26:44.245
it's also a way for these companies to harvest your phone number,
1101
01:26:45.025 --> 01:26:50.800
which is basically used as a social identifier nowadays. It's almost used more than your Social Security number,
1102
01:26:51.740 --> 01:26:53.520
but it's used in a similar way.
1103
01:26:55.180 --> 01:26:57.680
And you really wanna limit the amount of
1104
01:26:58.525 --> 01:27:04.625
services that that that know your phone number and then know the same phone number. Ideally, you have multiple phone numbers.
1105
01:27:07.620 --> 01:27:13.675
I mean, that's obviously a main issue of of these SMS two factors as well. Right? Yeah. Definitely.
1106
01:27:14.775 --> 01:27:20.315
This actually I I don't know why I'm thinking of this now. I was driving home. This is probably last week
1107
01:27:20.710 --> 01:27:24.010
and it it was just a new perspective. So I just get random
1108
01:27:25.190 --> 01:27:27.885
it's like, you know, shower thoughts. It's like driving thoughts.
1109
01:27:29.085 --> 01:27:39.340
And this one was I feel like the data points that we should be protecting the most are the ones that are the hardest to change and we're most invested in. So you think of Social Security number.
1110
01:27:39.640 --> 01:27:52.065
It's nearly impossible to change a security number, unless you're able to prove that you're you're victim of abuse or or all these other legal loopholes that you're able to go through. But most people can't just go and change their social security number.
1111
01:27:52.844 --> 01:27:56.224
So this is just a single number that if it gets out into the world once,
1112
01:27:57.010 --> 01:27:59.110
you're screwed for the rest of your life.
1113
01:27:59.650 --> 01:28:10.455
It's horrible. Phone numbers are pretty high up on that chart. You know, most people don't change their phone number sometimes ever in their entire life. Yeah. Massive switching costs on that too. Exactly. So,
1114
01:28:11.155 --> 01:28:13.975
phone numbers are really high up there. Emails are definitely lower,
1115
01:28:15.080 --> 01:28:24.105
but really the goal should be to use as few of those high level identifiers as possible because they're extremely hard to switch off of. I I really like that term you use,
1116
01:28:25.145 --> 01:28:25.965
switch cost.
1117
01:28:26.265 --> 01:28:28.765
Yeah. Switching costs. I really like that because
1118
01:28:30.025 --> 01:28:38.079
it's a really good way of looking at it and I think that yeah. Just trying to avoid out the those really high level identifiers that are almost impossible to change is really the goal.
1119
01:28:38.699 --> 01:28:45.285
And the other one that I thought of, massive one, that, like, no one considers, and it's such a normal thing. Home addresses.
1120
01:28:46.545 --> 01:28:49.205
Yeah. Well, we talk about that a lot in the Bitcoin space.
1121
01:28:49.550 --> 01:28:53.250
Yeah. I I feel like it's not talked about in just the real world very much.
1122
01:28:53.550 --> 01:29:03.105
Like, oh, like, what's the shipping address? Oh, here's my here's my home address. If it ever leaks, I better buy a new home. You literally put all that information in the same form. You put the
1123
01:29:03.405 --> 01:29:12.410
you put the home address, you put the email, you put the phone number. You put your credit card information in. It's literally all going in the same exact form, and you share it everywhere.
1124
01:29:13.030 --> 01:29:14.170
Yep. It's crazy.
1125
01:29:14.710 --> 01:29:17.744
And and, like, there's no way to change your home address.
1126
01:29:18.525 --> 01:29:22.945
Yeah. And you have to you have to move. Yeah. It gets even more fucked up than that because,
1127
01:29:23.790 --> 01:29:30.530
like, the way our society works is the government essentially you have to go through great lengths to not have
1128
01:29:31.625 --> 01:29:35.485
that address and databases that have the other identifiers in them as well,
1129
01:29:36.585 --> 01:29:42.920
even if you're not providing them to a specific service. If you're providing a phone number to a specific service, there's a good chance that
1130
01:29:45.460 --> 01:29:52.114
your home address is attached to that or your name or your your name plus your age plus a general vicinity you're in.
1131
01:29:53.614 --> 01:29:57.135
It's a whole that's a whole rabbit hole in itself trying to
1132
01:29:57.830 --> 01:30:01.770
and, like, in America, we have this advantage that you can actually buy a home under an LLC,
1133
01:30:03.670 --> 01:30:06.730
to mask who the the owner of the home is.
1134
01:30:07.455 --> 01:30:11.315
But you have to basically go through these very deliberate steps to protect it.
1135
01:30:12.895 --> 01:30:13.395
Exactly.
1136
01:30:14.015 --> 01:30:18.020
I recently spoke to an attorney to ask about the home buying process,
1137
01:30:18.720 --> 01:30:29.735
privately, and she's like, well, you can use an LLC or you can use a trust. But here's the thing, there's 2 things. This this is probably a little off topic, but I find it really interesting and I think it's It's on topic. For people to know.
1138
01:30:30.515 --> 01:30:36.600
You can buy a home and put it in a trust. And, yes, the title of the home is in the trust,
1139
01:30:37.300 --> 01:30:46.324
but the second layer that you really need to be careful about is how you're financing the home. If you're getting a mortgage, there's no way to get a mortgage through a trust.
1140
01:30:47.025 --> 01:30:57.400
So the mortgage is public information. Anyone can look at the previous mortgage history of a home. So you can get a house, put it in the trust, and that the title's private, but not the mortgage. So, essentially,
1141
01:30:58.420 --> 01:31:03.345
you're having to buy a home in cash unless your LLC is able to get its own mortgage.
1142
01:31:05.085 --> 01:31:08.065
Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah. The it's a
1143
01:31:08.440 --> 01:31:09.340
it's a very
1144
01:31:09.640 --> 01:31:12.380
difficult and deliberate process that you have to basically take.
1145
01:31:15.080 --> 01:31:26.844
And then you have to protect that information after the fact. Then there's no you don't put your shipping address in places. You know? You have to and, like, the the mortgage process in general is that literally just gotta pull your pants down and give them everything.
1146
01:31:28.590 --> 01:31:32.130
And then who knows how securely that bank is actually storing that information?
1147
01:31:32.590 --> 01:31:33.890
Definitely not securely.
1148
01:31:36.245 --> 01:31:39.465
So so it is a mess it is something we talk about a lot because,
1149
01:31:41.445 --> 01:31:42.025
you know,
1150
01:31:42.405 --> 01:31:50.030
in America, hopefully, it's not as bad, but in certain countries, you know, you don't want Bitcoin specific stuff shipped to your house.
1151
01:31:51.849 --> 01:32:06.099
So you wanna look into PO boxes. You wanna look into remailers, which are basically VPNs, but for physical mail where you're trusting them with all your information. But ideally, outside services only see you going sending it to the re mailer's address, and then it gets shipped to you.
1152
01:32:07.679 --> 01:32:08.659
UPS stores,
1153
01:32:11.915 --> 01:32:14.555
all these different tactics you can use to try and,
1154
01:32:15.275 --> 01:32:19.135
mask mask your home address as another identifier that's in these systems.
1155
01:32:19.830 --> 01:32:21.369
Another service that is,
1156
01:32:23.830 --> 01:32:26.730
I would say is, like, kinda unicorn y is have I been pwned.
1157
01:32:27.795 --> 01:32:29.175
No. It's a good one. Yeah.
1158
01:32:29.715 --> 01:32:32.855
Have I been pwned.com to the freaks. If you put in
1159
01:32:33.475 --> 01:32:40.000
a identifier I think I think it's based on email address as the main identifier. You put in your email address, and it'll tell you,
1160
01:32:41.180 --> 01:32:43.680
if you've been in any any major leaks.
1161
01:32:44.245 --> 01:32:45.545
And if you do that,
1162
01:32:48.485 --> 01:32:54.390
I mean, you should connect with a VPN because, otherwise, you're telling, have I been pwned your IP address connected to that email
1163
01:32:54.929 --> 01:33:02.150
address. But if you do that, you are gonna be very alarmed. There are compromises that happen constantly, and it could be that
1164
01:33:03.145 --> 01:33:06.525
I, like, I went to great lengths of protecting my previous address,
1165
01:33:09.065 --> 01:33:10.445
and I, like, nonchalantly
1166
01:33:10.985 --> 01:33:11.485
bought
1167
01:33:14.429 --> 01:33:17.969
a a ticket to to a concert, and the concert venue
1168
01:33:18.909 --> 01:33:23.095
got compromised. And I didn't remember doing it, and I just fucked it. I fucked that up.
1169
01:33:23.715 --> 01:33:26.375
And have I been potent? Let me know. And I was like, fuck.
1170
01:33:26.755 --> 01:33:29.895
And it was like it just completely compromised everything.
1171
01:33:31.420 --> 01:33:38.400
But that's one of the advantages of renting that people don't really think about. Like, if you constantly move around, it does add a lot of noise to the
1172
01:33:39.864 --> 01:33:41.565
to the pool of data out there.
1173
01:33:42.264 --> 01:33:42.764
Definitely.
1174
01:33:43.065 --> 01:33:43.565
Also,
1175
01:33:45.304 --> 01:33:50.500
I well, 2 things. 1, bonus points if you're using a password manager that,
1176
01:33:51.040 --> 01:33:53.105
auto checks haven't been found.
1177
01:33:53.665 --> 01:33:56.645
My KeePass client does that, which is really neat.
1178
01:33:57.105 --> 01:34:04.630
That is awesome. Yeah. Every day, it just checks haven't been pwned, and it'll notify me if any passwords or emails were found in in a breach, which is really sick.
1179
01:34:06.130 --> 01:34:07.030
Aside from
1180
01:34:07.409 --> 01:34:11.989
that, something else is, I'm I feel like KeyPass client is that?
1181
01:34:12.645 --> 01:34:18.665
I think KeePass XC does it, but I know for a fact StrongBox does it. The StrongBox is Apple specific.
1182
01:34:19.045 --> 01:34:21.844
No. By the way, Freaks, KeePass is spelled key
1183
01:34:22.949 --> 01:34:23.449
keyepass,
1184
01:34:24.550 --> 01:34:25.530
not keyypass.
1185
01:34:26.389 --> 01:34:28.650
And there's, like, a 1000000 clients of it.
1186
01:34:29.030 --> 01:34:29.505
Yep.
1187
01:34:29.905 --> 01:34:35.045
It's kind of like matrix. If any of you know matrix, you can use, like, any client. It's like a sort of decentralized
1188
01:34:35.824 --> 01:34:36.324
model.
1189
01:34:39.980 --> 01:34:43.100
Something else, I'm sure you've heard of it, especially if you listen to,
1190
01:34:43.580 --> 01:34:44.080
Seth's
1191
01:34:44.700 --> 01:34:46.880
opt out podcast, but, SimpleLogin
1192
01:34:47.855 --> 01:34:48.595
is just
1193
01:34:49.295 --> 01:34:53.155
next level tool for protecting your email. I don't give any person
1194
01:34:53.535 --> 01:34:54.675
thing website
1195
01:34:55.290 --> 01:34:58.750
my real email address ever. It's always a simple login alias.
1196
01:34:59.369 --> 01:35:03.865
That way my actual email is never shared with anybody. And then the cool thing is
1197
01:35:04.185 --> 01:35:04.685
if
1198
01:35:04.985 --> 01:35:06.685
that email still gets exposed,
1199
01:35:07.065 --> 01:35:20.804
I can transition the host email and still keep all my email aliases through SimpleLogin. So SimpleLogin is like an email aliasing service. So you can have an email set up for every single service you use on the Internet, and it's compartmentalized accordingly. It's like a VPN for emails.
1200
01:35:25.505 --> 01:35:27.280
Do you think that metaphor is good?
1201
01:35:28.719 --> 01:35:29.219
Metaphor.
1202
01:35:30.559 --> 01:35:36.480
I'm trying to find a better one. It's like a re mailer. Right? It's like a Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a,
1203
01:35:37.039 --> 01:35:40.245
because you're obviously trusting SimpleLogin with that information instead.
1204
01:35:40.785 --> 01:35:43.525
Yeah. Trust model wise, it's similar to a VPN.
1205
01:35:44.065 --> 01:35:46.325
Yeah. So, like, a way I use it is,
1206
01:35:47.179 --> 01:35:57.695
let's say my my actual email let's I'm just gonna use Techclore because it's public and easy. I I know this, so it's very easy for me to share it and I there's no risk. But our like, our Techlore email support at techlore.tech.
1207
01:35:58.315 --> 01:36:02.095
If I didn't if I just opened that though and I didn't want it to be shared with anybody,
1208
01:36:02.475 --> 01:36:04.175
I would link that to simple login
1209
01:36:04.500 --> 01:36:05.139
and then,
1210
01:36:05.540 --> 01:36:07.639
they'll generate an alias. So it could be
1211
01:36:08.340 --> 01:36:08.840
school
1212
01:36:09.219 --> 01:36:10.040
at alias.com,
1213
01:36:10.820 --> 01:36:19.435
and I give that to my my school. So then my my school only has that school, but everything they send goes to my normal email inbox, and I can still interact with it.
1214
01:36:20.935 --> 01:36:21.915
Yeah. I'm I'm
1215
01:36:22.300 --> 01:36:23.040
kind of
1216
01:36:23.500 --> 01:36:31.040
all over the place with that explanation, but hopefully just check out their website. They do a better job. And also, we have a review of it too on TechFlow. Do they accept Bitcoin?
1217
01:36:31.745 --> 01:36:33.045
I believe they do.
1218
01:36:33.745 --> 01:36:47.219
Let me double check, but I'm pretty sure they even accepted Monero as well. So you should have multiple. Because a lot of these services, it's like you know, and then you provide them your credit card and billing address. No. SimpleLogin's open source, and you can self host it too. Oh, that's awesome.
1219
01:36:47.954 --> 01:36:51.094
Yeah. Let me let me find their, That was not on my radar.
1220
01:36:52.114 --> 01:36:59.239
Oh, yeah. So it's funny because, I feel like it hasn't quite, like, seeped its hands into the crypto world yet because Seth also,
1221
01:36:59.719 --> 01:37:03.660
hadn't heard of it before. And he tried it and he doesn't stop talking about it now.
1222
01:37:05.034 --> 01:37:06.415
Let me see. Payment methods.
1223
01:37:17.610 --> 01:37:20.510
What? Are you checking the payment methods on SimpleLogin right now?
1224
01:37:29.760 --> 01:37:32.020
There was one other thing I wanted to talk about.
1225
01:37:38.915 --> 01:37:40.614
I think we might have lost Techlore.
1226
01:37:45.540 --> 01:37:47.080
Let's see if he comes back.
1227
01:37:50.420 --> 01:37:53.000
It was the most recent episode on Opt Out.
1228
01:37:54.844 --> 01:37:58.145
Thank you, this douchebag, for letting us know that.
1229
01:38:02.090 --> 01:38:06.110
Yeah. We did lose Tech Lorry. He'll be back in a second.
1230
01:38:07.130 --> 01:38:12.895
Yeah. Go check out Opt Out podcast if you haven't already. I had Seth on dispatch,
1231
01:38:14.715 --> 01:38:15.215
previously.
1232
01:38:21.940 --> 01:38:24.920
Yeah. Techlord's Internet went out. He'll be back in a second.
1233
01:38:27.295 --> 01:38:29.235
But definitely go check out Opt Out.
1234
01:38:29.935 --> 01:38:34.675
In the meantime, freaks, if you wanna throw more questions in the comments,
1235
01:38:36.100 --> 01:38:39.800
feel free to do that. It looks like it's just me on right now.
1236
01:38:41.300 --> 01:38:42.120
But when
1237
01:38:42.660 --> 01:38:43.880
Henry comes back,
1238
01:38:44.215 --> 01:38:49.035
we can answer those questions. Or if I can answer them, I will answer them.
1239
01:38:50.615 --> 01:38:53.835
Someone is asking Jonah is asking about the Calix hotspot.
1240
01:38:56.600 --> 01:39:02.060
I haven't really had too many issues with the Calix hotspot. It's it's pretty cool concept where they give you this
1241
01:39:02.365 --> 01:39:03.425
this mobile hotspot,
1242
01:39:04.685 --> 01:39:06.545
if you contribute to their
1243
01:39:06.925 --> 01:39:08.945
their foundation, their nonprofit foundation.
1244
01:39:10.380 --> 01:39:12.719
It obviously feels nice to support,
1245
01:39:14.060 --> 01:39:16.080
privacy focused work, and then
1246
01:39:16.540 --> 01:39:18.080
you also have the advantage
1247
01:39:18.460 --> 01:39:18.960
of
1248
01:39:19.305 --> 01:39:27.245
of getting this hot spot. The major negative of the hot spot is I believe it uses Sprint and T Mobile, the combination of the 2.
1249
01:39:30.030 --> 01:39:30.530
So
1250
01:39:31.310 --> 01:39:38.210
those you know, their reception area is is definitely a worse reception area. So you will have some reception issues
1251
01:39:39.935 --> 01:39:42.275
if you if you're using that hotspot.
1252
01:39:42.575 --> 01:39:44.835
How's it going, Henry? The spooks got you?
1253
01:39:47.055 --> 01:39:49.110
Yeah. I should be back.
1254
01:39:49.730 --> 01:39:51.510
Yeah. We hear you now. Cool.
1255
01:39:52.210 --> 01:39:52.949
What I miss?
1256
01:39:54.210 --> 01:40:00.244
I was just trying to run with it. I didn't realize simple login was the most recent episode on opt out.
1257
01:40:00.864 --> 01:40:13.950
Yeah. You should check it out. What I don't know when I cut out, but pretty much they accept crypto, but unfortunately, they use Coinbase Commerce. So I don't know how popular that'll be. But that that means they accept Bitcoin. Did so they actually don't accept Monero?
1258
01:40:17.195 --> 01:40:22.255
No. They do not. Bitcoin based com wow. So Seth loves them despite that. He's a However,
1259
01:40:22.780 --> 01:40:31.614
Seth is very, pushy with Monero, and I think he did tweet saying he did get them to accept it. So, yeah, he only emailed them. He is very pushy about Monero. So
1260
01:40:32.815 --> 01:40:36.594
Yeah. If anyone can do it, it's him. We were talking about the Kellogg's hotspot.
1261
01:40:37.935 --> 01:40:39.235
The reason I cut out.
1262
01:40:41.659 --> 01:40:49.679
Oh, is that what you're on right now? Yeah. It it ran out of battery. I ditched my home Internet. I don't even have home Internet anymore, so I just use the Calix hotspot. It's fantastic.
1263
01:40:50.515 --> 01:40:51.335
There you go.
1264
01:40:52.435 --> 01:40:59.940
It is really great, but I I was talking about how my major my major negative about it is that it's I think it's Sprint and T Mobile they use.
1265
01:41:00.980 --> 01:41:01.480
Yep.
1266
01:41:01.860 --> 01:41:04.600
So the reception area isn't as large
1267
01:41:05.060 --> 01:41:05.560
as,
1268
01:41:06.500 --> 01:41:09.000
the other two majors as AT and T and Verizon.
1269
01:41:09.795 --> 01:41:13.474
Yeah. It'll it'll vary. I have fantastic Internet at my home.
1270
01:41:13.955 --> 01:41:16.855
It's better than what I'd get from my,
1271
01:41:17.795 --> 01:41:28.835
Internet service provider, But I don't have to deal with don't have to deal with the assholes, though. I recently moved, and I have gigabit. So I so I'm very happy with it. That's nice. Very nice to have.
1272
01:41:29.614 --> 01:41:30.114
What,
1273
01:41:30.574 --> 01:41:38.400
have you ever so Calix hotspot is cool because it's it's it's unlimited. Have you ever hit, like, the point where they've started throttling you?
1274
01:41:38.940 --> 01:41:39.440
No.
1275
01:41:40.540 --> 01:41:41.260
They've never
1276
01:41:41.980 --> 01:41:46.615
so Nick Nick Nick Merrill, the the the guy who is the founder of the Calix Institute,
1277
01:41:47.475 --> 01:41:52.910
he's never had someone throttled. He's had people download, like, 5 terabytes in a month and nothing happened.
