How to shield all your electronic communications from the NSA

[donnay]

How to shield all your electronic communications from the NSA

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes


In the wake of recent revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government snoops are monitoring the electronic communications of U.S. citizens, millions of us wanted to know what, if anything, we could do to protect our email, cell phone conversations, chat sessions from Big Brother in the future.

Now, granted, the technological capabilities of the NSA are massive. And, as was revealed in subsequent news reports following the initial revelations about the NSA, tech companies and Internet Service Providers are in cahoots with the government, so they're not going to protect you. Further, the Fourth Amendment appears to mean nothing to the Obama Aadministration.

What's a poor, hapless citizen to do? First off, take a deep breath and read on. There are things you can do.


'Pretty Good Privacy'
Per Slate:

Not every communication can be tracked and eavesdropped on by the government, however, and there are ways to reduce the chances of being snooped on. First, instead of browsing the Internet in a way that reveals your IP address, you can mask your identity by using an anonymizing tool like Tor (https://www.torproject.org) or by connecting to the Web using a Virtual Private Network (https://www.torproject.org). Additionally, you can avoid Google search by using an alternative like Ixquick (https://ixquick.com/eng/), which has solid privacy credentials and says it does not log any IP addresses or search terms or share information with third parties.

Want to send protected email? You can do that as well. If you happen to be using a commercial email provider like Google, Yahoo! or another service identified as having been co-opted by PRISM, the NSA's snoop program, you can certainly slow down the agency by sending and receiving emails encrypted with PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which has been around for years, or a free alternative, GPG (http://www.gnupg.org/). Both of these products can be used to encrypt and decrypt email messages - unless, however, you have Trojan spyware installed on your machine.

"Novice computer users learning how to use PGP or GPG may find it a daunting prospect at first, but there are plenty of tutorials online for both Mac and Windows users that can help guide you through the process," says Slate

If you happen to be a journalist and you are working with confidential sources or an attorney seeking to protect attorney-client conversations - or if you just require security communications - learning how to use either of these protective programs will be a must in the near- and long-term.

Organizations or firms could go even further and stop using a third-party service and instead set up their own email server, "helping ensure no secret court orders can be filed to gain covert access to confidential files," Slate reports. Private documents can be stored online, if necessary, and kept shielded using Cloudfogger (http://www.cloudfogger.com/en/) in conjunction with Dropbox.

Instant messaging and phone or video chats can be better protected if you avoid using Microsoft and Google-based services such as Skype and Gchat and instead adopt more secure forms of communication. Those include Jitsi (https://jitsi.org/), which can be utilized for peer-to-peer calls video calls that are encrypted.


Set-up takes some time but it'll be worth it

For encrypted instant message chats you could try an "off the record" plugin like Pidgin (http://www.pidgin.im/) for Windows users and Adium (http://adium.im/) for Mac machines.

For instant messaging and online phone or video chats, you can avoid Microsoft and Google services like Skype and Gchat by adopting more secure alternatives. Jitsi can be used for peer-to-peer encrypted video calls, and for encrypted instant message chats you can try using an "off the record" plugin with Pidgin for Windows users or Adium for Mac.

"Like using PGP encryption, both Pidgin and Adium can take a little bit of work to set up - but there are tutorials to help ease the pain, like this (www.encrypteverything.ca) for setting up Adium and this (https://securityinabox.org/en/pidgin_securechat) tutorial for Pidgin," Slate notes.

Technology advances have made it nearly effortless for governments to spy on citizens. While this practice is common in other countries, the U.S. Constitution, under the Fourth Amendment, absolutely prohibits the kind of blanket surveillance being conducted by the NSA. That the agency received permission to do so from the FISA court - which conducts its business in secret - is not the same thing as having the authority to do so. If that were the case federal courts could grant any number of federal agencies permission to violate every single provision of the Constitution.

That said, it is highly unlikely those responsible for ordering the NSA to spy on American citizens are going to be reprimanded, so the best thing you can do in the meantime is protect your electronic communications as best as you can.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.slate.com

https://www.torproject.org

https://ixquick.com/eng/


Source:
http://www.naturalnews.com/040935_NSA_Fourth_Amendment_email_encryption.html# ixzz2XElAv0rk

[69360]

Seems like a huge waste of your time for little to no gain. I just assume they can read everything I do and go on with my life, you'll drive yourself nuts worrying about it.

[Elias Graves]

I'm not going to make any efforts to hide. My freedom is mine and mine alone. I shall not shrink from evil.

