Alternative Tech Resource List

[LausTibiChriste]

I was watching a video on Youtube today and found out about swisscows.ch - an anonymous search engine. So I tested it by searching for "Greatest Story Never Told" and the third result was the documentary on Odysee. Seems legit.

I thought we could make a master list of alternative tech (can be hardware too) that can be used by those of us looking for less surveillance from The Tribe. I'll update the list as people post.

Email
ProtonMail - https://proton.me/

Messaging Apps
Signal - https://signal.org/

Search Engines
SwissCows - https://swisscows.com/en

Web Browser
TOR - https://www.torproject.org/

Laptops (& Phones)
Purism - https://puri.sm/products/

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

Good call on these.  A lot of people like Telegram, but it's not as secure as Signal.

Tor is a good call as well, but keep in mind that various intelligence agencies own enough of the network (especially exit nodes) that they are most likely able to perform correlation attacks and discover the identity of someone who is using it.  In other words, definitely use it to keep things private from Google, but don't expect perfect anonymity if you're saying something that the regime really doesn't like.

I would add that if you need tech more mainstream than Purism, Apple products are actually pretty good for privacy as long as you don't use iCloud.  The security model is quite a bit stronger than Android, and they're not after all of your data, like Google.  My reasoning with this is that we have as much (if not more) to fear from the corporatocracy as we do from the actual government.

[Bonaventure]

TOR and Signal can easily be cracked by Glow.

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

TOR and Signal can easily be cracked by Glow.

No, they can't.  This is FUD intended to cause a feeling of helplessness and make people either give up entirely or become careless.  Public key cryptography is still secure in 2023.

TLAs might be able to identify the participants in a conversation, but they still cannot crack the conversation itself.

If they could, they wouldn't spend so much time developing APTs for computers and rootkits for cell phones, nor would they spend so much time lying to FISA courts and deploying Stingrays to intercept cell phone signals.

[Bonaventure]

Ok. I'll take your word for it!

 

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

Ok. I'll take your word for it!

 

It's good for them if all of their agents believe the FUD.

It makes parallel construction a lot easier.

"No, we didn't do any illegal wiretapping or entrap the defendant!  We totally just, uh, cracked the encryption?"

[james03]

Cell Phone OS:
Graphene or Calyx.  You can purchase used phones with the OS pre-installed on ebay.

Computer OS:
Non-systemd Linux like PCLinux OS (easiest), Artix, Gentoo.  Or Free BSD

Email:
Braxmail.  You have to pay for it.  I don't trust an email service that is "free".

Search:
Tusk Search

Home Firewall:
pfSense which runs on FreeBSD.  Another option is OPNsense

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

Cell Phone OS:
Graphene or Calyx.  You can purchase used phones with the OS pre-installed on ebay.

I have to disagree with buying a used phone this way unless one has the technical skills to verify that the install is clean.  Which is more likely?

1. The government targets you as an individual because you're Catholic and believe in two genders, so you need a phone OS that no one has ever heard of

2. Some scammer sells rootkitted phones on eBay so that they can steal your banking credentials

[maryslittlegarden]

A couple possible options for phones.

If you are a tech person and can figure out how to root your android phone... you can install a linux distro on it and get rid of Google.  E-os is an option.  You can somewhat "ungoogle" an android phone without replacing the operating system, but google is still on the phone (even if it is inactive). I haven't seen an android phone that you can uninstall google completely.  Fdroid and Aurora are fantastic options for alternate apps for your phone. 

Another option is to use a nonsmart phone... just a really basic non android phone.  You could combine that with a  Faraday Bag to store the phone.

I find it really amusing that the easiest phones to degoogle are the google pixels. 

[james03]

I have to disagree with buying a used phone this way unless one has the technical skills to verify that the install is clean.  Which is more likely?

If you are not tech savvy, then your options are Android/IOS, or a pre-installed Graphene phone, or other open OS.  The first choice is KNOWN to spy on you.  It's not even a security "risk", it is confirmed.

If you are tech savvy, then get an unlocked phone and install Calyx or Graphene, or better get a phone that you can unlock yourself.

2. Some scammer sells rootkitted phones on eBay so that they can steal your banking credentials

You should NEVER use your phone for sensitive purposes.

If you want iron clad security, then you'd need to get a foundry to build you RISC-V, (open RISC) chips, one for your CPU and one for your network card, and include inspections and audits, and custom build a Gentoo OS from code.  We already know that the US government installed hardware back door on Intel and I believe AMD.  They got caught.  Are they still doing it?  No way to tell.

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

If you are not tech savvy, then your options are Android/IOS, or a pre-installed Graphene phone, or other open OS.  The first choice is KNOWN to spy on you.  It's not even a security "risk", it is confirmed.

I'm not disagreeing with the choice of Purism, Calyx, or Graphene, just the suggestion that someone not tech savvy buy a used one on eBay.

2. Some scammer sells rootkitted phones on eBay so that they can steal your banking credentials

You should NEVER use your phone for sensitive purposes.

I don't know of any banks who don't require 2FA.  Receiving the 2FA text message on your phone is a "sensitive purpose".  Unless you bury your money in a coffee can in the back yard, you can't avoid using your phone for "sensitive purposes".  Again, it's about appreciating the actual probabilities of different threats.

If you want iron clad security, then you'd need to get a foundry to build you RISC-V, (open RISC) chips, one for your CPU and one for your network card, and include inspections and audits, and custom build a Gentoo OS from code.  We already know that the US government installed hardware back door on Intel and I believe AMD.  They got caught.  Are they still doing it?  No way to tell.

Gentoo is unnecessary.  Compiling any open source OS from source would be sufficient.  Likewise, the "hardware back door" you're referring to is not part of the silicon, and it can be disabled.

There's also no reason to call out RISC.  RISC is not inherently more secure than CISC or whatever other arbitrary architecture we would use for building our imaginary custom chips.

[james03]

I don't know of any banks who don't require 2FA.

I don't bank on my phone, so was unaware of that.  That does make it more secure.

There's also no reason to call out RISC.

Open RISC.  The design is open source and is gone over by 1000's of eyeballs.  You could do ARM also if you paid the license fee for the design.  I don't think it is available without a license, but I might be wrong.

I'm not disagreeing with the choice of Purism, Calyx, or Graphene, just the suggestion that someone not tech savvy buy a used one on eBay.

I think I'm focused on the privacy angle vs. the security angle.  iOS and Android are non-starters.  So if you are going to use your phone for a phone, texting, and some social media stuff, even if a scammer slips you a compromised phone, the risk is tiny for any damage vs. guaranteed damage from the big names, which will vacuum up everything and sell it.  If you want to do online banking, then yes you will have a security risk.  For the non-tech savvy, get a friend who is, to unlock a phone and load one of the OS's listed.  I agree, that is preferred.

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

I think I'm focused on the privacy angle vs. the security angle.  iOS and Android are non-starters.  So if you are going to use your phone for a phone, texting, and some social media stuff, even if a scammer slips you a compromised phone, the risk is tiny for any damage vs. guaranteed damage from the big names, which will vacuum up everything and sell it.  If you want to do online banking, then yes you will have a security risk.  For the non-tech savvy, get a friend who is, to unlock a phone and load one of the OS's listed.  I agree, that is preferred.

I think we have different definitions of "damage".

I don't care if Google knows that I think sodomy should be a crime.

I do care if some scammer empties my savings accounts.