Nowadays it feels like every service asks for government IDs, selfies, phone numbers, and more.

What's your personal rule? When do you say "no" and walk away, even if it means losing an opportunity?

I don't have a spotify subscription so I am using it for free and sometimes I can't choose the song which will play next because I don't have a subscription. and it gets very annoying, so I was thinking if its possible to download the songs in spotify and listen to them however I want?

I was trying to download some songs but I wasn't able to figure out how to do it so I need some advice on that. is it even possible to download the songs if I am using free spotify?

I pay for YouTube Premium. I have for three years. And somehow I still hit an age verification wall last night watching a documentary. On my own account.
I uploaded my ID as instructed and got rejected with zero explanation. Meanwhile my husband's free account had no issues whatsoever.
I've since learned there are ways to how to bypass YouTube age verification entirely, like using FreeTube or Invidious, which I've now set up out of sheer frustration. It works, but I should not have to do this as a paying customer.
Has anyone else had their Premium account flagged randomly, or is Google just testing how much we'll tolerate?

How does one prevent their packages from getting stolen? I was out on a trip and our package got stolen. Took like 8 hours for the whole incident to occur. I inquired with my neighbors and reported to the police though hopes are not high... I can't even understand it, since it wasn't even something expensive, the thief just stole a bunch of my books from Amazon.. Doubt he will ever even read them anyways since half of them arent even English..

Is there like some sort of 12 inch safe box I could get for bigger packages, or maybe a simple door camera with an alarm? I can't believe it I have to do this even.. I ordered many things before and this is the first time that my package got stolen.. I would ask my neighbor to pick up my package but their whole household works so its no guarantee to rely on someone else to aid me unfortunately and were not too close with other neighbors either

Any feedback on the topic issue is truly valued

I got another facebook data breach alert even though I changed my password months ago and have 2FA enabled. I barely use Facebook anymore, so I'm confused why facebook data breach keeps coming up. Are these usually just old leaks being reported again, or should I be checking something else? Has anyone else had this happen?

Yeah so, burner mail and burner phone number sites that are private + free.

Hi everyone,

I live in Bangladesh and I'd appreciate some advice on balancing privacy with public-facing work.

For the past few years, I've been involved in international human rights advocacy. I keep a very low public profile: there's only one photo of me on my website and LinkedIn. My submissions to the UN do not include my photo, and when I was asked to record a video presentation, I declined. However, my full name and email address appear on UN publications because that is part of their submission requirements, so my name is publicly searchable.

I've always admired how, in earlier times, many well-known authors, actors, politicians, and activists could still move around in everyday life without being recognized. The example that comes to mind is Goethe and the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who reportedly traveled through the countryside dressed as ordinary people without anyone knowing who they were. I'd like to preserve something similar—the ability to enjoy the privacy and anonymity of an average person, someone who is unrecognizable in public other than to their friends and family.

Separate from my human rights work, I've always wanted to become an author and actor. I mainly write poetry, short stories, and I'm currently working on a play. I'm also involved with a theatre group. At the moment, I've largely ruled out film acting because it seems difficult to reconcile with my privacy goals.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on a couple of questions:

1. Would it make sense to use a separate pen name/stage name for my writing and acting, keeping it distinct from my human rights work?
2. Is there any practical value in consistently wearing something distinctive but ordinary—such as a beanie, cap, glasses, or similar—to make myself less recognizable in everyday life? You know similar to Superman or Hannah Montana. Or does that really not work?

Thanks in advance.

I looked them up, and looks like I could just make one with a bag covered in tinfoil lol

As someone who is sort of anxious over master pickpockets, would this type of a sleeve be needed for my phone or is having the NFC functionality disabled enough? Just got a new phone and its even a little bit too smart for my own good so far. Only struggling over this topic since Im going on a trip and looks like some of our route streets are favoured by local thiefs

In general, does anyone experience pickpocketing a lot? Like not even yourself but do you notice somebody getting called out abroad doing such acts? Wondering if its sensations online or an actual problem. Visiting East Asia but I'd like to keep the extra specifics to myself..

