I've collected a lot of privacy tips over the years, ranging from somewhat common to very niche. After seeing this post, I wanted to share them, along with ways to mitigate each of them. I've tried to find sources for each of them, but some of them simply don't have good sources. You can help by finding good sources (Wikipedia, research papers) covering the specific topic. As with all my posts, this is not AI-generated, just well-structured.
Good sources
Glove Prints
Problem: Thin gloves like surgical gloves can still leave fingerprints on surfaces.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_pr…
Mitigation: Wear thick, textured gloves
Main Hum
Problem: The hum of the electrical grid can be used to determine when, and sometimes where, an audio recording took place.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric…
Mitigation: Only record audio in places far away from electrical appliances.
Stylometry
Problem: Your writing style can uniquely identify you.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylomet…
Mitigation: Use AI rewriting tools to obfuscate your writing style.
Infrared Glasses
Problem: Sunglasses don't block infrared cameras.
Source: reflectacles.com/irlenses
Solution: Buy infrared blocking/reflecting sunglasses such as Reflectacles.
Tracking Dots
Problem: Printers add tracking dots that identify which printer was used to print a document and when it was printed.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_…
Mitigation: Use a printer that may not come with this feature (such as the upcoming Open Printer or use public printers like those found in libraries.
WiFi Motion
Problem: Wi-Fi routers are able to track motion under specific conditions.
Source: cognitivesystems.com/wifi-moti… (and others)
Mitigation: Radio jammers may provide some protection against this, since the technology is still fragile.
PrintListener
Problem: Your fingerprint can be uncovered using the sound of your finger gliding across your screen.
Source: ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/…
Mitigation: Use a ballpoint pen with a stylus tip, which are somewhat common to find at most events.
Laser Microphone
Problem: You can record audio using the vibration of nearby objects, like windows.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_mi…
Mitigation: Have sensitive conversations in closed-off or soundproof rooms or outside in remote areas.
Keystroke Recording
Problem: Your keystrokes can be uncovered using audio recordings of typing.
Source: arxiv.org/pdf/2403.08740
Mitigation: Use virtual keyboards.
Typing Patterns
Problem: You can be identified based on your typing patterns.
Source: expertbeacon.com/your-typing-s… (and others)
Mitigation: Type into a text editor and copy-paste into the form you want to submit.
Unshredder
Problem: Shredded documents can be reconstructed.
Source: unshredder.com/ (and others)
Mitigation: Burn sensitive documents or use piranha solution.
Microbial Cloud
Problem: You can be identified using your unique microbial cloud.
Source: peerj.com/articles/1258/
Mitigation: Shower obsessively, I'm not sure.
Gait Recognition
Problem: The way you walk can identify you.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gait_ana…
Mitigation: Place gravel in your shoes or intentionally walk funny.
Store Tracking
Problem: Stores track your location using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals from your device.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_p… (and others)
Mitigation: Disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use.
Gyrophone
Problem: Gyroscopes can record audio
Source: crypto.stanford.edu/gyrophone/…
Mitigation: Disable sensor permissions for apps that don't need it on GrapheneOS.
Camera Styles
Problem: Cameras can be identified using picture styles.
Source: scientificamerican.com/article…
Mitigation: Use Polaroid cameras or obfuscate pictures before sharing them.
Amazon Sidewalk
Problem: Offline Amazon devices can access the internet by communicating with nearby online Amazon devices.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_S…
Mitigation: Don't use Amazon devices.
Deep-TEMPEST
Problem: Data sent over a wired connection (like HDMI) can be received wirelessly.
Source: arxiv.org/pdf/2407.09717
Mitigation: Use shielded cables or encrypt wired connections in transit.
Cartridge Memory
Problem: Offline printers exfiltrate data through ink cartridges.
Source: support.hp.com/us-en/document/…
Mitigation: Use a printer that does not come with this feature (such as the upcoming Open Printer.
WhoFi
Problem: You can be identified based on how your body blocks Wi-Fi signals.
Source: theregister.com/2025/07/22/who…
Mitigation: Use a Radio jammer.
Stingray
Problem: Most phones are vulnerable to Stingray attacks.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray…
Mitigation: Use Rayhunter to detect Stingray attacks.
EICAR
Problem: Surveillance cameras can scan QR codes.
Source: linkedin.com/pulse/qr-code-car…
Mitigation: Some surveillance cameras will crash if they scan a QR code with an EICAR Anti-Virus Test File.
