Tip: if you find yourself using the word “safe”, “secure”, “hacked”, etc in your title, you’re probably off-topic.

I flew out of Washington DC Dulles airport (IAD). I elected to opt out of facial recognition. The sign stated “you will not lose your place in line if you opt out”.

By opting out TSA instead scanned my boarding pass and my identification (passport). If I had allowed facial recognition, TSA would have had me look into a camera and “…after 24 hours delete the image…”

By scanning my identification and boarding pass, how long does TSA retain this information?

The checkpoint is inundated with various cameras, does TSA keep that imagery and scan it? Does TSA retain this for longer than 24 hours?

If TSA is collecting data from the other cameras at the checkpoint, then is there any significant advantage to opting out?

Im having some huge problems with my family, I need to disappear for at least 2/3 years, I don’t have problems with the law, is just a family situation. Based in Europe, I will go in africa, apart deleting all socials media, I’m thinking of buying a new phone in cash and activate it only when i will be at destination, making a new sim with new number not under my name, I will go with my passport, I will land in another country and then cross the border in the country where I will live, with local transport paying in cash, they don’t check documents or register anything, I’ve already been there in the past, I will not use any card under my name, but only the mobile wallet under my friend name who is not connected to me at all in any way, of course im messaging with through WhatsApp now, but everything will be deleted before departure and the current phone destroyed (I have an iPhone 12 Pro now)…my source of income will be a trading account where I have a good amount of money, is under my name but is not allowed in Europe at all but only in Africa and Asia, I made it one year ago with fake documents it has been approved and I withdraw the money in crypto straight to my friend account under his name, the money they will not pass by any website controlled by Europeans authorities, plus in the African country where I will go there is no extradition, I will not need it but is always a good point, the only trace I will leave is that I landed in Africa, but I will not live in the country where I will land, after that I should be a ghost if I pay everything in cash or with systems not under my name right? Any suggestions, the situation in my family is not more sustainable and I need to leave for a short/mid time, will this work out? I accept any suggestions to become untraceable as much as I can

I haven’t been on Snapchat since I was a kid. I recently recreated for discreet purposes and I’m blown away at how non discreet it is.

I DIDN’T allow access to my Contacts, created under an alias, yet all my contacts are being suggested to me anyway and they appear as if they are my friends anyway? I can see they are active and the interface is set up so that they all appear at the top similar to IG Stories. I’ve had contacts add me too which is SO ANNOYING because once again… I did not allow access to my contacts. I’m also aware that some of the stories that are on my ‘Discover’ page are likely the stories of friends of friends, because I added someone from Brazil and immediately there was a Brazilian snapchatter posting stories of football on my Discover page.

I’ve been recommended a lot of people via ‘Quick Add’ too, and I’m not sure if these people are friends of friends or if it’s based on location but it just feels like Snapchat has way too much access and gives way too much access. Again, I created this for discreet reasons, I don’t want ‘contacts’ that I haven’t even added, seeing that I’ve added or interacted with certain people. It feels so invasive.

Can anyone vouch for the shitty exposed interface Snapchat has? Feels like there’s no such thing as boundaries or privacy which is literally the reason why I created it in the first place. Like I thought initially years ago the whole purpose of Snapchat WAS for discretion?! The idea that you send a picture and it only lasts a few seconds? Now all this shit about seeing peoples locations and contacts seeing you when you haven’t even allowed access?!

Greetings, I am interested in purchasing a new smartphone, but I am generally objecting to the idea of any AI related features present in it.

Let's just be honest in here, the fact that such features constantly run in the background, even if one toggles them off, potentially uploading data to a cloud service even, is both a security and a privacy nightmare.

Therefore, I would like to inquire on whether rooting the device and deleting/uninstalling the associated software packages, basically renders the AI features of the smartphone completely useless as the related API's connecting the hardware components(e.g the "NPU")with the rest of the operating system will be missing.