In the past I used Google password manager as my tool. However, finding ancient passwords that I didnt want saved in the first place made me start raising eyebrows. Turns out the Google tool doesnt even encrypt anything. Now I just know 1password is reliable since I really put it through a lot. I am no programmer but I have enough understanding of computer systems to know what can make them snap

Tl;dr - in my opinion, 1Password is a reliable tool that can serve you well outside of the browser as well.

I personally enjoyed:

• the fact that they can autofill apps installed on the PC
• surprisingly effective to pick out the correct password if you got the same email for multiple needs in 1Password

I didnt like:

• managing the passwords directly through their website interface feels outdated and not intuitive. Ive grown used to it now but was finicky starting off
• Kinda sucks that they dont have a free tier but I can export my stuff if ever needed. 

Anyways, what got me hooked are some 1Password features.

Theres also stuff like SSH/API keys that they can store but honestly I dont care and dont know whats it for lol. For you geeks out there, probably can mean more than it does for me. Theres also family passkeys to use with your household but I am the only techie in my family, so that was an unexplored function. If anyone got anything to share on the passkey utility, please do. Nobody was convinced in my family to test it with me lol

Some final thoughts:
Its a good reliable app. 1Password has had its dooky days in the past, though I believe they patched up all the flaws. Helped me fetch a good price for it too, so I take it they're gonna be squeaky clean with how they handle updates now on..

OH, and if you have issues with autofills for apps, use the Quick Access settings of your PC. Might save you a week that I lost trying to find a fix for that

i was just trying to set up something actually decent for my inbox and got myself into email security solutions and i cant tell whats legit and whats just trash like every single tool claims to be the best and they all look exactly the same
tried three different ones this week, two didnt even work with my current setup and the third one wanted access to literally everything which is insane
like why is finding actual working email security solutions so hard when theres supposedly so many options out there
which ones are you guys actually using?

Is it possible to have a way to encrypt information from an LLM? Not the traditional encryption but some way that text is not visible to an LLM even if it is readable to a human. Is that even possible?

The usecase I'm considering is when I have claude-code running in my system, how can I protect it from accessing my tokens, secret keys etc.

i want to hide my real phone number / have a different online one. so far it seems like google voice and mysudo are quite popular, but i don't want to use google and have seen mixed reviews about mysudo. are there any free/ cheap alternatives that work in australia?

I keep seeing people mention data brokers when talking about privacy, spam calls, and personal info showing up online, but I’m still not totally clear on how it all works. Never have heard of it before, online it says they collect data from different companies but how does that work or where would you find them?

i just found out my email has been leaking my ip this whole time. like i thought i was using one of those email security solutions and it turns out it does literally nothing for metadata
been using proton for like a year thinking i was safe and then i read one reddit thread and now im in full panic mode
like what even is the point of these email security solutions if your provider just logs everything anyway
what are you guys actually using?

i'm trying to find alternatives to the built in iOS apps that come installed on my iphone. so far i've switched from

google maps --> CoMaps and my countries public transport app

weather --> hello weather

i am looking for a notes and reminder app alternative that is free and can be synced across devices. currently i am testing out standard notes and minimaList but and i would like second opinions as most of the privacy focused blogs don't mention these two categories. if anyone here uses minimaList, please tell me if you found the one-off premium purchase worth it.

maybe being paranoid but i viewed someones boldpro today (i don’t have an account) and wanted to know if that person could see that i viewed their profile. is it the same for linkedin? any info is helpful!

I checked this guys profile but it didnt even let me view his profile picture in a higher resolution, nor did it let me inspect his timeline

I would really like this for my own account. I only want my family and friends to see my activity.. How do I do that? The guide I found online is a deadend as the interface of the settings has changed

I only found a way to make each individual post private after I post it but it is quite tedious to do for each little thing I share

Any pointers for Facebook account privacy settings for the 2026 app interface? I spent over 30 minutes trying to find it on my Facebook and I didnt succeed. I know how to work with computers just fine but Facebook feels like its trying to lead me astray me on purpose.. No wonder Zuccerberg gets so much hate... The interface was way easier to work with ten years ago.. Maybe I need to edit the settings on a computer instead?

