Questions tagged [privacy]
The privacy tag has no usage guidance.
80
questions
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VPN disconeconnects when switching networks
TL;DR If I am connected to one network and then connect to VPN it works fine, but if I then connect to a different network then the VPN disconnects and tries to reconnect over the new network. I need ...
- 1
19
votes
3
answers
3k
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How are some websites able to detect on which OS I am running the Tor Browser?
Tor Browser conceals the user's operating system by spoofing user agents. Currently it is Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0. I decided to test whether the function ...
- 191
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334
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Why is it so hard to disable all "recent files"/"recent apps"/"recent places" functionality?
I am no fan of the "recent files / recent apps / recent places" features throughout modern operating systems. In particular, I do not want/need
jump lists, that show recent files opened ...
- 25
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31
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How can I prevent normal users from being able to look up other logged-in users?
For security and privacy reasons, I want to stop logging logins, as well as hiding information about currently logged-in users.
So far, I tried revoking reading permissions to utmp and wtmp:
sudo ...
- 15
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votes
1
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111
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"Other users are logged in" how does the system know? Where is the information leaking?
(Example screenshot taken from https://askubuntu.com/questions/1343872/ubuntu-shows-other-users-are-logged-in-whenever-i-shut-down-even-though-i-am-the)
But my question is: how does the system know ...
- 15
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2
answers
56
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Why is Debian connecting to a CDN server in the background, automatically?
I noticed my VM with a fairly barebones Debian 11 install periodically tries to connect to
debian.map.fastlydns.net on port 80.
It looks like this domain is what the DNS record of http://deb.debian....
- 174
1
vote
1
answer
86
views
Does this dmesg log show files being transferred?
An issue was recently opened on the GitHub page for the privacy-focused VirtualBox wrapper HiddenVM. The opener posts what he claims to be indication of files from his local cache being sent to an ...
4
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1
answer
5k
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Temporarily disable history in zsh
How can I enter some kind of "private" zsh shell session where none of my commands will be recorded in the on-disk history?
I know there is an option for adding a space character before any/...
- 19k
1
vote
0
answers
25
views
Does opening a picture in a temporary filesystem leave any traces with Eye of GNOME/eog?
Does the Gnome package eog leave any thumbnails or other privacy leaking information when opening a picture in a different filesystem?
I know that thumbnails are created by default in the home ...
- 11
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1
answer
135
views
Is Unix "permission model" conceptually broken?
Suppose a teacher has prepared for his students, before course's beginning, a series of surprise tests that cover it whole.
tests
├── subject1
│ └── exam.txt
├── subject2
│ └── exam.txt
├── ...
- 934
2
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1
answer
599
views
remove the remote content warning in thunderbird
Thunderbird pats itself on the back for not loading external content and protecting your privacy, but at the same time has a bright yellow notification bar tempting you constantly to do exactly that:
...
- 494
0
votes
1
answer
167
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Syncing Calendar with phone
I'm well aware, that similar questions exist, but due to my lack of expertise the respective answers couldn't help me make it work.
So I've just recently transitioned from Windows to LinuxMint (my ...
0
votes
1
answer
201
views
How to completely disable Fedora surveying my browser e-mail activity
I have Fedora release 33, and after the last update, I was absolutely freaked when I checked my email from Firefox 85 (running in a private mode), and the Fedora application that informs about updates,...
- 103
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184
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How can I create a fake microphone in Ubuntu 20.04? [duplicate]
Blackboard and Zoom on Firefox both require microphone permissions even if the microphone is never to be used. You can mute your microphone in those services and on your physical computer but I am ...
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1
answer
759
views
Allow to run Telegram (or any other application) via firejail, prevent it from running directly
Preferably without using sudo.
So far I've just saved it under /opt/telegram/Telegram without adding it to $PATH but that's not a solution since I can easily run it accidentally.
0
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127
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How to conceal my timezone in the Date entry of the headers of email messages in Mutt (NeoMutt)?
Because of privacy concerns I'd like to not expose my timezone when sending a message. When I look at locally-stored message they look something like the following:
Return-Path: <my email address&...
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1
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0
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232
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Are there generally any privacy issues with giving out a journalctl output?