1278
01:41:53.690 --> 01:42:02.565
So Yeah. I I did, like, a year of nomadic life, and I used it heavily. But I you know, whenever a company tells me something's unlimited, I always just assume there's a catch.
1279
01:42:03.265 --> 01:42:14.050
But I never hit the throttle point myself, but I thought maybe you did. Nope. The most I've done is, like, I think, 400 gigs in a month, which is not even enough to to cap a normal ISP,
1280
01:42:14.510 --> 01:42:16.770
which, by the way, is completely, like,
1281
01:42:17.710 --> 01:42:28.355
nothing gets me more riled up than my ISP because, you know, you're paying premium for this service and they're throttling you to, like my previous one is throttling me to 1.1 terabytes a month.
1282
01:42:28.910 --> 01:42:34.530
Yeah. It's fucked up. And a lot of them throttle even lower than that. I mean, I have buddies in Australia that's really bad.
1283
01:42:36.445 --> 01:42:37.265
And then they
1284
01:42:37.645 --> 01:42:42.225
they they spy on you, like, crazy amounts, and they have so much personal information on you.
1285
01:42:45.440 --> 01:42:49.620
Yeah. Especially in this country, there's, like, not that much competition among ISPs.
1286
01:42:51.255 --> 01:42:55.355
That's a whole different can of worms, and we're kinda wrapping up here. Before we wrap up,
1287
01:42:57.335 --> 01:42:59.410
yes. Someone ask, also ask this question.
1288
01:42:59.790 --> 01:43:05.330
I wanted to talk about SilentLink a little bit because I I love their service, and you mentioned it earlier.
1289
01:43:09.605 --> 01:43:11.465
Do you use Soundlink? You like Soundlink?
1290
01:43:12.165 --> 01:43:20.719
Yeah. I just I recently started using it the last few weeks. I just put out a review of it on Techstar actually. And, like Yeah. It was on Bitcoin TV too. Yep.
1291
01:43:21.820 --> 01:43:23.600
I watched that review. It was great.
1292
01:43:25.165 --> 01:43:28.865
I I love I love when something like that happens because I had started
1293
01:43:29.405 --> 01:43:35.139
recommending silent link to people, and I was like, do I have to make a review about it? And then you made the review, which is even bet like, they
1294
01:43:35.540 --> 01:43:39.400
I guess so much better when other people make the reviews, and you can just tell people to go to those.
1295
01:43:40.035 --> 01:43:51.490
Yeah. Or just everyone makes a review too. I mean, that it's nice when you get multiple perspectives on things too. But it is nice when someone's already done something, and you just don't wanna touch it. And it's like, here. Just
1296
01:43:52.190 --> 01:43:58.130
Well, the thing about, like I mean, you know this more than anyone. Like, the thing about reviews and guides is they just break so often
1297
01:43:58.755 --> 01:44:00.135
because things change.
1298
01:44:00.995 --> 01:44:06.040
Yeah. So you're like a never ending update loop. I I would not know what you're talking about.
1299
01:44:07.080 --> 01:44:09.820
No. No. Don't know what that means. Never heard of that before.
1300
01:44:10.280 --> 01:44:10.520
But,
1301
01:44:11.160 --> 01:44:17.715
per our earlier conversation about phone numbers and how they leak all this information from you and people don't change them often,
1302
01:44:18.655 --> 01:44:27.000
silent dot link is a great service that offers you something called an eSIM. So you have that, like, little SIM card that you stick into your device,
1303
01:44:27.380 --> 01:44:31.480
into your phone, that gives it its phone number and connection to cell towers.
1304
01:44:32.405 --> 01:44:32.905
Silent.link
1305
01:44:33.605 --> 01:44:36.505
supports this new concept called esims.
1306
01:44:36.965 --> 01:44:41.930
So you can pay them Bitcoin and you can just without giving them any personal information,
1307
01:44:43.510 --> 01:44:44.810
no email, nothing.
1308
01:44:45.910 --> 01:44:47.610
They will give you a phone number
1309
01:44:48.675 --> 01:44:52.455
with data access, and you just download it directly to your phone.
1310
01:44:53.075 --> 01:44:53.575
And
1311
01:44:54.675 --> 01:44:56.455
I think it's Android only. Right?
1312
01:44:57.659 --> 01:45:02.639
No. It's just it's just eSIM. So it should work on iPhone. IPhone support eSIM as well?
1313
01:45:03.420 --> 01:45:11.655
Yep. Some models. Make sure to check which model you have. I'm fairly certain that as long as the phone supports eSIM, then silent link will work. Also, it's a real number, people.
1314
01:45:11.980 --> 01:45:12.960
It's not like,
1315
01:45:13.579 --> 01:45:18.159
like, I I like my pseudo and I like Hush. I like these disposable burner apps,
1316
01:45:18.540 --> 01:45:29.705
but a lot of websites will know that you're using a burner app and they'll they won't let you register for accounts you use. But silent link is an actual real number that you'd get from Verizon, AT and T, or any other cell carrier.
1317
01:45:31.870 --> 01:45:34.050
Yeah. So that link is fantastic.
1318
01:45:36.510 --> 01:45:38.210
Like I said, you could pay with Bitcoin.
1319
01:45:39.645 --> 01:45:48.385
Obviously, another option you have is to to actually buy a prepaid SIM with cash, which has a lot more friction. A lot of the providers, like, require a bunch of personal information,
1320
01:45:48.730 --> 01:45:51.870
and it's not necessarily obvious which ones do and which ones don't,
1321
01:45:52.650 --> 01:45:53.870
at the time of purchase.
1322
01:45:55.825 --> 01:45:58.165
And then another service I really like is textverify.com,
1323
01:45:59.585 --> 01:46:01.205
which also accepts Bitcoin.
1324
01:46:01.985 --> 01:46:04.725
I heard that one. That one's a little bit different.
1325
01:46:05.160 --> 01:46:09.420
They will give you a disposable number that's one time use only.
1326
01:46:11.320 --> 01:46:12.835
But you basically
1327
01:46:13.295 --> 01:46:15.555
pick which service you're gonna use it for.
1328
01:46:16.095 --> 01:46:16.595
And
1329
01:46:17.615 --> 01:46:19.935
whatever they're doing in the background, like, they know,
1330
01:46:21.480 --> 01:46:29.739
which services are blocking which numbers on which lists, and they'll give you a number that works. And, like, I've used it with Twitter. I've used it with a bunch of other services.
1331
01:46:32.085 --> 01:46:33.785
So those those are, like,
1332
01:46:34.805 --> 01:46:36.505
those are are are literally,
1333
01:46:37.420 --> 01:46:42.960
like, they burn immediately. You use them once, you get the code to verify yourself, and then
1334
01:46:43.260 --> 01:46:44.560
you can't use it again.
1335
01:46:45.065 --> 01:46:51.165
The nice thing about silent.link is, like, you can use it for a couple months and then get a new one and get a new one.
1336
01:46:52.360 --> 01:46:53.180
So definitely
1337
01:46:53.960 --> 01:46:55.980
go check them out. Really cool service.
1338
01:46:57.640 --> 01:46:58.620
I just bookmarked,
1339
01:46:59.000 --> 01:47:03.215
text verified too. It's really cool. I've heard of them before. Text text verified is fantastic.
1340
01:47:05.514 --> 01:47:12.470
I don't someone's asking if you can use it with signal. I'm not sure. But if you go to the website, it'll tell you what services it supports. I would not use it with signal.
1341
01:47:13.250 --> 01:47:15.510
I would use silent dot link with signal.
1342
01:47:16.255 --> 01:47:20.035
Yes. Because the other thing is someone mentioned in the comments,
1343
01:47:21.935 --> 01:47:22.755
these services
1344
01:47:23.215 --> 01:47:23.715
that
1345
01:47:27.070 --> 01:47:30.610
these these services that rely on phone numbers, like WhatsApp,
1346
01:47:31.390 --> 01:47:33.330
if you get a recycled phone number,
1347
01:47:34.425 --> 01:47:38.525
then you might be able to get access to other people's accounts that they've already used.
1348
01:47:39.385 --> 01:47:39.885
So
1349
01:47:40.425 --> 01:47:43.740
you wanna be careful with the with the recycled phone numbers
1350
01:47:44.620 --> 01:47:46.960
on high value services, stuff like signal.
1351
01:47:47.580 --> 01:47:50.320
I guess with signal, it's not as bad, but with WhatsApp,
1352
01:47:51.025 --> 01:47:53.925
I guess there's some history that you get. With signal,
1353
01:47:54.545 --> 01:47:56.324
future people might message there,
1354
01:47:56.864 --> 01:47:58.165
which would be pretty bad,
1355
01:47:58.784 --> 01:48:00.405
but they won't get message history.
1356
01:48:02.040 --> 01:48:06.699
It will. It will. We don't recommend it for all the reasons that Matt just said, but it will work.
1357
01:48:07.000 --> 01:48:16.554
Signal has very, almost no checks on the numbers you provide, which is really nice because you can even use my pseudo or something like that. Absolutely. Text verified definitely works.
1358
01:48:18.980 --> 01:48:20.040
Yeah. That's textverified.com.
1359
01:48:20.900 --> 01:48:23.960
Someone's asking what that is. And then the other one is silent.link.
1360
01:48:25.965 --> 01:48:27.025
And all these services,
1361
01:48:28.605 --> 01:48:30.065
you should use with a VPN,
1362
01:48:34.590 --> 01:48:35.090
With
1363
01:48:35.870 --> 01:48:36.370
with,
1364
01:48:37.870 --> 01:48:39.010
with text verified,
1365
01:48:39.710 --> 01:48:41.650
they do require an email address.
1366
01:48:42.735 --> 01:48:47.155
So be very careful about which email address you provide there because, obviously, that is linking.
1367
01:48:49.750 --> 01:48:53.210
Just linking your email address to whatever you're using it for.
1368
01:48:53.590 --> 01:48:58.650
Yeah. They I'm on their website now. They do support signal. They support a a huge amount of services.
1369
01:49:00.655 --> 01:49:07.155
Okay. Well, I really appreciate your time, Henry. Thank you so much, for coming on. I appreciate all the work you're doing.
1370
01:49:08.610 --> 01:49:11.190
Before we wrap up, do you have any final thoughts for us?
1371
01:49:12.850 --> 01:49:16.710
No, man. This has been a lot of fun. I think that what you're doing is great. You're
1372
01:49:17.805 --> 01:49:19.745
putting great projects. You're
1373
01:49:20.205 --> 01:49:25.665
spreading great education to these people. I think it's great that so many people are getting pricing security education now.
1374
01:49:27.230 --> 01:49:33.685
Just beyond us, just really anyone, it's really fantastic. So, thanks for having me on, and really thanks for everything you're doing.
1375
01:49:34.085 --> 01:49:36.025
Yeah. It's, I mean, it's it's
1376
01:49:36.405 --> 01:49:40.825
it's super promising. Just there's just so much good content out there right now,
1377
01:49:41.969 --> 01:49:44.070
and I hope to see more and more of it.
1378
01:49:44.610 --> 01:49:47.909
And thank once again, just thank you so much for all the work you do.
1379
01:49:48.665 --> 01:49:51.005
Thank you for all the freaks who joined us today,
1380
01:49:52.185 --> 01:49:52.585
and,
1381
01:49:53.545 --> 01:49:55.485
I'll see you next week. Thanks, Henry.
1382
01:49:55.945 --> 01:49:56.845
Thank you too.
1383
01:50:03.599 --> 01:50:04.820
I don't know if that's
1384
01:50:12.385 --> 01:50:12.750
it.
1385
01:50:20.135 --> 01:50:20.635
City
1386
01:50:21.015 --> 01:50:29.195
lights. No matter how hard I try, I've come as by. And I'm living from where I've started.
1387
01:52:00.020 --> 01:52:00.600
Rules of loss
1388
01:52:01.300 --> 01:52:03.000
in a man of saloons,
1389
01:52:03.460 --> 01:52:04.760
crazed air force.
1390
01:53:26.360 --> 01:53:27.340
Love you, freaks.
1391
01:53:27.800 --> 01:53:30.780
Dis I'll see you on Thursday for a rapid recap.
1392
01:53:31.415 --> 01:53:36.315
Dispatch next Tuesday with Statikus and Open Arms is at 4 PM EST.
1393
01:53:38.054 --> 01:53:39.594
4 before PM EST,
1394
01:53:40.120 --> 01:53:41.340
21 100 UTC.
1395
01:53:41.880 --> 01:53:43.980
So join us for that. That should be a great conversation.
1396
01:53:45.320 --> 01:53:48.140
Reminder, you can find Techlore's content at techlore.tech.
1397
01:53:49.095 --> 01:53:50.875
He's also got a channel on bitcointv.com,
1398
01:53:53.975 --> 01:54:03.230
and he's got his his new show, the surveillance report. Definitely go check that out. I love you all. Reminder as always, I mean, I've been saying this,
1399
01:54:03.610 --> 01:54:09.164
to you guys for years now, but don't get overwhelmed. I know we talked about a lot of detailed things here.
1400
01:54:09.545 --> 01:54:13.085
Little improvements do help. Cutting out social media use,
1401
01:54:13.570 --> 01:54:16.390
not using an Alexa, not using a Google Assistant,
1402
01:54:16.930 --> 01:54:18.390
reducing your Google usage,
1403
01:54:18.930 --> 01:54:22.230
all these little things, they do add up and at scale, they help everybody.
1404
01:54:23.625 --> 01:54:29.885
So just consider trying to take little steps to improve your privacy. It is it is not as overwhelming as it may seem,
1405
01:54:31.820 --> 01:54:34.320
and we we can make progress, each of us, independently
1406
01:54:35.100 --> 01:54:39.280
and together. So I love you all. Take care. Have a great week. Cheers.
NOTE
Transcription provided by Podhome.fm
Created: 3/17/2024 8:08:50 PM
Duration: 6882.351
Channels: 1
1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.300
2
00:00:04.720 --> 00:00:13.655
recently Bitcoin miners are increasing capacity. Now normally that that costs money, and they may have have financed that in different ways. Now it's being financed,
3
00:00:14.195 --> 00:00:19.080
through banks or or market based financing, which not only could add,
4
00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:29.525
you know, it it it it could add to the popularity of the whole space, obviously, but it also doesn't take selling of Bitcoin to finance the mining operation. So
5
00:00:30.225 --> 00:00:32.325
do you see producing more as bullish?
6
00:00:32.785 --> 00:01:12.520
7
00:01:12.820 --> 00:01:16.200
even more significantly, perhaps, for the Bitcoin market directly
8
00:01:16.634 --> 00:01:38.815
is the access that this gives Bitcoin miners to financing, be it through bank based financing, like some credit lines that you're seeing, or through market based financing. We're seeing more and more Bitcoin miners lift on public exchanges and actually do very well. What does this mean for Bitcoin itself? It means that whereas before, miners had to sell Bitcoin
9
00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:41.970
in order to fund their expansion and operations
10
00:01:42.350 --> 00:01:51.595
Now they don't need to they can hold on to that bitcoin and we're seeing on chain data support that. Less new Bitcoin coming into the market is bullish. They can be hold
11
00:02:27.420 --> 00:02:32.080
12
00:02:32.540 --> 00:02:33.040
49.
13
00:02:33.660 --> 00:02:36.945
I know it's been a few weeks since our last dispatch.
14
00:02:37.405 --> 00:02:39.185
Hope you guys enjoyed your holidays.
15
00:02:39.965 --> 00:02:43.105
With friends and family, focus on what's really important out there,
16
00:02:43.660 --> 00:02:45.280
get your priorities in order.
17
00:02:45.820 --> 00:02:47.120
I know I sure did.
18
00:02:48.140 --> 00:02:51.840
I'm really excited about this show. I've been excited since last year.
19
00:02:52.735 --> 00:02:54.435
So let's get right to it.
20
00:02:55.215 --> 00:03:00.754
So dispatch is an interactive live show about Bitcoin distributed systems privacy and open source software.
21
00:03:01.290 --> 00:03:06.110
As always, I wanna thank the rider dive freaks who continue to support this show,
22
00:03:06.410 --> 00:03:10.830
keeping it ad free and sponsor free and focus purely on actionable Bitcoin discussion.
23
00:03:11.915 --> 00:03:12.575
And, also,
24
00:03:12.955 --> 00:03:16.735
as always, a huge shout out to the ride or die freaks who join us,
25
00:03:17.115 --> 00:03:22.030
for the live shows and participate in the live chat whether that's through Twitter, Twitch, or YouTube.
26
00:03:22.410 --> 00:03:25.070
Reminder, it is also posted after the fact,
27
00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:27.470
to our podcast feed and,
28
00:03:27.875 --> 00:03:28.615
to bitcointv.com.
29
00:03:30.755 --> 00:03:34.055
I know some of you freaks while live streaming on bitcointv.com.
30
00:03:35.330 --> 00:03:39.269
It is coming. The functionality is already there. I need to iron out some kinks,
31
00:03:39.890 --> 00:03:44.470
so I'd leave it disabled for now. But, it will be coming soon in this new year.
32
00:03:46.555 --> 00:03:48.815
You can support the show via
33
00:03:49.755 --> 00:03:56.000
I I I I spent 2 weeks off, and I I ruined my show a little bit. You can support the show at seal dispatch.com,
34
00:03:57.980 --> 00:04:00.080
using Bitcoin, whether that's lightning
35
00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:03.120
or on chain using a pay NIM,
36
00:04:04.254 --> 00:04:09.075
or what a lot of freaks like doing is you can support it through podcasting 2 point o apps.
37
00:04:09.855 --> 00:04:11.875
My favorite too is fountain podcasts
38
00:04:12.390 --> 00:04:13.450
and Breeze Wallet.
39
00:04:14.230 --> 00:04:16.810
You simply download the app through the app store,
40
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load it up with some sats, search Siddle Dispatch, click that subscribe button,
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and you can stream stats directly to my node as you listen. I literally go to my node and it's just every day of the week I just see, you know, 1,
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5, 10, 20, 30 sets coming in, and you, like, literally see as people are listening because they're coming in, per minute. It's really it's really fucking cool, and I appreciate all the freaks out there who continue to support the show that way.
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With all that said,
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this is serial dispatch 49.
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We have a focus on digital privacy tools and strategies,
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with Henry from Tech Lore is taken.
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I'm really excited about this one. How's it going, Henry?
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We've had it on both of our calendars.
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I really I just I I mean, before we get started, I just wanted to say I really do appreciate all your work.
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You're an absolute legend, and you're you're a major asset to the space. So I hope all the freaks
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after this conversation go and and and check out all all the resources you've built over there.
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so I guess, we talked a little bit about this before the show,
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but so we have Techlore, which is techlore.tech,
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which is your baby, and you got, like, a whole team there now.
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And then you have, this this new podcast that I'm really enjoying, The Surveillance Report.
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What else are you working on? Are you working on anything else in addition to that?
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I have a big issue of, overcommitting the projects. Yeah. Me too. It's kind of a big deal. So, actually, it's been toning things down over time. We used to do a lot more things, but now it really is just the majority of,
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just the mostly a YouTube channel. It's also on Bitcoin,
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TV as well, which is very exciting.
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And, really, it's mostly just the main content, and then survey and support is the new podcast as well. And everything is built for digital pricing security and to pretty much educate people on how to take back their ownership of their data.
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And, obviously, there's a lot of overlap with cryptocurrencies
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as well.
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very excited to get you on bitcointv.com.
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I I guess you had issues with your previous peer 2 provider or something like that?
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transition over to privacy guides, and now they split into 2 projects. So we are kind of caught in that mix a little bit because we were in our peer tube instance. It's
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we're very we're very happy to have you. I think you add a lot to
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to the content on that platform.
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So, I mean,
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our show is,
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very much focused on
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digital privacy. So I think
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you don't have to necessarily be too shy about going into the weeds a little bit as we go here.