[better-dead-than-fed]

Encryption won't stop gov-spyware: http://ablogonpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/06/microsoft-helping-us-government-spy-on.html

Glazebrook was a savy hacker, but when the FBI wanted to infiltrate his computer: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/07/fbi-spyware-how/

[Nobexliberty]

Old tech rules!:)
http://blog-v2.tweaky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/typewriter.jpg

[DGambler]

Seems like a huge waste of your time for little to no gain. I just assume they can read everything I do and go on with my life, you'll drive yourself nuts worrying about it.

So I should just give up and not give a shit that they're illegally spying on me? I'll just go nuts worrying about it? I think that sort of attitude is exactly what got us to this point to begin with.

[Elias Graves]

Low tech rules!:)
http://blog-v2.tweaky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/typewriter.jpg

:D

[donnay]

So I should just give up and not give a shit that they're illegally spying on me? I'll just go nuts worrying about it? I think that sort of attitude is exactly what got us to this point to begin with.


Exactly! Any way I can make it harder for them (them being the Feds) I am going to do it. Screw them!

[luctor-et-emergo]

Low tech rules!:)
http://blog-v2.tweaky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/typewriter.jpg

Real typewriters are pretty high tech. Just find someone that knows how to make one that works reliably. :D
Right, there's a whole bunch more people that can assemble a computer for you.

Btw, I love classical typewriters, still looking for a really nice one. (to use)

[aGameOfThrones]

http://img.pandawhale.com/29403-Ron-Swanson-throw-out-computer-fFkQ.gif

[Sola_Fide]

Too bad we cant mind meld.

[Occam's Banana]

Why is this, of all things, something we should argue over?

On the one hand, you can say, "Any way I can make it harder for them (them being the Feds) I am going to do it. Screw them!" (just like donnay just did) - in which case the rest of us should reply, "Hell, yeah! Do it! More power to you!"

On the other hand, you can say (as I do), "I'm gonna shove my middle finger right in their goddam faces! Fuck you, NSA! Read my shit - and see just how much I despise you and your lot!" - in which case the rest of us should reply, "Hell, yeah! Do it! More power to you!"

Or you can do both. Use PGP/GPG, VPNs, or whatever when you really do need to keep what you're doing secret - and don't bother with it when you're in the "Hey, assholes! Bite me!" zone.

And exactly the same thing goes when it comes to using (or not using) Facebook, Twitter, etc.

[DamianTV]

Seems like a huge waste of your time for little to no gain. I just assume they can read everything I do and go on with my life, you'll drive yourself nuts worrying about it.

They'll eventually throw you in jail if you dont worry at least somewhat about it.

The average person commits THREE FELONIES PER DAY. This is nothing short of the DIGITAL INQUISITION.

(Behavior sucessfully modified by Surveillance.)

[FunkBuddha]

Can anyone recommend an anonymous VPN that supports remote port forwarding?

[Tod]

Old tech rules!:)
http://blog-v2.tweaky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/typewriter.jpg

Have you ever actually typed on one of those puppies? I have and my mom STILL does to this day. Builds character. And finger muscles.

[Tod]

Back on the job after being off for 30 years...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCCFS_lhA8

[Nobexliberty]

Have you ever actually typed on one of those puppies? I have and my mom STILL does to this day. Builds character. And finger muscles. I have typed on my grandmas, I learned the real reason why old people have so strong fingers.

[DamianTV]

Can anyone recommend an anonymous VPN that supports remote port forwarding?

Ive been going with PrivateInternetAccess.com. You can chat them on their website about the port forwarding. I have ports forwarded on my router and havent had a lick of trouble.

[FunkBuddha]

Ive been going with PrivateInternetAccess.com. You can chat them on their website about the port forwarding. I have ports forwarded on my router and havent had a lick of trouble.

That's who I was considering. Thanks. They do support port forwarding so I'll give them a shot.

[shane77m]

Hey NSA. I fart in your general direction.


http://youtu.be/A8yjNbcKkNY

[69360]

So I should just give up and not give a shit that they're illegally spying on me? I'll just go nuts worrying about it? I think that sort of attitude is exactly what got us to this point to begin with.

Speak out against it, but if you really try and hide every word you say they already won.


They'll eventually throw you in jail if you dont worry at least somewhat about it.

The average person commits THREE FELONIES PER DAY. This is nothing short of the DIGITAL INQUISITION.

(Behavior sucessfully modified by Surveillance.)

