HiFi Privacy, Data, Groups ... and You May Be The Product

[AudioDoctor]

This is a screen cap of the most queried domains in my home from my AdGuard Home stats page.

 

I haven't quite figured out what to do about this yet but it is concerning. Google is all pervasive.

 

edit: There is a "no google" button, that breaks a bunch of things including my email access.

[AudioDoctor]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I switched to CloudFlare DNS rather than Google.

 

CloudFlare - 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1.

 

I could do that, right now I am using AdGuard DNS servers.

 

edit: I just added Cloudflare as the Fallback DNS servers just incase it was defaulting elsewhere without that specified.

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Have you tried Signal?

 

+1 for Signal

 

The hardest part of getting off of the facebook bandwagon is how little motivation everyone else has to do the same.

[AudioDoctor]

9 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

As noted above, Vivaldi can be set out of the box to block ads and trackers, and can be set to use Startpage, Google through an anonymizing proxy. Or if you would prefer Firefox, there are extensions. uBlock Origin is quite popular and as far as I know quite effective. Even on Vivaldi, I use the EFF Privacy Badger Extension.

 

Beyond the AdGuard Home running in a Pi4, I use the browser extension as well as the EFF Privacy Badger extension. The AdGuard browser extension even has an "extra" that blocks youtube ads. But using the "no google" option in the AdGuard Home nearly makes the web unusable.

[AudioDoctor]

23 minutes ago, Jud said:

If you think there might be privacy problems with *audio* tech...

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/style/technology-love-technosexuals.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UE0.rd_X.M9Vs2-xvcVV_&smid=url-share

 

Apparently, Kia and Nissan are ahead of this curve.

https://jalopnik.com/auto-privacy-report-kia-nissan-driver-sex-data-1850812549

 

[AudioDoctor]

With cloudflare encrypted DNS and this is the best that can be expected from Comcast on my network.

 

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

29 minutes ago, botrytis said:

 

That is good for COMCRAP. If you rent their equipment, it is also 2 gens behind. Their wireless router will also be a public access point for other Comcast customers, that are traveling. Hence why I don't use their equipment (except the TV box).

 

I have their modem/router in bridge mode at the moment, however I am considering going back to a UniFi dream machine as my router and if I do, I will get the UniFi Cable Modem as well.

[AudioDoctor]

55 minutes ago, botrytis said:

 

Well, they only allow specific hardware, what you can buy, and it is not many choices and getting smaller. Too monopolistic for my taste, but they are the only game in town around me.

 

I can't find it on their website at the moment, but Comcast business and home are two of the listed vendors that are compatible with it. Or were.

 

edit: Here it is, I must have been on a wrong site:  https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/category/accessories-internet-solutions/products/uci

[AudioDoctor]

59 minutes ago, cjf said:

Yes, I am only pointing my Firewall to their two DNS servers. No product/services were purchased from Cloudflare on my part.

 

I've used Google in the past for the same thing and Google was slower.

 

That's really odd, who is your service provider?

[AudioDoctor]

54 minutes ago, cjf said:

Hello,

 

ISP previously was Comcast (200mb) and now its Stratus IQ (300mb). I thought it may just be a Comcast thing because they are terrible in general but with Stratus IQ the same hit to download speeds remains. Both were a coax Cable based hookup and no Fiber options for me unfortunately. 

 

I'm not too concerned with it really. I just figured I would mention the potential of seeing a hit to download speeds while using EDNS if someone wanted to give it a try. I think the increase in security is well worth any reduction in download speeds though. I still have plenty of bandwidth for all of my purposes while using EDNS.

 

I'll be switching to Starlink by EOY so it will be interesting to see how this works using a better than average Satellite technology. I suspect I may have to turn it off altogether at that point but will see. 

 

 

 

I am curious about your set up and how it might be affecting your speeds. If you have a space Pi4 around you can run AdGuard Home on it and get encrypted DNS with no speed penalty like I do.

[AudioDoctor]

@cjf This might sound silly, however occasionally I have to reboot my PFSense appliance because for some reason it will slow down my internet after a while. I have it set to do this automatically on Saturday night now. Have you tried this?

 

You can also run AdGuard directly on PFSense software/hardware too.

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Allan F said:

Add to that how Facebook and Google encourage you to use them as logins so those behemoths can track your every move.

 

Yes, that is very frustrating. Most still allow a traditional sort of log in, some make you hunt for it though.

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, cjf said:

No difference to report in regards to download speeds though.

 

Bummer. I am out of ideas then unless you want to switch to running AdGuard Home on your PFSense install, that I can help you with and I can say I am using It, and PFSense, and have no slowdowns with Encrypted DNS.

[AudioDoctor]

What does it say about our modern world that my very first thought when I saw this headline was... Will they start doing this again when the attention dies down?

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/03/gm-stops-sharing-driver-data-with-brokers-amid-backlash/

[AudioDoctor]

5 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

It will 100% start up again. 

 

That was my conclusion as well. They'll just find a way to be sneakier about it, and then it will begin again.

[AudioDoctor]

22 minutes ago, Confused said:

Car driving data shared = Will you visit me in prison?

 

Where the heck are you driving?  ;-)

 

Personally, I think that if we make the police get a warrant to track us in our cars and our persons, we should not make that same data available to anyone who wants to buy it for any reason.

 

I am not a lawyer so someone who is will have to chime in here, bur other than the cost what is to stop a police department from buying someones location data?

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

Well, it’s either where I’m driving, or the speed I’m driving at to get there….

 

I was not being entirely serious above,

 

I know, thats why I left the winky thing, whatever it's called. I wonder if the insurance company sees my track driving and has upped my premiums due to that.