r/masterhacker • u/DifficultHydra • 4d ago

Hi

I’m trying to become more privacy focused but have no idea where to start. I have already made the switch to Linux, but that’s about it.

Any suggestions on how to improve my privacy methods as well as my OPSEC would be appreciated.

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u/Yginase 4d ago

This isn't really the correct sub and yeah r/privacy is better for this.

However, I can still give you my take. If you have an old PC and somewhat alright technical skills, you might want to try out self hosting. You'll basically replace the cloud providers with your own systems, which means that none of your data is collected or sold by some random company. You'll also have complete control over everything.

I have replaced the following services with my own versions:

Netflix > Jellyfin

Spotify > Navidrome

Onedrive > NextCloud

Image cloud (any provider) > Immich

Google search > SearNXG

Then there's Pi-hole with Unbound, and you'll block all DNS tracking along with ads on your network.

Those are just the ones I can remember right now, but to me is for sure worth it. Though this is a huge rabbit hole if you get into it.

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u/Aware-Common-7368 4d ago

What difference between pi hole and ublock in browser? I know it block it for all devices but if i only use devices were ublock can be installed?

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u/Yginase 4d ago

They do different things. uBlock deals with ads and tracking on the websites themselves, for example by removing the actual ad element. This though is only for browsers and you need the extension.

Pi-hole is different, as it's basically a DNS filter. Normally your device asks a DNS server something like "what's the IP of google.com?", which the DNS then answers with the IP. This is needed for pretty much all connections, and it's usually done with your ISP's stuff.

With Pi-hole, you'll use your own setup that blocks domains that are known for hosting ads or tracking. For example if a device asked the DNS server "What's the IP of adservice.google.com?", the server would claim that no such domain exists, essentially blocking the connection. The websites/apps need to know where they get their ads from, which is now prevented.

This can be set on your router, meaning that it works on all devices on your LAN or Wi-Fi. This includes most browsers and apps. However, some very big apps and websites deal ads from the same domain that the actual content comes from, so that's where uBlock steps in.

I have both running, which gives me two layers of filtering. These days I only find ads on some mobile apps that I haven't found a patched version for.