youtube help

[Patrick]

I have "banned" google pretty much everywhere on my systems. If you have a linux system you can edit your etc/host.conf file and blacklist all google related links.

As a search engine I use:
www.duckduckgo.com or
www.startpage.com

As android alternative, I use:
http://www.cyanogenmod.org/

[Trip]

As a search engine I use:
http://www.duckduckgo.com or
http://www.startpage.com

Another alternative is

search.disconnect.me
https://search.disconnect.me/

Either entry will work.

[Patrick]

Thanks!

[Dmitri]

And you all trust those websites more than Google... why exactly?

[Bao]

And you all trust those websites more than Google... why exactly?

IMHO, it's not so much about trusting others, but to help out to get a balance in the force.

[Patrick]

I think that is a valid question. Here is my answer. There is one company who openly collects data in questionable ways (and does doubtful research). Then you have alternative providers who get suggested by more competent open source/privacy advocates, but that is of course no guaranty. I trust them like most services and persons prima facie. If there is good evidence against such provider I will look for alternatives. An example would be the plugin "ghostery" for firefox. I did use that for a while, then I found out that the data gets sold to advertisement companies. I find it not very reasonable to mistrust everything if there is no evidence for that.
Besides the trust issues, google has hired human beings with doubtful world views. I see no reason why I should support such a company.
This is of course just my personal opinion.

[windwalker]

Your searches are private here.
When you search with StartPage, we remove all identifying information
from your query and submit it anonymously to Google ourselves.
We get the results and return them to you in total privacy. Your IP
address is never recorded, your visit is not logged and no tracking
cookies are placed on your browser.
Here’s more about how we protect your privacy.

from start page. It would seem that one would have to trust them to "remove all identifying information"

https://protonmail.ch/
taking this email for a test drive

Summary: ProtonMail appears to be roughly the equivalent of using PGP, except that it is Web based, thus centralized. It brings back a lot of issues that PGP was supposed to solve, namely that there is a central server that gets to see who talks to who, and that serves the actual code repeatedly. That central server is thus a juicy target for whoever is intent on spying on people. The decentralized nature of PGP is its biggest asset against attackers; by making it Web-based, they increase the ease of use but abandon that decentralization

http://security.stackexchange.com/quest ... l-possible

also unless the other person is using the same mail service its not encrypted.

In each case it seems like there's a need to trust a site, and that other "gov entities" can track and view information if its of interest to them, even to the point as we have to assume with any cloud storage they can access it if needed.

In this aspect the Chinese in China, are probably more aware and web savvy then most because its something those that live in China have to deal with very directly.
Simple things like signing into free wify at Starbucks requires a phone number to receive the access code.
I feel its only a matter of time before we in the US will have to do the some of the same things.
In many services they already have it tied to ones cell phone for verification if one loses their pass word.

The problem as I see it, is that in the USA inc. privacy is treated as a source of revenue, they try to imply that its a right that they will not violate.
Unlike China, where its quite clear what the boundaries are and they are monitoring the net, steps can be taken to circumvent them if needed.

It's a very different net world we live in. In time I would imagine it will be even harder to even access it as state security issues out way privacy issues
USA inc. behind the scenes has been moving towards this quietly.

FYI:

"Ok Google" voice search & actions

You can use your voice on the Google app or Chrome to do things like search, get directions, and create reminders. For example, say "Ok Google do I need an umbrella tomorrow" to see if there's rain in the weather forecast.

Turn on voice search

This must be enabled for it to work or so they say
I am sure that if it was not so, it would tend to be something made very public in a bad way

[windwalker]

, google has hired human beings with doubtful world views.

care to expand a little on this. "doubtful world views"
just curious.

[Patrick]

No, not really, because consumerism dictates that such topic is unfit to discussion in internet forums and it often spirals into unreflected arguments ad hominem and not very clever insults.
One guy is the head of their research department and he hired another famous guy.

[windwalker]

ok, cool just wondered.

They and ms "windows" , do have and offer a lot services that it would seem to be hard to
to find other services to replace.

[Steve James]

Google collects information, and that's how it succeeds as a business. It's valid to complain that Google (and other private companies) share information with governments. But, afa search engines, they all collect and store information that can be accessed. Trust really has nothing to do with it. The average end-user has no idea how or whether his information is being collected and shared.

Afa browsers, I use Firefox for some things, Google for others. Fwiw, IE has been replaced by Edge as the M$oft browser. It's clean, but it still kinda beta.
Personally, I assume that all browsers are unsafe. I do not plug in my camera or microphone unless I'm using them. Btw, smart tvs can also listen. In fact, everything that a consumer can speak to can also listen. Anyone out there with a cell phone or two?

The easiest solution for personal information security is to do everything old skool. I.e., go to the bank and fill out deposit and withdrawal slips; don't use the atm. Buy everything in the physical store, not online. Never fill out a form online --in any browser. Pay bills at the appropriate store. It's really not hard. It's just inconvenient.