#browser safety

[melyzard]

Okay, look, they talk to a Google rep in some of the video clips, but I give it a pass because this FREE course is a good baseline for personal internet safety that so many people just do not seem to have anymore. It's done in short video clip and article format (the videos average about a minute and a half). This is some super basic stuff like "What is PII and why you shouldn't put it on your twitter" and "what is a phishing scam?" Or "what is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS and why do you care?"

It's worrying to me how many people I meet or see online who just do not know even these absolute basic things, who are at constant risk of being scammed or hacked and losing everything. People who barely know how to turn their own computers on because corporations have made everything a proprietary app or exclusive hardware option that you must pay constant fees just to use. Especially young, somewhat isolated people who have never known a different world and don't realize they are being conditioned to be metaphorical prey animals in the digital landscape.

Anyway, this isn't the best internet safety course but it's free and easy to access. Gotta start somewhere.

Here's another short, easy, free online course about personal cyber security (GCFGlobal.org Introduction to Internet Safety)

Bonus videos:

(Jul 13, 2023, runtime 15:29)

"He didn't have anything to hide, he didn't do anything wrong, anything illegal, and yet he was still punished."

(Apr 20, 2023; runtime 9:24 minutes)

"At least 60% use their name or date of birth as a password, and that's something you should never do."

(March 4, 2020, runtime 11:18 minutes)

"Crossing the road safely is a basic life skill that every parent teaches their kids. I believe that cyber skills are the 21st century equivalent of road safety in the 20th century."

[lexosaurus]

Okay, the "Youtube blocking everyone who uses adblocks from viewing their videos" thing was the final straw that made me finally switch to Firefox. And...I get it now. I get why I should have done this ages ago.

Thank you, Tumblr peer pressure, for helping me to better my online experience and safety.

[abrahamlincolnscat]

Yo, if you go into your browser settings and find your download options, most browsers will let you check a box that says "always ask where to save downloads" which let's you A) easily organize your downloads and B) reject suspicious downloads/keeps you from accidentally downloading files.

[realsafari]

TO ALL MY FOLLOWERS AND ALSO MY NON-FOLLOWERS JUST TUMBLR IN GENERAL

To all of you who are in unsafe home situations, who are unaccepted or neglected by your parent(s)/guardian(s), who are struggling in life, who feel unloved at home, anybody who is not at home in their home with the people who they should feel safe with:

Fucking tell me and I will adopt you in spirit. I will be your internet father. You can send me asks, you can reblog stuff of mine, you can tag me calling me dad, or father, parent, or whatever.

You don't need to tell me what's going on in your life, I don't need to know any of that if you don't want to tell me. Just please let me be the parental figure that you lack.

I'm here for all of you, while I can't be your therapist, I can be your adoptive parent, I can be your biggest supporter.

Despite seeming unapproachable because of my 'popularity' or whatever, I promise you that if you send me something I will do my best to respond. Please message me, please tag me, I love talking to you all.

I was made aware that I had to say this because of an ask I got earlier, and I thought this was really important. I'm here for you all <33

[netscapenavigator-official]

Watching a ““privacy education”” post come onto my dash where the poster recommends installing a shitton of extensions, like:

Usually not only are the extensions awful, but the real privacy advice would be to use as few extensions as possible.

Every extension you add to your browser makes your online fingerprint more unique, and therefore, more traceable. If you really care about your online privacy, you need to minimize your extensions down to the bare necessities and learn to use your browsers built-in settings to their full potential. uBlock Origin can handle A LOT of the stuff that extensions like Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, and ClearURLs can. Firefox also has native settings that make extensions like HTTPS Everywhere and Cookie Autodelete entirely redundant.

Also for the love of god DO NOT install more than one ad blocker. By doing so, you dramatically increase the chances that your browser will take an anti-ad blocker bait ad, resulting in the anti-ad blocker pop-ups. uBlock Origin is all you need. It’s the best of the best, and it respects your privacy unlike some blockers like Ghostery which are known to sell your data.

Also, on the topic of password managers, Bitwarden should be your only choice. Yes, even over Proton Pass. Any software that has a marketing budget that big should not be trusted. They will flip on a dime and paywall features without warning. We’ve seen it time and time again. Use Bitwarden. Period.

[maybe-the-madman]

i am begging teens to please please stop posting their location/age/mental illnesses/triggers for everyone to see and possibly take advantage of oh my god please do not open yourself up to harassment and stalking

[werewolf-kat]

How can Google's decisions for Chrome get any WORSE? What on earth is this?!

The gist: Google wants to implement a "feature" for website owners/developers to be selective on who can see their website. These devs (or their malicious higher-ups) could block out or limit Firefox users, Safari users, open source or indie browsers, etc. from their website; and worst of all, they could block or limit as far as the device you use.

Major concerns:

How can people even WANT this other than corrupt companies trying to force competing users to tediously go through the needed hoops to access the website? There's already the web design standard of optimizing load times to be welcoming for visitors. This ain't going to encourage anyone to have interest in your website (or its company by extension). It really will be a test of consumer trust.