Feds can't afford 3 hots and a cot for all of us, we'd win eventually.

[nlitement]

There are friends I have who are either highly technically savvy, or have enough patience and place enough trust in me to let me introduce them to encryption; I can talk with them securely without the NSA realistically being able to snoop any of it. Encryption is not by any means some privilege afforded only to government spies. That might have been the case some 20 years ago still, but not anymore: much like Prometheus stole fire from the gods to gift it to the people, people like Phil Zimmermann brought us PGP, so everybody and their dog have access to easy tools to encryption technology that the FBI or NSA cannot crack. More people ought to know this, and the tech crowd has a duty to educate people on this.

If there is anything that you can do that is the most cost-effective to promote privacy and basic liberties, it is to secure your data.

I am even seriously considering creating a comprehensive YouTube video series on data security, encryption, and just trying to give people an introduction on data and networking systems. I want people to encrypt their hard drives or sign their emails with PGP/GPG or use "off-the-record" (OTR) chat KNOWING that it works, and not just trusting that it works because "my computer guy friend told me it does".

Until that, though, dear lovers of freedom: I would be eager to hear questions from anyone who is interested to know more about securing their communications and data, and what government surveillance is and isn't capable of. I'm sure there are plenty of other users more knowledgeable than me here who would also be happy to answer your questions.

[AlexAmore]

I think the worst thing you can do is give yourself a false sense of security. Also fiddling around with this stuff is gonna send red flags. Didn't the NSA say anything encrypted was simply put to the side until they could break it?

If you want secure communication,. Learn from weed shippers. Create a package of mundane bullshit and hide your note in a secret nook, compartment or whatever.

[better-dead-than-fed]

what software should i use when they are literally standing right behind me watching what i am typing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZYXb_HdIQhS1l5NGVZa3VMLTg/edit?usp=sharing

[nlitement]

I think the worst thing you can do is give yourself a false sense of security. Also fiddling around with this stuff is gonna send red flags. Didn't the NSA say anything encrypted was simply put to the side until they could break it?

If you want secure communication,. Learn from weed shippers. Create a package of mundane bullshit and hide your note in a secret nook, compartment or whatever.
Ah, but Alex, have you heard the good news?

From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/28/brazil_banker_crypto_lock_out/

Brazilian police seized five hard drives when they raided the Rio apartment of banker Daniel Dantas as part of Operation Satyagraha in July 2008. But subsequent efforts to decrypt files held on the hardware using a variety of dictionary-based attacks failed even after the South Americans called in the assistance of the FBI.

The files were encrypted using Truecrypt and an unnamed algorithm, reportedly based on the 256-bit AES standard. In the UK, Dantas would be compelled to reveal his passphrase under threat of imprisonment, but no such law exists in Brazil.

The Brazilian National Institute of Criminology (INC) tried for five months to obtain access to the encrypted data without success before turning over the job to code-breakers at the FBI in early 2009. US computer specialists also drew a blank even after 12 months of efforts to crack the code, Brazil's Globo newspaper reports.

Why is this possible? Because the AES encryption standard is secure enough that if properly used, decrypting it would take an absurd amount of time (hundreds of years if using the most powerful of computers of today). As a matter of fact, AES is approved by NSA for use in storing top secret documents.

I believe in a future where the mass adoption of this kind of technology will lead to the ultimate collapse of the kind of mass surveillance unveiled by Snowden. Just like you have keys to lock your door and bike and car, you will have keys to lock your Facebook correspondence, your cat photos, the most mundane of data to the extent that it will frustrate attempts to spy on you because using encryption will not make you stand out from the crowd.

[KEEF]

How to shield all your electronic communications from the NSA

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes


In the wake of recent revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government snoops are monitoring the electronic communications of U.S. citizens, millions of us wanted to know what, if anything, we could do to protect our email, cell phone conversations, chat sessions from Big Brother in the future.

Now, granted, the technological capabilities of the NSA are massive. And, as was revealed in subsequent news reports following the initial revelations about the NSA, tech companies and Internet Service Providers are in cahoots with the government, so they're not going to protect you. Further, the Fourth Amendment appears to mean nothing to the Obama Aadministration.

What's a poor, hapless citizen to do? First off, take a deep breath and read on. There are things you can do.