Pulse-Fi
Problem: Wi-Fi can measure your heartrate
Source: ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/d…
Mitigation: Cover your skin to reduce effectiveness.
Mediocre sources
Security Envelopes
Problem: The contents of envelopes can be read without being opened by seeing through the paper.
Source: General knowledge.
Mitigation: Use security envelopes or thick packaging.
Branding
Problem: Even when fully covered, the clothing you wear can identify you.
Source: General knowledge.
Mitigation: Use plain unbranded clothing bought secondhand from yard sales or Goodwill.
Body Shape
Problem: Even when fully covered, your body shape can identify you.
Source: General knowledge.
Mitigation: Wear baggy black clothing like down jackets.
ID Address
Problem: State ID cards have your address listed on them.
Source: General knowledge.
Mitigation: Passports are valid photo IDs that do not have your address listed.
Bluetooth Contacts
Problem: Any Bluetooth device you pair your phone to can access your contacts.
Source: Various online discussions.
Mitigation: Use a phone that allows you to deny that permission when pairing Bluetooth devices.
Voice Changers
Problem: Voice changers can be reversed.
Source: Various online discussions.
Mitigation: Use voice changers that highly obfuscate your voice (beyond something like a pitch shift) or use a program that converts live speech-to-text into live text-to-speech.
Analog Speakers
Problem: Speakers can be used as microphones.
Source: Various online discussions. You can try this yourself by plugging a speaker into your microphone jack.
Mitigation: Use built-in speakers or remove all speakers entirely.
Spray Paint
Problem: Spray paint can't blackout surveillance camera lenses.
Source: Various online videos of failed criminals.
Mitigation: Use duct tape or other adhesives that are not only cheaper but provide better protection.
Censorship
Problem: Pixelated or blurred images can be reversed.
Source: Various reversal tools.
Mitigation: Censor information using solid boxes.
Bad sources
Radio
Problem: Receiving antennas can be geolocated using signal interference.
Source: I couldn't find a suitable source covering this specifically. This is a general source.
Mitigation: Receive media via offline methods.
Vehicle Telemetry
Problem: Cars will collect telemetry locally to be shared when you visit auto repair shops.
Source: I couldn't find a suitable source.
Mitigation: Use dumb cars or commute using bicycles, buses, etc.
Detaining
Problem: Police can detain you without a valid reason if you carry an ID.
Source: I couldn't find a suitable source.
Mitigation: Don't carry your ID unless you need to.
Copper Strips
Problem: Buildings can be wiretapped using microphones as thin as paint.
Source: I couldn't find a suitable source.
Mitigation: Have sensitive conversations in areas unlikely to be wiretapped, or buildings with plain concrete walls.
Biometric Unlock
Problem: Police don't require a warrant to unlock your phone using biometrics.
Source: Various sources have conflicting information.
Mitigation: Lock your phone without biometrics or use two-factor fingerprint unlock on GrapheneOS.
Pedometers
Problem: Pedometers can reveal information such as your religion.
Source: A website I still can't find.
Mitigation: Use dumb pedometers that don't include timestamps.
Overview of GrapheneOS features differentiating it from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
GrapheneOS
Looking for a forgotten privacy website
A couple years ago when I was first interested in privacy I stumbled across a privacy website that I found very cool. I regret not saving it, but I'm certain it's not lost. I only remember this about the website:
- It had this song as its background music
- The website was for educating about privacy, and you would "unlock" new knowledge as you went
- Some of that knowledge was in a "cave" where some dark stories and articles surfaced
- One of the interactive segments was about "What do you think step counter data could reveal about you?" and the answer was things like religion (if your step count increased on certain days such as Sunday or Tuesday which correlates with some religions), rough location (based on which times you walked), etc.
That's all I remember. Thank you so much to anyone who can help me find it!
Provided to YouTube by Ditto MusicAmbient Echo · Edward AbelaAmbient Echo℗ Edward AbelaReleased on: 2018-09-10Auto-generated by YouTube.
YouTube
Universal Monk
Unknown parent • • •Universal Monk
Unknown parent • • •Can confirm. about 15 years ago, my bank account was frozen for 3 weeks for child-support enforcement. Only they weren't talking about my kid or even me. Some dude in Florida with my same first and last name was a deadbeat dad. So they froze my account because apparently, he didn't have a bank account or something.
What's super annoying about it is that we had different middle names, not even close to the same social security number, and not one person even contacted me before my bank account was frozen. I only found out because a check I wrote or something bounced. And I was like, WTF?
