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Totally forgot about this thread, but read some of the replies after my post. For those of you who are gnashing your teeth and calling it "paranoid" and "sad" that even my friends don't know where I live, "But...but what about dinner parties!!!!!!!!!"
You do realize that you can attend those ever so necessary to you dinner parties at THEIR house, right?
You do also realize that some people move around a lot, and that the friends they have had for awhile don't live in the same area, so why would they even need to know exactly where you live? Some of you live in tiny little bubbles, unable to think outside your own miniscule universe.
Being private doesn't mean paranoia. It means you want as little to do with other people as possible, and some of the posters on here have illustrated, very clearly, why some of us want as little to do with others as possible. Judge much? Label much?
Living a private life doesn't mean you don't talk to anyone. I talk to all kinds of people, all the time. As was mentioned, it's what you say that matters. Too many people are too willing to blurt out all of their information to complete strangers these days. Why? Because too many people are craving attention, and/or feel the need to be validated in some way by another person.
Posters on here talk about not caring what others think...yeah, that's the point. I don't need attention, I don't need validation from another person. I don't give a rat's patookis what you think. In fact, I care so very little what you think that I prefer to lead a very private life where you are not intimately involved in it.
People talk too much. As I said, they give out information without even thinking about it. They can give out their information all they want, but they do not get to give out MY information. I decide who gets that and who doesn't.
Privacy means you have less stress, less intrusion, and less drama. It's not even about "making all that effort". It's actually easier to be private than it is to sign up for every last thing you see whether that be a cell phone plan, car note, mortgage, etc. NOT having a paper trail is actually a very, very easy way to live, and you actually spend less time wasted living that way than you do by putting your information out there for every company, and every Tom, Dick, and Loser to find.
One thing that worries me about the suggestion that the police wear cameras. Would these be on all the time? Would the images be stored? That would seriously impact privacy. I foresee a situation where lawyers would demand copies of all police stored images of someone! Imagine confronting a witness with something that could be misconstrued that the police recorded! (What were you doing with those people in that part of town) The cameras that police wear don't record the actions of the police as much as the actions of the people around the officer.
If these cameras are turned on when the officer approaches someone - good. Some things need to be recorded. But cameras that stay on are, in my opinion, a violation of my privacy.
And don't get me started on drones . . . . .
Hey there, Countrysue!
Why not wear a lapel camera of your own? Quid pro quo and all that? You can buy a nice selection at most 'spy' stores, and I imagine they have them online in multiple places. They're not a bad way to improve your own safety too, and you can customize them to have the sound on or off.
Of course it isn't, Sue. Historically, the aim of all human government has always been to control and subjugate the populace, regardless of their campaign promises and other lies. Governments have been finding, using, and inventing countless ways to control the 'herd' since human government was first instituted with the coronation of King Saul.
On a global scale, or even a local one, there's nothing you can do about it. The only power you have is to make informed and intelligent decisions that will remove you from the line of fire, at least to some degree, but privacy was always an illusion anyway. Granted, as technological advances have been made, the invasion of the privacy of individual citizens has become easier for TPTB to effect. OTOH, the age-old practice of hanging someone from a meat hook (or employing some such other method of persuasion) to extract information was rather more painful than having cameras follow us about. At least, for the moment, taking our pictures isn't fatal. I'm not too fond of tasers and suchlike though....
In keeping with the 'Accept the things you cannot change' philosophy, I think you'll find that your overall peace of mind (not to mention retaining a healthy blood pressure) will be best served by refusing to permit anyone to take away your love, peace, and joy. No one can deprive you of a peaceful life unless you let them. Don't.
So, the government knows what kind of shoes you buy, and in what size, and your preferred color choices. We don't have to like it, but we have the power to ignore the fact that they have and are using this kind of technology to profile us. Learn to not care. It's not illegal yet to like the color purple, suede boots, and chocolate ice cream.
Of course, there will be choices and preferences we each have that can and will be used against us as the government sees fit, but that was *always* true, Sue. In the 'olden,' less-technologically-hip days, the government would just invent what they needed to do what they wanted to do to any and every individual they perceived as a threat.
Most of us aren't important enough for TPTB to mess with - at least, not in ways that really matter.
For example, at I type this, they're planning to follow the habits of all obese people and tax them when they buy a high-calorie drink or snack, such as a soda and/or candy. It doesn't seem to matter to them that because of genetically modified foods, pesticides, and plain heredity, many overweight and obese people don't eat that crap, or overeat in any way at all.
They're doing the same to cigarette smokers and those who consume alcohol.
Of course, since the drug trade is essential to the funding of government, heroin, cocaine/crack, marijuana, and methadone will still be available from your local dealer. Your activities in that department won't be curtailed unless such 'illegal' drug use info is required to put you away (in jail) for something else.
It's a fun age we live in, to be sure, but it's not so different in a fundamental way from that our progenitors have dealt with since the dawn of time.
Enjoy your life, Sue, and don't let the government rattle you. Forgive them, if you can, and if you can't then quietly, in the privacy of your head, say "***** 'em", and then just go about happily living your life.
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,951,921 times
Reputation: 16466
I'm so private that, well, I don't exist. In fact you didn't actually read this. It's just a virtual figment of your electronic imagination.
