Ultimate privacy PC

[Thecoltr]

In light of the Facebook, and other companies, privacy issues I went searching to see if there was a company that took privacy first, and I found one. It’s called Purism, they make a 13 inch and 15 inch laptops, and have announced a 2 in 1 as well. They all run their own “PureOS” distro of Linux. They also have a phone they crowdsourced that is in development which also runs PureOS.

 

Anyone have one of these machines? I think it would be great to have Linus review one for the privacy conscious folks out there.

[dizmo]

Eh, I think you're giving up too much with devices like these. Especially the phone. No apps? That takes away a great deal of what makes a phone a useful tool. Just want to make calls and you're worried about privacy? Buy a flip phone and get your T9 texting game up to snuff.

They're selling machines with seriously outdated hardware for a very high price. These aren't worth what they're asking at all.

If one's that paranoid about their security, why not just buy a machine and install Linux on it? That's all it sounds like. Linux with a bunch of privacy apps preinstalled.

 

TL;DR - If you're worried about privacy, don't post your life on Facebook. If you're that worried about privacy, why are you on the internet at all?

[Mooshi]

What's stopping you from buying a standard Dell, HP or Lenovo and tossing a Linux distro on?

[Enderman]

The moment you connect that PC to the internet literally all of that "privacy" is gone.

If you want privacy, do not use the internet or cell phones.

[Streetguru]

25 minutes ago, Thecoltr said:

 

You have no privacy if you use a PC connected to the internet.

So long as you try not to keep any of your real info on your PC you should be fine.

[2FA]

Tails and especially Qubes OS are better distros. Might as well go the full mile.

[pinksnowmanshandle]

Ultimately traffic is going to go through your ISP and ultimately a lot of websites require cookies, there's some stuff you can do to mask stuff but it's not entirely fool proof. If I unplugged the Ethernet from my PC, it has as much privacy as you could want, as there's no outside connection to the world meaning nothing can track me or send data back to telemetry servers. Sorry but you can keep some things private but you can't keep everything private.

 

Otherwise, I could use Arch Linux if I wanted to deal with getting that all set up or stripping Ubuntu of it's telemetry seems easier than getting rid of it in Windows.

 

For me sending do not track requests, ublock origins and maybe eventually NoScript would be plenty. Because of Facebook's worse than I expected privacy policy I've downloaded the Facebook Container extension for Firefox which blocks facebook cookies from working outside of Facebook

[Willowwizard]

While I do appreciate Purism's efforts, I don't think the incredibly high price tag is worth it.

You could get practically the same thing for cheaper by buying a used ThinkPad, flashing coreboot onto it and installing a hardened linux distro like Tails.

[jde3]

Purism is pretty cool. Though pricey.

 

I don't like the idea that you just have to throw you hands up and say "Well.. I want to exist so I guess I have no privacy." That being said surveillance in the US  is worse than it was in Soviet Russia.. it is a serious problem and believing you have no options isn't being part of a solution.

 

Masking your identity online isn't just something you can buy tho.. it requires a lot of effort and the discipline to say no. I won't give you that info. Solutions to this would be longer than I intend to make this post but one thing I can tell you is encrypt everything it dosen't have to be just the information you want to keep private.

[Canada EH]

Just use TOR and a VPN when connected to the interwebby. And dont use it for much.

I knew from the get go that Facebook would sell your info to the highest bidder.

[Canada EH]

Just now, Sierra Fox said:

people YOU can't do that!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

It is slow, but it hides your tracks not badly.

[Guest]

The most secure computer is no computer at all.

Next, there is the computer that is always off in a lead box.

Then, there is the computer that is occasionally on inside a lead box.

This pattern continues. I'd say Purism is at No. 14.

 

(I would like to point out that Purism is still a neat company and you should check them out).

[Razor Blade]

I'm not sure I really do anything interesting enough to justify buying a computer like that...