I was finally able to talk to enough bank people to clear it up. But it took 3 weeks. I never got an apology for it either. And the fuckers did not refund my insufficient funds fee. I mean, it was only $15 bucks, and it would have cost me more than that in my time to get a refund, but still...
So yeah, even here in the US, banks can suck.
Universal Monk
Unknown parent • • •Be prepared to accept accusations of being a fascist Nazi for saying this. You're right, but Lemmy is so extreme on this subject, that if you aren't with the majority, then you're an evil nazi pig--regardless of reality.
I still get accused of it and all I did was vote third party in the election. 9 months ago! lol
edel
in reply to Universal Monk • • •Universal Monk
in reply to edel • • •Agreed. Lots of missed opportunities, and Lemmy is also shunning away their allies against Trump by overusing the words Nazi and Fascist to describe every poster that disagrees with Democrats. My gf, who is very very anit-Trump, lasted on Lemmy one day. One day!
She said it was way too hateful and political. lol
I feel bad even recommending it to her, and I don't recommend it to any of my friends anymore.
Lemmy will die in a few years because of it's extremism. It's already slowing down. But I'll ride it to the end to prove to people that they didn't bully me off of it. :)
edel
in reply to Universal Monk • • •Let me know if you find a better venue... I am also disappointed in Lemmy. Is it so hard to find a place where people try to understand why things are one way and another before slapping each other.
I'd lived in a very swing state, in a very swing county and thanks to that predicted elections like no pollster did (even Trump in 2016 as he came down a escalator and every media laughed at him)... I saw no more malice in an average Trump voter than a Kamala one, I find a portion of them both as equally racist (some 30% I would say), one just is more vocal and explicit while the other chooses to express the racism passively aggressive.... Two black family moved into our street and one Trumper told me that he does not like the "blacks in front" and a long time Democrat neighbor told me instead... that she was going to move to a better school district "because demographics"... what is the difference?
Drunk & Root
Unknown parent • • •Drunk & Root
Unknown parent • • •Universal Monk
in reply to edel • • •I still love Lemmy, and my main Lemmy instance. But ugh, everything is getting so political and extreme everywhere. I'm trying to transition into just posting my writing and staying in writing communities, but my reputation proceeds me (still no regrets and I still believe in everything I said) and things can downgrade pretty quick.
And if I came up with an alt name, people would recognize my writing and say I was ban-evading.
So ugh, we'll see. I'm trying to just stay out of everything political, but people mention my fucking name all the time anytime someone talks about "trolls." And I never back down when I get false accused. lmao
MummysLittleBloodSlut
Unknown parent • • •edel
in reply to Universal Monk • • •I see how you feel with your Peertube song.
Of course, Lemmy is an amazing FOSS tool, just sad many people (if so) are a bit toxic... Of course, I was blamed in the past as troll, bot, pro-putin, pro-china, pro-european, pro-american... and few actually get involved in a insightful conversation. The way i see it, Lemmy (or any of these mediums) are just entertainment and our work should be in the real world, with your neighbors and physical communities.
Universal Monk
in reply to edel • • •haha, thanks! Yeah, I was feeling creative that day. I figured, "Hey, I should make a Lemmy song!" You reminded me of it, so I posted it to a nerdcore comm just now. lol
I'm with ya. I LOVE the decentralized nature and concept of Lemmy. Just wish some of the more extreme rhetoric would die down. Because this would make a great creative space. People should def not take it quite so seriously and spend more time outside.
But as an aside, I just had a talk with one of the admins for my instance, and it was a great convo and they are supported of creatives here. So right now, feeling good.
FoundFootFootage78
in reply to Universal Monk • • •I think the issue is that too many people think they can social-media post their way back to the Biden-era. Although in this particular Lemmy instance there's also the pro-Russia stuff (that's a different beast, and I don't know where it comes from).
There's no solution to our political crisis that doesn't involve touching grass.
Randomgal
in reply to Universal Monk • • •Universal Monk
in reply to Randomgal • • •archchan
Unknown parent • • •For starters, it's open source. And I'm not too into the details, but the creator of Anubis even mentioned that they were interested in creating a non-javascript version for privacy.
Google's reCaptcha, to which Anubis is being compared to by OP, is obviously far less private. It's just another mechanism of control and data harvesting for Google. One of the ways that they determine if you're malicious/human or not is to check if you have a Google cookie in your browser and are signed in. Not to mention fingerprinting (hardware and software info), browsing data, AI training ironically enough (the fucking streetlights), etc etc.
