Surveillance Report
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Q&A: Our Privacy Hopes for 2025
🕑 Added 2025-02-13 03:39:59 +0000 UTCQ&A213: Is there any privacy-related thing we're looking forward to in 2025? How would handle phone numbers in countries that require ID? Where do we get devices for tinkering? Do we have thoughts on "domains by proxy"? Would we consider signing up for Polycentric IDs? What are our thoughts on Whonix?
Welcome to the Surveillance Report Q&A - featuring Techlore & The New Oil answering your questions about privacy and security.
Video Version: https://youtu.be/RqxhGWnslqE
(00:00) Introduction
(01:03) Privacy Hopes for 2025
(06:01) Phone Number Privacy in ID-required Places
(10:42) Used Devices for Tinkering
(13:31) Domains by Proxy
(15:48) Passport Prime Thoughts
(16:55) Polycentric IDs
(20:45) Thoughts on Whonix
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🙋 Go ahead and leave some questions below for us to look at for SR211 this weekend! (Note: We record on Friday nights in the US, so it's highly recommended to leave all questions by noon on Friday in the US)
It can be about a specific story, a general question about privacy/security, a question about the world, a question you tried last week, or anything else. Due to time restraints we can't promise that we'll get to yours, but we appreciate all of them!
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Comments
David Johnson
Two questions related to past content: (1) In one of his videos, Henry mentioned having problems when running Proton VPN but not IVPN alongside with NextDNS. Do you believe there is benefit (if you're not using your own custom blocklist on NextDNS) to using a NextDNS custom DNS server on stock Android in addition to running a VPN with a DNS filter such as Proton's NetShield, and, if so, what VPN-CustomDNS combo do you think is most reliable? (2) In one of his videos, Henry interviewed a divorce lawyer, who had some interesting insights into the legality and usefulness/futility of various practices to enhance privacy. Related to that, have you or people you know in the privacy community consulted lawyers (and if so, how helpful was it) when dealing with companies about collection of your personal data? It seems that a lot of law-related discussion on this topic in the privacy community relies on opinions of people who have very little knowledge of the law in general, and of privacy law in particular; the result being something of "brolaw," analogously to "broscience" in fitness. From the number and length of TOCs/EULAs, it would seem that there are lot of lawyers who draft them, whom you might be able to hire for a few hours to help you navigate them. It seems unlikely that these lawyers would be such ideologically fervent supporters of the dark patterns they help to craft so that they would turn you down on principle. In addition, it seems likely that the tools created by companies for users to use to request/delete their data are highly likely to be carefully crafted to provide as little information as possible and legally to commit the company to as little as possible. This is doubly so because a company has to do it only once for all its users, so it has economies-of-scale incentives to go the extra mile. Thus, a lawyer who actually knows the law could do a much better job by drafting a letter to a company for you that would be crafted with your interest in mind, not the company's. Finally, companies will often lie about what they are required or not required to do, or make demands of you that you are not required to comply with, and having authoritative council can go a long way in calling their bluff. What are your thoughts on this?