'Pretty Good Privacy'
Per Slate:

Not every communication can be tracked and eavesdropped on by the government, however, and there are ways to reduce the chances of being snooped on. First, instead of browsing the Internet in a way that reveals your IP address, you can mask your identity by using an anonymizing tool like Tor (https://www.torproject.org) or by connecting to the Web using a Virtual Private Network (https://www.torproject.org). Additionally, you can avoid Google search by using an alternative like Ixquick (https://ixquick.com/eng/), which has solid privacy credentials and says it does not log any IP addresses or search terms or share information with third parties.

Want to send protected email? You can do that as well. If you happen to be using a commercial email provider like Google, Yahoo! or another service identified as having been co-opted by PRISM, the NSA's snoop program, you can certainly slow down the agency by sending and receiving emails encrypted with PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which has been around for years, or a free alternative, GPG (http://www.gnupg.org/). Both of these products can be used to encrypt and decrypt email messages - unless, however, you have Trojan spyware installed on your machine.

"Novice computer users learning how to use PGP or GPG may find it a daunting prospect at first, but there are plenty of tutorials online for both Mac and Windows users that can help guide you through the process," says Slate

If you happen to be a journalist and you are working with confidential sources or an attorney seeking to protect attorney-client conversations - or if you just require security communications - learning how to use either of these protective programs will be a must in the near- and long-term.

Organizations or firms could go even further and stop using a third-party service and instead set up their own email server, "helping ensure no secret court orders can be filed to gain covert access to confidential files," Slate reports. Private documents can be stored online, if necessary, and kept shielded using Cloudfogger (http://www.cloudfogger.com/en/) in conjunction with Dropbox.

Instant messaging and phone or video chats can be better protected if you avoid using Microsoft and Google-based services such as Skype and Gchat and instead adopt more secure forms of communication. Those include Jitsi (https://jitsi.org/), which can be utilized for peer-to-peer calls video calls that are encrypted.


Set-up takes some time but it'll be worth it

For encrypted instant message chats you could try an "off the record" plugin like Pidgin (http://www.pidgin.im/) for Windows users and Adium (http://adium.im/) for Mac machines.

For instant messaging and online phone or video chats, you can avoid Microsoft and Google services like Skype and Gchat by adopting more secure alternatives. Jitsi can be used for peer-to-peer encrypted video calls, and for encrypted instant message chats you can try using an "off the record" plugin with Pidgin for Windows users or Adium for Mac.

"Like using PGP encryption, both Pidgin and Adium can take a little bit of work to set up - but there are tutorials to help ease the pain, like this (www.encrypteverything.ca (http://www.encrypteverything.ca)) for setting up Adium and this (https://securityinabox.org/en/pidgin_securechat) tutorial for Pidgin," Slate notes.

Technology advances have made it nearly effortless for governments to spy on citizens. While this practice is common in other countries, the U.S. Constitution, under the Fourth Amendment, absolutely prohibits the kind of blanket surveillance being conducted by the NSA. That the agency received permission to do so from the FISA court - which conducts its business in secret - is not the same thing as having the authority to do so. If that were the case federal courts could grant any number of federal agencies permission to violate every single provision of the Constitution.

That said, it is highly unlikely those responsible for ordering the NSA to spy on American citizens are going to be reprimanded, so the best thing you can do in the meantime is protect your electronic communications as best as you can.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.slate.com

https://www.torproject.org

https://ixquick.com/eng/


Source:
http://www.naturalnews.com/040935_NSA_Fourth_Amendment_email_encryption.html# ixzz2XElAv0rk
To use The Man's own argument, by revealing all of this information, you just aided the enemy. Now the enemy (The Man) is changing their strategies on how they are going to track the American people.;)

[AlexAmore]

Ah, but Alex, have you heard the good news?

From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/28/brazil_banker_crypto_lock_out/


Why is this possible? Because the AES encryption standard is secure enough that if properly used, decrypting it would take an absurd amount of time (hundreds of years if using the most powerful of computers of today). As a matter of fact, AES is approved by NSA for use in storing top secret documents.

I believe in a future where the mass adoption of this kind of technology will lead to the ultimate collapse of the kind of mass surveillance unveiled by Snowden. Just like you have keys to lock your door and bike and car, you will have keys to lock your Facebook correspondence, your cat photos, the most mundane of data to the extent that it will frustrate attempts to spy on you because using encryption will not make you stand out from the crowd.

I'm such a jaded pessimist, I'm actually laughing at myself for it while writing this. I would just assume it's all staged, and they broke the encryption and didn't tell anyone for obvious reasons.

