Another One= How To Muddy Your Tracks On The Internet/Ny Times

[THAIPHUKET]

I am a gmail user but avoid try to avoid other google products. I like gmail but an alternative would be good.

Which one you do find convenient from structure and layout?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-muddy-your-tracks-on-the-internet.html?_r=1&ref=technology

[MaxwellsDemon]

I think choosing another email provider over gmail would be like choosing hi5 or xanga over facebook. There's just no competition, and you'll just have to explain to people why you use x.com instead of gmail, and there will probably be some minor funky things to workaround/deal with.

[Fookhaht]

Why do you try to avoid other Google products?

I am a prolific user of google sites, google documents and google calendar. I've found them all invaluable tools for collaborative use in an office environment.

[KeyserSoze01]

I think choosing another email provider over gmail would be like choosing hi5 or xanga over facebook. There's just no competition, and you'll just have to explain to people why you use x.com instead of gmail, and there will probably be some minor funky things to workaround/deal with.

Nonsense.

[rakman]

Google mines your data, and has secret agreement with the NSA. While most people are honest, the intrusion is unwarranted.

If you're not bothered having your data mined, then google is for you.

[MaxwellsDemon]

Google mines your data, and has secret agreement with the NSA. While most people are honest, the intrusion is unwarranted.

If you're not bothered having your data mined, then google is for you.

I trust Google. Maybe I'm being naive, though I think it's just more laziness. Someone once said 48 hours of video goes onto YouTube every hour (or was it minute?). I bet it's the same with gmail accounts. So unless your daily mail consists of Al-Qaeda mission briefings or cocaine operations in Mexico, I wouldn't worry about anything. Actually, I'd prefer it if you used google in those cases, for the sake of everyone else, I hope you do get caught

I used to be a journalist and I had many many private, confidential and even illegal things in my inbox with Google, and all it did was help me label them and put them in separate folders.

If you want absolute privacy, buy yourself some hosting and create your own email server. I have one, but I send it through gmail anyway because Horde is dated and buggy.

[NomadJoe]

I think choosing another email provider over gmail would be like choosing hi5 or xanga over facebook. There's just no competition, and you'll just have to explain to people why you use x.com instead of gmail, and there will probably be some minor funky things to workaround/deal with.

Nonsense.

Have to agree with Mr. Soze. What "workaround"is needed to send an email from [email protected] to [email protected]? I actually just moved to gmail from hotmail due to repeated security issues with hotmail. I also had my own domain based email. Never had to explain anything to anyone, in fact in one respect I found it better than any of the free web based email providers because some sites don't even allow you to sign up with free emails due to spamming.

[PattayaParent]

What's gmail?

[engrin]

following

[FarangBha]

Lost my post, ... I installed do not track plus this morning, and it has blocked 1300 sites that track where I browse, including this one.

[terryp]

some very trusting people on here....because you give permission for garbage collection from your house do you then allow them to rummage thro everything that was personal and take what they want to use as they want, and quite possibly against you......you people must be insane

[Javabear]

Soon it won't matter anyway. The NSA is building a facility (in Utah I think) that will intercept and copy every e-mail sent globally. These will be scanned by their computers for keywords relating to whatever or whoever they happen to be looking for at the moment.

[Pib]

I hope that NSA system is going to have a good spell checker built-in as it will be needed for them to decipher many of my emails.

[Thinkingofachange]

Google mines your data, and has secret agreement with the NSA. While most people are honest, the intrusion is unwarranted.

If you're not bothered having your data mined, then google is for you.

I trust Google. Maybe I'm being naive, though I think it's just more laziness. Someone once said 48 hours of video goes onto YouTube every hour (or was it minute?). I bet it's the same with gmail accounts. So unless your daily mail consists of Al-Qaeda mission briefings or cocaine operations in Mexico, I wouldn't worry about anything. Actually, I'd prefer it if you used google in those cases, for the sake of everyone else, I hope you do get caught

I used to be a journalist and I had many many private, confidential and even illegal things in my inbox with Google, and all it did was help me label them and put them in separate folders.

If you want absolute privacy, buy yourself some hosting and create your own email server. I have one, but I send it through gmail anyway because Horde is dated and buggy.

This is completely unrelated, but any advice on breaking into journalism for someone with a Ph.D. in English?

[rakman]

Google mines your data, and has secret agreement with the NSA. While most people are honest, the intrusion is unwarranted.