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The freaks have gone
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with me over this last year.
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So they are pretty
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they're predisposed to a lot of the topics that I I think we're gonna talk about. But
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every good privacy conversation
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starts with the age old question, which is why is privacy important to you and why should everyone else care?
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Well, for me I think
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first, I discovered privacy mainly because
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I read The Art of Invisibility
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by Kevin Mitnick. Great book. Great introduction to the privacy world. And I think that,
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just the overwhelming amount of dystopian technologies that were found in that book that was it's already an outdated book, was just
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unfathomable.
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Like, things that you see in Black Mirror and things that you see in pretty much any kind of dystopian novel, they're technologies that for the most part can happen today and many of them are used as privacy invasive tools.
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And, I'm sure this will resonate with the crypto community, but
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many of you want control over finances as well as your life, and I think that carries over to data. And, ultimately, I think privacy is just control over data.
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You get to choose what you wanna share with the world.
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I don't necessarily believe everyone needs to be perfectly private, but if you're able to choose what you're sharing with the world, then I consider that an overall win for a lot of people.
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and within the cyp in the cyberpunk manifesto, I think there's a really clear delineation there where, like, privacy is not secrecy.
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It's the ability to selectively reveal yourself to the world.
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And I think a lot of people,
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tend to fall down that hole, which is like,
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I'm not going to ever obtain a 100%
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secrecy,
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so there's no reason for me to try. But, really, there's bunch of different shades of gray there, and you really want to,
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have control over where you basically end up in that
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in that process. Right?
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a lot of people who do say that, like, oh, I have nothing to hide or I can't achieve perfect secrecy.
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You know that in real life, if they're, talking to a stranger, they're not sharing every little personal detail about themselves. But the moment that it goes into the digital realm,
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we we don't care if we're pretty much seeing the equivalent of that with companies, governments, and everyone in between.
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Just interesting.
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Seth's Seth's great podcast, Opt Out.
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I also joined him on there,
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and I had an interesting conversation with him because,
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and I I mean, you're in you're in the same boat. I mean, the 3 of us are are
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are relatively public figures that talk about privacy.
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And I I imagine
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you get a lot of
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hate about people saying,
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well, you shouldn't be talking if you really cared about privacy, you wouldn't be talking about it publicly. I mean, I've seen your face on a 1000000 YouTube videos,
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quite good YouTube videos.
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How do you how do you counter that when when people bring that up?
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it's funny because I've gotten a lot better answering that question over the years. I think a few years ago, it was a very common YouTube comment. Like, LOL,
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you're
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talking about privacy and deleting Google, but did you know that YouTube is owned by Google?
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Laughing emojis. And it's like, yeah. We're very much aware.
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It's all about a threat model. It's all about choosing what you wanna share with the world.
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It's unfortunate because I I didn't know TechFlow was gonna become a big thing when I first did it. And if I could go back in time, I wouldn't have shown my face. So it's actually one of the things that is both a blessing and a curse because I think the face adds familiarity.
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I think people feel more comfortable with the content. It makes privacy more presentable,
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because when you're someone who's hiding behind
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just a screen, it it in some ways does make you less of a presentable person. So there is those pros, but again, it's not a sacrifice I'd probably make again.
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But it's something that I can work with. I'm able to hide aspects of my life that I don't wanna share. I'm able to pretty much share with the world what I want to be shared because I'm able to follow my threat model and take proper precautions in the meantime. So, really, like, what we do is exactly what we preach,
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which is
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we let the world decide what they wanna share.
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And and yeah. That's the best answer I have for that. Well said. I mean, I think that,
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Yeah. We have this guy in the comments,
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Radixrat
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mentioning a full body green suit.
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Our boy, Gigi. Do you know Gigi? He's in the Bitcoin community? I do not.
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Gigi's a fucking legend.
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He's one of my really good friends,
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and he is also very focused on privacy.
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And he's been doing a bunch of videos lately, and he wears a full green bodysuit so that he can green screen whatever face or
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images he wants on his body. And he's actually presented live in person that way as well.
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So for a while, like, I kind of justified
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my,
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me self doxing my face as
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a a necessary
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evil to basically
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try and further education and whatnot. And, also, like you, like, I just didn't expect my content to blow up as much, and I wasn't really thinking about it clearly enough.
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And then Gigi just comes around and just shows that it's possible. He just goes out there and
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just wears the full green suit. It's
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The I I yeah. I I'm with you there. If I could go back, I probably wouldn't have shown my face, but it does come with pros.
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The thing with the green suit and this is kind of a side tangent, but,
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it's interesting because the face is something that's so,
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I guess, unique
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to to us as humans. Like, we think of, a face as
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the definition of exposing sensitive information,
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but, there's some people, I I I don't mind naming them, but like the hated one. I think it's a great channel.
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He'll show his hands in some videos.
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And I'm thinking, well, what what if in 10 years, a hand is enough to identify someone?
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or, you know,
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some,
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some some type of criminal that they got because he was taking, like, photos of his
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product,
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and I think they pulled the fingerprints off the HD photo.
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this was many years ago, probably at least 5 years ago, that just a thumbs up in a selfie is enough to get your fingerprint,
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depending on the quality of the image. So yeah. It's just interesting because there is a face, but there's also many other things. So I'd also ask,
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I guess, how well the green suit idea would hold up in the meantime?
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I, I mean, look. This is one of the reasons why so, like,
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my other show, rabbit hole recap,
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we do a live video stream
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and with our faces. And one of the reasons that dispatch
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is like an audio video hybrid,
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is so that I make sure that my guests don't feel pressured into
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like, I I feel like I want
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we we should kind of as, like, an industry almost,
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especially with with all the lockdowns and stuff that happened around COVID. I feel like there was a major push towards
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digital media, and I feel like
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content just automatically does better if
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you actually have a face there, like you said.
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So
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dispatch was one of the ways of kind of, like, playing with the format
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so that it is an audio only show in terms of participants,
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but there's still a video interaction with this live chat and whatnot.
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It's definitely a little bit of a rebellious take on it.
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Some mornings I wake up and I'm like, you're a fucking idiot. Like, why'd you ever go public about privacy?
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And then other times, I'm like, what else
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would be better to do with your life than this?
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And most of the time, it's the latter.
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So that is that is the good news here.
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your channel is
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you don't really
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or just your work in general, you don't really
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you have a very broad demographic.
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You kind of
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you're kind of you're you have videos and guides that are very accessible
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to people that that aren't necessarily very technically savvy, and then you have guides
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and content
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that are for more,
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savvy individuals. Like, I would say I mean, the surveillance report to me is,
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like, I'm the demographic for that. And, like, maybe some of my ride or die listeners are the demographic of that.
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But then and I know this is a touchy subject, but, like, your your main Graphene guide at the time was on a Windows computer to make it more accessible to,
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newcomers.
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When when you when you think about privacy, when you think about someone who is
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trying to basically take the first steps
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to make their life a little bit more private, to not share absolutely everything on the Internet.
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What do you think is, like, the first, like, actionable
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steps that someone should consider doing?
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What we're really against is the idea of going to the extreme on every topic,
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which is, like, my biggest gripe with a lot of other channels, which they still have their place and they still have their demographic.
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But,
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I don't think not accessible.
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It's not accessible, and I think that it's unhealthy to set such high expectations for everyone all the time. And it doesn't include threat models.
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Because some people are fine using social media and sharing everything about themselves. Right? Like, we we share our faces, we share certain information about ourselves, and it's totally fair for someone else who's consciously making a decision and understanding the drawbacks, of course, to make a decision that they know might be harmful.
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But we also make several different kinds of content. So some of them you're gonna find are more advanced, and they talk about how to obtain cryptocurrencies anonymously, how to store them safely,
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all about, like, hardware keys, t TOTP,
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things that most people might not want
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to touch. But the people who wanna touch it, they still have that access available.
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It's a very hard balancing act though.
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You know?
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In Go incognito
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yeah. In in Go incognito, the the course,
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that I put together,
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it was like a 2 year project. And one of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to deal with that problem. And one of the best ways I found was each topic
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so let's say it was 2 f a. It starts with the the bare minimum of what you need to understand and know, and it slowly escalates from there. And then, actually, in the background, it's a green screen and the green screen chain changes color,
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to pretty much represent a higher threat model.
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So that's, like, one
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nice way I found of pretty much accommodating different demographics.
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For your second question though, we made a video and I actually this is video was made a while ago, so I don't remember all the tips, but it was like how to get started on your privacy journey.
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I'm trying to find it right now, but it pretty much answers that question and it's,
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here it is.
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manager,
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enabling 2 f a on your accounts, just deleting old accounts you don't have anymore,
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being conscious of what you're uploading to the Internet. Those are all basic things that would take people very far. And I think one of the biggest ones that we don't talk about is just moving to end to end encrypted mesh messaging when you can.
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I think moving to an end to end encrypted messenger is already a massive step forward.
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If you combine that with migration to a password manager and enabling 2FA on your accounts, at least people will have basic security
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in mind.
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And you can't have privacy without security, so it's a great starting point.
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Lots of things about signal I don't like. But, overall, I do think it's probably the best messenger to recommend to the people I know. I'd say almost all the people I talk to on a day to day basis in my personal life are on signal.
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I pretty I pretty much slow and steadily
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onboarded everyone that's important in my life onto signal.
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But, like, I I even got my my family
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basically uses it.
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00:21:34.605 --> 00:21:37.985
I have, like, a group chat with my ladies immediate family
267
00:21:38.285 --> 00:21:39.745
and my immediate family,
268
00:21:40.685 --> 00:21:43.985
and it's basically almost used as a
269
00:21:44.310 --> 00:21:48.490
social media type of situation where, like, photos are shared and stuff,
270
00:21:49.190 --> 00:21:50.970
in that in that single group,
271
00:21:51.975 --> 00:21:57.755
which is a really nice touch, I think, that people are missing when they're like, I, you know, I don't want to completely detach myself
272
00:21:58.375 --> 00:22:02.330
from that that social sharing kind of aspect, but I care about privacy.
273
00:22:02.870 --> 00:22:03.370
274
00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:04.410
It's funny,
275
00:22:05.590 --> 00:22:09.895
my partner and I, we use the one x photo as kind of like a Snapchat feature.
276
00:22:10.515 --> 00:22:13.495
It's a pretty bad Snapchat knock off, but it does work.
277
00:22:13.955 --> 00:22:19.299
There's a lot of things signal's good for. I'm seeing some people here. What do you think about matrix with the bridges?
278
00:22:19.919 --> 00:22:23.700
We actually have a whole community on matrix, and we bridge it to our Discord community.
279
00:22:25.085 --> 00:22:30.065
It's a pain in the ass. There's really no other way to say it. We host our own bridge
280
00:22:30.525 --> 00:22:31.025
and,
281
00:22:32.062 --> 00:22:38.660
it has a lot of problems. It resets permissions pretty frequently, but it does work. It's a very cool project, and I think that bridges are a very cool way.
282
00:22:39.040 --> 00:22:50.610
If someone's on WhatsApp, you're able to self host your own bridge essentially on WhatsApp and be able to use Matrix with them. So it's it's very nifty. I like Matrix, but I think it's very unpolished, and it's not something I would use,
283
00:22:51.150 --> 00:22:56.210
284
00:22:56.565 --> 00:22:58.025
system is a bit hacky.
285
00:23:00.005 --> 00:23:06.345
I mean, I have people love Discord. I have my own problems with Discord. I mean, Discord's not end to end encrypted. Oh, hey. Hey, Discord.
286
00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:10.650
Matrix, like, vanilla matrix,
287
00:23:11.190 --> 00:23:15.130
if you're not using with bridges, if you're if you're using it,
288
00:23:16.195 --> 00:23:18.775
with, like, Element or one of the other popular clients,
289
00:23:19.875 --> 00:23:22.695
is is very user friendly. It's it's
290
00:23:23.260 --> 00:23:27.040
it's pretty easy to get started, especially if you're using, you know, the matrix.org
291
00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:28.240
home server.
292
00:23:29.260 --> 00:23:30.705
We have our own self hosted
293
00:23:31.345 --> 00:23:40.880
matrix room, which I meant to show in the beginning of this chat because, because it's relatively new. That's citadel dot chat. Got almost 300 freaks in there right now.
294
00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:49.515
But, I'm I'm slowly starting to to fall in love with Matrix because Matrix is is end to end encrypted.
295
00:23:50.455 --> 00:23:53.115
It's open source. You can self host it.
296
00:23:53.735 --> 00:23:54.875
It's kind of
297
00:23:55.559 --> 00:24:00.140
it's kind of like the the dream messaging platform in a lot of ways.
298
00:24:00.840 --> 00:24:11.255
I I mean, the biggest thing signal has going for it, which is also probably your biggest complaint, but is also the best part of it in a lot of ways is that it uses the phone numbers
299
00:24:11.715 --> 00:24:12.455
as a,
300
00:24:13.810 --> 00:24:15.190
like, a contact mechanism,
301
00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:19.030
which is just very user friendly. People are are
302
00:24:19.650 --> 00:24:24.495
are used to that with, like, the WhatsApp types of situations and the Imessage types of situations.
303
00:24:27.035 --> 00:24:27.535
304
00:24:27.915 --> 00:24:32.660
I think everything you said is valid. I those are the aspects of Matrix that I really like as well.
305
00:24:33.120 --> 00:24:35.620
Really, the only complaint I have with matrix is
306
00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:37.460
the metadata leakage
307
00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:41.925
because there is kind of a metadata problem with that signal handles a lot better.
308
00:24:43.185 --> 00:24:49.440
And, also, I do like disappearing messages on signal. But outside those two things, I still think matrix is an overall great platform.
309
00:24:51.600 --> 00:24:53.539
Experience as you have personally.
310
00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:54.580
So,
311
00:24:55.679 --> 00:25:03.765
that's why I really like signal. But then there are some great things about matrix. Like, I can get element from F droid. Right. You know? Like, I can't get signal from F droid.
312
00:25:05.105 --> 00:25:05.924
Kind of a bummer.
313
00:25:06.560 --> 00:25:16.180
So, again, like, I I have issues with signal as well. The phone number requirement would be nice if it was optional. I wish it was available on F droid. I wish they were more open source friendly. I wish that
314
00:25:18.165 --> 00:25:20.425
they had basic ARM support for Linux.
315
00:25:21.445 --> 00:25:24.105
316
00:25:24.650 --> 00:25:26.990
Yep. I mean, the single desktop app sucks.
317
00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:31.790
That's another thing that's an issue with it. Yeah. It's not great. Just in general.
318
00:25:32.570 --> 00:25:37.595
Yeah. And even just like how it, like, it it's basically using your phone as a relay for the
319
00:25:39.995 --> 00:25:45.050
like, I don't think you can use it. If your phone is off, I don't think you get messages on the desktop client.
320
00:25:46.390 --> 00:25:46.890
321
00:25:49.245 --> 00:25:49.985
The only
322
00:25:50.605 --> 00:25:58.865
projects that people should be aware of, but I think really trumps everything else in regards to privacy, security, and anonymity is Briar, b r I a r.
323
00:25:59.870 --> 00:26:03.490
It's onion routed. It's only available on Android, and it's peer to peer.
324
00:26:04.110 --> 00:26:07.250
325
00:26:08.054 --> 00:26:11.434
I believe so, but Like, if No. I if
326
00:26:11.735 --> 00:26:21.360
I mean, there was all the stories that in, like, China, like, it got censored so then you can use, like, their Bluetooth WiFi to just automatically, like, almost like a mesh net type of situation. Right?
327
00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:28.135
328
00:26:29.715 --> 00:26:31.655
329
00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:32.960
it's not purely
330
00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:37.040
mesh. Like, if you're in the western world, like, I downloaded Briar
331
00:26:37.660 --> 00:26:41.200
and, like, I could chat with people on the other side of the world.
332
00:26:42.015 --> 00:26:48.995
But in, like, a worst case scenario, one of the cool aspects of Briar is that if you could have, like, no cell reception and still use Briar
333
00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:52.720
if there's people that use Briar that are near you. Right?
334
00:26:53.419 --> 00:26:56.320
335
00:26:56.885 --> 00:27:05.385
just because it's global doesn't mean it can't be peer to peer. So peer to peer means that it's just 2 people connecting to each other directly instead of having a central server. The Internet. Yeah.
336
00:27:05.820 --> 00:27:17.775
Yep. So there's no central server with Briar. So there's no messages being processed through any server. It's just you directly communicating to another device over Tor. But the UX is kind of Oh, yeah. Clunky. Right?
337
00:27:18.315 --> 00:27:21.455
338
00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:25.400
I've I've what what are your thoughts on session app?
339
00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:32.895
340
00:27:33.755 --> 00:27:36.815
a team team member from session, Jeffrey Keyes, I believe.
341
00:27:37.275 --> 00:27:39.290
And, overall, I think it's a really promising
342
00:27:48.365 --> 00:27:52.545
343
00:27:52.845 --> 00:27:55.985
and then Yep. You share with the code. What do you think about 3ma?
344
00:27:57.639 --> 00:28:05.659
345
00:28:08.735 --> 00:28:11.315
346
00:28:11.695 --> 00:28:16.390
especially if you're using something like Kallix where you can't even, like, pay for it through the,
347
00:28:18.130 --> 00:28:24.325
to the app store because there is no Google Play store on on Kallax or or Graphene or something like that.
348
00:28:25.044 --> 00:28:29.385
So you have to go and I mean, they accept Bitcoin. You can pay with Bitcoin or credit card.
349
00:28:31.044 --> 00:28:33.800
But I, most of my conversations were at 3
350
00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:39.660
I I've moved to Matrix now. What was the the what's the metadata issue with Matrix?
351
00:28:41.015 --> 00:28:56.180
352
00:28:56.835 --> 00:28:59.495
353
00:28:59.955 --> 00:29:07.140
354
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:08.500
Yep.
355
00:29:09.040 --> 00:29:21.335
Now this can be mitigated because on matrix, you can just self host your own home server. In that way, you can assure that everything that's happening on it is is owned by you. So that's kind of the the the awesome thing and the sucky thing about
356
00:29:29.524 --> 00:29:34.664
357
00:29:34.965 --> 00:29:37.384
Yep. Exactly. But, obviously,
358
00:29:38.510 --> 00:29:39.330
you might be unwittingly
359
00:29:41.470 --> 00:29:45.010
leaking metadata to their servers if they're communicating with you.
360
00:29:45.825 --> 00:29:46.325
361
00:29:47.105 --> 00:29:53.285
362
00:29:54.470 --> 00:29:58.330
Well, the number one thing is to be using open source software,
363
00:29:59.350 --> 00:30:01.930
so that you or other people can verify the code.
364
00:30:03.655 --> 00:30:05.835
I mean, ANAM was an interesting
365
00:30:06.375 --> 00:30:08.395
story in itself. Were you aware of this?
366
00:30:09.815 --> 00:30:10.315
367
00:30:10.935 --> 00:30:15.320
368
00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:17.399
Had you heard of it before that?
369
00:30:18.820 --> 00:30:31.385
370
00:30:31.910 --> 00:30:32.730
371
00:30:33.190 --> 00:30:34.570
and stuff like that, I guess.
372
00:30:36.550 --> 00:30:39.450
But, like, I think ANOM wasn't even open source.
373
00:30:41.164 --> 00:30:44.304
But yeah. I mean, look. The number one thing is open source.
374
00:30:44.684 --> 00:30:45.184
Obviously,
375
00:30:45.485 --> 00:30:47.265
it could still be a spook operation.
376
00:30:48.910 --> 00:30:51.570
You know, there's it might not be that many eyes on the code.
377
00:30:52.430 --> 00:30:54.530
So you gotta be you
378
00:30:54.990 --> 00:30:58.245
you still should be you should still be careful. You shouldn't, you know,
379
00:30:58.945 --> 00:31:00.325
blindly trust everything.
380
00:31:01.664 --> 00:31:05.365
There's no easy answer there. Do you have do you have an answer for that question
381
00:31:05.970 --> 00:31:07.510
that's more eloquent than mine?