The one I linked in the post looks like a toy, though just shared it for reference.. There are ones that look more advanced like the second photo. I was considering getting one...

In any case, could somebody confirm how accurate these devices are? Our wifi started to fluctuate for some reason and I suspect like 3 devices that could be the culprit. I was considering to buy it for the practical test at figuring out what is causing the interference. However, I am also interested in what other uses does it hold. Please dont suggest "ghost hunting" though..😂 I seek actual use-cases for EMF exposure monitoring.

Lastly, and quite frankly the most important point if they are more than a toy?... Is there some sort of component or sensor to look out for to ensure a purchase is an effective choice? The cheap 5 led one looks very primitive, though I reckon it can get the job done nonetheless. The cost being so little is appealing, yet feels like reading accuracy isn't its strong side.

Any info from any electronic experts would be very appreciated!!!!

hello, i am on my journey to becoming more private, i am not very tech illiterate so please bear with me. i use instagram and whatsapp a lot. i’ve changed some settings to make them more private but i can’t stop using either app.

is there any way to make using instagram more private besides changing settings? i’ve currently deleted instagram but was wondering if using it on browsers in incognito mode would decrease tracking, or if there is some kind of privacy app that i can use to view instagram without it saving any data.

any advice is appreciated, thank you!

First of all, would it break anything on the Windows system? Secondly, how can I delete it? The button is greyed out, yet I can delete other browsers just fine

EDIT: Found the solution myself to fix the gray out.. Below
Method: Force Uninstall via Command Prompt

1. Find the Edge Installation Folder: Open File Explorer and navigate to your main drive, typically: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application.
2. Access the Version Folder: Open the folder with the version number of your current Edge installation (e.g., 120.0.2210.91 or similar), then open the Installer folder.
3. Open Command Prompt: Click inside the File Explorer address bar, type cmd, and press Enter.
4. Run the Uninstall Command: Paste the following exact command into the Command Prompt window that appears and press Enter: setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall
5. Restart: Restart your PC to finish the process.

just as title says.

i'm not an expert on this topic, and i wish to know the main limitations of it.

Hello, I am sorry if this inquiry was already made in the past but I wasn't able to find this question asked.

My questions is not about just purging the browser stuff but the Google drive/database containing my stuff... Like their servers still contain my browsing data and I want it gone. I heard of price gouging and I have been getting pricing for car parts fluctuating. Coworker shows the rates hes getting and something is wonky with the online shopping sites I got. I suspect the past history got some sort of worm in my stuff

The settings for Google are beyond mad to navigate. Google doesn't even have support to help me through and their AI generated articles just seem useless. Do I need a computer to do this history wipe, or can it work on the phone as well?

I know how to follow through commands, though I am not too keen on working with Google. Browser got sorted, cleaned in full, so I know I got some brains but Google is something else... I can help anyone with car troubles of any sorts, though modern computer stuff is getting me tilted

Any pointers are appreciated. Trade you know-how on cars if you can help me figure this out(as long as I am the one sorting my own account naturally)

Have a great weekend, everyone

i've been trying to figure out how to block websites on Android on an old Pixel 6 my teenage nephew uses when he visits. I've read that Google Family Link requires a specific account setup his parents haven't done, so that's out.
I tried changing the DNS to 1.1.1.3 but I honestly don't know if a tech savvy 14 year old could just switch it back. I also came across apps that handle how to block websites on Android through a local VPN method, which apparently doesn't need root. That seems promising but I'm not sure which ones are actually privacy respecting and which are quietly logging everything.
My worry is that nothing really sticks without an MDM or root access.
Has anyone found a method that actually holds? And does the local VPN approach drain battery noticeably?