If you're not bothered having your data mined, then google is for you.

I trust Google. Maybe I'm being naive, though I think it's just more laziness. Someone once said 48 hours of video goes onto YouTube every hour (or was it minute?). I bet it's the same with gmail accounts. So unless your daily mail consists of Al-Qaeda mission briefings or cocaine operations in Mexico, I wouldn't worry about anything. Actually, I'd prefer it if you used google in those cases, for the sake of everyone else, I hope you do get caught

I used to be a journalist and I had many many private, confidential and even illegal things in my inbox with Google, and all it did was help me label them and put them in separate folders.

If you want absolute privacy, buy yourself some hosting and create your own email server. I have one, but I send it through gmail anyway because Horde is dated and buggy.

This is completely unrelated, but any advice on breaking into journalism for someone with a Ph.D. in English?

Journalism has become a large field, with newspapers, radio, television, and the web to name a few. Hundreds of thousands of topics to choose from. Blogging and social media seems to be a good way. Start a blog, do some videos (if you have a radio voice, use some pictures and voice over) Tweet and get followed, Friend everything in facebook. Start writing / filming / speaking on human interest, investigative reporting, controversial topics and above all, get your name out there.

Depending on where you are, where you want to go / do, can mean a lot of what your opportunities are.

Oh, forgot to mention teaching.

[MaxwellsDemon]

Google mines your data, and has secret agreement with the NSA. While most people are honest, the intrusion is unwarranted.

If you're not bothered having your data mined, then google is for you.

I trust Google. Maybe I'm being naive, though I think it's just more laziness. Someone once said 48 hours of video goes onto YouTube every hour (or was it minute?). I bet it's the same with gmail accounts. So unless your daily mail consists of Al-Qaeda mission briefings or cocaine operations in Mexico, I wouldn't worry about anything. Actually, I'd prefer it if you used google in those cases, for the sake of everyone else, I hope you do get caught

I used to be a journalist and I had many many private, confidential and even illegal things in my inbox with Google, and all it did was help me label them and put them in separate folders.

If you want absolute privacy, buy yourself some hosting and create your own email server. I have one, but I send it through gmail anyway because Horde is dated and buggy.

This is completely unrelated, but any advice on breaking into journalism for someone with a Ph.D. in English?

To be honest, that PhD isn't going to make much of a difference. Journos I know with a degree in English only got it because they like literature or something. You've probably spent a lot of time in school already, but if you're willing to go back, that's my advice.

Being a student gives you so many opportunities in "student trades." Real world organizations pay attention to student groups because they're the future. And so doig something like writing for a college paper is great because there's little expectation or risk, but also excellent potential. You'll make connections and learn from passion-driven (not money-driven) people. As for actual student paper quality, it can be very hit-or-miss, but nonetheless are incredibly valuable.

Going for a journalism degree, on the other hand, is debatable. Some say it's great, some say it's a waste of time and money. I never did it because I was already working my way into the industry sans degree, and I figured the two years would be better spent working and gaining more relevant experience. However, all it comes down to is the person short listing candidates, and he might throw away all the applicants/resumes of people without a journalism degree. Or maybe he's looking for people who don't subscribe to the J-school method and way of thinking. Your call.

J-school will invariably give you great connections though.

If school is not an option, you'll have to find some place that'll take your work for free (or cheap) but also teach you the trade. I know a few young bloggers who jumped in head-first into print media and hated it because they didn't know what they were doing. Fact-checking means calling people and talking to them, not just looking at Wikipedia. Editing means giving up a lot of freedom to your own work, and being open to some of probably the harshest criticisms you'll ever receive, in place of happy comments on a website. Don't work in professional media without first getting to grips with the system in smaller, lower-risk environments. It's a fast-paced and merciless industry at heart, and you need to make yourself ready for it.

Being able to write has very little to do with being able to write.

I digress.

But small town papers, community newsletters, trade magazines; these are places that will take what they can get, and is a great way (and the most common way) to build yourself. The smaller the better, but make sure you don't fall into bad journalist ethics if you're aiming at hard news in the future.

I don't know of many online resources to get you going, unfortunately. That's probably because the bulk of good experience in journalism has historically turned away from the Internet. It's print media's biggest competition. And the current movement of iPad apps and the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude is almost always coming from the higher powers faced with low sales numbers, not the journalists themselves.

It's a struggling, confused industry, but if you're young and attentive it's a great place to be.