382
00:31:08.050 --> 00:31:15.745
383
00:31:16.365 --> 00:31:20.385
one really cool thing about signal is we can look back at actual attempts
384
00:31:21.149 --> 00:31:26.450
of trying to get user data, and it's exactly what signal says. They only were able to give up, like, the creation
385
00:31:27.309 --> 00:31:32.515
the the time and date that they created their account and the last time they were online, and that's it. And that's what they promise.
386
00:31:33.695 --> 00:31:35.955
You're also able to look at
387
00:31:38.575 --> 00:31:41.410
actual expert opinions. So not me.
388
00:31:42.210 --> 00:31:42.710
Not
389
00:31:43.170 --> 00:31:47.990
other people. Like, people who are actual cryptographers who can look at this stuff and give their actual,
390
00:31:49.410 --> 00:31:49.910
like,
391
00:31:50.225 --> 00:31:52.965
really expert advice on these things to give their best recommendations.
392
00:31:54.544 --> 00:32:06.020
Really, you wanna look for, people who are specialized in their very specific field when you're looking for those kind of solutions. So if you're looking to make sure cryptography is good, you wanna look at the people who are experts in cryptography and what they think about the product.
393
00:32:07.095 --> 00:32:11.595
One big thing that I've seen a ton, especially in the cryptocurrency community, so this might,
394
00:32:12.935 --> 00:32:17.520
be a big one for a lot of you. There's a lot of services that are very similar to,
395
00:32:18.700 --> 00:32:20.460
a ANOM that,
396
00:32:21.660 --> 00:32:23.455
Matt brought up. Where pretty much,
397
00:32:24.395 --> 00:32:29.490
you can get this messenger. It's completely off the grid, completely anonymous, and the other big one is,
398
00:32:30.290 --> 00:32:38.630
an iPhone. It's like an iPhone. I think Skyphones is something similar where they ship you an iPhone that's completely hardened and unhackable, and they make all these massive claims.
399
00:32:39.135 --> 00:32:40.394
If it's not open source,
400
00:32:41.095 --> 00:32:45.355
401
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:49.740
a a mat are big red flag too when people say, like, unhackable or
402
00:32:50.280 --> 00:32:51.340
absolutely private.
403
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:52.940
404
00:32:54.135 --> 00:32:55.995
Be very careful with all of those things.
405
00:32:56.455 --> 00:32:58.475
Really, like, there's a reason why
406
00:32:59.495 --> 00:33:11.725
the most recommended services are all open source services. If someone's trying to recommend some, like, really weird proprietary thing that no one else is talking about, that should be a big red flag. Yeah. And I mean, a big a big theme I talk about,
407
00:33:12.985 --> 00:33:16.205
408
00:33:17.309 --> 00:33:23.169
is just this this whole idea. First of all, everything has trade offs. And most of the time when we're talking about these things,
409
00:33:25.005 --> 00:33:27.665
it's it's it comes down to a trade off between convenience
410
00:33:27.965 --> 00:33:29.345
and privacy and security.
411
00:33:31.485 --> 00:33:31.985
And
412
00:33:32.510 --> 00:33:35.010
you should be you should be very reluctant
413
00:33:35.470 --> 00:33:36.290
when something
414
00:33:38.670 --> 00:33:40.850
something sells itself as both convenient
415
00:33:41.310 --> 00:33:42.050
and private.
416
00:33:43.855 --> 00:33:45.315
Would we do we want
417
00:33:45.695 --> 00:33:46.835
things that are
418
00:33:47.135 --> 00:33:50.275
that are privacy focused to be as convenient as possible? Yes.
419
00:33:51.309 --> 00:33:55.410
But at the same time, like, if you're taking shortcuts, if you're trying to just order a,
420
00:33:57.365 --> 00:34:03.865
you know, just order a hardened phone or something from some fly by night operation that promises to do everything for you,
421
00:34:05.280 --> 00:34:06.720
that is probably a
422
00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.860
that that is probably not a good idea.
423
00:34:11.200 --> 00:34:17.345
424
00:34:17.965 --> 00:34:25.420
that actually do strike an amazing balance between privacy, security, and convenience, and they're kind of unicorns in the space. So I was wondering if you had any.
425
00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:28.860
426
00:34:29.865 --> 00:34:31.485
especially for Android users.
427
00:34:34.425 --> 00:34:41.590
Because with Android, you can kind of use it as almost like an Imessage alternative where it handles it just becomes your text message client.
428
00:34:44.770 --> 00:34:47.110
I I mean, look. Everything has trade offs.
429
00:34:49.265 --> 00:34:53.125
I I kind of I'm curious. What are what are what are your unicorns?
430
00:34:55.825 --> 00:35:04.200
431
00:35:04.505 --> 00:35:06.765
through my SIM card, or through Silent Link,
432
00:35:07.224 --> 00:35:08.525
which is just incredible.
433
00:35:10.744 --> 00:35:13.565
And then, I really like Brave and Tor Browser,
434
00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:21.495
which is a little bit unpopular on the Brave front, especially probably in the crypto world. I just turn off all the crypto stuff in Brave personally because I'm not a big fan of Brave rewards.
435
00:35:21.975 --> 00:35:30.155
436
00:35:33.160 --> 00:35:34.860
Tor Browser, I would say,
437
00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:36.860
kinda fits that bill.
438
00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:38.380
I mean,
439
00:35:38.695 --> 00:35:43.115
the question is how you feel about the word convenience. Right? Because, obviously,
440
00:35:44.295 --> 00:35:45.515
tour is really slow.
441
00:35:46.890 --> 00:35:50.750
And then there's a whole trade off of I mean, there's certain websites that
442
00:35:51.450 --> 00:35:54.270
are just gonna break if you try and access them through Tor.
443
00:35:55.665 --> 00:36:00.805
Yep. Thinking like banking websites and stock websites and stuff like that.
444
00:36:02.660 --> 00:36:07.720
But they've done a really good job with Tor Browser. I mean, I have a lot of issues with how the Tor project is run.
445
00:36:08.580 --> 00:36:14.665
I have a lot of appreciation for them, though, and, they've done a good job they've done a good job with the Tor browser.
446
00:36:17.605 --> 00:36:18.745
I know it's it's
447
00:36:19.110 --> 00:36:25.610
it's it's it's difficult. I mean, a lot of times it comes down to defaults. Right? I mean, I think Brave has pretty good defaults.
448
00:36:27.745 --> 00:36:29.365
I mean, I don't use it personally.
449
00:36:30.145 --> 00:36:31.605
They had some kind of
450
00:36:32.945 --> 00:36:36.325
I think it was, like, a couple months ago, they had something that was really bad.
451
00:36:37.569 --> 00:36:42.710
That, like, slipped through the cracks even though it was open source because there weren't that many eyeballs. I forget what it was, though.
452
00:36:43.410 --> 00:36:46.765
And that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. There's a few things. They've had a few,
453
00:36:48.285 --> 00:36:53.560
454
00:36:54.260 --> 00:37:03.155
455
00:37:03.615 --> 00:37:05.535
by a team that thinks that's fine. So
456
00:37:06.335 --> 00:37:06.835
457
00:37:07.855 --> 00:37:09.075
458
00:37:09.570 --> 00:37:16.150
you question their decision making and their motives. I mean, signal gets a lot of that shit too because signal just added their own token.
459
00:37:16.690 --> 00:37:17.670
460
00:37:18.085 --> 00:37:19.305
461
00:37:20.085 --> 00:37:23.944
I have a lot of respect for him, but Moxie, like, pretend Moxie,
462
00:37:24.724 --> 00:37:26.025
the the creator of signal,
463
00:37:27.150 --> 00:37:29.569
is, like, heavily involved in that token project,
464
00:37:29.950 --> 00:37:32.130
and then they integrated the token.
465
00:37:32.910 --> 00:37:35.410
And he just constantly pretends like it's not
466
00:37:35.914 --> 00:37:41.855
affiliated with Signal at all. And it's like, yeah, we know it's not affiliated with Signal. It's affiliated with you, and you're affiliated with Signal.
467
00:37:44.170 --> 00:37:45.550
Oh, I really like Pop!OS,
468
00:37:48.730 --> 00:37:52.430
the Linux distro. Mhmm. I think they strike a really good balance.
469
00:37:54.285 --> 00:37:58.785
I don't know if I'd go as far as call it a unicorn, but I I think it actually makes Linux
470
00:37:59.165 --> 00:38:00.224
very user friendly,
471
00:38:01.005 --> 00:38:01.905
and accessible
472
00:38:02.640 --> 00:38:04.180
with pretty sane defaults.
473
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:11.045
So I'm pretty happy about that. I mean, I love Kallix. I know you like Kallix a lot.
474
00:38:12.565 --> 00:38:14.825
I think Kallax strikes a pretty good balance.
475
00:38:16.484 --> 00:38:17.865
476
00:38:19.960 --> 00:38:25.820
477
00:38:27.615 --> 00:38:30.355
one of the things about signals, they have these court cases,
478
00:38:32.895 --> 00:38:35.714
where they've shown that they've they can't give over information,
479
00:38:38.599 --> 00:38:40.859
And a space that is very
480
00:38:42.680 --> 00:38:43.900
ripe with scams
481
00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:49.655
and requires a lot of trust from their users to the provider is the hosted VPN space.
482
00:38:52.194 --> 00:38:55.720
Hosted VPNs are a massively useful tool for privacy.
483
00:38:57.320 --> 00:38:58.300
They give you
484
00:38:59.720 --> 00:39:01.180
very good Internet speeds
485
00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:03.180
while helping mask your
486
00:39:03.655 --> 00:39:04.155
your
487
00:39:04.535 --> 00:39:08.635
Internet activity from your ISP and also from the sites you visit.
488
00:39:09.895 --> 00:39:12.315
But as a result, instead of
489
00:39:12.620 --> 00:39:14.560
your Internet service provider knowing,
490
00:39:15.740 --> 00:39:20.800
all of your Internet traffic, you are basically handing that information over to a
491
00:39:21.175 --> 00:39:26.155
different third party company that ideally you get to choose and there's competition and whatnot.
492
00:39:27.095 --> 00:39:28.955
And one of the most popular ones
493
00:39:30.430 --> 00:39:33.809
has become private Internet access, which is based in the United States.
494
00:39:34.270 --> 00:39:41.625
And they make, like, all these big claims about no logging, and they have all these court cases where they say they aren't logging and people point to that.
495
00:39:41.925 --> 00:39:45.305
But I just can't get it out of my head that it's a
496
00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:55.420
that it's a massive honeypot and that I mean, all VPN providers are honeypots, but that it's actually a active honeypot where they're tracking users,
497
00:39:57.815 --> 00:40:04.315
partially because they're based in the US and also because some people on their team have really sketchy back stories.
498
00:40:05.970 --> 00:40:07.590
How do you circle that square?
499
00:40:08.930 --> 00:40:09.810
500
00:40:10.770 --> 00:40:11.270
first,
501
00:40:12.105 --> 00:40:21.940
what you're saying about VPNs is very accurate. It's a very iffy industry, and, actually, we have open source VPN tools on our site that hope to at least offer some kind of resource for these.
502
00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:31.185
PIA is kind of so I'm gonna get subjective here. A lot of our tools are objective. They're meant to be open source, but I'm gonna give my my thoughts on PIA here.
503
00:40:32.305 --> 00:40:34.885
First off, those court cases, I believe, are from 2013,
504
00:40:35.745 --> 00:40:37.925
based on memory. They're from a long time ago.
505
00:40:39.430 --> 00:40:40.170
What really
506
00:40:40.710 --> 00:40:44.250
does rub me the wrong way outside of the terrible history
507
00:40:44.630 --> 00:40:49.994
and also their recent purchase by Kape. Kape is a malware. They used to produce malware and now they bought Hapen PIA.
508
00:40:50.375 --> 00:40:55.515
And they own a bunch of VPN providers. Right? Exactly. So they own several VPN providers as well.
509
00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:03.460
They really rubbed me the wrong way mostly because there's some basic things they could be doing that they're not.
510
00:41:04.319 --> 00:41:09.945
A warrant canary is a big one, which pretty much says oh, what a warrant canary is is,
511
00:41:12.405 --> 00:41:12.905
essentially,
512
00:41:13.205 --> 00:41:17.720
you put a web post on your website that says we are not compromised.
513
00:41:19.220 --> 00:41:33.665
And if that company is ever forced a gag order or forced to start collecting data, they change the warrant canary or take it off. That's pretty much a legal workaround to be able to let people know that they've been compromised. Because the gag order doesn't allow them to post, we've been compromised,
514
00:41:34.350 --> 00:41:37.010
515
00:41:37.310 --> 00:41:37.810
516
00:41:38.990 --> 00:41:42.930
PIA not only does not have a warrant canary, they have a massive blog post
517
00:41:43.315 --> 00:41:52.295
detailing why warrant canary is not a good thing to have at all and how it solves the wrong it I'm mostly quoting word for word. It solves the wrong problem
518
00:41:53.190 --> 00:41:59.450
because people should just not keep logs in the 1st place. Like, that's that's not really the issue. It's trying to be
519
00:42:00.715 --> 00:42:01.455
targeted there.
520
00:42:02.475 --> 00:42:04.335
Something else is that with signal,
521
00:42:05.835 --> 00:42:07.695
the encryption's done on your device.
522
00:42:08.840 --> 00:42:15.740
And this is done as well with a VPN, but the difference of the VPN is even though it's encrypted, the the data is still being traveled through their servers.
523
00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:20.724
And at the end of the day, you're still having to trust this VPN company with that data.
524
00:42:21.585 --> 00:42:29.710
I just don't personally don't have enough faith in a company like PIA to be able to handle that data well. Well, your data is encrypted, but they know the entry point and the endpoint.
525
00:42:30.250 --> 00:42:33.069
526
00:42:36.415 --> 00:42:42.995
and they know your IP address, obviously. So they know who you are. If you're paying with a credit card, then they know who you are even more.
527
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:43.900
Mhmm.
528
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:46.060
I think
529
00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:48.940
we both like the same 2 VPN providers.
530
00:42:49.560 --> 00:42:50.780
531
00:42:51.155 --> 00:42:52.135
532
00:42:52.595 --> 00:42:53.655
like, I've been recommending
533
00:42:54.195 --> 00:43:02.730
for so long that my running joke with the freaks is that if it is a honeypot, then we'll just all go down together because I'm I'm using it too. So
534
00:43:03.270 --> 00:43:08.810
535
00:43:09.855 --> 00:43:12.115
I like those 2 as well. The Proton definitely,
536
00:43:12.975 --> 00:43:21.000
kinda sends some people the wrong way, which I think is valid. I think if you distrust companies, that's fine, though I still like to encourage people to look at all the data points.
537
00:43:21.540 --> 00:43:29.405
538
00:43:30.265 --> 00:43:37.050
so I'm, like, kind of a little bit curious about your privacy journey. I mean, my privacy journey really began in earnest with the Snowden leaks.
539
00:43:38.970 --> 00:43:40.750
Like, I thought we could trust tech companies
540
00:43:41.130 --> 00:43:42.030
before Snowden.
541
00:43:42.410 --> 00:43:44.590
After Snowden, I basically realized that,
542
00:43:46.755 --> 00:43:47.255
whether
543
00:43:47.715 --> 00:43:52.935
whether they, you know, do it voluntarily or whether they're forced to, there's a lot of
544
00:43:54.869 --> 00:43:59.770
cooperation. They're basically an extension of the state, but also, like, a lot of these companies have
545
00:44:00.150 --> 00:44:01.930
financial incentive to track users.
546
00:44:02.885 --> 00:44:06.984
And, like, Proton, like, kind of came out of the Snowden leaks, and it was,
547
00:44:08.405 --> 00:44:11.945
you know, championing privacy directly after the Snowden leaks.
548
00:44:12.870 --> 00:44:14.970
And it always felt to me, like,
549
00:44:16.390 --> 00:44:17.850
I don't know. Like, if if
550
00:44:18.150 --> 00:44:19.050
if if
551
00:44:19.350 --> 00:44:22.090
if if you were the state and you wanted to
552
00:44:22.615 --> 00:44:26.954
and you and you wanted to take advantage and and still hold some of your grasp
553
00:44:27.415 --> 00:44:31.355
post note and leaks, like, the best thing to do is, like, launch a Swiss based company
554
00:44:31.670 --> 00:44:34.330
that says we're gonna take care of all your privacy for you.
555
00:44:36.390 --> 00:44:39.210
But, like, the email is a very compelling offer.
556
00:44:39.925 --> 00:44:42.105
It's a compelling project product.
557
00:44:45.285 --> 00:44:54.640
You know, I'm not skilled enough to inspect the code, but I I believe it it is it is supposed to be all everything is supposed to be done client side in your browser.
558
00:44:56.140 --> 00:45:01.035
The whole way they handle, like, their anti spam mechanism or where they're, like,
559
00:45:01.735 --> 00:45:06.475
they wanna verify a phone number or an external email address in order to sign up
560
00:45:07.369 --> 00:45:09.710
kinda rubs me the wrong way. I mean, both IVPN
561
00:45:10.170 --> 00:45:11.070
and MOLVAD,
562
00:45:11.770 --> 00:45:13.950
you don't even have to provide an email address
563
00:45:14.410 --> 00:45:15.150
by default,
564
00:45:16.465 --> 00:45:18.245
which I like that flow a lot better.
565
00:45:19.585 --> 00:45:20.325
566
00:45:21.345 --> 00:45:22.885
567
00:45:23.425 --> 00:45:27.890
like, not recommend Proton. I just always had this, like, weird vibe about it.
568
00:45:28.510 --> 00:45:32.930
569
00:45:33.295 --> 00:45:34.675
there's just some services
570
00:45:35.615 --> 00:45:36.115
that
571
00:45:37.375 --> 00:45:38.515
I just don't like.
572
00:45:38.815 --> 00:45:42.160
And when I cover content, I I recommend them.
573
00:45:43.180 --> 00:45:43.680
But
574
00:45:44.380 --> 00:45:45.200
it's like
575
00:45:45.579 --> 00:45:55.265
I the it's just a subjective thing. So I think it does come back to, like, if you don't trust something, I still recommend you look through the data and make your own assessment on it. But if you don't trust something,
576
00:45:56.285 --> 00:45:57.185
trust that instinct,
577
00:45:57.940 --> 00:46:02.200
to some extent, I I think be aware that it is just a a feeling, but
578
00:46:04.315 --> 00:46:08.895
I don't know. I say, like, to some extent, it's fine to act on that. Personally, I trust Proton.
579
00:46:09.435 --> 00:46:13.295
Our whole team uses Proton. I use Proton in my personal life. I think they're
580
00:46:15.180 --> 00:46:25.665
password protected emails to external contacts is just phenomenal because even Right. Someone who doesn't have Proton or doesn't use PGP, they can still get an encrypted email. That's end to end encrypted.
581
00:46:26.845 --> 00:46:27.665
It's fantastic.
582
00:46:29.485 --> 00:46:29.645
But
583
00:46:30.580 --> 00:46:34.440
yeah. I think it's all based on trust. And if Proton wasn't able to
584
00:46:35.460 --> 00:46:37.935
prove that they're trustworthy to you, then I think you're valid.
585
00:46:38.815 --> 00:46:42.835
586
00:46:43.935 --> 00:46:47.530
587
00:46:49.270 --> 00:46:50.090
and pretty much,
588
00:46:51.190 --> 00:46:54.090
what happened was they were part of a nationwide
589
00:46:55.435 --> 00:46:55.935
investigation,
590
00:46:56.315 --> 00:47:07.990
and what happened was Proton then had to start logging an IP address on that one user. So they updated the privacy policy to now better reflect that they do that, but they've always said that they did that. If you looked back
591
00:47:08.530 --> 00:47:10.150
through their articles from 2013,
592
00:47:10.850 --> 00:47:14.150
way back in the day, they post all this information of what they collect.
