More ways to stay private?

[egx470]

@pebcak @PNJ88_Beast @Grendel

Anyone aware of Insular? Any known issues? Is there a better alternative?

I can’t get Shelter working anylonger. It is stuck on

[pebcak]

@egx470

Insular

I haven’t used it so I don’t know how it compares to Shelter. But having looked at the page you linked to, it looks like that it offers more or less the same functionality as Shelter.

[Grendel]

Otherwise try Island. Download apk from here. Very similar to Shelter.

[egx470]

@pebcak @Grendel
I let the Shelter app spin overnight. When I woke up it was loaded correctly, just took a long time. Thanks for the pointers. Good to see a few sandbox choices listed here now.

[pebcak]

Good to hear that it got sorted out by itself. It needed some time!
Have a nice weekend @egx470!

[PNJ88_Beast]

I’ve never heard of Insular but it looks good, I will have to give it a try and see if I can make it work instead of Shelter. Nice find!

[tonton1]

Hi @Pitteke,

Depending on who you want to stay private (GAFAM or 5eyes), I would consider:
Level 1:

• setup device encryption and strong password
• get rid of the app with trackers
• check your current Broswer to fingerprint identification. look for alternatives (previous post have suggested one I will check)

Level 2:

• Signal: they use Amazon Web Service (AWS), with server based in the US. You can easily check this with app like Net Monitor and see what are the connection. In my humble opinion end-to-end encryption seems safe with Signal, but your metadata (who you talk to, when… = contacts list) might not be. Consider if possible an alternative to it. Remember, the more you want to be anonymous / private, the more you will trigger interest from Intelligence service.
• replace all your software with open source alternatives. Remember non-free drivers and hardware can still have government back door.

Level 3:

• physically remove (desolder) both microphone on you phone and use a handset instead for call
• use camera cover slider or desolder
• send all web trafic via TOR

Even will all of that done, I would not consider the phone as safe (back door can still be present or 0day exploit used). So when you want to stay as private as possible, leave your dailly phone at home and use a dedicated one, which ideally can be used fully offline (ex: for GPS navigation) and never ever connect it to internet.

Cheers,