Discussion Forums

Andrew Murray

Good evening all,

As an aside I am writing this to assist anyone wanting to further reduce their internet footprint. I am quite happy to be labeled a Luddite, but it is preferable than being digital cattle.

In Australia we recently had a social-media ban for under-16s implemented by our government which I am actually very supportive of. I am glad to see the government moving to protect our young people from apps and algorithms specifically designed to hi-jack biological processes.

I digress, I have 2 young children, and I want to protect them from what lurks on the internet, including from corporations like google, apple, microsoft and any other company that seeks to comodify a person.

As such I am currently using the following security measures every time this PC accesses a web-browser.

1. A paid VPN service - a baseline level of protection unfortunately not enough these days. Websites and service providers can "fingerprint" your PC or device based on a number of factors, so even though you are behind the VPN, sophisticated actors can still know it's you!
the following are browser extensions - I use Firefox because it supports more extensions that are privacy focused, that said there are builds which are better such as LibreWolf or WaterFox.

2. uBlock Origin - a high-calibre ad and spam blocker that easily works with most browsers (not Chrome - Google disabled its compatibility... I wonder why???)

3. Chameleon - an extension that allows you to shift details such as your "User Agent" (the profile and information of your web browser) For example, you are using Firefox, but Chameleon makes it look like you are using Chrome or Safari or whatever you decided. I have mine changing hourly. Chameleon also can spoof or fake your timezone and screen size, both are important bit of information to identify you.

4. WebGL Fingerprint Defender - Another extension to fake or spoof your WebGL identifier.

5. Font fingerprint Defender - Yes even the fonts on your computer will betray you. This extensions scrambles the data that websites, companies and bad actors seek out to give false and changing values.

6. CanvasBlocker - An extension designed to scramble values that are linked to your computer's hardware based on imperceptible differences that come up on "canvas tests".

7. Privacy Badger - a simple cookie and privacy tool to limit information gained from you.

Now it must be said that these things do break some websites. Which can be frustrating, but not as frustrating as knowing that these websites won't actually function unless they can spy on you without your knowledge or consent.
There are "whitelists" in these extensions where you can add important websites, such as banking or government portals, so they don't break. I don't usually mind this because I have to enter a password and username anyway so they are already tracking my activity...

I'm very happy to answer questions but if you're using google chrome or edge, find an alternative!