593
00:47:14.595 --> 00:47:15.255
And most
594
00:47:16.115 --> 00:47:21.680
pretty much any centralized email provider is going to collect that information. And if they're not, they're probably lying to you,
595
00:47:22.240 --> 00:47:24.819
because they're not gonna be able to fight against the massive government.
596
00:47:25.359 --> 00:47:31.300
So, just be aware of what a, quote, private email provider will will offer you. They're not gonna offer you
597
00:47:31.775 --> 00:47:38.755
magical IP address protection, but they if they're promising end to end encrypted and it's open source, you can guarantee that it's gonna be end to end encryption.
598
00:47:39.455 --> 00:47:39.935
599
00:47:40.860 --> 00:47:41.840
which is why it's important
600
00:47:42.940 --> 00:47:47.440
to couple that with a VPN so you're not leaking your IP address to them
601
00:47:48.220 --> 00:47:49.120
or Tor.
602
00:47:49.515 --> 00:47:52.655
But if you're using their VPN, it kinda defeats that purpose.
603
00:47:53.275 --> 00:47:55.855
604
00:47:56.955 --> 00:48:14.900
which I'm kind of iffy on. I don't think that would fly, but they actually argue otherwise because they say their VPN is handled differently and they wouldn't be able to to do anything there. That that's what they're saying. I'm Well, that sounds like a bullshit. The message. Yeah. Yeah. It does sound like bullshit to me. We're gonna shoot you. We're we're shooting you live on dispatch.
605
00:48:15.680 --> 00:48:17.860
Just real quick. Someone asked about TorGuard.
606
00:48:18.240 --> 00:48:19.860
I think you can do better.
607
00:48:20.265 --> 00:48:25.085
Personally, I think you should have higher standards for the pricing security of your VPN. Same goes with NordVPN.
608
00:48:25.944 --> 00:48:31.530
609
00:48:32.710 --> 00:48:45.005
610
00:48:45.800 --> 00:48:48.540
611
00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:53.099
I mean, I haven't used it in years, so
612
00:48:53.755 --> 00:48:56.494
don't count this as a recommendation, freaks. But,
613
00:48:57.914 --> 00:48:59.934
before I discovered Molebat, I liked.
614
00:49:01.730 --> 00:49:03.350
I think they were based in Singapore.
615
00:49:05.250 --> 00:49:05.750
Anyway
616
00:49:06.050 --> 00:49:06.550
so,
617
00:49:06.930 --> 00:49:21.859
I mean, look. The VPN question is not an easy question, and it's a perfect example to me in the privacy world, the digital privacy world, about trying to measure trade offs and measuring it against your threat model and trying to make a decision yourself,
618
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:26.820
because it is a topic that you could literally dedicate
619
00:49:27.185 --> 00:49:29.285
hours to talking about days,
620
00:49:30.465 --> 00:49:35.685
with tons of nuance. And then all at the end of the day, like, a lot of it just comes down to reputation.
621
00:49:39.540 --> 00:49:40.940
So where do we go next?
622
00:49:41.380 --> 00:49:41.790
Do you,
623
00:49:43.515 --> 00:49:47.535
someone asked in the comments about Libre Wolf Browser. Have you ever heard of that?
624
00:49:48.075 --> 00:49:48.475
625
00:49:49.035 --> 00:49:50.975
Libre Wolf essentially is Firefox.
626
00:49:52.070 --> 00:49:58.570
Well, I do you want me to explain it or do you I just want my thoughts. Sorry. I don't know. Explain it. Explain it and then give us your thoughts. Okay. Libre
627
00:49:59.030 --> 00:50:04.955
Wolf is pretty much an open source. Firefox is open source, so Libre Wolf took Firefox and forked it,
628
00:50:05.494 --> 00:50:11.890
and they pretty much applied some out of the box patches to it to make it more private and secure out of the box. So they disable some of the,
629
00:50:12.430 --> 00:50:15.010
analytics and telemetry collected by Mozilla,
630
00:50:15.310 --> 00:50:20.595
and they also, I think, pre install ublock origin, and they modify some I think they modify some of,
631
00:50:22.035 --> 00:50:25.575
it's not flags. It's the other about the about config menu for Firefox.
632
00:50:27.670 --> 00:50:32.650
But, yeah, personally, I I I don't see a need for it. I personally just like using,
633
00:50:33.510 --> 00:50:35.370
Firefox if I'm gonna use Firefox.
634
00:50:35.865 --> 00:50:39.165
But I think that if you just want kind of a Brave esque
635
00:50:40.905 --> 00:50:46.300
alternative to Firefox, which is just like out of the box ready to go, I think that's probably your best bet, something like Libre.
636
00:50:46.600 --> 00:50:49.420
637
00:50:49.960 --> 00:50:54.460
638
00:50:54.875 --> 00:50:58.174
639
00:50:59.915 --> 00:51:03.490
What was that? That that built in Tor feature on Brave?
640
00:51:03.970 --> 00:51:04.710
641
00:51:05.090 --> 00:51:16.454
I wouldn't trust that for anonymity. Like, the same anonymity you'd get from the Tor browser. Because the Tor browser's built from the ground up to make you anonymous. Brave won't do that. Brave just essentially masks your IP address.
642
00:51:16.915 --> 00:51:30.125
I do use it if someone just sends me an onion URL to download download something, which for some reason is happening more often than than I'd like. Well, actually, you know, it's a good problem to have, but it's just frustrating downloading things that are just, like, gonna be public videos,
643
00:51:31.705 --> 00:51:39.760
644
00:51:41.420 --> 00:51:41.920
Agreed.
645
00:51:42.380 --> 00:51:42.860
I,
646
00:51:43.340 --> 00:51:46.640
I mean, the browsers is another can of worms that's really
647
00:51:48.335 --> 00:51:51.234
just personally interesting in the privacy world.
648
00:51:51.775 --> 00:51:57.270
I mean, in general, you should probably not be using browsers, I think, that don't have that many eyes on them.
649
00:51:58.770 --> 00:51:59.670
Your browser
650
00:52:00.210 --> 00:52:02.230
has so much information on you.
651
00:52:03.224 --> 00:52:07.964
Capability of collecting so much information on you that it is a really, really
652
00:52:08.505 --> 00:52:09.565
crucial tool,
653
00:52:09.865 --> 00:52:12.285
if you care at all about your privacy and security.
654
00:52:14.670 --> 00:52:17.730
I mean, if we're gonna talk about, like, actionable first steps,
655
00:52:18.110 --> 00:52:21.970
like, you probably shouldn't be using Google Chrome signed into your Google account.
656
00:52:23.165 --> 00:52:27.105
Probably should get rid of your Google account if you have the capability of doing that.
657
00:52:28.684 --> 00:52:34.690
But definitely, you know, your main browser shouldn't Chrome signed in to your completely doxed Google account.
658
00:52:36.590 --> 00:52:37.090
Personally,
659
00:52:37.550 --> 00:52:38.050
I
660
00:52:39.155 --> 00:52:42.055
was I was using ungoogled Chromium for a while.
661
00:52:45.075 --> 00:52:45.474
The
662
00:52:46.700 --> 00:52:49.600
I mean, a lot of the web is, like, built for Chromium
663
00:52:50.380 --> 00:52:51.280
or Chrome,
664
00:52:53.695 --> 00:52:54.675
which is unfortunate.
665
00:52:54.975 --> 00:52:59.795
And then recently, I just switched now I just use Firefox, and I just change a bunch of settings myself.
666
00:53:00.975 --> 00:53:02.760
667
00:53:03.060 --> 00:53:07.800
668
00:53:08.340 --> 00:53:09.480
But my pay grade.
669
00:53:10.100 --> 00:53:10.920
670
00:53:11.845 --> 00:53:12.984
I I really
671
00:53:13.285 --> 00:53:15.385
am not a fan of using Firefox
672
00:53:15.685 --> 00:53:16.185
personally.
673
00:53:16.805 --> 00:53:19.945
Very personal preference. But I think the browser wars are pretty ridiculous,
674
00:53:20.579 --> 00:53:29.400
at the end of the day. Like, as long as you're avoiding Chrome and Opera and Edge and you're sticking with either Firefox Brave or Tor or really any other semi
675
00:53:30.125 --> 00:53:31.184
private browser,
676
00:53:31.645 --> 00:53:34.944
you're doing better than majority of the people. So it's always a good step forward.
677
00:53:35.244 --> 00:53:36.944
678
00:53:37.405 --> 00:53:40.980
They're owned by a Chinese company. Right? I believe so.
679
00:53:42.240 --> 00:53:45.540
I think they have a VPN too. One of the interesting things is,
680
00:53:46.480 --> 00:53:46.980
Mozilla
681
00:53:47.365 --> 00:53:51.464
for Firefox now has Firefox VPN, which is just white labeled Movad.
682
00:53:51.924 --> 00:53:52.424
683
00:53:53.845 --> 00:53:56.184
684
00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:08.535
Should we talk about operating systems? How do you feel So, like, you have a bunch of guides that incorporate Windows. I've
685
00:54:09.475 --> 00:54:10.775
maybe I've just gotten,
686
00:54:12.830 --> 00:54:14.930
I've, like, gotten to the point in
687
00:54:16.750 --> 00:54:20.770
my privacy journey or my education privacy journey where I just
688
00:54:21.675 --> 00:54:23.615
I just tell people they shouldn't use Windows.
689
00:54:23.995 --> 00:54:25.375
How do you feel about Windows?
690
00:54:26.395 --> 00:54:27.215
691
00:54:27.595 --> 00:54:28.690
first, we have,
692
00:54:29.089 --> 00:54:33.190
we spent a lot of time on this. This took pretty much all of 2021 to do, but we have
693
00:54:33.569 --> 00:54:37.589
a whole, like, 20 minute per operating system guide.
694
00:54:38.225 --> 00:54:46.885
So we did a guide for iOS, a guide for Android, a guide for Windows, a guide for macOS, and a guide for Linux. So we made 5 different guides for different operating systems,
695
00:54:47.289 --> 00:54:51.230
all covering the same information, but essentially specific to each operating system.
696
00:54:51.690 --> 00:54:53.150
And the Windows one,
697
00:54:53.450 --> 00:54:54.589
it starts with a skit
698
00:54:55.225 --> 00:55:03.325
because it it it starts with someone like, oh, this is the all in one Windows privacy and security guide. And then someone crashes through the door and says, just use Linux.
699
00:55:04.369 --> 00:55:04.869
And,
700
00:55:05.890 --> 00:55:08.549
while I think that probably is the easiest way
701
00:55:09.569 --> 00:55:12.549
to essentially prevent almost all of Windows problems,
702
00:55:13.295 --> 00:55:16.035
at the end of the day, there's just some things,
703
00:55:17.695 --> 00:55:27.640
that Windows still does for people. Like, if someone's dependent on Adobe and they can't switch to the open source solutions, they're either gonna be using Mac OS or Windows, or they're gonna try to get some half baked solution
704
00:55:27.940 --> 00:55:37.255
using wine, using a old version of Adobe, or they have to use KVM to get Windows. But either way, if you're using KVM with Windows inside of Linux virtual machine,
705
00:55:37.715 --> 00:55:43.250
don't you still wanna make that version of Windows private secure? So, essentially, like, we like to be open to different people's,
706
00:55:44.670 --> 00:55:47.650
situations because at the end of the day, you can make Windows
707
00:55:48.030 --> 00:55:49.730
significantly more private and secure.
708
00:55:50.185 --> 00:55:52.125
And just because you can't make it perfect,
709
00:55:52.665 --> 00:56:20.160
doesn't mean that, we shouldn't, like, cater to that audience at all. But in that Well, that's why I appreciate you about about you guys. But, I mean, to me, Windows is just spyware at the OS level. Agreed. I don't even Yeah. And and, like, so we talk about that too in the guide. At the end, we're like, hey. We did a ton. We might have made Windows 80% better, but at the end of the day, there's still, like, the following things you can't do. And if you're still concerned about this, you should really look into Linux or any other operating system.
710
00:56:21.500 --> 00:56:25.414
So that's that's kind of our approach. We like to keep things open ended. We like to cater to everyone.
711
00:56:26.595 --> 00:56:43.345
It's definitely easier though sometimes to just go, yeah, just go use Linux. Because sometimes there's someone who's fully capable of using Linux, but they're a little bit intimidated by it, and I go go try it out. Or if anything, I think the under discussed option, which definitely gets a lot of hate, I'd rather people be using a MacBook
712
00:56:43.725 --> 00:56:44.465
than Windows.
713
00:56:44.845 --> 00:56:48.065
714
00:56:49.005 --> 00:56:51.530
I mean, the other thing about Linux, I mean, there's
715
00:56:53.430 --> 00:56:59.015
a there there's, like, a I mean, there's obviously a learning curve. I think Pop!OS does a pretty good job,
716
00:57:00.055 --> 00:57:01.755
bridging that learning curve, but
717
00:57:04.350 --> 00:57:07.970
if you don't know what you're doing, it could be more dangerous than if you're using OSX,
718
00:57:08.270 --> 00:57:09.330
if you're using a MacBook.
719
00:57:12.285 --> 00:57:25.460
I also would say, like, if you need to use something that is Windows specific, if you have work related things or something like that, like, you can have a dedicated machine just for that. I mean, it's still useful that you have your guides to to harden that machine as much as possible.
720
00:57:27.519 --> 00:57:30.260
But, you know, a lot of our conversations end up
721
00:57:31.725 --> 00:57:33.905
what what we see in the Bitcoin world,
722
00:57:34.365 --> 00:57:37.105
and I've seen this on my own personal journey is,
723
00:57:37.829 --> 00:57:38.650
you know, Bitcoin
724
00:57:39.030 --> 00:57:40.089
is a
725
00:57:40.390 --> 00:57:42.329
a purely digital bearer asset.
726
00:57:43.910 --> 00:57:47.369
So all of a sudden there's this direct financial reason,
727
00:57:48.695 --> 00:57:51.595
why you wanna take digital privacy and security safely.
728
00:57:52.775 --> 00:57:58.620
And that's because you're managing these these secrets, these private keys that if they're taken, you lose your Bitcoin.
729
00:57:59.640 --> 00:58:05.825
So when I have people come to me and they're saying, I'm trying to do this Bitcoin thing or this Bitcoin thing on a Windows machine, I'm like
730
00:58:06.285 --> 00:58:08.545
I'm like, man, you just gotta get another computer,
731
00:58:09.245 --> 00:58:11.425
and you it's either gotta be
732
00:58:12.490 --> 00:58:13.870
ideally a a
733
00:58:14.250 --> 00:58:20.270
you you flash Linux on it and you put Pop!OS on it. But even if it's a MacBook, you gotta just have a dedicated machine
734
00:58:20.615 --> 00:58:21.595
that's not Windows,
735
00:58:22.935 --> 00:58:24.235
and use that because
736
00:58:24.775 --> 00:58:29.755
you're just you're just starting off on the wrong foot if you're trying to secure these secrets on Windows.
737
00:58:31.880 --> 00:58:37.579
738
00:58:38.035 --> 00:58:40.855
starting on Windows is incredibly challenging to do.
739
00:58:41.635 --> 00:58:48.980
Yeah. And I think that having separate devices is a great solution. And there's other solutions too. Like, there's virtual machines. There's dual booting. Dual booting is a really nice one.
740
00:58:50.080 --> 00:58:51.620
And you can add different devices.
741
00:58:52.480 --> 00:58:53.220
You can
742
00:58:54.080 --> 00:58:54.900
there's there's
743
00:58:55.904 --> 00:58:59.045
more extravagant solutions, but those are all great solutions as well.
744
00:58:59.424 --> 00:59:02.164
745
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:12.535
like, one of the things that I always really liked about Linux is, like, if you just fuck if you fuck something up, like, as long as you have the important files backed up, you can just start fresh
746
00:59:13.095 --> 00:59:16.795
again. True. I feel like when you're dual booting, it just It's messy.
747
00:59:17.174 --> 00:59:22.400
And you're entering, like, all these BIOS issues and stuff like that, and it kind of complicates things.
748
00:59:22.780 --> 00:59:24.080
I agree. You have, like, $500
749
00:59:24.460 --> 00:59:26.640
to buy a dedicated machine kind of solve.
750
00:59:28.855 --> 00:59:29.175
But,
751
00:59:29.655 --> 00:59:30.555
752
00:59:31.095 --> 00:59:31.595
753
00:59:31.975 --> 00:59:34.315
It's always a battle of trying to
754
00:59:36.250 --> 00:59:37.630
decrease your attack surface,
755
00:59:38.170 --> 00:59:39.150
increase convenience,
756
00:59:39.850 --> 00:59:44.270
make it a little bit less shoot shoot yourself in the foot capability there
757
00:59:44.744 --> 00:59:46.125
where you fuck yourself over.
758
00:59:49.465 --> 00:59:51.965
759
00:59:52.910 --> 00:59:55.810
760
00:59:57.150 --> 00:59:58.210
there's a unicorn.
761
00:59:59.470 --> 00:59:59.970
Agreed.
762
01:00:01.075 --> 01:00:10.100
Tails is Tails is fantastic. And for the Bitcoiner crowd, they have Electrum built in, so you don't even have to download additional software in order to use Bitcoin with it.
763
01:00:13.060 --> 01:00:17.640
764
01:00:18.275 --> 01:00:21.875
765
01:00:22.275 --> 01:00:23.335
I feel like Tails
766
01:00:23.715 --> 01:00:31.420
let's just talk about Tails for a little bit longer. Tails used to be easier to use, but now I feel like a lot of the modern computers, like, they have all these different, like,
767
01:00:31.880 --> 01:00:36.385
quote, unquote secure features that, like, make it difficult to boot from the drive.
768
01:00:36.765 --> 01:00:37.825
Have you noticed that?
769
01:00:38.285 --> 01:00:47.869
770
01:00:48.330 --> 01:00:51.310
771
01:00:52.855 --> 01:00:56.875
And it was, like, a pain in the ass in the bios to get it to run.
772
01:00:59.250 --> 01:01:05.110
And and because they had some kind of secure elements that was, like, making verifying what was running.
773
01:01:05.970 --> 01:01:07.670
They, like, made it, you know,
774
01:01:09.725 --> 01:01:15.425
under the guise of security, they were really just trying to make it difficult for you to run Linux off of the USB drive.
775
01:01:17.430 --> 01:01:29.225
And I have no idea. I'm not really familiar with how it works on on Mac. Are you I yeah. But but the cool part about tails for the freaks that are just completely confused about what we just were talking about
776
01:01:30.165 --> 01:01:42.010
is it tails is a specific Linux distro that has Tor built in that you run on a USB drive. You plug it into your computer, you boot up the computer, it boots into tails. You have this nice little Linux environment.
777
01:01:42.789 --> 01:01:47.985
As Henry said, it has KeePass on it. As I said, it has Electrum on it. It has a bunch of other tools on it
778
01:01:48.525 --> 01:01:49.025
towards
779
01:01:49.485 --> 01:01:50.625
it tours the default.
780
01:01:51.030 --> 01:01:56.570
And then when you unplug the USB drive, it's it's supposed to just wipe everything from memory.
781
01:01:58.155 --> 01:02:05.935
So you have you have you have nothing left on the machine that could compromise you if you're doing something. So if privacy is of the utmost importance,
782
01:02:08.320 --> 01:02:10.340
Tails is a extremely useful tool.
783
01:02:11.120 --> 01:02:18.645
784
01:02:20.385 --> 01:02:25.125
785
01:02:26.940 --> 01:02:29.520
Image metadata specifically is a
786
01:02:30.220 --> 01:02:31.119
is a big
787
01:02:31.500 --> 01:02:33.119
foot gun moment where people
788
01:02:33.595 --> 01:02:38.575
leak more information than they realize. I mean, a lot of modern phones now embed, like, GPS locations
789
01:02:38.875 --> 01:02:40.734
into the into the photos.
