Obviously a lot of people here hide a lot of information. What is keeping you all from extreme stress considering the possibility that a government is spying on your actions despite strict privacy practices? Considering my current situation and my extreme threat model it feels like the privacy walls around me are closing in. I’m very paranoid. I do a lot of risky and dangerous shit on the internet. Every knock on my door and phone call feels like the police. I don’t talk with others about what I do and I’m always hiding my internet activity from others. Any thoughts would be helpful
I’m always hiding my internet activity from others.
Me, too. What’s wrong with us?
I think the less stressful approach is limiting Internet activity altogether rather than obsessing about whether or not what I’m up to is hidden well enough. For example, you could write your own software. I, myself, obsess about whether or not my python scripts actually work instead of inveigling my friends to encrypt everything they put in the Cloud. See, for example:
Im not sure what to say with the risky and dangerous shit but as a person living in a country where an unmarked, untrained,unregulated paramilitary masked militia are going after people on pure pretense. I can say Im going to live my fucking life and fuck them all. Never before have I more understood this part of the lord of the rings:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time.”
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
What’s the point of life if crippling, paralyzing fear is all there is to it? I work on being a good steward of my privacy as much as it brings me joy and satisfaction, not so much that it consumes every waking hour.
Whatever it is, review your threat model. What’s done is done and there is little that can be done to redact any evidence you may have left on the internet. Are you able to stop doing whatever it is that is putting you at risk of legal trouble?
If it’s an drug or psychological problem, you need to seek professional medical attention. Many people die or suffer life-changing illness each year fearing that their doctors will rat them out for substance abuse. Don’t be one of them. Patient privacy laws, at least in the US, prevent your doctors, therapists, etc. will protect you if you go and seek help. The main thing that they would have to disclose is if you make direct, credible threats to other people.
If it’s a criminal operation or worse, lawyer up and good luck.
To remain free (for good reasons or not btw).
But at the end the goal is to protect the freedom for everyone and give everyone a chance to live without interruptions by any entity that wants to regulate that
Why are you doing sketchy things on the internet?
If your own conscience is haunting you, that’s a good signal for you to fix your behavior so you can have a clear conscience and you won’t need to worry about the law closing in on you. What a horrible existence that must be.
User LemmyKnowsBest publicly claims that all laws are just, fair, and reasonable.
Hey I’m technically doing something illegal right now that I do every day all day long and IDGAF because the law regarding this thing is stupid & oppressive & I’m not hurting myself or anyone else.
But WTF is OP doing on the internet that makes him constantly worried the SWAT Team is gonna be banging down his door? That’s not normal.
Cannabis and alcohol mostly
I do a lot of risky and dangerous shit on the internet.
well… this seems to be the bigger issue. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if it ain’t worth it, then it ain’t worth it. That seems to be what you are telling yourself.
If you’re ready to cut bait, then you just need to drop every connection that existed during that period. And start anew putting a solid line between before and now. Be the ringpop you want to be and act like old ringpop never happened. I suspect that guilt might be playing a part in your angst as well. The only way to fix that is to be a better man.
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I’m not sure about your situation. But I’d recommended setting up Buskill on your laptop/pc it can wipe the luks slots on your drive making it completely unreadable all by just disconnecting a USB (this could be magnetic so if they pull you it’ll get auto triggered) but then again this is only useful if you live in somewhat free country where cops can’t torture you to decrypt/restore your data.
i don’t know why you need extreme privacy. But what I can tell you is it’s OK you can take a break from whatever you are doing that needs this lvl of privacy.
Reporting on bad regime, they’ll still be doing bad stuff once you come back from a break.
I don’t really have anything to hide… but I still believe in a fundamental right to privacy and personal agency. For a lot of people, these tools keep them alive (ex. Targeted minorities in oppressive regimes etc).
But for me, this is more of an academic exercise - I find it interesting, and the things I learn can be shared with others who need them more.
If your activities are affecting your ability to sleep and have peace of mind, my only advice is to stop.
Because my privacy is already f’d. I don’t like being tracked but the government would already have plenty of data on me if they really cared to collect it.
What is keeping you all from extreme stress considering
Not being prone to paranoia, as unhelpful as that is
I’m also a realist, which keeps my expectations in check.
Remember that you are one person. Nobody in government censorship or reconnaissance of the public cares about you enough to spy or hack you. You alone aren’t worth the effort or resources.
Remember to play. Go outside for a walk, meditate, consume entertaining non-toxic, non-fiction media, have sex or masturbate. All work and no play makes Ringpop a dull person.
consume entertaining … non-fiction media
Not much there for me. 99% is worn-out tropes or boring telenovela and gameshows. The beauty of drawn media is, that experiments can be published on a budget.
I would speak with a professional therapist about this.
If op is legitimately doing things that can get them serious legal time or worse, then the last thing they need to do is talk about it with someone who can identify them.
I have thought about this but if I disclose my activities they could report me to the police
I don’t know what country you’re from but at least here in the USA the things that therapists are required to report to police are pretty slim, mostly just things that could cause direct physical harm to yourself and others.
Beyond threats to hurt another person, threats to sexually assault another person, neglect of a child, or threats of harm to oneself… almost everything else is covered by HIPAA patient privacy rules.
If you live elsewhere perhaps you could look into your local laws in terms of what is required mandatory reporting for therapists?
I’m unsure if the consequence with HIPAA could convince the therapist to not tell the police. And it is a super long story and even some of it does involve threats to harm others, and it is not drugs and not CP
Edit: I agree with you though I do need a therapist. I’m going crazy
If you go to a therapist, make sure they don’t keep any computerized records of your therapy sessions. :(
Hypothetically, if you were the most wanted man alive you would still go to a therapist and confess all your crimes as long as it is off camera and not a HIPAA violation?
Aren’t therapists mandatory reporters?
It depends. In the US I think it varies by state. And it’s only for big things like murder or child sexual abuse.
If you say “yeah I stole a piece of candy once” that’s not worth reporting. If you say “decades ago I touched a minor inappropriately” they probably won’t pursue it. If you say “yesterday I killed my neighbor and his family” yeah they’re gonna fucking bolt from that room and call 911 as fast as they fucking can.
I don’t know, it might depend on the crime. I believe that clergy get a higher level of privilege than therapists. You can literally confess a murder to a priest and they aren’t allowed to (and won’t) tell anyone.
Famously, in the 1970s, Daniel Ellsberg stayed out of jail after it emerged that Nixon’s fixers had broken into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office to get his case files. These days they would just break into a computer.
Recently in the US, a murder suspect’s father told a priest, who tipped off the FBI, leading to the arrest.
I also fear the $5 wrench. Honestly if you’re doing any risky and dangerous shit you have to ask yourself if its worth doing.
I’m very paranoid. I do a lot of risky and dangerous shit on the internet.
I don’t want to know what you do, however, if it’s causing this much paranoia, perhaps you should not do risky and dangerous shit on the internet. I know that sounds overly simplified, but if it’s that risky and dangerous, what’s the roi? Sooner than later, risky and dangerous activities get noticed. When I constructed my threat model, it included a lot of potential adversaries. However, I do this because I am a rather private individual, not because I want to do risky and dangerous shit on the internet.
