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U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack
(www.nbcnews.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2024
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the safest perspective to have is this -
every single thing you send online is going to be there forever. "the cloud" is someone's server and constitutes online. even end to end encryption isn't necessarily going to save you.
for example iCloud backup is encrypted. but Apple in the past has kept a copy of your encryption key on your iCloud. why? because consumers who choose to encrypt and lose their passwords are gonna freak out when all their data is effectively gone forever.
so when FBI comes a'knocking to Apple with a subpoena.. once they get access to that encryption key it doesn't matter if you have the strongest encryption in the world
my advice
never ever ever write something online that you do not want everybody in the world seeing.
to put on my tin foil hat, i believe government probably has access to methods that break modern encryptions. in theory with quantum computers it shouldn't be difficult
I'd imagine operating a quantum computer for blanket surveillance is cost-prohibitive, but yea, if you've given them reason to look at you just assume they have the means to break your encryption.
I agree with you and I don't put anything that I would consider questionable online, at least not these days. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what adjustments to make in addition to worrying about personal things I've already shared, like my gender and race. You know what I mean? I'm a married woman, and I have info in various places about our family planning choices, to give an example. That's really starting to worry me, but how can I even begin to delete my data? It's everywhere. Every doctor has their own patient portal, I have multiple email accounts, and I don't even want to think about the dumb shit I might have posted when YouTube comment sections were new.
It's all really overwhelming.
yeah i just try not to think about it. I'm glad I was in the myspace generation during my teenage years. so I was actually able to just delete my myspace later on as an adult
i feel worse for the kids growing up today. they don't fully understand the implications of what they are posting online. anything and everything is being recorded forever. my generation got a chance to be a stupid kid and have it be forgotten. today's kids don't get that opportunity
the best you can do, though, is just stop posting potentially damaging things online. you can't change what you already posted. and 999 times out of a thousand, it's not gonna hurt you.
i understand the overwhelmed feeling though
Thanks, I appreciate the commiserating, it does make me feel a little better.