790
01:02:42.950 --> 01:02:44.730
791
01:02:45.510 --> 01:02:48.010
792
01:02:51.705 --> 01:02:53.405
I I still think I
793
01:02:53.865 --> 01:02:56.025
I mean, I still think. I don't know. But,
794
01:02:57.850 --> 01:02:58.350
I'm,
795
01:02:58.810 --> 01:03:03.790
like, 10, 15% on the side that he's still alive somewhere. But I I would I would argue that the biggest
796
01:03:04.945 --> 01:03:11.685
thing against me is is that I think he has too big of an ego to just not publicly say anything for this long.
797
01:03:14.190 --> 01:03:18.369
But it'd be, like, completely in his MO to bribe a Spanish prison guard and
798
01:03:18.750 --> 01:03:19.810
fake his death.
799
01:03:20.190 --> 01:03:21.329
Never saw a body.
800
01:03:24.855 --> 01:03:29.035
So what were we talking about right before I pulled us back to Tails? Oh, password managers.
801
01:03:30.550 --> 01:03:35.770
So I feel like this is a very interesting one because, I mean, there's these memes in, like, the privacy security
802
01:03:36.230 --> 01:03:41.045
community, like, just use Linux, just use signal, just use password manager,
803
01:03:41.505 --> 01:03:42.805
just use Tor.
804
01:03:44.224 --> 01:03:46.484
And there's a lot of pushback that it's oversimplified,
805
01:03:48.330 --> 01:03:51.150
And I feel like password managers really embody that.
806
01:03:53.610 --> 01:03:54.110
807
01:03:56.105 --> 01:03:56.605
Really?
808
01:03:57.145 --> 01:04:03.965
Okay. The the the goal of password managers, right, is to get people to use strong and unique passwords.
809
01:04:04.290 --> 01:04:05.830
So they're not reusing passwords,
810
01:04:06.370 --> 01:04:07.990
and they're using strong passwords.
811
01:04:09.170 --> 01:04:13.510
In my opinion, anything that does that in a safe, secure way
812
01:04:14.125 --> 01:04:23.345
is better than reusing same passwords. So I think that's already a great start. If you're not using a password manager, even if you're writing them out and you're keeping them in a in a safe or something,
813
01:04:24.410 --> 01:04:27.630
I still think that's better than reusing the same password on every website.
814
01:04:28.410 --> 01:04:28.910
However,
815
01:04:29.530 --> 01:04:36.025
I would really caution people away from generally unsafe password managers. Look into the history of your password manager.
816
01:04:36.565 --> 01:04:37.065
See,
817
01:04:37.445 --> 01:04:41.224
if they suffered several security issues. See how they handled those issues.
818
01:04:41.619 --> 01:04:46.119
See if they're I I think you shouldn't be using a password manager. It's not open source in my opinion.
819
01:04:47.700 --> 01:04:52.655
So, really, like, the main options that we pretty much end up leaning everyone towards are Bitwarden and KeePass.
820
01:04:52.955 --> 01:05:00.789
So Bitwarden is cloud based like a traditional password manager, but everything's open source and you can self host it yourself if you wanted to.
821
01:05:02.369 --> 01:05:04.869
KeePass is completely offline by default
822
01:05:05.315 --> 01:05:09.895
and it's all open source, and it's probably one of the most secure ways to go in regards to password management.
823
01:05:10.355 --> 01:05:16.080
But the problem is it's a little bit less, noob friendly. It's like it's clunky because you have to actually either
824
01:05:16.380 --> 01:05:20.320
825
01:05:21.525 --> 01:05:30.105
826
01:05:31.309 --> 01:05:34.530
documents and it'll sync them into 1. It'll merge them together.
827
01:05:34.910 --> 01:05:46.115
So, like, my phone is offline and my computer is offline. They own they have their own password managers. I can pretty much combine them, and it'll sync everything properly, which is really dope. To me, the unicorn product in
828
01:05:46.735 --> 01:05:48.835
829
01:05:49.770 --> 01:05:50.510
a notepad
830
01:05:50.970 --> 01:05:51.870
and a pen.
831
01:05:52.570 --> 01:05:55.550
That's fair. I just feel like it's just so simple.
832
01:05:57.105 --> 01:06:00.404
Just write it down on paper. Use unique passwords.
833
01:06:01.265 --> 01:06:02.645
Keep it somewhere secure.
834
01:06:03.664 --> 01:06:09.270
And someone has to come into your come into your house or office to get it, like, don't put it on a post it note.
835
01:06:11.570 --> 01:06:15.955
836
01:06:16.575 --> 01:06:18.835
837
01:06:19.455 --> 01:06:21.795
I've heard very, very good things about Bitwarden.
838
01:06:25.119 --> 01:06:32.260
The switching cost for your password management is a lot in terms of, you know, if you already have a lot of passwords, so I've never actually
839
01:06:33.545 --> 01:06:34.444
used it myself.
840
01:06:36.265 --> 01:06:39.405
What really scares me is, like, the last passes of the world.
841
01:06:40.105 --> 01:06:40.605
842
01:06:41.470 --> 01:06:59.900
843
01:07:00.520 --> 01:07:05.740
But if you wanna go direct to the source, it's, it's a really fantastic show. You do a great job with that, Henry.
844
01:07:06.075 --> 01:07:06.815
845
01:07:07.595 --> 01:07:12.015
Nate does too. He he Yeah. He he really can't do. Yeah. He's fantastic.
846
01:07:15.690 --> 01:07:19.150
847
01:07:20.170 --> 01:07:21.630
I mean, talk about a honeypot.
848
01:07:22.090 --> 01:07:22.990
That's just,
849
01:07:24.665 --> 01:07:26.125
I mean, I don't even know
850
01:07:28.105 --> 01:07:31.245
I mean, I obviously, you shouldn't reuse passwords,
851
01:07:31.545 --> 01:07:32.045
but,
852
01:07:32.900 --> 01:07:39.640
like, if all of if all of your passwords are in LastPass, like, literally, you're just one compromise away from just
853
01:07:40.474 --> 01:07:42.415
having absolutely everything compromised.
854
01:07:45.675 --> 01:07:49.620
So I don't even know if that's a I guess it's still an advantage over
855
01:07:50.740 --> 01:08:00.085
I don't know. This is, like, a perfect example of us getting into the weeds. Like, most people are just using horrible fucking passwords, and they're reusing them over and over again, and they have them in their Apple Notes unencrypted.
856
01:08:01.505 --> 01:08:02.405
857
01:08:02.865 --> 01:08:03.365
858
01:08:03.690 --> 01:08:07.310
859
01:08:07.770 --> 01:08:14.835
if one of my friends comes to me with all their notes in an Apple Notes thing, and they're like like, yeah. The only thing I use is LastPass.
860
01:08:15.695 --> 01:08:20.435
I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna be very mixed about it. I'll probably be like, hey.
861
01:08:21.860 --> 01:08:29.240
Just so you know, here are all the concerns of LastPass. And by the way, here are other solutions that are better than LastPass and will accomplish literally everything that it does.
862
01:08:30.085 --> 01:08:33.525
So I'll do my hardest to convince them, but, ultimately, I I really do think
863
01:08:34.965 --> 01:08:43.550
I I hate saying this because I really dislike LastPass, but I do think in that situation, for me, personally, I lean them towards using LastPass instead of, like, unencrypted Apple Notes. But
864
01:08:44.010 --> 01:08:46.270
865
01:08:46.755 --> 01:08:49.495
866
01:08:50.195 --> 01:08:51.015
even Apple's
867
01:08:51.555 --> 01:08:53.895
key chain. Like, Apple has its own password manager,
868
01:08:54.730 --> 01:08:56.989
you know, like and it's end to end encrypted
869
01:08:57.369 --> 01:09:00.110
and Apple generally has decent security.
870
01:09:00.809 --> 01:09:06.495
So, like, I'd still choose Apple's keychain over both LastPass and just keeping it in notes personally.
871
01:09:07.114 --> 01:09:12.889
872
01:09:13.349 --> 01:09:14.250
using text.
873
01:09:15.110 --> 01:09:22.335
874
01:09:22.795 --> 01:09:23.295
875
01:09:23.915 --> 01:09:25.375
Seen that many times.
876
01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:30.380
Yeah. It's,
877
01:09:32.060 --> 01:09:37.915
878
01:09:38.295 --> 01:09:40.955
879
01:09:41.815 --> 01:09:43.515
their switching costs are massive.
880
01:09:44.790 --> 01:09:45.450
881
01:09:46.630 --> 01:09:49.610
Like, I think last pass to Bitwarden is relatively straightforward.
882
01:09:50.710 --> 01:09:54.170
Bitwarden to anything is straightforward. It really depends on how
883
01:09:54.545 --> 01:10:00.725
user friendly they wanna be. Apple, as you can imagine, is trying not to be user friendly with exporting things.
884
01:10:02.065 --> 01:10:03.045
So it just depends.
885
01:10:03.489 --> 01:10:05.429
886
01:10:06.290 --> 01:10:10.630
and this is also I I wonder I mean, you probably struggle with this too is,
887
01:10:13.375 --> 01:10:18.195
talking about privacy and security, but not, like, completely doxing your own setup and
888
01:10:18.495 --> 01:10:20.035
exposing how you do things,
889
01:10:21.389 --> 01:10:26.929
is really difficult. I mean, I had one freak put me on the spot when I was drinking beers with him in person, and
890
01:10:29.995 --> 01:10:35.135
and I I stopped doing this. I'd it was, like, 2 years ago, two and a half years ago, and he's like
891
01:10:35.515 --> 01:10:46.220
he's like, what's your favorite option for this or whatever? And I told him this option, and he was like, but you said something else on the show. I was like, oh, that's my second favorite option because I didn't want to. I didn't want to talk about my first option.
892
01:10:48.025 --> 01:10:48.505
893
01:10:50.345 --> 01:10:53.885
894
01:10:54.505 --> 01:10:56.605
convenience and security being different.
895
01:10:57.060 --> 01:11:02.200
Like, the trade offs you wanna make are different depending on what the password is for.
896
01:11:03.940 --> 01:11:04.920
So to me,
897
01:11:06.605 --> 01:11:09.745
as as, you know, you can cell phones, bit warden,
898
01:11:10.205 --> 01:11:13.505
I've already said earlier that I don't I haven't used it personally.
899
01:11:15.630 --> 01:11:17.890
To me, my most secure passwords,
900
01:11:18.190 --> 01:11:19.090
you know, things
901
01:11:19.630 --> 01:11:25.915
I mean, first of all, you should be using multiple email addresses, but important email address is, like, important bank account information.
902
01:11:26.775 --> 01:11:28.875
Like, the really important stuff, I'm
903
01:11:29.495 --> 01:11:30.635
just a
904
01:11:32.219 --> 01:11:43.915
offline only kind of person. Like, I think those things should be offline, and then you have other things that are maybe more easily accessible because you're not as worried if they do get compromised. Would you agree with
905
01:11:44.535 --> 01:11:47.655
906
01:11:48.590 --> 01:11:52.849
and you don't have to answer this, but I'm curious. What do would you store your seeds offline?
907
01:11:53.710 --> 01:11:56.929
908
01:11:58.255 --> 01:11:58.755
But
909
01:11:59.215 --> 01:12:00.355
but I have, like,
910
01:12:00.735 --> 01:12:02.115
I have a mobile wallet,
911
01:12:02.575 --> 01:12:06.915
right, that has a less amount of that has, like, spending cash in it,
912
01:12:07.760 --> 01:12:11.460
and and that is that is on Internet connected device. That's on my phone.
913
01:12:12.240 --> 01:12:16.660
Right? But, like, for for my my life savings, I go through extreme,
914
01:12:18.784 --> 01:12:19.844
extreme offline
915
01:12:20.145 --> 01:12:20.645
scenarios,
916
01:12:21.344 --> 01:12:24.324
to secure my life savings, especially as a public person.
917
01:12:26.800 --> 01:12:27.300
Because
918
01:12:27.760 --> 01:12:28.480
the second
919
01:12:29.040 --> 01:12:32.340
it the the amount of improvement you can make,
920
01:12:32.720 --> 01:12:34.340
especially if you're not someone,
921
01:12:36.095 --> 01:12:53.785
who can verify code themselves and check line by line what is running. The amount of improvement you can make by simply just keeping something offline, keeping a secret offline is dramatic. Like, it is it is significant. I mean, you're you're basically entering a situation where someone has to get physical access to whatever that secret is.
922
01:12:54.905 --> 01:12:57.325
And in Bitcoin land, it's even better
923
01:12:57.785 --> 01:12:59.885
because we have this concept called multisig,
924
01:13:00.985 --> 01:13:02.925
where you can have multiple secrets,
925
01:13:03.790 --> 01:13:04.290
and
926
01:13:04.670 --> 01:13:05.810
they all need,
927
01:13:06.590 --> 01:13:12.290
to be compromised in order to access your funds, and you can keep them offline in different physical locations.
928
01:13:13.055 --> 01:13:19.235
So then all of a sudden you enter a situation where an attacker needs to actually get physical access to
929
01:13:19.935 --> 01:13:21.235
your home, your office,
930
01:13:21.540 --> 01:13:24.520
some other place, some other place, and then it just adds,
931
01:13:26.180 --> 01:13:27.640
it adds protection there.
932
01:13:29.625 --> 01:13:35.724
It is like a main it is a mainstay of my privacy and security journey is that for the most important things,
933
01:13:38.780 --> 01:13:42.400
yeah, for the most important things, you should try and keep them offline.
934
01:13:43.820 --> 01:13:48.414
I like that there's a freak accusing me of using Bitward and then pretending I'm not using it.
935
01:13:49.275 --> 01:13:49.775
No.
936
01:13:53.010 --> 01:13:57.429
So we talked about VPNs. We talked about messaging apps. We talked about
937
01:13:57.890 --> 01:13:58.949
operating systems.
938
01:13:59.925 --> 01:14:01.385
Talked about password managers,
939
01:14:04.245 --> 01:14:05.305
talked about browsers.
940
01:14:07.610 --> 01:14:09.070
What should we talk about next?
941
01:14:15.575 --> 01:14:16.475
942
01:14:17.415 --> 01:14:22.555
That really does sum up a good portion of the areas in the pricing. Oh, 2 factor.
943
01:14:23.095 --> 01:14:24.075
944
01:14:25.270 --> 01:14:29.930
945
01:14:30.790 --> 01:14:31.530
of education?
946
01:14:32.550 --> 01:14:33.030
947
01:14:33.645 --> 01:14:38.625
so TOTP is probably, like, the most popular one. So TOTP is time
948
01:14:40.205 --> 01:14:41.985
time based one time passwords.
949
01:14:43.610 --> 01:14:52.190
And what that is is, like, Google Authenticator is TOTP. Google Authenticator is just an open standard. It uses TOTP, which is an open standard that's used in pretty much everything else.
950
01:14:53.595 --> 01:14:59.440
That is probably the easiest and most convenient, best balance like, that's probably the unicorn option for a lot of people.
951
01:15:00.080 --> 01:15:00.980
You can download,
952
01:15:01.520 --> 01:15:02.020
aegis
953
01:15:02.640 --> 01:15:04.180
from F droid on Android
954
01:15:05.199 --> 01:15:05.600
and,
955
01:15:06.000 --> 01:15:06.500
Aegis.
956
01:15:06.915 --> 01:15:10.935
Is that your favorite? That's probably my favorite TOTP app that I've used.
957
01:15:11.875 --> 01:15:12.935
I know there's AndOTP,
958
01:15:13.795 --> 01:15:21.480
but in my opinion, Aegis is better than AND OTP in, like, every way. I really like Aegis' backup mechanism. It's really good.
959
01:15:22.420 --> 01:15:23.880
Yes. It's very nice.
960
01:15:26.205 --> 01:15:32.065
So that's really my main recommendation. Go through all your accounts. See what supports. They'll probably call it Google Authenticator.
961
01:15:32.940 --> 01:15:48.580
I'm doing quotes in the air, but it's really you can use any TOTP app. They give you, like, a QR code. You scan it with Aegis. I guess Aegis is Android only though. Right? Yes. But they also give you your seed, so you can import that into any iOS app. And you can use Rivo,
962
01:15:48.980 --> 01:15:50.040
r a I v o,
963
01:15:50.420 --> 01:15:55.080
on, iOS. That's probably the best one I found. That's your favorite iPhone one? Yes.
964
01:15:56.565 --> 01:16:05.850
Probably hands down. It's like the only one that actually lets you export your seeds, which by the way, the seeds are what the QR code is. Just like you you guys know this because you're in a crypto world.
965
01:16:06.650 --> 01:16:15.115
Lots of 2FA apps, once you scan the code, don't let you view your seeds. So there's no easy way to migrate all of your Right. I think Google Authenticator doesn't let you.
966
01:16:15.515 --> 01:16:22.815
No. They're just change that. Yep. I don't think they do unless they did it in a newer version, but Authy doesn't either. It's my biggest gripe with Authy.
967
01:16:23.470 --> 01:16:26.290
So I really try to avoid, people using Authy.
968
01:16:26.590 --> 01:16:31.864
969
01:16:33.125 --> 01:16:35.784
970
01:16:36.485 --> 01:16:42.190
I have been I've actually never used a, hardware 2FA thing until the last, like, few months. Yubikey
971
01:16:42.570 --> 01:16:43.870
sent us a couple test,
972
01:16:44.410 --> 01:16:44.910
units
973
01:16:45.285 --> 01:16:48.745
review, and so I've been using it the last couple months. And it's it's pretty nice.
974
01:16:49.205 --> 01:16:50.425
The only problem is
975
01:16:50.965 --> 01:16:51.285
it's
976
01:16:51.845 --> 01:16:56.710
I can't convert as many accounts to a hardware key as I can to TOTP.
977
01:16:57.489 --> 01:16:59.989
So I'm now probably gonna have to use a combination
978
01:17:00.755 --> 01:17:05.175
of YubiKey and TOTP. Now the YubiKey does support TOTP. You can use
979
01:17:05.555 --> 01:17:07.975
your YubiKey to also support those codes.
980
01:17:08.530 --> 01:17:12.950
But it doesn't, to me, feel as clean of a solution, and I'm not a fan that it constantly
981
01:17:13.330 --> 01:17:17.670
it's something I either have to keep track of or that constantly takes up, a port on my laptop.
982
01:17:18.005 --> 01:17:23.945
983
01:17:24.405 --> 01:17:25.764
984
01:17:26.610 --> 01:17:27.270
a nonnegotiable
985
01:17:27.650 --> 01:17:30.630
that, generally speaking, hardware keys are more secure.
986
01:17:32.210 --> 01:17:41.730
987
01:17:42.530 --> 01:17:44.070
have Aegis on their phone.
988
01:17:44.850 --> 01:17:48.710
They'll have a 2 factor app on their phone, and that's obviously connected to the Internet.
989
01:17:50.295 --> 01:17:51.915
But I I personally
990
01:17:53.175 --> 01:17:56.715
I personally think the hardware device is overkill for most people.
991
01:17:57.670 --> 01:18:00.170
You should already have a secure password on the account,
992
01:18:03.350 --> 01:18:04.630
and there's never
993
01:18:05.615 --> 01:18:08.275
and at least that I'm aware of, there hasn't been a
994
01:18:09.135 --> 01:18:11.075
a real, like, sweeping compromise
995
01:18:11.535 --> 01:18:13.715
that has affected people that have used,
996
01:18:14.255 --> 01:18:16.680
2 factor apps, even the bad ones.
997
01:18:18.420 --> 01:18:21.640
In general, attackers tend to go for the lowest hanging fruit,
998
01:18:22.580 --> 01:18:26.675
and that's the people that are not using secure passwords that aren't using 2 factor.
999
01:18:28.655 --> 01:18:29.875
1000
01:18:30.335 --> 01:18:37.240
at like someone mentioned, well, a few things. 1, someone corrected and said Google Authenticator does give you an export option. Yeah. I think they added it recently.