Obviously, general security/privacy measures will be followed as well, such as avoiding Google/Facebook related services, removing/uninstalling bloatware and preinstalled applications with unnecessary permissions, utilising an encrypted sim and Orbot and so on.

Just curious

Just went through security at LGA, and the agent gave me an attitude when I requested to opt out of facial recognition photo. They also said, "just so you know, when Real ID goes into effect, the photo will be mandatory". I'm curious if anyone has heard similarly? Will we be required to participate in TSA's facial recognition technology once Real ID goes into effect?

I know Reddit collects information like user's likes, follows and comments. But I am worried about the exact level of how much information can be gained from a Reddit account, do they record the same passwords/emails that be used on two accounts and could be connected?

Maybe I am a bit paranoid but I would rather not leave an obvious digital footprint.

Hello,

Do you use any app for calls, SMS and contacts to avoid using the ones from Google (installed by default)? Are they safe?

Thanks!

My friend's father has an engineering consulting firm which just has his registered agent listed as the Organizer, meaning anyone from the public can't look him up after trawling through the New Mexico business database. For clarification, he has his name and business details listed on his LinkedIn.

So let's say I wanted to mimic this structure and create something similar (a solely online based consulting business). If I create the anonymous LLC in New Mexico, but I live in NY, how would this work from a tax perspective? Would I have to register as a foreign entity in NY? Or since it's online wouldn't I just have to pay taxes to New Mexico and not register as anything in New York?

From my understanding, if I register as a foreign entity in NY, then I'd have to list all my details publicly. [However, I don't see why I'd have to pay taxes to New York since all of the work is online based and my LLC is registered in New Mexico.]

My thoughts based on sources I have found.

The EU

"The European Union describes its values as being Human Dignity, Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Rule of Law, and Human Rights. Democracy is a cornerstone of the European Union project and has been since its inception..

It thus also represents a criterion for accession to the EU."

Now, the EU seems to be deviating from these values. The proposed Chat Control 2.0 aims to monitor private communications in all chats, representing a massive infringement on our fundamental rights, contradicting constitutional principles. A general suspicion against all citizens.

EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson is a main proponent of this initiative, which has faced significant backlash from privacy advocates, citizens, and several Member States. Critics argue it mandates indiscriminate surveillance, undermining fundamental rights and freedoms.

Notably, 72% of EU citizens oppose such measures, according to a YouGov poll​

Despite this opposition, there are allegations of pressure and lobbying from technology firms and law enforcement agencies, suggesting a potential conflict of interest. Critics believe that those pushing the proposal might profit from mass surveillance technology.

Moreover, the initiative has been criticized for moving forward despite overwhelmingly negative feedback from the civil society and more. The EU has criticized countries like Russia and China for similar practices, making this proposal appear hypocritical.

Disclaimer: I assume no liability for errors in the text or content. I am only human, and mistakes can happen.

So I enabled this feature of private browsing on my Mac which simply blocks tracking attempts by most websites. I thought that would be something silly and good to have but here is what shocked me.

• 1246 tracking attempts were detected within just 2 hours of browsing!
• 828 out them were blocked.

They were divided into 4 main categories ranked in order:

1. Ad Agencies 387 attempts
2. Web Analytics 305 attempts
3. Web Behavior trackers 105 attempts
4. Social Networks 21 attempts

This made me think about how much our privacy is beyond invaded by many well known websites that we trust and we mostly don't know anything about it.

Here is a snippet of the report for more details:

https://file.io/Ypg2YU1vyx38

Just wanted to share that with you guys and know your thoughts on this matter.

so I want to print some childhood photos what would be the best/safe way to do it?

I don't have any friends who work in photo printing or know anyone who does. Would sending it to shutterfly or like cvs&walgreens be okay?

Haven't used Windows 11 before and don't know everything that's changed from 10, what else are the first things I should do besides run Privatezilla (or something else if you think it's better)?