3d ago

How I’m Building a Trump-Proof Tech Stack Without Big Tech

www.joanwestenberg.com How I’m Building a Trump-Proof Tech Stack Without Big Tech

The world can no longer trust American tech. If that sounds dramatic, take a step back and consider the facts. The United States is a nation in the thrall of authoritarianism, owned and operated almost completely by a far-right doomsday cult intent on betraying every alliance, every contract, every...

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I’m also trying to avoid as much American tech as possible.
Vivaldi/qwant instead of Firefox/Google
Proton instead of gmail
Waiting for WERO impatiently until then virtual card from wise instead of PayPal
Void Linux instead of windows/macOS
Surfshark for VPN
Can’t change everything though. I have a company phone. I could get an extra private phone, but I’d still need to use the company phone for company related stuff. Same is true for the company laptop, but I do have my own computer.
It’s not perfect, but the important thing to me is trying as best as I can.
- Chromium forks are troublesome. I'd suggest Mullvad Browser or LibreWolf instead.
  Qwant is nice, but SearXNG aggregates qwant together with several other engines. Then there's a new up-and-comer called Mwmbl.
  Proton is yet another ecosystem that pretends to be for privacy while actually doing the opposite. Instead, Tuta or Mailbox (only downside to mailbox is no free accounts).
  No comment on payment systems, I don't trust any of them except maybe a local Credit Union.
  Practically any Linux, don't limit suggestions to one distro when there are many with varied support and out-of-the-box options.
  Mullvad VPN + Mullvad Browser were made for each other, browser being co-developed with Tor Project, and is the highest rated in terms of defeating browser fingerprinting (even over Tor), and they have pioneered DAITA. I see many, many mixed thoughts on Surfshark. It is mainly a cheap and better alternative to Nord or Proton, but Mullvad is only $5/mo and you get so much more.
  None of the above are USA-based apart from Mwmbl, but it is non-profit and wholly FOSS.
  Test your browser fingerprints:
  https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/
  https://abrahamjuliot.github.io/creepjs/
  
  I listed the stuff I use and what I changed. There’s also a reason why I chose this specific Linux distro as I try to avoid as much as I can with the jurisdiction in the US, which means a lot of Linux distros are not an option anymore.
  But that does not mean everyone needs to do the same. Do whatever you think is best.
  
  jurisdiction in the US, which means a lot of Linux distros are not an option anymore.
  Please elaborate and provide some receipts to what you mean.
  I know your list is what you use, my list is more data for you to DYOR and find even better, privacy respecting alternatives than what you suggested. As you say, do whatever you think is best.
  
  Just a couple of examples
  Red Hat Developed by a U.S.-based company.
  Fedora A community-driven project sponsored by Red Hat.
  Debian Originally founded in the U.S., with some legal ties to US regulations.
  Slackware developed by Patrick Volkerding in the US
  Since these distributions are developed or registered in the United States, they are subject to US laws, regulations, and export restrictions.
  When I have a look at what’s happening right now in the US I’m not sure what kind of laws will suddenly appear which might affect privacy and security of any kind of software from there. That’s why I decided to avoid them as much as possible.
  I will certainly go through your suggestions and have a look if I should change stuff (apart from proton, I’m sure about changing this one).
  
  Just because something is developed in the USA does not mean it will follow authoritarianism. These projects are open source, and many USA based open source projects are fighting back against this stuff. Besides, the internet is the internet, and these open source projects will live on beyond any USA law. This is the very point of the licensing. Having said that, I do agree with you on the RHEL/Fedora side of things.
  I'm not sure about the Debian legal ties, I'll have to look further into that since you didn't give me anything to reference. Still, the key point here is open source, which means you can review the source code and security experts will, too. Signal is also a USA based company; France and Sweden are trying to force backdoors on them, yet Signal has vehemently said, "No. Fuck Off." So, clearly it's not just the USA doing shitty things.
  I get that the current political situation in this shithole country is absolutely horrifying, but that does not immediately mean that the entire population of the country is with the fascists by default. Starlink being used for election purpose should be the number one red flag indicator that the citizens of the USA did not actually vote for what's happening and it was manipulated. Because of the fascist playbook and money, it is difficult for the proletariat to do much without seriously violent actions.
  I just don't agree with your sentiment on this US jurisdiction idea when it comes to open source, non-profit projects. And to be clear, it's OK that we might disagree. I'm just providing discourse with a healthy dose of skepticism.
  
  There’s a lot going on in the US that I never thought would happen and it just goes on and on and on. Every day I read something that scares me even more.
  To me it’s not that absurd that open source projects could be affected. Wouldn’t be the first time they tried (EARN IT Act or how often they tried to get backdoors in encrypted data https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-nsa-attempting-to-insert-backdoors-into-encrypted-data )
  To me it seems possible.
  Yes, it’s open source, yes, it can be taken elsewhere and developed outside of the USA. It’s just that I’m extra cautious right now.
  I agree with you, it’s not only the USA which is problematic, but currently the US is the country with the most power doing „shitty things“. That’s why you get extra bonus points.
- Im trying to find a replacement for Proton, as the new CEO likes trump and seems pretty far right..
  I am afraid that they will start enshitification soon
  
  I’m also not that happy with proton. Maybe tuta could be a replacement.
  
  Well, Proton became a full suit.
  I need a replacement for ProtonPass and ProtonCalendar.
  I believe KeePassXC with Plugin support might help. ~~But all I need is a pretty good Calendar app. There is literally none I believe. But I am unsure.~~ nvm, Tuta has a calendar. I think I will switch xD
  
  Do y’all know how Fastmail measures up in regards to privacy?
  I’m happy with the service, but I don’t know how it compares in this particular domain, compared to the likes of Proton, Tuta, et al.
  
  Fastmail: Privacy & Security Overview
  +Encrypted storage & transit (TLS 1.3, Perfect Forward Secrecy).
  +No ads, no data selling – user-funded.
  +2FA & Passkey support for added security.
  -Based in Australia – subject to laws like the Assistance and Access Act (2018).
  -No built-in end-to-end encryption (E2EE) – requires third-party PGP/S/MIME.
  https://www.fastmail.com/features/security
  https://www.fastmail.com/policies/privacy
  Good for privacy, but jurisdiction risks & lack of E2EE make alternatives like tuta (or proton) a better choice.

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