1001
01:18:37.700 --> 01:18:41.755
So that's cool. I'm happy to see that. And someone else is saying t0tp
1002
01:18:42.135 --> 01:18:48.795
2FA isn't connected to the Internet and they're right. And that's kind of why personally, I don't think there's a huge difference between a hardware.
1003
01:18:49.679 --> 01:18:51.539
1004
01:18:52.239 --> 01:19:00.465
if the app is doing what it's saying it's doing, and if it's open source, then you or someone else can verify it, And it's not supposed to be connecting to the Internet.
1005
01:19:01.005 --> 01:19:01.505
1006
01:19:02.525 --> 01:19:04.545
1007
01:19:05.380 --> 01:19:13.160
spare Android phone or tablet that is running KeePass and is running Aegis that is never connected to the Internet, and it will still work,
1008
01:19:13.815 --> 01:19:15.275
with your two factor codes.
1009
01:19:16.455 --> 01:19:18.395
And then you kind of get some of that
1010
01:19:18.775 --> 01:19:19.275
that,
1011
01:19:21.390 --> 01:19:27.890
you you get that, like, air gap benefit. You get that offline benefit because you're just not connecting it to the Internet, period.
1012
01:19:29.310 --> 01:19:29.810
But
1013
01:19:30.255 --> 01:19:31.155
I would caution
1014
01:19:33.534 --> 01:19:34.514
the good apps
1015
01:19:34.815 --> 01:19:40.690
for a lot of these things do things locally. They're not connecting to the Internet when they're not supposed to be connecting to the Internet, but, ultimately,
1016
01:19:41.550 --> 01:19:45.810
your mobile phone is this black box device that is always connected to the Internet.
1017
01:19:46.830 --> 01:19:48.050
So I wouldn't necessarily
1018
01:19:48.430 --> 01:19:49.330
assume that,
1019
01:19:50.335 --> 01:19:52.755
in your threat model. But all that said,
1020
01:19:54.175 --> 01:19:56.915
I do think for the overwhelming majority of people,
1021
01:19:58.180 --> 01:19:59.320
using a solid
1022
01:19:59.780 --> 01:20:00.280
TOTP
1023
01:20:00.660 --> 01:20:01.800
two factor app
1024
01:20:03.700 --> 01:20:06.680
is is a massive improvement and is probably
1025
01:20:07.235 --> 01:20:11.014
sufficient. I would add that, you know, we talked about exporting,
1026
01:20:11.635 --> 01:20:17.270
but a key element here of the good the good apps is that is that you can easily back up.
1027
01:20:17.650 --> 01:20:18.150
Because
1028
01:20:18.450 --> 01:20:20.070
if you've ever been in a situation,
1029
01:20:21.970 --> 01:20:24.630
people have gone in this situation many times
1030
01:20:25.755 --> 01:20:33.855
where they if if their phone breaks or something, if you lose those codes, you're gonna have a really hard time accessing your accounts after that.
1031
01:20:34.930 --> 01:20:36.390
So you wanna have a backup
1032
01:20:36.770 --> 01:20:43.110
so so you can still access your important accounts without going through a massive customer service process. Because if
1033
01:20:43.535 --> 01:20:44.515
if you can circumvent
1034
01:20:44.975 --> 01:20:57.930
the 2 factor code through a customer service process, so can a malicious actor. So they're they're the good services are designed in a way that if you lose those 2 factor codes, you're gonna have a really bad time. So make sure that you can back them up.
1035
01:20:58.535 --> 01:20:59.035
1036
01:20:59.495 --> 01:21:00.955
Just like backing up your seeds.
1037
01:21:01.495 --> 01:21:08.280
1038
01:21:10.199 --> 01:21:12.539
They also have this option that is
1039
01:21:13.960 --> 01:21:15.500
very familiar to,
1040
01:21:17.215 --> 01:21:18.675
Bitcoiners in that
1041
01:21:19.775 --> 01:21:28.770
they'll link they encrypt your backup. So you can actually just store it in any cloud service even if it's untrusted cloud service, and then you write down the the encryption code
1042
01:21:31.230 --> 01:21:34.130
on on your trusty pad and paper that you keep offline.
1043
01:21:35.155 --> 01:21:38.455
Definitely. Just a nice nice little balancing act there.
1044
01:21:40.114 --> 01:21:44.295
1045
01:21:45.460 --> 01:21:49.320
He pretty much is saying the main benefit of a hardware key are that they're unphishable.
1046
01:21:49.620 --> 01:21:55.085
Because of TOTP, you still have to enter the code, which could be used on the phishing site. True. Whereas,
1047
01:21:56.264 --> 01:21:59.804
with a hardware key, which uses, FID02, VIT02,
1048
01:22:00.505 --> 01:22:04.230
it'll only access the legitimate domain. So it's a good phishing prevention.
1049
01:22:04.849 --> 01:22:07.670
1050
01:22:08.690 --> 01:22:10.869
that actually might change my opinion because
1051
01:22:12.385 --> 01:22:15.364
everyone gets phished. People get phished a lot, man.
1052
01:22:15.744 --> 01:22:27.619
1053
01:22:27.975 --> 01:22:39.000
1054
01:22:40.179 --> 01:22:51.825
Those attackers have obviously moved to actually phishing the the code as well. So they'll they'll pretend you're signing in, you give them your password, then you give them the code, and then they quickly sign in to your account. It's how that attack looks,
1055
01:22:53.060 --> 01:22:58.040
which is why you shouldn't click links and you should always type where you're going directly into your browser.
1056
01:22:59.140 --> 01:23:01.880
This conversation wouldn't be complete without a
1057
01:23:02.565 --> 01:23:05.945
conversation about using text based 2 factor authentication.
1058
01:23:08.405 --> 01:23:10.105
Do you wanna go into that for us?
1059
01:23:11.370 --> 01:23:16.110
1060
01:23:16.730 --> 01:23:20.205
You know? Like, SMS is the the closest thing to public
1061
01:23:20.585 --> 01:23:21.485
as it can be.
1062
01:23:21.945 --> 01:23:23.405
Someone can set up some
1063
01:23:23.945 --> 01:23:39.675
few $100 devices outside your home and intercept SMS messages fairly easily. It's like a postcard instead of an envelope. Exactly. It's super easy to for for a random person to investigate what's going on. It's super easy for your cell carrier. There was a recent story that you might have seen this on Twitter,
1064
01:23:40.535 --> 01:23:41.355
where someone
1065
01:23:41.815 --> 01:23:43.835
someone's cell carrier injected
1066
01:23:44.135 --> 01:23:50.510
an ad into the Google 2FA code sent to their phone number. So it says, like, oh, your Google number is 123456.
1067
01:23:51.130 --> 01:23:52.990
And it said your Google number is 123456.
1068
01:23:53.655 --> 01:24:01.915
Check out this product online underneath it. The cell carrier injected that because obviously your cell carrier sees all your SMS messages. They're not end to end encrypted.
1069
01:24:03.680 --> 01:24:06.820
So just avoid it. But the thing that sucks is if you use
1070
01:24:07.520 --> 01:24:10.980
I think, like, almost every bank out there with very few exceptions
1071
01:24:11.425 --> 01:24:14.885
only gives you phone based SMS as an option for 2FA.
1072
01:24:15.665 --> 01:24:16.805
And when that happens,
1073
01:24:17.185 --> 01:24:18.645
you just gotta tough it out.
1074
01:24:19.025 --> 01:24:21.125
1075
01:24:21.910 --> 01:24:24.170
1076
01:24:24.790 --> 01:24:33.765
1077
01:24:34.945 --> 01:24:39.540
If you really want a fun time, try and open a bank account and just sit down with them. But I'm
1078
01:24:39.920 --> 01:24:44.640
gonna I have I have a couple promises to myself, and one of them is I'm never gonna open another bank account. So
1079
01:24:45.885 --> 01:24:50.145
1080
01:24:51.165 --> 01:24:53.810
decredit everything. I wanna stop using credit.
1081
01:24:54.930 --> 01:25:02.310
Say say fuck the credit score. You know? I think it's very hippie, but it's something The society really fucks you if you don't have
1082
01:25:02.965 --> 01:25:05.445
1083
01:25:06.085 --> 01:25:11.385
I don't know. Such a perverse system, the credit system, the, like, credit scores and stuff.
1084
01:25:12.060 --> 01:25:20.960
1085
01:25:21.955 --> 01:25:28.695
1086
01:25:29.130 --> 01:25:36.670
1087
01:25:37.085 --> 01:25:39.665
And I'm like, what's your credit score, bestie?
1088
01:25:40.925 --> 01:25:43.265
Like, obviously, it's it's not a fair comparison,
1089
01:25:44.050 --> 01:25:47.910
but it still kind of really pushes me the wrong way that we're given scores to essentially
1090
01:25:48.290 --> 01:25:50.550
represent how our financial status is.
1091
01:25:51.065 --> 01:25:56.764
1092
01:25:57.065 --> 01:25:57.565
1093
01:25:58.560 --> 01:26:06.020
1094
01:26:06.625 --> 01:26:09.685
cash is king, and and it's a very private way to transact.
1095
01:26:12.145 --> 01:26:15.685
And in a lot of ways, it's more convenient than using a credit card. So
1096
01:26:16.290 --> 01:26:20.310
you can't if you pay with cash at the bar, you're not gonna accidentally leave your tab open.
1097
01:26:23.385 --> 01:26:31.600
And you don't have to wait around for the waiter to come back with the piece of paper if you if you just pay cash. Give them a little tip there. Round it up.
1098
01:26:33.420 --> 01:26:38.160
So what were we talking about? I just had an oh, so the other issue with SMS two factor
1099
01:26:38.860 --> 01:26:40.080
is it is it's
1100
01:26:40.465 --> 01:26:44.245
it's also a way for these companies to harvest your phone number,
1101
01:26:45.025 --> 01:26:50.800
which is basically used as a social identifier nowadays. It's almost used more than your Social Security number,
1102
01:26:51.740 --> 01:26:53.520
but it's used in a similar way.
1103
01:26:55.180 --> 01:26:57.680
And you really wanna limit the amount of
1104
01:26:58.525 --> 01:27:04.625
services that that that know your phone number and then know the same phone number. Ideally, you have multiple phone numbers.
1105
01:27:07.620 --> 01:27:13.675
I mean, that's obviously a main issue of of these SMS two factors as well. Right? Yeah. Definitely.
1106
01:27:14.775 --> 01:27:20.315
1107
01:27:20.710 --> 01:27:24.010
and it it was just a new perspective. So I just get random
1108
01:27:25.190 --> 01:27:27.885
it's like, you know, shower thoughts. It's like driving thoughts.
1109
01:27:29.085 --> 01:27:39.340
And this one was I feel like the data points that we should be protecting the most are the ones that are the hardest to change and we're most invested in. So you think of Social Security number.
1110
01:27:39.640 --> 01:27:52.065
It's nearly impossible to change a security number, unless you're able to prove that you're you're victim of abuse or or all these other legal loopholes that you're able to go through. But most people can't just go and change their social security number.
1111
01:27:52.844 --> 01:27:56.224
So this is just a single number that if it gets out into the world once,
1112
01:27:57.010 --> 01:27:59.110
you're screwed for the rest of your life.
1113
01:27:59.650 --> 01:28:10.455
It's horrible. Phone numbers are pretty high up on that chart. You know, most people don't change their phone number sometimes ever in their entire life. Yeah. Massive switching costs on that too. Exactly. So,
1114
01:28:11.155 --> 01:28:13.975
phone numbers are really high up there. Emails are definitely lower,
1115
01:28:15.080 --> 01:28:24.105
but really the goal should be to use as few of those high level identifiers as possible because they're extremely hard to switch off of. I I really like that term you use,
1116
01:28:25.145 --> 01:28:25.965
switch cost.
1117
01:28:26.265 --> 01:28:28.765
Yeah. Switching costs. I really like that because
1118
01:28:30.025 --> 01:28:38.079
it's a really good way of looking at it and I think that yeah. Just trying to avoid out the those really high level identifiers that are almost impossible to change is really the goal.
1119
01:28:38.699 --> 01:28:45.285
And the other one that I thought of, massive one, that, like, no one considers, and it's such a normal thing. Home addresses.
1120
01:28:46.545 --> 01:28:49.205
1121
01:28:49.550 --> 01:28:53.250
1122
01:28:53.550 --> 01:29:03.105
Like, oh, like, what's the shipping address? Oh, here's my here's my home address. If it ever leaks, I better buy a new home. You literally put all that information in the same form. You put the
1123
01:29:03.405 --> 01:29:12.410
1124
01:29:13.030 --> 01:29:14.170
1125
01:29:14.710 --> 01:29:17.744
And and, like, there's no way to change your home address.
1126
01:29:18.525 --> 01:29:22.945
1127
01:29:23.790 --> 01:29:30.530
like, the way our society works is the government essentially you have to go through great lengths to not have
1128
01:29:31.625 --> 01:29:35.485
that address and databases that have the other identifiers in them as well,
1129
01:29:36.585 --> 01:29:42.920
even if you're not providing them to a specific service. If you're providing a phone number to a specific service, there's a good chance that
1130
01:29:45.460 --> 01:29:52.114
your home address is attached to that or your name or your your name plus your age plus a general vicinity you're in.
1131
01:29:53.614 --> 01:29:57.135
It's a whole that's a whole rabbit hole in itself trying to
1132
01:29:57.830 --> 01:30:01.770
and, like, in America, we have this advantage that you can actually buy a home under an LLC,
1133
01:30:03.670 --> 01:30:06.730
to mask who the the owner of the home is.
1134
01:30:07.455 --> 01:30:11.315
But you have to basically go through these very deliberate steps to protect it.
1135
01:30:12.895 --> 01:30:13.395
1136
01:30:14.015 --> 01:30:18.020
I recently spoke to an attorney to ask about the home buying process,
1137
01:30:18.720 --> 01:30:29.735
privately, and she's like, well, you can use an LLC or you can use a trust. But here's the thing, there's 2 things. This this is probably a little off topic, but I find it really interesting and I think it's It's on topic. For people to know.
1138
01:30:30.515 --> 01:30:36.600
You can buy a home and put it in a trust. And, yes, the title of the home is in the trust,
1139
01:30:37.300 --> 01:30:46.324
but the second layer that you really need to be careful about is how you're financing the home. If you're getting a mortgage, there's no way to get a mortgage through a trust.
1140
01:30:47.025 --> 01:30:57.400
So the mortgage is public information. Anyone can look at the previous mortgage history of a home. So you can get a house, put it in the trust, and that the title's private, but not the mortgage. So, essentially,
1141
01:30:58.420 --> 01:31:03.345
you're having to buy a home in cash unless your LLC is able to get its own mortgage.
1142
01:31:05.085 --> 01:31:08.065
1143
01:31:08.440 --> 01:31:09.340
it's a very
1144
01:31:09.640 --> 01:31:12.380
difficult and deliberate process that you have to basically take.
1145
01:31:15.080 --> 01:31:26.844
And then you have to protect that information after the fact. Then there's no you don't put your shipping address in places. You know? You have to and, like, the the mortgage process in general is that literally just gotta pull your pants down and give them everything.
1146
01:31:28.590 --> 01:31:32.130
And then who knows how securely that bank is actually storing that information?
1147
01:31:32.590 --> 01:31:33.890
Definitely not securely.
1148
01:31:36.245 --> 01:31:39.465
So so it is a mess it is something we talk about a lot because,
1149
01:31:41.445 --> 01:31:42.025
you know,
1150
01:31:42.405 --> 01:31:50.030
in America, hopefully, it's not as bad, but in certain countries, you know, you don't want Bitcoin specific stuff shipped to your house.
1151
01:31:51.849 --> 01:32:06.099
So you wanna look into PO boxes. You wanna look into remailers, which are basically VPNs, but for physical mail where you're trusting them with all your information. But ideally, outside services only see you going sending it to the re mailer's address, and then it gets shipped to you.
1152
01:32:07.679 --> 01:32:08.659
UPS stores,
1153
01:32:11.915 --> 01:32:14.555
all these different tactics you can use to try and,
1154
01:32:15.275 --> 01:32:19.135
mask mask your home address as another identifier that's in these systems.
1155
01:32:19.830 --> 01:32:21.369
Another service that is,
1156
01:32:23.830 --> 01:32:26.730
I would say is, like, kinda unicorn y is have I been pwned.
1157
01:32:27.795 --> 01:32:29.175
1158
01:32:29.715 --> 01:32:32.855
1159
01:32:33.475 --> 01:32:40.000
a identifier I think I think it's based on email address as the main identifier. You put in your email address, and it'll tell you,
1160
01:32:41.180 --> 01:32:43.680
if you've been in any any major leaks.
1161
01:32:44.245 --> 01:32:45.545
And if you do that,
1162
01:32:48.485 --> 01:32:54.390
I mean, you should connect with a VPN because, otherwise, you're telling, have I been pwned your IP address connected to that email
1163
01:32:54.929 --> 01:33:02.150
address. But if you do that, you are gonna be very alarmed. There are compromises that happen constantly, and it could be that
1164
01:33:03.145 --> 01:33:06.525
I, like, I went to great lengths of protecting my previous address,
1165
01:33:09.065 --> 01:33:10.445
and I, like, nonchalantly
1166
01:33:10.985 --> 01:33:11.485
bought
1167
01:33:14.429 --> 01:33:17.969
a a ticket to to a concert, and the concert venue
1168
01:33:18.909 --> 01:33:23.095
got compromised. And I didn't remember doing it, and I just fucked it. I fucked that up.
1169
01:33:23.715 --> 01:33:26.375
And have I been potent? Let me know. And I was like, fuck.
1170
01:33:26.755 --> 01:33:29.895
And it was like it just completely compromised everything.
1171
01:33:31.420 --> 01:33:38.400
But that's one of the advantages of renting that people don't really think about. Like, if you constantly move around, it does add a lot of noise to the
1172
01:33:39.864 --> 01:33:41.565
to the pool of data out there.
1173
01:33:42.264 --> 01:33:42.764
1174
01:33:43.065 --> 01:33:43.565
Also,
1175
01:33:45.304 --> 01:33:50.500
I well, 2 things. 1, bonus points if you're using a password manager that,
1176
01:33:51.040 --> 01:33:53.105
auto checks haven't been found.
1177
01:33:53.665 --> 01:33:56.645
My KeePass client does that, which is really neat.
1178
01:33:57.105 --> 01:34:04.630
That is awesome. Yeah. Every day, it just checks haven't been pwned, and it'll notify me if any passwords or emails were found in in a breach, which is really sick.
1179
01:34:06.130 --> 01:34:07.030
Aside from
1180
01:34:07.409 --> 01:34:11.989
that, something else is, I'm I feel like KeyPass client is that?
1181
01:34:12.645 --> 01:34:18.665
I think KeePass XC does it, but I know for a fact StrongBox does it. The StrongBox is Apple specific.
1182
01:34:19.045 --> 01:34:21.844
1183
01:34:22.949 --> 01:34:23.449
keyepass,
1184
01:34:24.550 --> 01:34:25.530
not keyypass.
1185
01:34:26.389 --> 01:34:28.650
And there's, like, a 1000000 clients of it.
1186
01:34:29.030 --> 01:34:29.505
1187
01:34:29.905 --> 01:34:35.045
It's kind of like matrix. If any of you know matrix, you can use, like, any client. It's like a sort of decentralized
1188
01:34:35.824 --> 01:34:36.324
model.
1189
01:34:39.980 --> 01:34:43.100
Something else, I'm sure you've heard of it, especially if you listen to,
1190
01:34:43.580 --> 01:34:44.080
Seth's
1191
01:34:44.700 --> 01:34:46.880
opt out podcast, but, SimpleLogin
1192
01:34:47.855 --> 01:34:48.595
is just
1193
01:34:49.295 --> 01:34:53.155
next level tool for protecting your email. I don't give any person
1194
01:34:53.535 --> 01:34:54.675
thing website
1195
01:34:55.290 --> 01:34:58.750
my real email address ever. It's always a simple login alias.
