anonymous gmail account?

[Young_City]

There's a skip-option for this. Otherwise, basic stay-safe-online strategies apply and they're not fool-proof: use a different browser for play versus personal. There are free VPN apps you can use, or you can subscribe to one. Change up your passwords, log out of everything. Proton-mail is annoying, but it's also encrypted. It's you're worried about privacy for social media, check out Cyberdust. Switch up usernames. If you're using your phone, keep location services off.

I've written fairly extensively about my passion for internet security and privacy here: www.datebecky.com/opsec. Also, check out reddit.com/r/adultery and look for opsec posts < I really think this a forum everyone can learn a lot from!

Read your OPSEC post and it was interesting and a good read. Do you usually write about about these topics or make regular blog posts? Curious as to why you find ProtonMail annoying. Also, using a free VPN is worse than not using a VPN at all.

Also, can you extend your services to men, like me, who would like to just drink some Duckhorn while talking about nerdy OPSEC and internet security? Thanks in advance.

 

[peteeey]

Do you have to give your phone number? I have a few gmail accounts and I'm sure I've been asked but have been given an "I'll do it later" or whatever button to click.

 

[YVR_hacker]

I thought I'd chime in for this.

Gmail: Gmail will likely ask you for further information if you are using a VPN or a Tor Node (or multiple IP numbers). You can use Yandex, ProtonMail, etc without a secondary contact information but you cannot reset your password if you forget it.

VPN: VPN's are not anonymous, what they offer is privacy. Your ISP sees you're connecting to a VPN and the VPN can see the IP you connect from. Who owns the VPN? Who runs it? Are they secure? What's the status of the system on the VPN side? Is there any DNS leaks? Privacy is different from anonymity.

Tor: Simple to use but usually somewhat slower. Tor is about anonymity. Is it safe? Well rumour has it the FBI used a complex javascript to unmask people during Operation Pacifier (an attack on pedo sites). I was reading about FBI unmasking a notorious troll on Tor the other day.

Finally: What's with all the need for secrecy? It's very unlikely the police are going to invest the time in digital forensics to unmask you because you paid for a blow job. And on the flip side do you really imagine that if they want to get you that your skill set can outwit them? If the Feds are able to hack/breach a foreign military surely you don't believe you using a VPN and a fake email address somehow makes you safe? YOU are the weakest link in the tech puzzle. Humans are the vulnerability.

 

[bver_hunter]

My gmail account was hacked into by someone in Colombia. I was notified about it. Thankfully, it was just my hobbyist account. Eventually, I changed the password, and it also gave me an option to use another email address for password changes etc. So I created another hobbyist account with a hotmail address. They both cross-reference one another and the pins are sent to the cross- referenced email. There was an occasion that someone again tried to hack into the gmail address but they were asked to enter the PIN number that was forwarded to the hotmail account. Once again I changed the Passwords on both accounts.

Also, I get fake notifications on my IPhone that someone in Australia had charged my app store account. The email asked me to click on what looked like a fake file from the Apple store to see the transaction. You can immediately recognise that it is fake although it looks genuine. The grammar gives it away. So beware.

 

[drlove]

My point was there are a few simple things you can do. And unless you doing something nefarious those simple things will keep you well off the radar.

Tor and a good email as mentioned above will be more than enough for a hobbyist.

The problem with TOR is that it gives the indication you are signing in from various locations (e.g. proxy server). Do it enough times with the same email and you get a message saying 'your email account has been locked and disabled due to numerous new sign in's from various locations' or something to that effect. Is there a way to prevent that from happening?

 

[fuji]

How difficult is TOR for regular browsing? Download it. Set the privacy strings. Use it like any other. Don't try to buy guns, drugs, child porn etc and you will be off the radar. And that is the best anonymity.

Problem is Google's tracking cookies only need to catch you once and your tor session can be linked back to your main Gmail account and then Google will permanently remember that both Gmail accounts are the same person.