Alright I'm done. Hope that helps. Also, screw you for making me write this out on my iPhone. Haha.

[manarak]

It's not only about gmail, the whole cloud systems are all inherently totally insecure.

On a private level I'm not too worried about the NSA and other intelligence services, because they are after big fishes.

I know no businesses of any relevance that use cloud stuff.

And businesses which are obvious targets for intelligence services (such as any larger corporation competing internationally for supply contracts, i.e. Boieng, Airbus, Snecma, Siemens, Alsthom... or banks) use strong encryption to communicate.

Because nobody plays nice.

Access to cloud data and web-based emails is the wet dream of any police state, and most western countries are developing into police states.

Until recently, android-based smartphones (iPhone) were unable to sync their data locally with Outlook - you had to use a bridge over internet and gMail.

Why?

Was it because devices like phones are very scrutinized by hacker groups and leakage of information would have been detected if taken directly from the phone over the data link, but no one can check what happens with the data once Google has it?

That was the reason why I didn't buy an iPhone, my data stays home.

Now... if nobody plays nice in the intelligence and business world, why would your government play nice. Why wouldn't it seize every opportunity to spy on its citizens?

Because of the constitutional rights?

And certainly because a government wouldn't lie to its citizens?

The government never lied before, right?

...

Think about it.

Oh, sure, they aren't interested in petty stuff.

But if once you are in a position to make the "powers that be" uncomfortable, for example if elected to an important office, your email exchanges with Thai bargirls or even better, ladyboys, might be put on the table.

Total control. The technical means already exist.

Today, about 90% of internet traffic going into and leaving the USA transit through NSA facilities, and this includes also a very big part of world's traffic.

Some links to wake up:

http://rt.com/usa/ne...gle-agency-053/

http://abcnews.go.co...histleblower_h/

http://www.fastcompa...ent-tracks-that

https://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying

http://ixmaps.ischoo...nto.ca/tour.php

http://www.ixmaps.ca/nsa.php

and why would the NSA be building this:

http://blog.alexande...y-center-98341/

if it was not for searching through yottabytes of data and crunching strong encryption?

how would so much data be obtained?

illegally, without a doubt. Or legally... with a twist.

So... what they got?

- they got Google to feed them with a lot of email data linked with what people are searching for on the internet, and in many cases also a phone number

- without a doubt they also got access to many other email sources

- they can link most facebook accounts with email addresses

- they got records on who knows who through email correspondence and facebook ties

- they are able to keyword-search the emails

- as in many cases they know the phone number, they can tap into the phones to get the contacts from the phone

- they can activate phone tap with a mouseclick

- they can link the data with credit card numbers in many cases

- they have the flight database and immigration database and know your movements

- in Germany, banks are now required to report all accounts to the authorities, so they can also have a list of your bank accounts

- to get a copy of your business documents, office live and similar cloud apps are perfect

...

the list is long.

The stuff shown in the movie "Public enemy number 1" is ridiculous, especially the satellite stuff, but in principle, it is not far from reality, except they still can't track someone who suddenly throws away his phone and doesn't use his credit cards and internet anymore.

But they are working on facial recognition by surveillance cameras. The new biometric photos that are required for making new IDs will be used to facilitate identification in image feeds provided by security cameras.

Today, the success rate is still pretty low though due to problems with 3D projection, but maybe they will get better.

A similar technique is used on car license plates throughout the EU. Most border-crossing roads are equipped with cameras that compare license plates with a list of wanted numbers. This works, as license plates are standardized and easy to machine read.

...

The USA are not the only ones with such projects, but as Al Gore invented the internet, most traffic still transits through the USA, and somehow the Chinese seem to do a better job at keeping them a secret, while the EU hides these projects in others.

How to protect yourself:

- everyone: get a firewall, not only to block unrequested incoming packets but also unauthorized outbound traffic (i.e. software "phoning home", troyans and other nasty programs will do this). Good free solution: comodo firewall

- private email: use POP3 email (preferably with a smaller provider outside of the USA, China, UK and EU) and PGP encryption for your sensible stuff. very inconvenient, because your contacts also need to use that, but it will protect from basic spying on your emails by people who do not have access to government supercomputers. This would be suitable for journalists, for example.

