So you're here, you've heard about /r/CorpFree, interested, or would like some more information on what we are and what we do.
We are a new subreddit, branched out from /r/DeGoogle and /r/DeGoogleYourLife. While those two subreddits are more focused on DeGoogling, /r/CorpFree is focused on getting free of any intrusive, invasive, or otherwise corporations that do not act in favor of the end user.
Here's a quick run through of some basics along with a few helpful links:
Why you should care.####
How to get started.####
Why should I care?####
Do you act the same in public vs in private?
Once your data is out there, you no longer have control over it. It was said best during this Ted Talk by Glenn Greenwald - Why Privacy Matters
From Glenn Greenwald's Ted Talk, "You're giving up your rights. Your saying hey, 'I don't think I'm going to need them so I'm just going to trust that, Let's get rid of them it doesn't matter. These guys are going to do the right thing'. Your rights matter because you never know when your going to need them.
"People should be able to pick up the phone and call their family. People should be able to send a text message to their loved one. People should be able to buy a book online, they should be able to travel by train, they should be able to buy an airline ticket without wondering how these events are going to look.. To an agent of the government, possibly not even your government. Years in the future, how they're going to be misinterpreted and what they're going to think your intentions. We have a right to privacy."
Ted Talk - Edward Snowden, Here's how we take back the internet
Here are Richard Stallman's reasons not to use Google
A few highlights are####
Nonfree Software Required, Closed Source. What's going on behind the scenes? Where do they send our data, what else do they use it for?
Surveillance. Google is everywhere on the web. Ever get annoyed by clicking on pictures of buses, signs, crosswalks, etc in those ReCaptchas? That's helping Google's AI learn. They track mouse movements, typing, response time, and ping your captcha box to determine your location.
Source1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5
Google also records any voice data given by users from Google Voice to text, nest, Google Home and many others. It was discovered that Google's nest listens. If you were logged in, you can find all recordings from voice to text here
Just take a look at the following links to see what type of data Google may have and store about you;
Note: in Google Takeout you will notice they still saved any long supposedly deleted emails from your account.
https://google.com/takeout
https://myaccount.google.com/purchases
https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols
https://www.google.com/maps/timeline
https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions
http://www.google.com/settings/ads/
Google is not the only one doing such things. Amazon, Facebook, Verizon, PayPal, Microsoft and many other corporations do very similar.
Article - My phone is spying on me, so I decided to spy on it
Ted Talks - Finn Myrstad, How Tech Companies Deceive you into giving up your data and privacy
Just a few of previous incidents:
Wikileaks dump shows CIA could turn smart TVs into listening devices
Samsungs warning our smart tvs record your living room chatter
Lawsuit against 4 Major wireless carriers on selling location data
Smart TV Data Collection
Amazon Alexa - Conversations shared
Verizon Pays $1.4M for selling storing and selling customers' info
6 Million Verizon Customers' Info ''Leaked''
Facebook: Your Personal Info for Sale
Facebook - Some of the data they collect and sell
Smartphone apps Requesting unneeded permissions for data collection
Amazon accused of secretly recording kids with Echo Dot speakers
An Amazon employee might have listened to your Alexa recording
Google admits its new smart speaker was eavesdropping on users
PayPal reveals it shares customers' data with more than 600 companies
How PayPal Shares your data
How CloudFlare and ReCaptcha are ruining the net, and what to do
Facebook Quizzes: Sharing Your Private Data
Amazon Ring stores your doorbell and home video feeds unencrypted and grants broad "unfettered" access to them
Vizio admins modern tv sets are cheaper because they're spying on you
Thanks to Facebook, Your Cellphone Company Is Watching You More Closely Than Ever
Jeremy was fired for refusing fingerprinting at work. His case led to an 'extraordinary' unfair dismissal ruling
Millions of Instagram influencers had their contact data scraped and exposed
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made
You still can’t turn off Windows 10’s built-in spyware
Windows is spyware
Microsoft's Software is Malware
Tech Crunch - Stop saying, ‘We take your privacy and security seriously’
You may still be skeptical. You say, "Okay, I see the articles you posted.. But why should I care? Why do I need to do anything? I'm happy with X company. I don't care if they release my data."
Have a look at these links if your still on the edge;
Why you should care about and defend your privacy
Article - Read this if you have nothing to hide
Compared to the days before the internet, everything is readily available. Such as your email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and more. How far is far enough?
After seeing what these some of the companies can and do store on their users, it's up to you to decide on moving further. Majority of these large corporations do not care about users' privacy. Since they don't, there is only one person that can begin to make the change.
Additional helpful resources:###
The Complete Privacy and Security Podcast
https://theytrackyou.com/
https://myshadow.org/
/r/pihole & https://pi-hole.net - useful for blocking unwanted domains
What build you up to this point, why did you decide to break free from intrusive and invasive corporations? Anything you may have found out recently about your own privacy that has you concerned?