As the title states, I'm just wondering if pasting the logs from systemd might have any personally sensitive information, as I know commands like inxi can with internet information.
I was under no ...
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1
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929
views
How to prevent automatic insertion of your Git user name and email address in gitconfig file?
I'm a newbie to the Linux world as well as to git. I recently set up version control to manage my dotfiles by creating a Git repository called 'dotfiles'. However, whenever I commit any changes, I am ...
- 369
1
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1
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159
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Does Raspberry Pi OS support encryption on the RPI 1 WITHOUT extra hardware?
I have a RPI 1. The original.
It is crucial for me, for basic bottom-line security, that all my machines are encrypted and cannot be booted/read once powered off without somebody entering the right ...
- 11
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0
answers
2k
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Ubuntu 20.04 disable temporary IPv6 addresses
I have a very basic Ubuntu 20.04 server installation.
I am trying to disable the system from using temporary IPv6 addresses.
My netplan is as follows:
network:
ethernets:
ens160:
...
- 151
1
vote
0
answers
100
views
Wiping files found by PhotoRec
After running PhotoRec, the report.xml file gives a summary of every file that could potentially be restored from my hard disk, for example:
<fileobject>
<filename>/place/recup_dir....
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
184
views
Privacy: are elementaryOS and ParrotOS equals to Debian?
I am an Ubuntu user. I plan to stop using Ubuntu according to Richard Stallman's and privacytools.io recommendations.
I am not very enthusiastic about using Debian because of UX/design which I don't ...
- 115
6
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1
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412
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The Devuan machine-id patch - solving a problem or blowing smoke?
As reported on SlashDot, Devuan has recently introduced a patch with the following description:
A few days ago Devuan ASCII 2.1 was announced and one update has been overlooked by most media ...
- 8,395
2
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3
answers
334
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Privacy when Running Windows Software Under GNOME
I've been running Pop!_OS 18.04 on a System76 Meerkat. I've been advised that I can run Quickbooks for Windows if I first install gnome-boxes. If I do so, will I have as much privacy as before? Or ...
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2
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1
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249
views
When did GNOME/gnome-calendar ask for my Google account credentials?
At some point I added my Google account credentials to gnome-calendar but I can't recall when. I don't believe that I manually opened the application and explicitly added this account, as I don't ever ...
- 2,425
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1
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525
views
Is Firefox now biting Google? Specifically, domains like adservice.google.com?
E.g. using the uMatrix extension to Firefox, one can see that third-party websites often pull in content from multiple Google-owned domains. These domains include adservice.google.com (and adservice....
- 47.4k
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1
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1k
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Should I go for Debian Stable or Testing? [closed]
I've been using Debian Stable for 1 year. I like Debian for their Privacy Policy, no telemetry and security.
Now I need to reinstall my distro and I want to go for security distro. I don't know ...
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the nature of the network traffic I see on bootup?
Linux Mint 19 (cinnamon)
On boot up I see connections to the following:
golem.canonical.com and pugot.canonical.com
all-systems.mcast.net and igmp.mcast.net
224.0.0.251 (multicast, is this local?)
...
0
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0
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94
views
Can I tell my terminal emulator to push URLs to private mode?
I'm using neomutt as my mail client, in Gnome Terminal 3.28.2 on Ubuntu 18.04. I'd like to open inline URLs in a Firefox Private Window by default -- right now they open a new tab in an existing, non-...
- 1,659
1
vote
2
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64
views
Privacy as regular user against root?
I need to run a script as a regular user on a remote machine whose root I do not trust. This script outputs very sensitive data to stdout.
What steps can I take to ensure only I can read the script’...
- 55
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1
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226
views
Disable metadata in Claws Mail
How to disable the following metadata in the E-Mail Header in Claws Mail? In the accountrc file i didn't find the right line.
AF:
NF:0
PS:10
SRH:1
SFN:
DSR:
MID:
CFG:
PT:0
S:myaddress@example.com
RQ:
...
- 41
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1
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342
views
Clear terminal history after less is closed
Basically, I need the following:
run a command with confidential input
pipe output to less
clear history with less output on screen (or at the moment it is closed)
The idea is to make sure that ...
- 111
3
votes
6
answers
5k
views
How to see which file a user is editing in vi
If I do a w, I can see that a user is editing a certain file in vi.