Ah crud, it won't work. Everyone knows my name, and where I live. If the world ends, please bring food and guns to my house, we'll be hungry and out of ammo.
Wrong, fakebook can not build a profile of someone that they have no idea exists.
Wrong.
How do you think FB, GOOG, Yahoo, Linked In and "free" websites make revenue? THEY SELL THE INFO THEY HAVE ABOUT YOU to data aggregators. With the correlation software available today: given several inputs from several websites - including IP addresses, the web of acquaintances scraped off by FB, and public records - data aggregators are able to piece together and sell a total identity. Down to SSN, date of birth, mother's maiden name, address and driver's license number.
FB sells their piece of you for $2. Four other websites do the same. DMV sells your information for an undisclosed amount, as long as the rationale passes muster. Data aggregators patch the pieces together and sell them as a reconstituted identity for $100. On black hat websites, a reconstituted ID is worth $300.
You'd be surprised how useful a fake identity is, when it passes all the validity tests.
You really want these sc*mbags to be making money while they're helping other sc*mbags to ride on your Social Security benefits, rifle your bank account, and take out loans in your name?
You musta' gone to one of those touchy feely schools that don't believe in critical thinking and analysis.
You really want these sc*mbags to be making money while they're helping other sc*mbags to ride on your Social Security benefits, rifle your bank account, and take out loans in your name?
They can't do this if you freeze your credit. Better than LifeLock any day. It's free, will not affect your credit rating nor your current credit accounts. You get a PIN from each of the 3 bureaus in order to "thaw" your report for 48 hours, if you wish to apply for more credit. What it WILL do is prevent anyone else from applying for credit in your name, unless they have that PIN (if someone gets it illegally, you can change it).
I honestly don't understand why everybody doesn't do this. All win, no lose!
I recently began to use an excellent anonymous browser, DuckDugGo.com. It not only provides security but more relevant results than Dogpile, a metasearch engine. The only problem was there was still a record of the fact that I had used it. I'm happy to report that I've solved that problem as I stumbled across a link to an onion site for DDG that is definitely not mentioned on the .com website. This requires using the TOR browser which can be slow and messy, but it's really not that bad. Please note that the onion website of DDG does not search the deep net; it searches the clear net from the deep net.
I suggest stumbling around the deep net. You will find things of interest. I'm looking for a survival forum, but so far I haven't been able to do so. There are search engines, but almost all of the files are unindexed. It's necessary to find links. You'll figure it out.
I'll link to TOR which is an easy download as well as the DDG .onion website. TOR allows browsing in both the clear net and the deep net.
Keep pen and paper handy to write down links. Your computer will not remember what websites you visit. Keep in mind that perfect security does not exist.
If you are in US, IRS EIN (Employer ID number) is huge help. No longer give out SS# when you work freelance or contractor, give out old passport and copy of paper from IRS. You do order this number from IRS too.
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Go to all 3 credit bureaus and lock your credit. Cost depends on state & need credit card to do so but no one will be using your credit again.
Debit card usage allows easy theft & abuse such as $250 hold on your checking account for trying to get $20 worth of gas when traveling. Use credit card and pay it off every month.
NEVER USE CHECKs. Online bill pay or everything to a credit card, then pay CC online is way to go. Even some churches' members have unknowingly facilitate stealing from checking accounts. If you find out someone you wrote a check to is a shady type or bragging about illegal stuff, you need to change banks to avert any theft.
NEVER LEAVE PHONE TO CHARGE IN CAR. Phones are being destroyed in mountain states & data stolen from them if you leave them to charge in car.
NEVER COPY KEYS AT HARDWARE STORE -- This is hot way to facilitate trespassing. Also, if you purchase locks from a country hardware store, lots all share the same key combination. If you purchase country property, buy locks in the city & destroy the package instead of putting it in your trashcan at your new residence as the sticker # on the back of package allows someone to order another illegal key.
RECONSIDER ALL BELONGINGS: All the nice memories from the beautiful souvenirs and knick-nacks will own you if you try to move repeatedly or you have a trespasser.
IF YOU EVER MET A DIRTY BUSINESSMAN SITUATION, CREATE A BUSINESSNAME FOR YOURSELF AND never LIST YOUR CURRENT CLIENTS. You can have business page on Facebook, hide your private profile and you can leave your last name off Linkedin but still use it to network. If you are in this situation, NEVER TRY TO USE BUSINESS NETWORKING options in your city as some of the people may go on a mission to ********* out. You know what is happening in your local community, if lots of dirty business tactics and employment scams are running, try drawing in online work from outside your community and NEVER discuss your work or you may be forced into waiting on people at Walmart or McDonalds. You have to keep quiet when this happens in your community... Business computers are favorite to target, you may need to keep your laptop on you in order to be able to work.
Facebook/Linkedin are only for business marketing. NEVER share information on where you vacation/visit frequently or events you frequent. No private pictures containing any other people so you keep them safe. Only share positive stuff to keep the business looking okay, even if you are just using SHARED stuff. NO PICTURES OF SELF EITHER.
Do not put your website on search engines. You need to put meta data into website to block it from search engines. Put your portfolio up there too. Only give out this website when you are applying for work. Leave this information off Facebook and Linkedin.
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Ouch
