Cross-posted from “It’s Time to Wake Up: A Darknet Anarchist’s Case for Anonymity & Digital Safety” by @[email protected] in [email protected]
(Note: .onion links should be accessed with Tor Browser)
The main source of Anonymity: The Tor Network http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/torvsvpns/index.html
Tor Web Browser Setup (on Desktop and Mobile) http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/torbrowsing/index.html
Have you ever been afraid to speak your mind on the internet? Do you have peace of mind that you know what your electronics are doing? Is technology working for and empowering you, or has it become a tool of oppression tracking your every move and storing it on corporate/government servers to be used against you in the future?
These powerful tech companies work closely with our fascist government to surveil, track, manipulate, and scare vulnerable citizens into compliance and silence. We have been tricked into giving up all control and privacy for the sake of convenience.
This is no accident.
The state has the most sophisticated surveillance network ever known, and you are voluntarily participating in it.
The phones Americans carry in their pockets are proprietary black boxes, constantly communicating with cell towers logging your position and IMEI/IMSI tied to your real identity. They are also constantly recording the strength of wifi access points, and other devices around you, sending this back to HQ to build a map of everyone’s movements. This is not even mentioning how most people are logged into a google/apple account at all times. You probably know this costs you YOUR privacy, but do you realize you are also snitching on everyone around you and contributing to this surveillance network?
Kill the Cop in your Pocket: http://uwb25d43nnzerbozmtviwn7unn7ku226tpsjyhy5n4st5cf3d4mtflqd.onion/posts/nophones/
Ask yourself how you feel about this? How much would freedom, privacy, and anonymity be worth to you? Many realize the situation is dire, but are preoccupied with trying to survive the next rent payment, and are do not have the knowledge necessary to resist.
Those organizing in the US (50501) overwhelmingly are using reddit and discord to plan protests. A few who know better use signal and consider this good enough, not thinking about how they are linked to a phone number. Signal is secure and private, but when your adversary is the US gov/tech corps that is not enough. We need ANONYMITY.**
Phone Numbers are incompatible with Anonymity: http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/phonenumbers/index.html
“Laws” and “rights” are meaningless now. If the state deems you an enemy they have hundreds of ways to crush you into submission, throw you in prison, or worse. Things will only get worse over the coming years. The only hope we have is to maintain real anonymity
Here on Lemmy many are curious about digital privacy, but only have bits and pieces of the knowledge required. Without a solid understanding of how to use technology safely, misinformation, half truths, and FUD abound. There is a pervasive attitude that you have no choice at all, and that it is hopeless to stand up against your oppressors.
I am here to tell you this is NOT TRUE. I am here to tell you it is POSSIBLE, and WORTHWHILE.
You can reclaim technology to work for you instead of against you, but it will require effort and change.
Using Lemmy anonymously Is not too hard. You just need to register an email account in tor browser, and use that to verify a lemmy account. Be sure to ONLY access this account over Tor. The more privacy invasive the service, the more likely they will try to prevent you from doing this. Circumventing that is an advanced topic for another time.
How to Get an Email Account Anonymously (Emails as a Service) http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonemail/index.html
https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/
Trump wants green card applicants already legally in the US to hand over social media profiles: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-green-card-applicants-social-media-b2720180.html
How long until similar demands are made of others? Every day the risk grows greater and less possible to ignore. The time to wise up is now! Start learning and investing in yourself today so that you can be prepared to protect yourself and those you care about before it is too late.
What is Anonymity ? Why is it Important ? http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonymityexplained/index.html
Why isn’t Privacy enough for Anonymous Use? http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonuse/index.html
In this technocracy lines are being drawn. They are wielding technology to oppress and control us, and we need to decide if we are subservient data cattle, or if we are willing to learn how to use technology to empower ourselves and resist.
The relationship between average people and technology is unacceptable. Even those with advanced “tech skills” know next to nothing about how to maintain security/privacy/anonymity against the state. It does not have to be this way.
You deserve better. The people in your life deserve better. They NEED you to educate yourself so you can help teach them. The only way we can do this is together. The time for learning is limited and the clock is ticking.
Operational Security: Privacy, Anonymity and Deniability (Current and High quality) https://nowhere.moe/ http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/index.html
Anonymous Planet: Hitchhiker’s Guide to Online Anonymity (Classic resource, somewhat dated) https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/
It’s time to decide. Will you allow these corporations to own you, or will you rise to the challenge?
**When law enforcement subpeonas Signal for user information, all they hand over is the phone number associated with the account, and the last time they logged in. Due to the secure end to end encryption the contents of the messages are safe. No problem right? Well the cell phone number and associated metadata is more than enough for them to prosecute, imprison, and kill. Which cell towers has this phone number been around? What other numbers has it been communicating with and when? How is this cell service paid for?
It is not impossible to circumvent these issues, for instance by paying for a jmp.chat phone number with monero XMR. In this case you don’t actually have the sim, but rather access it remotely over XMPP. If you do this over Tor very little can be used against you.
Ask yourself though, how many signal users actually go through these lengths? These phone numbers change law enforcement investigations from stumped, to having valuable leads and evidence. What motivations could signal have for requiring this valuable personally identifying information to be shared?
If a service requires your phone number, they are against your Anonymity http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/phonenumbers/index.html
Easy Private Chats - SimpleX (http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/privatesimplex/index.html)
(sorry for the semi off topic rant, no signal is not the worst thing or the first problem to fix, but KYC*** phone numbers are.)
***KYC: Know your Customer: https://kycnot.me/about
I was going to make some anonymity guides, but I needed to first address the issues and problems so I can follow up with solutions. Please give me your feedback and feel free to ask if you have any questions or requests for guides.
So, your key takeaway seems to be getting an untraceable phone number. From an opsec point of view I see a few problems.
First, this is implicitly aimed at going against state level actors, which is a whole other game than random internet services. With that in mind…
You assume TOR is actually anonymous, but it has been shown that with enough compromised exit nodes that fails. It’s also a NSA project originally, which may or may not be relevant, the code may be good and is open and has had eyes on, but at the least shows they are intimately familiar with it.
You assume acquisition of Monero is uncompromised and untraceable. Perhaps cash at a machine might be pretty good, but a camera could easily invalidate it, or the machine itself be compromised, wouldn’t be hard to imagine a profit motive or false flag driving that.
What’s the security implications of the XMPP protocol ? Just using TOR may not be enough (I don’t know, just asking the questions). What about the other end of the phone call?
One approach, especially for local efforts, is just using old school spycraft, dead drops, one time pads etc.
You asked for feedback.
MalReynolds,
Absolutely incorrect. I do not recommend using a phone at all. I do not recommend using services that require a phone number at all. I found the clearnet version for you to read: https://www.anarsec.guide/posts/nophones/
From my point of view the options are grapheneOS with no sim, permanently on airplane mode, or no “phone” at all.
The point of my post was purely to point out the challenges and problems, and to get people in /c/resist open to rethinking and making changes to their relationship with technology. Not to use phone numbers, monero, or XMPP. The bit about anonymous signal was a side tangent not the “key takeaway”. Please re-read if you are interested in engaging further.
I did not post this here, the owner of the instance took it upon himself to make this post. I asked for feedback from active resisters who need help, not privacy forum posters.
Hope you are well
Fair enough, I got the wrong impression with the post (which I did read) finishing with
and so on, which I found wanting from a privacy perspective at the implied threat level. No phones (or perhaps faraday bags, or aircraft mode, if tested, depending on threat model) is a much more astute take home, hence the spycraft suggestion.
Anyhow, best of luck.