A paranoid person's guide to the web

 

IT'S easy to become paranoid when you're online. There's so much private information stored in various databases, that it's only natural to be concerned about your security. 

And since news broke about the US's National Security Agency spying on international web users, many people feel it's more important than ever to hide online. So can it be done?

1. Use a VPN
Virtual Private Networks allows you to access the internet while keeping your identity private.
The technology encrypts your connection and obscures your IP address, making it appear as though you are in another country.

However, to ensure that your identity is kept secret you'll need to first register with an encrypted email service. Most decent encrypted email services charge for this, so you will have to register using a credit card or PayPal account.

So if they really wanted to, dubious internet figures could probably figure out who you really are.
But the point is to create as much work for them as possible.

VPNs can also be slow and are not entirely effective. While VPNs encrypt internet traffic, eventually users must leave that environment. For example if you want to Google something, your connection will be passed through several relays so as to ensure your identity is not revealed, but eventually you have to connect to Google's servers, meaning that somebody could figure out where this anonymous internet traffic is coming from.

Canadian information security consultant, Robert Slade told news.com.au that all kinds of security weaknesses have been found in VPN services.

"You can surveil known endpoints and gain a surprising amount of information," he said.

Slade also said that companies have tried to make VPNs easier for "the masses", which has potentially compromised security.

"Any time you go for convenience, you tend to lose security," he said.

2. Take your phone battery out. Or stop using phones altogether
Bad news. When The Guardian revealed that the NSA had been spying on internet users, it showed that they not only monitored what phone numbers we call but where we are calling from.

Most, if not all smartphones have an in-built GPS. How do you think Google Maps knows where you are?

So if you don't want anyone knowing your whereabouts, your only option is to take the battery out of your phone when you are done making a call. And if you don't want to risk being listened into at all? The answer is simple but unsatisfying: don't use a phone.

If only there were some kind of mobile phone encryption device you could use...

3. Get the RedPhone app
RedPhone is an app developed for most Android phones that encrypts your phone calls to prevent anyone from listening in.

The app hides your number and the number of the person you are calling by encoding them. It can also encrypt text messages.

RedPhone makes calls over the internet using a technology called VOIP (voice over internet protocol), so it does not chew up your call minutes.

But Mr Slade told news.com.au that even encoded phone calls need to access mobile phone towers. So it's possible that even with this tool people may know where you are, particularly if you are using a 3G connection instead of WIFI.

"Even if you are only using VoIP, it isn't that hard to find your location via IP mapping," Mr Slade said. "Any time you are using the cell voice or data network, the telco has to know which tower you are talking to.

"And, of course, if you are using any of a number of social media apps without turning off the default use of GPS, you may be broadcasting your location all the time."

4. Or the Chat Secure app
Chat Secure is a similar service to Red Phone but it's for Apple users.

It encrypts your calls and text messages to ensure nobody can listen in.

Chat Secure is also compatible with other platforms such as Gibberbot for Android.

The service boasts free, unlimited messages and calls. (However, the service isn't entirely free. Like RedPhone it sends your texts and calls via the web, so it will chew into your data allowance).

It also clears your message history every time you close the app to ensure no one can read your texts.

Again, this service will only work properly if the person you are contacting is also using an encryption service.

5. Use Duck Duck Go instead of Google
Since it has been alleged that Google has been helping the NSA monitor what you search for, you could be looking around for a new, less nosy search engine.

Duck Duck Go is a search engine that is committed to keeping search results a secret.

Unlike Google and Bing, Duck Duck Go (DDG) doesn't use cookies - a file which is stored in your browser and records what sites you have visited - nor does it log user information or store IP addresses. It also doesn't rely on filter bubbles which helps sites like Google to tailor search results to your personal tastes.

The goal of DDG is to prevent "search leakage", a means of identifying who you are based on your search habits.

DDG doesn't want to know anything about you. This is a good and bad thing. On the upside you can search anonymously. On the downside everyone gets the same search results.

6. Replace Skype with Jitsi
Jitsi is an online video chat service similar to Skype, except it's a completely encrypted and open source.

It's long been known that Skype keeps records of who you talk to and the duration of chat sessions.
Jitsi provides all the services of Skype but it encrypts all voice and video calls, ensuring that nobody can snoop on calls or record them. It also encrypts texts as well, so instant messaging is protected, too.

The downside is that Jitsi can only be 100 per cent secure if both people have it installed.

The ultimate downside

Even with all these devices and apps, there is almost no way to remain completely anonymous online.
Encryption services can prevent calls from being listened into, or online comminications from being read, but it cannot hide all communication patterns.

The meta data of emails, phone calls, and texts are inevitably recorded somewhere. They have to be in order for those services to work. So internet users have to exercise good faith that this metadata isn't being shared with governments or other organisations. It's worth noting too that the Federal Government has already emphasised that it wants to store metadata about calls and internet logs as part of its data retention plan.

"To seriously paraphrase (German philosopher) Nietzsche, when you look into the, if not 'darker' then at least 'more shaded' regions of the network abyss, you have to take extra care to make sure the abyss doesn't look back into you," Mr Slade said.

Really the only way to stay truly anonymous is to reject technology algother. Maybe write a letter instead, and then trust that Australia Post doesn't read it.

news.com.au

All part of the global agenda to 'enslave' people, something the masses are totally ignorant of.

Analagous to Nazi concentration camp style of governance, remembering all this is done to benefit humanity from 'terrorism', just like it was a generation ago with the fight against another evil called 'communism', which incidentally was created by the same financiers that rule the global economy.

The corporate media  portrays the paranoid as mentally unstable.