I'm pretty sure it was NSA documentary on discovery channel where a female NSA worker said they're about 30 years ahead of the private sector. My memory's fuzzy so it may be 20 years or something...either way...

[TonySutton]

If they are archiving all of the data our goal should be to upload tons of high quality pictures and overload the system with crap. Feed the monster until it explodes!

[DamianTV]

There are friends I have who are either highly technically savvy, or have enough patience and place enough trust in me to let me introduce them to encryption; I can talk with them securely without the NSA realistically being able to snoop any of it. Encryption is not by any means some privilege afforded only to government spies. That might have been the case some 20 years ago still, but not anymore: much like Prometheus stole fire from the gods to gift it to the people, people like Phil Zimmermann brought us PGP, so everybody and their dog have access to easy tools to encryption technology that the FBI or NSA cannot crack. More people ought to know this, and the tech crowd has a duty to educate people on this.

If there is anything that you can do that is the most cost-effective to promote privacy and basic liberties, it is to secure your data.

I am even seriously considering creating a comprehensive YouTube video series on data security, encryption, and just trying to give people an introduction on data and networking systems. I want people to encrypt their hard drives or sign their emails with PGP/GPG or use "off-the-record" (OTR) chat KNOWING that it works, and not just trusting that it works because "my computer guy friend told me it does".

Until that, though, dear lovers of freedom: I would be eager to hear questions from anyone who is interested to know more about securing their communications and data, and what government surveillance is and isn't capable of. I'm sure there are plenty of other users more knowledgeable than me here who would also be happy to answer your questions.

I think its a good idea. First though, I need to challenge you. Well, anyone in the Ron Paul Forums who reads this message.

First person to Decrypt the following message gets a +Rep.


SGVsbG8gUm9uIFBhdWwgRm9ydW1zIQ==

(Hint: Its base64 encoded, which should make this challenge as simple as it gets...)

[CaseyJones]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/e7e12d968ec2a96c2d25198edefb933d/tumblr_mor9opBJxX1rxf7n9o1_500.jpg

[Warlord]

gpg4usb is the best thing for encrypting messages and this is the safest thing to use. You only need to import the receivers key and then you can encrypt messages to it, then paste them into emails. They can then decrypt. Very easy to do with this software and it's the safest thing.

Approved 100% by proscribed networks worldwide!

Also free

[DamianTV]

SGVsbG8gUm9uIFBhdWwgRm9ydW1zIQ==

Nobody can base64 decode that? Really?

(I know, Im impatient)

[liberty2897]

Nobody can base64 decode that? Really?

(I know, Im impatient)

echo "SGVsbG8gUm9uIFBhdWwgRm9ydW1zIQ==" >t.out |base64 -d t.out
Hello Ron Paul Forums!

[DamianTV]

echo "SGVsbG8gUm9uIFBhdWwgRm9ydW1zIQ==" >t.out |base64 -d t.out
Hello Ron Paul Forums!

See? Not that hard! Of course this one isnt very secure. I could try for something harder like an MD5 hash which is supposed to be a one way encryption. But being one way, it always encrypts the same thing the same way so there are databases out there that just searches for the encryption string and returns the original unencoded.

[Matt Collins]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgoshegqAn1qbazqio1_500.jpg

[Warlord]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgoshegqAn1qbazqio1_500.jpg

Disrespectful.

Perhaps you should get the memo: The NSA tap everything via GCHQ. Every fiber optic cable and everything that goes through them. If you're discussing political strategy our opponents can freely monitor us unless we scramble and encrypt our communications so they cannot be read when traveling through these cables. Encryption is also vital for commercially sensitive material and communications. The NSA can absolutely intercept everything. Assume you're opponents and rivals are doing this and take security measures.

[Matt Collins]

Disrespectful.It was a joke, have a sense of humor, laugh, it's good for you... sheesh :rolleyes:

[Warlord]

It was a joke, have a sense of humor, laugh, it's good for you... sheesh :rolleyes:

These are deadly serious matters Mr. Collins. I implore you to look into encrypting everything that is sensitive. That's what Warlord and his men do.

[Matt Collins]

These are deadly serious matters Mr. Collins.LOLz, never take yourself too seriously. And one should be able to laugh at deadly serious matters, even while taking them seriously.

[better-dead-than-fed]

I think the problem is more the constant following and watching of everything.

https://sites.google.com/site/macguineas/_/rsrc/1372298867549/surveillance/cigs.jpg

[Michigan11]

The key is we need to watch what they are watching.

