Figured I should share some of security knowledge with people so more people can keep their data safe on the internet. I'll break this one down in to beginner, intermediate, to advanced. We all probably know how many ads, scams, trackers, phishing, ect ect exist on the modern internet, and it might seem like there's nothing you can do about them, but there is! Below I will lay out some steps to help protect your data, online privacy, and take better control of your data. Beginner Level:
https://brave.com/ Using the Brave browser over Chrome, Firefox, Edge, ect. A simple but very effective way of give some ground level protection on the internet, mostly ad and tracker blocking. I've used Brave for about 3 years now and from first hand use, its the best browser you can use imo. The browser gives you stats on what its blocked and mine says its blocker over 1 million ads and trackers
Intermediate Level:
VPN or Virtual Private Networks. These mask your IP address so 3rd parties, hackers and your ISP can't see what sites you're visiting. https://protonvpn.com/ Proton VPN is the one I personally recommend since its the one I've used for about as long as I've been using Brave. They offer a free version, but the servers you can use are limited and random, and sometimes near max load so they might make your connection slower. The paid version is what I recommend if you can afford it, $9 a month and it unlocks all the server locations, advanced features as well like routing VPN traffic through a custom DNS address (Advanced level ties back into this part)
Other VPNs you might want to consider is, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark. But do your own research to find out which one suits you personally.
Advanced Level:
Warning: I am not responsible if you mess up your internet connection, you do this one at your own risk. If you do lose internet connection, stop the Docker container, and it should auto reconnect if you didn't mess with any router settings.
Hosting your own local DNS (Domain Name System) server. Yep you host a local DNS server on your own machine, and even your home network if you have a router that allows for setting a custom DNS address. For all the devices on your network, you'll have to set your router's DNS server to the IP address of the computer you are running the DNS server on. (this would be done after everything below) Opening the command prompt, typing ipconfig and looking for IPv4 Address . It should be 192.168.x.x or 10.0.x.x. Where X is a variable number depending on your device.
For this one you're gonna need a few programs. This is for Windows 10 and 11, but most of these steps carry over to Apple computers as well, just without installing WSL since that's for Windows PCs.
Now once you've installed WSL and Docker, and after you've set up a free Docker account, use the search bar at the top to search for Pi-Hole. Should be the first entry with the name Pihole/Pihole. Click Pull, let it download and install everything, then click Run. And it will start the container and do its initial setup. See timestamp 2:36 in the tutorial video for the final step. I would write this part out, but the video does a simpler job than I can writing it out ;p
There is a way to change the password to log in to your server that I will explain how to do though. In the tutorial video where he is finding the password to log in the first time, look for a tab called either Exec or Terminal. And type this command into the command line pihole setpassword followed by the password you want. Example: pihole setpassword 12345678 and hit enter and you password will be changed to 12345678. If you copy paste that command, be aware you have to use Ctrl+Shift+V to copy into the terminal since its a Linux terminal.
And if all goes well you should be hosting your own DNS server on your own machine. No more letting Google or whoever see you site requests, now its all on your own PC.
To add more blocklists for various domain names. Follow this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtLo7U_iXU&t=70s on how to do that. The user interface in the video is out-dated, but the same tab names and stuff are the same, so you should be able to figure out where the buttons have been moved.
And for a complete list of blocklists you can pick and choose, below is the best repository for them.
Do keep in mind that some lists may break certain sites, or site features. If that occurs remove the blocklist or allow the specific site through in the same place you add blacklists, just click Add Allowlist instead.
Wew if you made it through all that text and everything is working, I give you a honorary privacy medal ;p
Advanced level isn't %100 needed for just regular surfing, but is a good extra level of security if you're very privacy conscious like I am. And use some common sense, don't give out your location, IP address, passwords, or click on sketchy links you might find. If you're unsure of a link, run it through https://www.urlvoid.com/ to see further info on it.
lmao what do you think the si= means at the end of your utube link?
that's the meta-tracker to circumvent ur vpn or whatever else you do. besides, the vpn is basically a verification that it is you, so it would only work to your detriment because you're giving the ability to sign things as you to someone else and running all of ur interwebz thru that one centralized company located in... uh... well uh... hmmmm....
*Bonus points : I did not take the "vaccine" during the "vaccine" mandate, and it turns out that they have all your data irl and through your employer and doctor and education. This is used against Christians as part of the ongoing lockdown.
lmao what do you think the si= means at the end of your utube link? that's the meta-tracker to circ
That's why I recommended the Brave browser, it automatically strips the Si= out of links before it actually requests them. If Do Not Track is enabled in the settings is turned on though, which I think it is by default.
That's why I recommended the Brave browser, it automatically strips the Si= out of links before it a
The SI= is your personal google account so everything on your google account and all of your metadata cross sites. If I were to click it, then it would link my data to your's.
This was a part of the "contact tracing" thing excused during the lockdown. remember, i might spread a "harmful misinformation" to you by questioning whether American government is controlled by Americans
They made it illegal during Biden to pray silently outside an abortion clinic, Trump had to pardon them out of federal prison.
Youtube/google is doing the tracking, you're confused as to how all this works because you watch youtube advertisements made by the companies doing it.
The SI= is your personal google account so everything on your google account and all of your metadat
