Public Wi-Fi and the Associated Thought Police...

[Alexx1401]

It always pays to think before you post and re-read your post before you hit reply.
Doing so can prevent misunderstandings about what you are saying and gives folks less to "read into" on what you are saying.
At the very least you might be able to catch misspellings and the like to help avoid sounding uncouth or offensive.

As for looking at my favorite sites at work or in public ... I don't do it.
My work computer is for work related searches and duties ... When out and about , I'm usually too busy watching what's going on around me to be looking at a computer , tablet etc ...
Andy

My hands down favorite is social media. People get on and just dump on their employer and or boss. Even better then is when they call in "sick" and post pics enjoying themselves at the beach for all to see.

 

[The Heretic]

Most public and many corporate networks subscribe to a third party filter.

It's is a PIA for me because I can't get to the Eclipse marketplace to download plugins for my work, and now they have it setup such that I can't do it from home to (on my work laptop) because I can't (easily) shut down their VPN software to get to the internet without going through the corporate network.

VPNs are good for public networks, but not for everybody everywhere. The last thing I want to do at home is use a VPN because it cuts bandwidth in half (encryption, etc.), and I start with 3.5 mbps at home so cutting that in half makes it really slow.

 

[DuneHopper]

I found not using passwords on my WIFI works great, it seems to free up bandwidth.
Not sure how my Neighbor new I was going to Hawaii hmmmm.

I was out PT tech guy at my past job when not doing my main job, the stuff people thought they got away with, about once a month people got called in to human resources for ummmm unmentionables. One huge vulnerabilities is Office copy machines are often poorly protected on a WIFI and documents easily intercepted by smart phones. Or can be easily accessed and printed from anywhere you can access the WIFI. Many facilities use WIFI, but it is still one of the least secure ways. I always hard wired everything still do at home. Why I have WIFI for some things most are hardwired.

 

[Alexx1401]

I found not using passwords on my WIFI works great, it seems to free up bandwidth.
Not sure how my Neighbor new I was going to Hawaii hmmmm.

I was out PT tech guy at my past job when not doing my main job, the stuff people thought they got away with, about once a month people got called in to human resources for ummmm unmentionables. One huge vulnerabilities is Office copy machines are often poorly protected on a WIFI and documents easily intercepted by smart phones. Or can be easily accessed and printed from anywhere you can access the WIFI. Many facilities use WIFI, but it is still one of the least secure ways. I always hard wired everything still do at home. Why I have WIFI for some things most are hardwired.

When we first got Broadband I got a WiFi router. It used the old style to lock it down, can't remember what they called it. I figured, meh, who cares. What did it for me was that guy in NJ I think? Neighbor was using his WiFi to look at kiddiporn. Some Gov agency kicked in the door in the middle of the night armed like a SWAT team. Threw him down the stairs when he woke up to it. First thing I thought it I would could easily be shot that way. So by then the better ones had gotten a lot cheaper and I bought one. PITA to set up for me. Years later when I went to get a better one due to us watching stuff on multiple TV's I bought a new one and now days they are plug and play.

 

[Vorpalis]

If my work or anyone at the Gov wants to look up what I am doing I can't see why I should care... Since I am not doing dope deals or such, nor plotting an over throw, what exactly are they supposed to "find"?

Remember when the Patriot Act was being debated in Congress? Any time someone brought up its numerous gross invasions of privacy, someone would reply "If you have nothing to hide, why do you care?" Because privacy is a thing that exists and is both valuable and important to everyone, including the innocent and law-abiding.

Because anyone will look guilty if you watch them long enough.

Because (presumably) you support the 2A, which is about defending ourselves against tyranny and persecution. Tyranny and persecution require a scapegoat or bogeyman, and just because you don't fit the profile of the current scapegoat or bogeyman, doesn't mean you won't ever (even innocent little ol' you will look guilty of whatever they want, if they watch you long enough). And if, some day, you find yourself painted as the evil-doer or as the sub-human vermin whose very existence is detrimental to society, how do you think that tyranny will go about identifying you and hunting you down? Probably with information about you, right? Everything on the internet is forever.

With the millions of us out there that is a LOT of damn reading.

You know that gigantic data center the NSA built in Utah? That sort of capability is only built to hold and process gigantic heaps of data, which happens to be exactly what's flowing through room 641A in the photo a few posts above this, and through all the other rooms like it in telco and ISP hubs around the U.S. We might not have the computing power to sift that much data now, but in five years? Ten? Twenty? That data center can store indefinitely whatever data it holds, until processing technology catches up. Reality doesn't get any more Orwellian, and conspiracy theories rarely intersect reality as genuinely as this.

 

[Alexx1401]

Remember when the Patriot Act was being debated in Congress? Any time someone brought up its numerous gross invasions of privacy, someone would reply "If you have nothing to hide, why do you care?" Because privacy is a thing that exists and is both valuable and important to everyone, including the innocent and law-abiding.

Because anyone will look guilty if you watch them long enough.

Because (presumably) you support the 2A, which is about defending ourselves against tyranny and persecution. Tyranny and persecution require a scapegoat or bogeyman, and just because you don't fit the profile of the current scapegoat or bogeyman, doesn't mean you won't ever (even innocent little ol' you will look guilty of whatever they want, if they watch you long enough). And if, some day, you find yourself painted as the evil-doer or as the sub-human vermin whose very existence is detrimental to society, how do you think that tyranny will go about identifying you and hunting you down? Probably with information about you, right? Everything on the internet is forever.



You know that gigantic data center the NSA built in Utah? That sort of capability is only built to hold and process gigantic heaps of data, which happens to be exactly what's flowing through room 641A in the photo a few posts above this, and through all the other rooms like it in telco and ISP hubs around the U.S. We might not have the computing power to sift that much data now, but in five years? Ten? Twenty? That data center can store indefinitely whatever data it holds, until processing technology catches up. Reality doesn't get any more Orwellian, and conspiracy theories rarely intersect reality as genuinely as this.

I'm sorry but I just don't buy into this. I have little doubt everything done on line is somewhere in the either. I don't think the people who seem to fear this can really grasp that they are not as important as they think they are. Watch us long enough? So how many employees do people think these agencies have with nothing better to do all day than watch them? Sorry folks this it too tinfoil hat to me.

 

[Vorpalis]

You misunderstand me. It doesn't matter that I'm unimportant, and it doesn't take a massive cadre of gov employees to sift our data, because having software do that is trivial.

I get it that this sounds like "tinfoil hat" paranoia, and that would probably be an astute judgement, except managing servers, data, and networks is what I do for a living.

Also, I'm not saying you ought to care – live your life however you want – I'm pointing out the reasons why someone might care.

 

[Blackpowdrkeg]

I remember watching Enemy of the State years ago and feeling uneasy bc I figured the govt really could do all that if they wanted to. My teenaged son's response was, "yeah, so what?" He didn't have any expectation of personal privacy at all. I've talked to many young people about setting their security levels so that they protect their privacy on social media, and many of them just don't see a need for personal privacy. Interesting.

 

[ikemay]

If you just want to pop into different sites to read content without being able to login or post try this anonymizer site. Well, you might be able to login, I just have never tried. But it might get you past the hospital filters.

hide.me VPN

I use it to read the local news paper to not get the popup that limits how many articles I can view.