[heavenlyboy34]

These are deadly serious matters Mr. Collins. I implore you to look into encrypting everything that is sensitive. That's what Warlord and his men do.
http://www.innerfx.com/wp-content/charts/2011/05/internet-serious-business.jpg

[tod evans]

The key is we need to watch what they are watching.

Then they'll need to watch us watching them and, and....

Sounds like a new government make work program for those to lazy to build bridges...

[Warlord]

http://www.innerfx.com/wp-content/charts/2011/05/internet-serious-business.jpg

very, very, very, very serious HB.

[liberty2897]

encrypted message
0x71, 0x02, 0x00, 0x03, 0x51, 0x91, 0x12, 0x63, 0x76, 0xc6, 0x25, 0x5c,
0x47, 0xc0, 0xec, 0x51, 0x5e, 0x03, 0x85, 0xfe, 0x1a, 0xc4, 0xd6, 0x8d,
0x68, 0xe1, 0xf1, 0xa8, 0xdc, 0xb6, 0x06, 0x06, 0x04, 0xbf, 0xd6, 0x76,
0x7a, 0x83, 0x92, 0xd8, 0xc8, 0x8e, 0x05, 0x52, 0x2d, 0xaa, 0x8b, 0x5a,
0xff, 0xb9, 0x51, 0x4d, 0xc7, 0x30, 0x16, 0xe0, 0x3d, 0x61, 0xca, 0xfb,
0xac, 0xed, 0x33, 0x65, 0x67, 0x22, 0x91, 0xeb, 0xe0, 0xba, 0xe3, 0xa1,
0x68, 0x94, 0x02, 0x0d, 0x3e, 0x3e, 0x2f, 0x89

the key: (not a very good one)
3e:72:6f:6e:70:61:75:6c:66:6f:72:75:6d:73:74:68:69 :73:69:73:61:73:74:75:70:69:64:6b:65:79:3c:21

hint: AES

[american.swan]

The best coded messages are in plain sight, are they not? A code based on vocabulary and whatnot or taken from ordinary online posts?

Anyways, check out Anonymous' guide to online privacy and security. It's online. It's rather complex.

[opal]

Real typewriters are pretty high tech. Just find someone that knows how to make one that works reliably. :D
Right, there's a whole bunch more people that can assemble a computer for you.

Btw, I love classical typewriters, still looking for a really nice one. (to use)

That was my grandfather's business. typewriter repair - when we moved him from upstate NY to Florida, we cleaned out his house - he was 91 at the time. There had to be 200 typewriters in some state of being repaired tucked away in every nook in that house. I think my mom still has a couple of them. I have no clue what happened to my last one.

and to fuck with the nsa learn to speak a different language to confuse them.. you know, like the language of Cousin It.

[heavenlyboy34]

That was my grandfather's business. typewriter repair - when we moved him from upstate NY to Florida, we cleaned out his house - he was 91 at the time. There had to be 200 typewriters in some state of being repaired tucked away in every nook in that house. I think my mom still has a couple of them. I have no clue what happened to my last one.

and to fuck with the nsa learn to speak a different language to confuse them.. you know, like the language of Cousin It.
Мне кажется, Русский язык-это лучщий.

[bolil]

I hide nothing, and don't blame the more prudent for feeling otherwise. Fuck these criminals. There are more of us, and in the end if it is true that all power comes from a barrel, we have the power. Or hide, which is fine and not cowardly, at least not to me. But like a brave man once said in a movie I once watched: "What will you think of yourself in the morning?"

[liberty2897]

I hide nothing, and don't blame the more prudent for feeling otherwise. Fuck these criminals. There are more of us, and in the end if it is true that all power comes from a barrel, we have the power. Or hide, which is fine and not cowardly, at least not to me. But like a brave man once said in a movie I once watched: "What will you think of yourself in the morning?"

I have operated like this for a long time now myself. The problem with accepting the fact that NSA and corporations spy on us is that you are exposing your friends, family, and other contacts. If we really want to prevent the worst possible outcomes of a police state, we are going to have to start acting responsibly and protect ourselves from an intruding fascist government. You really can't expect anonymity, but if we start to protect ourselves (google, facebook, etc sure as hell won't do it for us) with technology available, then we can delay or possibly prevent what seems like an inevitability right now.

[muh_roads]

That pidgin plugin is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Everyone and their friends should encrypt everything they do & waste the NSA's time trying to decrypt the average mundane talk.

We can't stop the NSA...but we can make their efforts pointless if we all do it.