Anubis is relevant here because it is more private, among other things.
hansolo
Unknown parent • • •I'm sorry - paying for an audit is somehow a conflict of interest? How exactly is that?
As someone who had to contract auditing firms every year, and personally sign off in their report as part of our compliance, I would love to hear how I should have ....what? Won the audit lottery? Applied for some sort of government assistance? Prayed to an audit fairy godmother?
Who the F else is paying for our audit? I want free audits! I bet everyone does.
Lime Buzz (fae/she)
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I'll go further than this and say that true security is where everybody has support enough to not want to steal your shit, hack you etc.
Yeah corporations and governments are still a problem, for now, but both of the above parties would be far more secure if they did mutual aid, supported progrms to help the impoverished etc etc.
Basically having a collective approach to security and not such a myopic individualistic one.
Lime Buzz (fae/she)
Unknown parent • • •Lime Buzz (fae/she)
Unknown parent • • •Allero
in reply to Lime Buzz (fae/she) • • •Allero
in reply to Lime Buzz (fae/she) • • •Allero
Unknown parent • • •I'm not super knowledgeable on how anonymous such routing us, hence I avoid it.
Don't know why people bombarded you so much - the other side of total anonymity is that you really never know if anything got broken and someone earned off it.
My suggestion, however, is to use Monero for payments, and not as a store of value.
pyre
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •lol. lmao, even.
pyre
Unknown parent • • •fin
Unknown parent • • •Semester3383
Unknown parent • • •Semester3383
Unknown parent • • •The 8232 Project
Unknown parent • • •Anubis: Web AI Firewall Utility | Anubis
anubis.techaro.loljumping redditor [they/them]
Unknown parent • • •any bank that has the capacity to close your account without you explicitly requesting it should not be considered safe.
::: spoiler fucking cip errors deleted my account
whoever invented cip errors should be defenestrated at the earliest convenience
:::
Lime Buzz (fae/she)
Unknown parent • • •ObjectivityIncarnate
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I don't know if they realize this is implying it's onerously expensive, lol.
commander
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •vzqq
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •pyre
Unknown parent • • •OrteilGenou
in reply to hansolo • • •EnsignWashout
in reply to ObjectivityIncarnate • • •That amused me, too.
I think it plays fine for the intended audience, though.
For the folks looking into Anubis, that line plays well - because hosting costs are driven up by the kinds of spam bot visits that Anubis slows down.
kadu
in reply to pyre • • •Any compliant commercial service will share user data with authorities - you don't get to operate a company and skip local laws. That's a non argument.
What's important is what "user details" they had on hand to share. If I create my service in such a way that I have zero data about you except some random useless string, I can "hand over all user data" to authorities and it would mean absolutely nothing for your privacy.
pyre
in reply to kadu • • •andronicus
in reply to pyre • • •It's right there in your copy-paste my dude, "BY DEFAULT".
The jackass(es) who actually was at risk went the extra step to enable IP address logging, which means that when Proton had to comply with a lawful court order, they actually had data to give.
Proton is a company like any other that has to comply with laws in the country they operate in, but unlike a lot of other companies, they don't log data UNLESS YOU ASK THEM TO.
Moral of the story is, like has oft been repeated, know your threat model and plan appropriately.
hansolo
in reply to OrteilGenou • • •I know, it's just kind of laughably shouting they don't know what either an audit or conflict of interest actually are.
The hardest part some times is finding an audit firm that isn't stupid expensive, but also won't do a shit job and give you a report that looks like some knock-off free LLM didn't write it to maximize their own payday. I love a good audit report with findings, it means I didn't waste money. But my shit is (well, was, at another place years back) locked down tight, so we didn't ever expect anything terrible.
kadu
Unknown parent • • •OrteilGenou
in reply to hansolo • • •Same here, everyone was so stressed about "the audit" but we had written common sense processes and executed them as needed, with mechanisms in place to flag potential areas for improvement if we found gaps.
The audit was fine.
LemmyThinkAboutThat
Unknown parent • • •D@mn! That was an absolute PITA. In my experience, my calendars and contacts never synced properly anyway so I went to the Proton ecosystem a few years ago.
Anyway, thank you for sharing. I only know one other person who had the same problem and we both thought we were going nuts.
utopiah
in reply to ObjectivityIncarnate • • •spv.sh
in reply to Drunk & Root • • •lock
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Trickle8305 [none/use name]
in reply to lock • • •the rizzler
Unknown parent • • •swelter_spark
Unknown parent • • •