- private internet browsing: use anonymization services such as TOR

- better private protection, if you don't want the authorities in your country of residence to be able to see which servers you connect to: use a VPN service - this type of service establishes an encrypted IP tunnel with another server located in a safe country, and all your internet traffic passes through that tunnel and emerges at the location of the VPN provider. Some countries safe for private and business VPN use are: Switzerland, Singapore, Canada. There might be more, but these are the countries I can think of right now.

- internet business: you want to run an internet business discreetly, then you obviously need the VPN solution above, plus webhousing (i.e. you own your server) in a safe country, for example one of the above. You will also need to setup an offshore company and find a bank (outside of USA, EU, China, UK) willing to do business with you.

Full solution for online businesses: http://www.webmasteroffshore.com

Edited May 20, 2012 by manarak

[MaxwellsDemon]

Sounds pretty good to me.

Why?

Because I've got nothing to hide.

Like I said, if that's a system that can help reduce organized crime or put pedophiles behind bars, then let everyone read my emails.

[astral]

I know no businesses of any relevance that use cloud stuff.

Both Amazon and Microsoft offer Cloud services, so I am pretty sure they will be using them.

HP is developing Cloud services for its major customer services.

Having said that, I share the worries about security in the Cloud.........

[manarak]

I know no businesses of any relevance that use cloud stuff.

Both Amazon and Microsoft offer Cloud services, so I am pretty sure they will be using them.

HP is developing Cloud services for its major customer services.

Having said that, I share the worries about security in the Cloud.........

use... not "sell the service to customers"

If you own the cloud, it is the same as using your own servers, because you control security...

[manarak]

Sounds pretty good to me.

Why?

Because I've got nothing to hide.

Like I said, if that's a system that can help reduce organized crime or put pedophiles behind bars, then let everyone read my emails.

People like you are the biggest risk for democracies.

[MaxwellsDemon]

Sounds pretty good to me.

Why?

Because I've got nothing to hide.

Like I said, if that's a system that can help reduce organized crime or put pedophiles behind bars, then let everyone read my emails.

People like you are the biggest risk for democracies.

People like you dream of democracies that don't exist.

[bendejo]

This says it all.

Android, anyone?

[THAIPHUKET]

installing apps is highly unpleasant. At least on my HTC whenever I want to instal a download from Android market I must enter my password. How do I know were it ends up, who says it is not been hijacked?

[manarak]

installing apps is highly unpleasant. At least on my HTC whenever I want to instal a download from Android market I must enter my password. How do I know were it ends up, who says it is not been hijacked?

absolutely.

[bendejo]

installing apps is highly unpleasant. At least on my HTC whenever I want to instal a download from Android market I must enter my password. How do I know were it ends up, who says it is not been hijacked?

As far as I can figure everything done in Android gets logged somewhere. Mining your info is how google et al gets their $$ while for the user it is all 'free.'

[bendejo]

Sounds pretty good to me.

Why?

Because I've got nothing to hide.

Like I said, if that's a system that can help reduce organized crime or put pedophiles behind bars, then let everyone read my emails.

Post your email logins and passwords, also your facebook data. There is suspicion about you and we need to check out your correspondence and web use history.

Thank you and have a nice day.

[BabySun]

Sounds pretty good to me.

Why?

Because I've got nothing to hide.

Like I said, if that's a system that can help reduce organized crime or put pedophiles behind bars, then let everyone read my emails.

Dear Sir,

I am in bussines of collecting lucky numbers - I give them away to my Thai friends.

Could you post here your credit cards and ATM cards numbers and pins?passport number with date of issue and date of birth would be also very useful;

I know smart algorithm which will convert them into ... you know,lucky numbers(depends - what is the balance on your cards?)

I am waiting for your prompt response.

Faithfully yours,

Sir,

[MaxwellsDemon]

I never said I'm gullible or that I promote scams and phishing. Access to my personal inbox is very much a different thing than access to bank accounts.

If/when Google is found with all your emails and information, it's probably going to be 100% legal, because let's face it - who reads EULAs? The user only has himself to blame.

"Facebook stores all of your photos, even after you delete your account! Omg how could they?" Facebook is doing better than ever. (Well maybe not on the public stock market lol)

As a side note, it's also much easier to create people who exist purely on the Intarwebs, than it is to forge bank accounts and passport info. Just a thought that's only semi-relevant.

[worgeordie]

The NSA has been intercepting telephone calls ,Faxes,for last 46 years,

with a system called Echelon, which now covers E mails, and other electronic

communications, so whatever you do you just cannot win.

regards Worgeordie