1196
01:34:59.369 --> 01:35:03.865
That way my actual email is never shared with anybody. And then the cool thing is
1197
01:35:04.185 --> 01:35:04.685
if
1198
01:35:04.985 --> 01:35:06.685
that email still gets exposed,
1199
01:35:07.065 --> 01:35:20.804
I can transition the host email and still keep all my email aliases through SimpleLogin. So SimpleLogin is like an email aliasing service. So you can have an email set up for every single service you use on the Internet, and it's compartmentalized accordingly. It's like a VPN for emails.
1200
01:35:25.505 --> 01:35:27.280
1201
01:35:28.719 --> 01:35:29.219
Metaphor.
1202
01:35:30.559 --> 01:35:36.480
1203
01:35:37.039 --> 01:35:40.245
1204
01:35:40.785 --> 01:35:43.525
Yeah. Trust model wise, it's similar to a VPN.
1205
01:35:44.065 --> 01:35:46.325
1206
01:35:47.179 --> 01:35:57.695
let's say my my actual email let's I'm just gonna use Techclore because it's public and easy. I I know this, so it's very easy for me to share it and I there's no risk. But our like, our Techlore email support at techlore.tech.
1207
01:35:58.315 --> 01:36:02.095
If I didn't if I just opened that though and I didn't want it to be shared with anybody,
1208
01:36:02.475 --> 01:36:04.175
I would link that to simple login
1209
01:36:04.500 --> 01:36:05.139
and then,
1210
01:36:05.540 --> 01:36:07.639
they'll generate an alias. So it could be
1211
01:36:08.340 --> 01:36:08.840
school
1212
01:36:09.219 --> 01:36:10.040
at alias.com,
1213
01:36:10.820 --> 01:36:19.435
and I give that to my my school. So then my my school only has that school, but everything they send goes to my normal email inbox, and I can still interact with it.
1214
01:36:20.935 --> 01:36:21.915
Yeah. I'm I'm
1215
01:36:22.300 --> 01:36:23.040
kind of
1216
01:36:23.500 --> 01:36:31.040
all over the place with that explanation, but hopefully just check out their website. They do a better job. And also, we have a review of it too on TechFlow. Do they accept Bitcoin?
1217
01:36:31.745 --> 01:36:33.045
I believe they do.
1218
01:36:33.745 --> 01:36:47.219
Let me double check, but I'm pretty sure they even accepted Monero as well. So you should have multiple. Because a lot of these services, it's like you know, and then you provide them your credit card and billing address. No. SimpleLogin's open source, and you can self host it too. Oh, that's awesome.
1219
01:36:47.954 --> 01:36:51.094
Yeah. Let me let me find their, That was not on my radar.
1220
01:36:52.114 --> 01:36:59.239
Oh, yeah. So it's funny because, I feel like it hasn't quite, like, seeped its hands into the crypto world yet because Seth also,
1221
01:36:59.719 --> 01:37:03.660
hadn't heard of it before. And he tried it and he doesn't stop talking about it now.
1222
01:37:05.034 --> 01:37:06.415
Let me see. Payment methods.
1223
01:37:17.610 --> 01:37:20.510
1224
01:37:29.760 --> 01:37:32.020
There was one other thing I wanted to talk about.
1225
01:37:38.915 --> 01:37:40.614
I think we might have lost Techlore.
1226
01:37:45.540 --> 01:37:47.080
Let's see if he comes back.
1227
01:37:50.420 --> 01:37:53.000
It was the most recent episode on Opt Out.
1228
01:37:54.844 --> 01:37:58.145
Thank you, this douchebag, for letting us know that.
1229
01:38:02.090 --> 01:38:06.110
Yeah. We did lose Tech Lorry. He'll be back in a second.
1230
01:38:07.130 --> 01:38:12.895
Yeah. Go check out Opt Out podcast if you haven't already. I had Seth on dispatch,
1231
01:38:14.715 --> 01:38:15.215
previously.
1232
01:38:21.940 --> 01:38:24.920
Yeah. Techlord's Internet went out. He'll be back in a second.
1233
01:38:27.295 --> 01:38:29.235
But definitely go check out Opt Out.
1234
01:38:29.935 --> 01:38:34.675
In the meantime, freaks, if you wanna throw more questions in the comments,
1235
01:38:36.100 --> 01:38:39.800
feel free to do that. It looks like it's just me on right now.
1236
01:38:41.300 --> 01:38:42.120
But when
1237
01:38:42.660 --> 01:38:43.880
Henry comes back,
1238
01:38:44.215 --> 01:38:49.035
we can answer those questions. Or if I can answer them, I will answer them.
1239
01:38:50.615 --> 01:38:53.835
Someone is asking Jonah is asking about the Calix hotspot.
1240
01:38:56.600 --> 01:39:02.060
I haven't really had too many issues with the Calix hotspot. It's it's pretty cool concept where they give you this
1241
01:39:02.365 --> 01:39:03.425
this mobile hotspot,
1242
01:39:04.685 --> 01:39:06.545
if you contribute to their
1243
01:39:06.925 --> 01:39:08.945
their foundation, their nonprofit foundation.
1244
01:39:10.380 --> 01:39:12.719
It obviously feels nice to support,
1245
01:39:14.060 --> 01:39:16.080
privacy focused work, and then
1246
01:39:16.540 --> 01:39:18.080
you also have the advantage
1247
01:39:18.460 --> 01:39:18.960
of
1248
01:39:19.305 --> 01:39:27.245
of getting this hot spot. The major negative of the hot spot is I believe it uses Sprint and T Mobile, the combination of the 2.
1249
01:39:30.030 --> 01:39:30.530
So
1250
01:39:31.310 --> 01:39:38.210
those you know, their reception area is is definitely a worse reception area. So you will have some reception issues
1251
01:39:39.935 --> 01:39:42.275
if you if you're using that hotspot.
1252
01:39:42.575 --> 01:39:44.835
How's it going, Henry? The spooks got you?
1253
01:39:47.055 --> 01:39:49.110
1254
01:39:49.730 --> 01:39:51.510
1255
01:39:52.210 --> 01:39:52.949
1256
01:39:54.210 --> 01:40:00.244
1257
01:40:00.864 --> 01:40:13.950
1258
01:40:17.195 --> 01:40:22.255
1259
01:40:22.780 --> 01:40:31.614
1260
01:40:32.815 --> 01:40:36.594
1261
01:40:37.935 --> 01:40:39.235
1262
01:40:41.659 --> 01:40:49.679
Oh, is that what you're on right now? Yeah. It it ran out of battery. I ditched my home Internet. I don't even have home Internet anymore, so I just use the Calix hotspot. It's fantastic.
1263
01:40:50.515 --> 01:40:51.335
1264
01:40:52.435 --> 01:40:59.940
It is really great, but I I was talking about how my major my major negative about it is that it's I think it's Sprint and T Mobile they use.
1265
01:41:00.980 --> 01:41:01.480
Yep.
1266
01:41:01.860 --> 01:41:04.600
So the reception area isn't as large
1267
01:41:05.060 --> 01:41:05.560
as,
1268
01:41:06.500 --> 01:41:09.000
the other two majors as AT and T and Verizon.
1269
01:41:09.795 --> 01:41:13.474
1270
01:41:13.955 --> 01:41:16.855
It's better than what I'd get from my,
1271
01:41:17.795 --> 01:41:28.835
Internet service provider, But I don't have to deal with don't have to deal with the assholes, though. I recently moved, and I have gigabit. So I so I'm very happy with it. That's nice. Very nice to have.
1272
01:41:29.614 --> 01:41:30.114
1273
01:41:30.574 --> 01:41:38.400
have you ever so Calix hotspot is cool because it's it's it's unlimited. Have you ever hit, like, the point where they've started throttling you?
1274
01:41:38.940 --> 01:41:39.440
1275
01:41:40.540 --> 01:41:41.260
They've never
1276
01:41:41.980 --> 01:41:46.615
so Nick Nick Nick Merrill, the the the guy who is the founder of the Calix Institute,
1277
01:41:47.475 --> 01:41:52.910
he's never had someone throttled. He's had people download, like, 5 terabytes in a month and nothing happened.
1278
01:41:53.690 --> 01:42:02.565
1279
01:42:03.265 --> 01:42:14.050
1280
01:42:14.510 --> 01:42:16.770
which, by the way, is completely, like,
1281
01:42:17.710 --> 01:42:28.355
nothing gets me more riled up than my ISP because, you know, you're paying premium for this service and they're throttling you to, like my previous one is throttling me to 1.1 terabytes a month.
1282
01:42:28.910 --> 01:42:34.530
1283
01:42:36.445 --> 01:42:37.265
And then they
1284
01:42:37.645 --> 01:42:42.225
they they spy on you, like, crazy amounts, and they have so much personal information on you.
1285
01:42:45.440 --> 01:42:49.620
Yeah. Especially in this country, there's, like, not that much competition among ISPs.
1286
01:42:51.255 --> 01:42:55.355
That's a whole different can of worms, and we're kinda wrapping up here. Before we wrap up,
1287
01:42:57.335 --> 01:42:59.410
yes. Someone ask, also ask this question.
1288
01:42:59.790 --> 01:43:05.330
I wanted to talk about SilentLink a little bit because I I love their service, and you mentioned it earlier.
1289
01:43:09.605 --> 01:43:11.465
Do you use Soundlink? You like Soundlink?
1290
01:43:12.165 --> 01:43:20.719
1291
01:43:21.820 --> 01:43:23.600
1292
01:43:25.165 --> 01:43:28.865
I I love I love when something like that happens because I had started
1293
01:43:29.405 --> 01:43:35.139
recommending silent link to people, and I was like, do I have to make a review about it? And then you made the review, which is even bet like, they
1294
01:43:35.540 --> 01:43:39.400
I guess so much better when other people make the reviews, and you can just tell people to go to those.
1295
01:43:40.035 --> 01:43:51.490
1296
01:43:52.190 --> 01:43:58.130
1297
01:43:58.755 --> 01:44:00.135
because things change.
1298
01:44:00.995 --> 01:44:06.040
1299
01:44:07.080 --> 01:44:09.820
No. No. Don't know what that means. Never heard of that before.
1300
01:44:10.280 --> 01:44:10.520
1301
01:44:11.160 --> 01:44:17.715
per our earlier conversation about phone numbers and how they leak all this information from you and people don't change them often,
1302
01:44:18.655 --> 01:44:27.000
silent dot link is a great service that offers you something called an eSIM. So you have that, like, little SIM card that you stick into your device,
1303
01:44:27.380 --> 01:44:31.480
into your phone, that gives it its phone number and connection to cell towers.
1304
01:44:32.405 --> 01:44:32.905
Silent.link
1305
01:44:33.605 --> 01:44:36.505
supports this new concept called esims.
1306
01:44:36.965 --> 01:44:41.930
So you can pay them Bitcoin and you can just without giving them any personal information,
1307
01:44:43.510 --> 01:44:44.810
no email, nothing.
1308
01:44:45.910 --> 01:44:47.610
They will give you a phone number
1309
01:44:48.675 --> 01:44:52.455
with data access, and you just download it directly to your phone.
1310
01:44:53.075 --> 01:44:53.575
And
1311
01:44:54.675 --> 01:44:56.455
I think it's Android only. Right?
1312
01:44:57.659 --> 01:45:02.639
1313
01:45:03.420 --> 01:45:11.655
Yep. Some models. Make sure to check which model you have. I'm fairly certain that as long as the phone supports eSIM, then silent link will work. Also, it's a real number, people.
1314
01:45:11.980 --> 01:45:12.960
It's not like,
1315
01:45:13.579 --> 01:45:18.159
like, I I like my pseudo and I like Hush. I like these disposable burner apps,
1316
01:45:18.540 --> 01:45:29.705
but a lot of websites will know that you're using a burner app and they'll they won't let you register for accounts you use. But silent link is an actual real number that you'd get from Verizon, AT and T, or any other cell carrier.
1317
01:45:31.870 --> 01:45:34.050
1318
01:45:36.510 --> 01:45:38.210
Like I said, you could pay with Bitcoin.
1319
01:45:39.645 --> 01:45:48.385
Obviously, another option you have is to to actually buy a prepaid SIM with cash, which has a lot more friction. A lot of the providers, like, require a bunch of personal information,
1320
01:45:48.730 --> 01:45:51.870
and it's not necessarily obvious which ones do and which ones don't,
1321
01:45:52.650 --> 01:45:53.870
at the time of purchase.
1322
01:45:55.825 --> 01:45:58.165
And then another service I really like is textverify.com,
1323
01:45:59.585 --> 01:46:01.205
which also accepts Bitcoin.
1324
01:46:01.985 --> 01:46:04.725
I heard that one. That one's a little bit different.
1325
01:46:05.160 --> 01:46:09.420
They will give you a disposable number that's one time use only.
1326
01:46:11.320 --> 01:46:12.835
But you basically
1327
01:46:13.295 --> 01:46:15.555
pick which service you're gonna use it for.
1328
01:46:16.095 --> 01:46:16.595
And
1329
01:46:17.615 --> 01:46:19.935
whatever they're doing in the background, like, they know,
1330
01:46:21.480 --> 01:46:29.739
which services are blocking which numbers on which lists, and they'll give you a number that works. And, like, I've used it with Twitter. I've used it with a bunch of other services.
1331
01:46:32.085 --> 01:46:33.785
So those those are, like,
1332
01:46:34.805 --> 01:46:36.505
those are are are literally,
1333
01:46:37.420 --> 01:46:42.960
like, they burn immediately. You use them once, you get the code to verify yourself, and then
1334
01:46:43.260 --> 01:46:44.560
you can't use it again.
1335
01:46:45.065 --> 01:46:51.165
The nice thing about silent.link is, like, you can use it for a couple months and then get a new one and get a new one.
1336
01:46:52.360 --> 01:46:53.180
So definitely
1337
01:46:53.960 --> 01:46:55.980
go check them out. Really cool service.
1338
01:46:57.640 --> 01:46:58.620
1339
01:46:59.000 --> 01:47:03.215
text verified too. It's really cool. I've heard of them before. Text text verified is fantastic.
1340
01:47:05.514 --> 01:47:12.470
1341
01:47:13.250 --> 01:47:15.510
I would use silent dot link with signal.
1342
01:47:16.255 --> 01:47:20.035
Yes. Because the other thing is someone mentioned in the comments,
1343
01:47:21.935 --> 01:47:22.755
these services
1344
01:47:23.215 --> 01:47:23.715
that
1345
01:47:27.070 --> 01:47:30.610
these these services that rely on phone numbers, like WhatsApp,
1346
01:47:31.390 --> 01:47:33.330
if you get a recycled phone number,
1347
01:47:34.425 --> 01:47:38.525
then you might be able to get access to other people's accounts that they've already used.
1348
01:47:39.385 --> 01:47:39.885
So
1349
01:47:40.425 --> 01:47:43.740
you wanna be careful with the with the recycled phone numbers
1350
01:47:44.620 --> 01:47:46.960
on high value services, stuff like signal.
1351
01:47:47.580 --> 01:47:50.320
I guess with signal, it's not as bad, but with WhatsApp,
1352
01:47:51.025 --> 01:47:53.925
I guess there's some history that you get. With signal,
1353
01:47:54.545 --> 01:47:56.324
future people might message there,
1354
01:47:56.864 --> 01:47:58.165
which would be pretty bad,
1355
01:47:58.784 --> 01:48:00.405
but they won't get message history.
1356
01:48:02.040 --> 01:48:06.699
1357
01:48:07.000 --> 01:48:16.554
Signal has very, almost no checks on the numbers you provide, which is really nice because you can even use my pseudo or something like that. Absolutely. Text verified definitely works.
1358
01:48:18.980 --> 01:48:20.040
1359
01:48:20.900 --> 01:48:23.960
Someone's asking what that is. And then the other one is silent.link.
1360
01:48:25.965 --> 01:48:27.025
And all these services,
1361
01:48:28.605 --> 01:48:30.065
you should use with a VPN,
1362
01:48:34.590 --> 01:48:35.090
With
1363
01:48:35.870 --> 01:48:36.370
with,
1364
01:48:37.870 --> 01:48:39.010
with text verified,
1365
01:48:39.710 --> 01:48:41.650
they do require an email address.
1366
01:48:42.735 --> 01:48:47.155
So be very careful about which email address you provide there because, obviously, that is linking.
1367
01:48:49.750 --> 01:48:53.210
Just linking your email address to whatever you're using it for.
1368
01:48:53.590 --> 01:48:58.650
Yeah. They I'm on their website now. They do support signal. They support a a huge amount of services.
1369
01:49:00.655 --> 01:49:07.155
Okay. Well, I really appreciate your time, Henry. Thank you so much, for coming on. I appreciate all the work you're doing.
1370
01:49:08.610 --> 01:49:11.190
Before we wrap up, do you have any final thoughts for us?
1371
01:49:12.850 --> 01:49:16.710
1372
01:49:17.805 --> 01:49:19.745
putting great projects. You're
1373
01:49:20.205 --> 01:49:25.665
spreading great education to these people. I think it's great that so many people are getting pricing security education now.
1374
01:49:27.230 --> 01:49:33.685
Just beyond us, just really anyone, it's really fantastic. So, thanks for having me on, and really thanks for everything you're doing.
1375
01:49:34.085 --> 01:49:36.025
1376
01:49:36.405 --> 01:49:40.825
it's super promising. Just there's just so much good content out there right now,
1377
01:49:41.969 --> 01:49:44.070
and I hope to see more and more of it.
1378
01:49:44.610 --> 01:49:47.909
And thank once again, just thank you so much for all the work you do.
1379
01:49:48.665 --> 01:49:51.005
Thank you for all the freaks who joined us today,
1380
01:49:52.185 --> 01:49:52.585
and,
1381
01:49:53.545 --> 01:49:55.485
I'll see you next week. Thanks, Henry.
1382
01:49:55.945 --> 01:49:56.845
1383
01:50:03.599 --> 01:50:04.820
I don't know if that's
1384
01:50:12.385 --> 01:50:12.750
1385
01:50:20.135 --> 01:50:20.635
1386
01:50:21.015 --> 01:50:29.195
lights. No matter how hard I try, I've come as by. And I'm living from where I've started.
1387
01:52:00.020 --> 01:52:00.600
Rules of loss
1388
01:52:01.300 --> 01:52:03.000
in a man of saloons,
1389
01:52:03.460 --> 01:52:04.760
crazed air force.
1390
01:53:26.360 --> 01:53:27.340
1391
01:53:27.800 --> 01:53:30.780
Dis I'll see you on Thursday for a rapid recap.
1392
01:53:31.415 --> 01:53:36.315
Dispatch next Tuesday with Statikus and Open Arms is at 4 PM EST.
1393
01:53:38.054 --> 01:53:39.594
4 before PM EST,
1394
01:53:40.120 --> 01:53:41.340
21 100 UTC.
1395
01:53:41.880 --> 01:53:43.980
So join us for that. That should be a great conversation.
1396
01:53:45.320 --> 01:53:48.140
Reminder, you can find Techlore's content at techlore.tech.
1397
01:53:49.095 --> 01:53:50.875
He's also got a channel on bitcointv.com,
1398
01:53:53.975 --> 01:54:03.230
and he's got his his new show, the surveillance report. Definitely go check that out. I love you all. Reminder as always, I mean, I've been saying this,
1399
01:54:03.610 --> 01:54:09.164
to you guys for years now, but don't get overwhelmed. I know we talked about a lot of detailed things here.
1400
01:54:09.545 --> 01:54:13.085
Little improvements do help. Cutting out social media use,
1401
01:54:13.570 --> 01:54:16.390
not using an Alexa, not using a Google Assistant,
1402
01:54:16.930 --> 01:54:18.390
reducing your Google usage,
1403
01:54:18.930 --> 01:54:22.230
all these little things, they do add up and at scale, they help everybody.
1404
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So just consider trying to take little steps to improve your privacy. It is it is not as overwhelming as it may seem,
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and we we can make progress, each of us, independently
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and together. So I love you all. Take care. Have a great week. Cheers.