However there are several files with the same name in different directories.
How do I see which of these files is the one that the ...
- 706
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1
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47
views
What do su - usrnm get? [closed]
I will running some closed source programs in the current logging Konsole window by su - usrnm command, I know that'll share the desktop screen with the programs running under usrnm, not safe enough, ...
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1
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2k
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How to redact all IP addresses from a log file in Debian?
I have a pure-ftpd log file I would like to anonymize periodically. How would I go about doing this? I would like to strip IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. I'm afraid I do not know sed / awk.
The log file ...
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2
votes
1
answer
847
views
Making a Deleted folder Impossible to Recover [duplicate]
Suppose you visit a bad location on earth with your laptop.
Thieves are about to break in and steal your laptop.
So you run :
rm -rf /folder
but what if thieves have very advanced tools to recover ...
user217298
5
votes
2
answers
2k
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How can I protect my user passwords and passphrase from root
How can I safely access "my" web services and accounts in a computer in which I do have sudo rights but the administrator(s) have, naturally, remote root access as well?
Details
I use a dekstop ...
- 1,440
8
votes
1
answer
7k
views
How to strip GPS location data from an MP4 video file?
I have a video file captured with a smartphone.
I want to remove the GPS location data written into it, leaving all other information intact. I tried some sed commands, but nothing seems to work.
- 1,693
1
vote
0
answers
192
views
GUI app for sending emails through specific smtp servers
Anyone know of an application like swaks but with a GUI?
Preferably the application would have auto resolve of MX for the recipient domain.
The purpose would be to be able to manually send email ...
- 729
0
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3
answers
2k
views
Preventing other users from viewing my files [closed]
Ref: Can root/superuser read my read-protected files?
My Ubuntu user account name "user-3121" with type as "Administrator". There is one more account named "admin" with type as "Administrator". How ...
9
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1
answer
8k
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Why is the default umask 002 or 022 in many Unix systems? Seems insecure by default [closed]
I have been using Linux & Unix for a long time. The first time I learned Unix is in a computer classroom with many students, where the instructor told us that you can use ssh to log in to remote ...
- 199
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2
answers
805
views
Mint vs Ubuntu vs rolling release security [closed]
Maybe a broad question, but I would like to know if is there any difference between those distros regarding security and privacy.
For instance, I was not able to find an official privacy policy for ...
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2
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2
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70
views
Use different ipv6 depending on destination
I have a very particular wish.
I am my own network admin at home, so I can trust it and tweak it. I have a /48 with simply two /64 linked together by a router.
So I would like to use stable ipv6 ...
- 551
1
vote
1
answer
1k
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BindAddress in ssh config on laptop
I have a section in my ~/.ssh/config for connecting to a server via IPv6. But as I have enabled privacy extensions for IPv6 and to avoid my ssh connections being cut I've added BinAddress to that ...
2
votes
0
answers
31
views
What meta data shares my Linux via Wifi?
Is there a way to find out what kind of data my Linux shares with a wifi host? Like, he'll probably know my (wifi interface) MAC address, IP address, hostname. But what about other information like ...
- 940
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1
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369
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Is it possible for a sysadmin to eavesdrop a user's screen/graphics?
I am interested in several things:
- is it possible?
- how to do it?
- is there a way for a sysadmin to configure
the machine so that it will beep or send
an e-mail to the user so that he is aware ...
- 396
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2
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116
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Evercookie and formatting
Will formatting the system or deleting a virtual machine delete all evercookies that a site could have installed on the PC?
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1
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60
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How to remove data that shows up from 'strings' on a file?
I've downloaded a video via a website that forces a login. Thus, it knows my login.
If I run the following on it, I get results that I do not want to have:
strings video.mp4 | grep "my user name"
...
- 1,158
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265
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UMASK privacy- how can I make user files private to the users
I have a debian virtual machine set up and thought of something in regards to UMASK. First I would like to ask if the function of UMASK is to set CHMOD values on any file created by a user. Secondly, ...
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3
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6k
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How do I open an incognito bash session?
Is it possible to open an incognito session in bash?
For example, when we need to enter passwords in commands and don't want bash to add them to history.
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