Worryingly, lazy or more apathetic web developers might use this to dance around compatibility challenges in their websites. I've seen my fair share of these types of devs in the community who take the frustration of browser compatibilities too far. They're a minority (thankfully, seen in the video is the Chrome repository getting completely flooded with criticisms). But, yeah, pro-tip to web developers: Learn to prioritize the layout and order of your content in plain HTML first before you jump into design. And then build the CSS from there in a "ranking" of completely compatible with all browsers, to less compatibilities. So you can manage and keep track of how your site will look on anything out there.

The sheer fear and worry for accessibility in web design that I'm feeling from this, man. Again, it's not just browsers... Malicious entities making decisions for websites could block out or further limit accessibility devices (if they're counted) because of the extra work that comes with ensuring a website is accessible to a wide range of disabled or impaired users. I can't fully tell if screen reader software could somehow get affected, but who knows how far Google will want to go in this nightmare of a proposal.

Read more on this situation:

"It is also interesting to note that the first use case listed is about ensuring that interactions with ads are genuine. While this is not problematic on the surface, it certainly hints at the idea that Google is willing to use any means of bolstering its advertising platform, regardless of the potential harm to the users of the web."

Vivaldi Article

||

"The proposal threatens the free and open internet in a number of ways, but one of the biggest revolves around the fact that should there be a central server that attests to whether a browser can be trusted or not, it means that anything non-standard will not be trusted. In other words, new browsers would not be trusted, and legacy software would no longer be able to access much of the internet after a certain length of time. Given that it verifies the integrity of the browser, it could also technically block certain extensions (such as Adblock) if Google were to go down that route."

XDA Developers

||

"What makes the fingerprinting process somewhat insidious is that, unlike web cookies, no residue is left on a user’s computer – everything can be stored in the cloud. The fingerprint data can be collected even if users run private or incognito browsing sessions. Worse yet, each user’s fingerprint can be shared across websites without the user’s knowledge."

Silicon Angle

[starrytanks]

just got tor browser is there anything fun to do there that isnt drugs

[gemsreallife]

Step 1 of getting away from Google

I had to choose a new browser for my laptop since I plan to do away with Google. I've got my personal google accounts as well as the google suite that we use for the shop. I'm tired of reading about how they keep hiring ex-intelligence from Israel, so I'm going to stop giving them my money and my data.

I went with Vivaldi browser because of their distaste for AI. I'm extremely fed up with every single platform or service I use pushing it on me, so I'm actively walking away from companies who are doing it.

Also, I created my new email account! I wanted to sign into Vivaldi so I could keep track of my bookmarks and things, so I had to make that choice. I selected Fastmail because they offer a minimalist inbox with no ads. It's not free, but I'm willing to pay for the pleasure of not having things sold to me.

Now every day I am logging a few things into the new browser and updating my emails. I'm also weighing whether I can live with a dumb phone when I am not traveling. I'm currently in the process of stripping away apps I don't need from my smartphone.

Now I've got a lot things switched over, and I can use this browser for my work. There will be a long process of taking information out of my old accounts. I'm not expecting it to all be done quickly, there are decades of emails and data in there. But it feels really good to have moved a lot of the essentials!

[bob3160]

Auto-Fill, Auto-Fail - The Hidden Dangers Lurking in Your Browser

[official-firefox-nightly]

Awh love you too <3 <2 (/platonic)

But also I wonder if there's another private search engine just in case you have a hard time finding results on any potential anonymousing search engine. And I wish there was a web browser that's dedicated to keeping your data secure on the internet, (based on Firefox too may I add,) allowing you to access media that's censored, even if your country as a whole widely censors the Internet. If only you could help give full internet access to people with censored internet or wanting to keep their data private, that'd be great wouldn't it? Oh and ya know, YouTube is a very popular website, but I do wonder what it would be like if it had privacy in mind. That would be cool. It'd also be cool if you could get a website or an app on Apple or Android that'd be able to show you the news in an unfiltered way and show you the differences in what is really happening vs what the right is saying, for free at that. Idk, I think it'd be pretty neat. If only, am I right?

Make the most of the next two months

Get all your vaccines

Travel while we have a functioning DOT

Read and buy books on feminism, anti-racism, pro-lgbt

Attend drag shows

Don't skip any of your classes

Read and buy history books

Find your out-of-state networks

Learn to carry cash

Get birth control solutions

Support the Biden/Harris administration

Postpone large purchases and save money

Be careful of what you say online, like un-ambiguous attacks against the incoming administration, especially in spaces that contain your full name or personal information

Feel free to add on.

[asexualbuthorny]

what's the least scummy browser?

i want to leave chrome behind because goog is kinda evil but idk which browser i should switch to

[diabolocracy]

Anything new about Bill S 210?

From what the Parliament site says, it hasn't been touched since June. But between now and sometime next year there's probably going to be an election so that can change at any time, especially if they begin to rush things.

