It's obviously too early to talk about new years resolutions. We all know, that we won't keep them up until February. The intention with this post however is to telegraph a plan for ~privacy next month.
The goal: get Stackers off from using services that don't give a duck 🦆 about user privacy.
📸 Remix of a cartoon from FoulLanguageComics.
The Privacy Problem
Far too many of us (including myself) are still relying on centralised servers and corrupt-corporations for nothing more than convenience. Given the awesome reaction to the SN Privacy Directory V1 last week, I'm sensing an acknowledgment that people are ready & wishing to consider alternatives. They maybe just need a shove.
We could of course use tough-love to shame stackers that are ignorant to alternatives. Or we could do things a little bit differently around here and lead by example...
WTF happens until January 21
January 1 - January 21 2024The proposal is to have a single day to try-out a privacy task or free and open-source 'challenge'. A chance to experiment with new software & new methods. Even if for nothing more than having some additional redundancy in our technology stack, as well as to generate some cowboy-camaraderie for good measure...
What is the schedule?
I have given this not much more thought than 45 minutes, but I am proposing for us follow a schedule something along the lines of:
| Jan 24 | Category | Description of task |
|---|---|---|
1 | VPN | Buy MullVad / Proton / alternative VPN subscription with 🌽 (starting small & simple) |
2 | Domain | Buy a domain privately with BTC and set-up 21 email aliases. |
3 | Coinjoin | Celebrate proof-of-keys by normalising a coinjoin spend. Tuck it away in cold storage right after. |
4 | Passwords | Password manager, e.g. KeepassXC / Vaultwarden. We'll store, switch & segregate all our services into new email addresses from #2. |
5 | Email & Browser Clients + Search | New default apps & experiences. Afuera with Google & Apple! |
6 | New Computer OS | Setup Linux (and/or Start9, Umbrel) - even on Mac hardware, with/without partitions |
7 | 2FA | Yubikey / Aegis / other FOSS solutions + linking to all our online accounts. |
8 | File Server | Setup NextCloud / Rclone / ProtonDrive / TrueNAS on devices. Or configure a purpose-bought Synology NAS. |
9 | Spend Bitcoin | Buy physical products to an alternative address than your home (or fund a FOSS project as your 'fine') |
10 | Nostr relay | Configure your own Nostr relay, for when censorshit 💩 hits the fan. |
11 | 2nd Phone | Your first open-source operating system on a (Pixel) mobile device, together with some favourite FOSS apps |
12 | Site Hosting | Pay with BTC and host your own Wordpress website with BTCPay, Mutiny or LNBits instance. |
13 | Heavy 'Metal' Day | A day to stamp seeds on metal and/or listen to Metallica. Bonus points if you disturb your neighbours! |
14 | Videocalls | Try-out open-source videocalls with a friend/family. |
15 | Backups | Secure encrypted local file storage & boring best practices. |
16 | SECRET 16 | Absolutely not because I ran out of ideas. Leaving a space open for suggestions & a surprise... |
17 | Managing Identities | Swapping-out and segregating IDs / keys, plus best practices when posting online. |
18 | Messaging | 'Sack-off' Telegram, Whatsapp and even Signal. A chance to test out new secure direct messaging. |
19 | Lightning Channel | Private node & channel open, performing atomic swap (& perhaps payjoin) to open. |
20 | Orange-Pilling Merchants | Ask a business/worker if they accept Bitcoin as payment/tips & send them P2P kyc-free sats. |
21 | Bitcoin Buys | Purchase non-KYC or P2P only. Celebrating Day 21 in style! |
Note: This is by no means set-in-stone, but I wanted to share a first-draft to get the Stacker's thoughts. Are you interested in such a daily format?
There'll be many of you who have already taken all these steps and even gone beyond. But I suspect the vast majority are still creatures of comfort and habit, having (like me) a handful of items still to check-off their list.
Why now?
In-spite of not being blessed with a lot of time next month, I do really want us Stackers to level-up our privacy, with nothing more than a 30-60 minute commitment each day. It needs to be accessible.
If we all do similar tasks on similar days, it's my hope that it is going to be much more impactful and insightful. People can jump-in & out. Stackers can be sharing their first-time experiences on a similar schedule. We can also invite "vader-veterans" to break-down and provide input into what has worked for them in past months.
I'm posting this in advance because if there is demand for this 21 day series, you're going to need a bunch of non-KYC corn to purchase software & services from bitcoin-affiliated projects. You may either need to stack or coinjoin in these coming weeks, finding an opportune time for when the mempool clears it's bowels of JPEGs.
What you might need?
This is also an announcement of an announcement, simply because you may wish to put 1 or 2 things on your festive wish-list.
By the second week, there's the option to adopt some new hardware. This will be useful if you want to get started with Graphene (mobile), Linux (laptop/desktop) or say a Yubikey for example. Ask Santa nicely!
Tip - If you are making any hardware purchases (particularly phones), it may be best to do so in cash using second-hand marketplaces. Buying directly from the manufacturer's websites will have them record your serial number against that transaction. It will take a little more effort, but your future self/nym may thank you for it. Ignore this advice for hardware wallets & yubikeys, for obvious security reasons.How it works?
Much like book club instigated by @elvismercury, which has been an overwhelming success on SN, this will be a collaborative effort. Each day in the month of January up to the 21st, will likely be a new post. Inside we'll compare solutions, setups and early impressions. Evaluating whether we will transition over to FOSS software or not.
Depending on how things go, we may find some additional techniques and tricks to extend it to a full month. Who knows if I can coordinate all of this and reliably post each day, but at least we'll see if Stackers can provide some needed accountability here.
At the end of January 2024, I will post the StackerNews post links in the comments to each of the sessions. That way, anyone living under a rock can discover all of that stacker gold from this very place in future.
On each day's post, I can make a habit of mentioning what is coming up the following day, so people are aware and can prepare some time in their tomorrow to join (or make intolerable excuses).
Want to be notified on particular days?
if you want to be tagged on a particular day, shout in the comments, e.g:
Spam me - Days 9, 13, 21Spam me - All days
Any recommendations or questions?
Got any suggestions on how to schedule or make this as productive as possible? Or entries you'd swap in or out? Hit that reply button also...
P.S. I'm probably going to call this series
Privacy Pub, rather than Privacy Club . Mainly because the regulars hang-out in the saloon all day, it's a pub-lic discourse and (importantly) it's 1 less character to type-out each day. Hope you dig the format & idea...
8fileserver: add Murana Cloud which you can also self-host