Questions tagged [privacy]

The attribute of a system that prevents the release of data to unauthorized individuals. The ability or expectation of an individual or group to reveal information about themselves selectively or not at all.

Privacy typically involves the aspects of a system to control user data as designed, such as a user's ability to choose whether or not to share their information with others. It differs from security in that security focuses on the failure of the implementation of the designed behavior.

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Is it bad practice to use your real name online?

On some accounts I use my real name on-line (Google+/Facebook/Wikipedia/personal blog), others (Q&A/Gaming) I use an alias. My question is: Security and privacy wise, what can people do with my real name? What are the dangers of using your real name…
blade19899
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Should I let my child's school have access to my kid's personal laptop?

My kid is starting 6th grade and the school requires him to get a laptop and bring it to school. Now the school IT department wants to install some software on the laptop and is asking for administrative access. They want to install Office, Outlook,…
Sushil
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What is the difference between https://google.com and https://encrypted.google.com?

Is it there any difference between the encrypted Google search (at https://encrypted.google.com) and the ordinary HTTPS Google search (at https://google.com)? In terms of security what were the benefits of browsing through encrypted Google…
BlueBerry - Vignesh4303
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Where do you store your personal private GPG key?

So, I want to start using pass, but I need a GPG key for this. This application will store all of my passwords, which means it's very important that I don't lose my private key, once generated. Hard disks break, cloud providers are generally not…
Florian Margaine
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Best Practice: ”separate ssh-key per host and user“ vs. ”one ssh-key for all hosts“

Is it better to create a separate SSH key for each host and user or just using the id_rsa key for all hosts to authenticate? Could one id_rsa be malpractice for the privacy/anonymity policies? having one ssh-key for all…
static
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Search for military installed backdoors on laptop

My laptop was confiscated by the military institute of my country and they made me to give them all my passwords (I cannot tell you the name of my country). They did not give it back to me for one week (yes, it was out of my sight for a while). I…
Posse
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What are the implications of NSA surveillance on the average internet user?

It would appear as though the tinfoil hat-wearing were vindicated today, as news broke of the true scale of the U.S. government's surveillance of its citizens' online activities, conducted primarily through the NSA and seemingly beyond the realm of…
nitrl
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Hardening Linux desktop machine against people from my household

I am looking to make a clean install of a Debian system on my home desktop. To clarify, I am switching from Windows and wish to use it as my day-to-day home OS - I'm not going to be running any servers or anything like that. I also have reason to…
Boris
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Is Google spying on all of us?

I am curious because, I experienced something bizarre recently. About a month ago, someone asked me to find out a price for a T-shirt printing machine, and probably for the first time, I pressed these keys and started searching, searching, for long…
samayo
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How did Google know I looked something up?

Yesterday I was searching DuckDuckGo for booking a vacation. I ended up reading a lot on one specific website. Today multiple websites show me Google banners from this specific website. Normally, I never look up websites for booking a vacation. I…
P.Yntema
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Why would someone trust DuckDuckGo or other providers with a similar privacy policy?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine that claims it will not share your results with others. Many of my skeptical coworkers think it may be a scam. Is there any proof that any web search engine will protect your privacy as it advertises?
makerofthings7
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How does the authentication in the new UK £1 coin work?

The UK is getting a new £1 coin. Its designers, the Royal Mint, claim that unlike current coins, it includes built in technology for high speed authentication and verification everywhere from ATMs to vending machines and point-of-sale. How does…
Colin Pickard
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Can my employer see what I do on the internet when I am connected to the company network?

This is an attempt at a canonical question following this discussion on Meta. The aim is to produce basic answers that can be understood by the general audience. Let's say I browse the web and use different apps while connected to the network at…
INV3NT3D
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Should I be worried of tracking domains on a banking website?

Finland's largest bank OP (former Osuuspankki) has added tracking domains (all three owned by Adobe) in their website redesign: These domains are loaded when signed in: 2o7.net demdex.net omtrdc.net Is this considered acceptable? What information…
user598527
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My ISP uses deep packet inspection; what can they observe?

I found out that my ISP does deep packet inspection. Can they see the contents of HTTPS connections? Wouldn't having HTTPS ensure that they can't see the contents being transferred? And can having a VPN protect me against deep packet inspection by…
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