[enfinizatics]

dear americans,

as a polish queer woman and human rights activist, i know exactly how you're feeling right now and what to expect from these elections. i lived through the 2015-2023 regime of pis, a right-wing populist party that divided families in the same way trump did. i’ve experienced the rise of fascism in poland, the influence of far-right parties like konfederacja, and their “santa’s little helpers”—ordo iuris, an ultra-conservative catholic organization (banned in many countries, mind you) that helped enforce a near-total abortion ban and runs anti-queer campaigns in public spaces. i supported the black protests in 2016 as a middle schooler when they first tried to ban abortion. as an adult, i actively participated in the 2020 women’s strike, running from police tear gas daily after they finally passed the ban. i supported friends who faced charges.

i’ve lived through intense homophobia in poland as a queer teen and adult. i survived the first pride march in my hometown, where far-right extremists threw stones and glass at us. i endured the anti-queer propaganda spread by the ruling party in state-owned media. i survived the “rainbow night,” poland’s own stonewall moment in summer 2020, when police arrested around 50 queer activists following the arrest of margo, a nonbinary activist. i survived the "lgbt-free zones," the targeted violence, the slurs from strangers on the street, and the protests i held against queerphobia. it was hard as fuck, but i survived.

but just because i survived, it doesn’t mean others did. many women died because of the abortion ban—marta, justyna, izabela, dorota, joanna, maria, and many others who didn’t survive pis’s draconian anti-abortion laws. milo, kacper, michał, zuzia (she was 12), wiktor, and other queer and trans kids and young adults took their own lives because of the relentless queerphobia.

despite all of this, our experience in poland can serve as a guide now. here are some tips for staying safe and how we, polish queers and women, organized under the regime:

safety first, always. if you know someone who’s had an abortion, no you don’t. if you know someone is trans, no you don’t. if you know people who help with safe abortions, no you don’t���at least not until you know it’s 100% safe to share. if you are queer or have had an abortion, only share this with people you trust fully. most importantly, not everyone has to be an activist just because they’re part of a minority. if it feels unsafe to share that you're queer, trans, etc., then don’t. it doesn’t make you any less queer.

use secure, encrypted messaging like signal for conversations on potentially risky topics, such as queerness, abortion, organizing counter-actions, protests—anything that might be used against you.

stay anonymous online. if you want to research or report something without surveillance, do not use regular internet. get a vpn (mullvad is affordable and reliable), download the tor browser (for both onion and standard links), and if you plan to whistleblow, consider using a riseup email account.

organize and build networks. community is everything now. support each other, foster independence, because your government won’t have your back. set up collectives, grassroots movements. create lists of trusted professionals—lawyers, doctors, etc.—who can offer support.

to lawyers and doctors: please consider pro-bono work. this is what got us through poland’s hardest times. your work will be needed now more than ever.

for protests or risky actions: always write a pro-bono lawyer’s number on your arm with a permanent marker.

get to know the anarchist black cross federation and other resources on safety culture: "Starting an anarchist black cross group: A guide"; Still We Rise - A resource pack for transgender and non-gender conforming people in prison; Safe OUTside the system by the Audre Lorde Project;

for safe abortion info or involvement: get familiar with womenhelpwomen.

stay radical, stay strong, stay informed: The Anarchist Library

if i forgot to (or didn't) include something, don't hesitate to reblog this post with other resources.

[minicorruptprogram]

Reblogging on main because this is important.

CHROME IS ESSENTIALLY SPYWARE NOW.

THEY HAVE BEEN STEALING YOUR DATA FOR YEARS.

AND IT'S ONLY GETTING WORSE.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SWITCH TO FIREFOX!

CHROMIUM BASED BROWSERS ARE NO LONGER SAFE!!

FIREFOX IS ONE OF THE BEST BROWSERS OUT THERE, THEY PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY, AND YOU CAN ENHANCE IT EVEN MORE WITH ADD-ONS LIKE AD-BLOCKERS, TRACKING BLOCKERS, AND MORE!!

FOR EXTRA SECURITY, SWITCH YOUR SEARCH ENGINE TO DUCKDUCKGO TOO!

DUCKDUCKGO IS JUST AS GOOD, MAYBE EVEN BETTER THAN GOOGLE, AND THEY PROTECT YOUR SEARCH HISTORY!!

THEY EVEN HAVE AN ADD-ON FOR FIREFOX THAT BLOCKS TRACKING ATTEMPTS FROM SITES!!

AND ON MOBILE, YOU CAN USE DUCKDUCKGO'S PRIVATE BROWSER! THEY ALSO HAVE A FEATURE ON MOBILE THAT WILL BLOCK TRACKING ATTEMPTS ACROSS ALL APPS!!

THEY EVEN HAVE A LITTLE BUTTON ON THE TOOLBAR THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DELETE ALL YOUR BROWSING HISTORY WITH JUST A PUSH AND A SINGLE CONFIRMATION PROMPT!!

FIREFOX AND DUCKDUCKGO ARE FREE! USE THEM TO PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY!!

You Have until June To Dump Chrome

Google has announced that starting in June 2024, ad blockers such as uBlock Origin will be disabled in Chrome 127 and later with the rollout of Manifest V3 (#Mv3).

Firefox is RIGHT there

[ellestra]

I use Firefox - what about you?

in b4 95% of all websites in june 2024 announce that "for security" they will only work with browsers that use manifest v3