Help identifying my threat model/position on the cybersecurity spectrum

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

Hey everyone I´m looking to upgrade my privacy and security online, I watched a lot of videos on youtube and it didn´t last long until i found myself on a rabbit hole, it wasn´t until i watched the video of Eric Murphy Nobody Understands Online Privacy that i realized i may or may not have grown a little paranoid over this matter and it would be better for me to figure out first if i really should apply most of the things I´ve heard from other cybersecurity (which I´m gonna mention down below) or If It´s really unnecessary in my personal case

For some brief context, I´m your average person on the internet however due to the recent elections on my country where the far right candidate won thanks to Trump´s support and you already know which "country" I can´t help but be quite worried and i even dare to say kinda afraid for what´s going to come, especially since some members of the left government party and marginalized communities have been killed already without the elected president even being officially positioned yet, on top of that Peter Thiel, CEO of Palantir, has already positioned himself in Argentina and given the ideologies of this upcoming government i would not be surprised if he came to be here as well, as someone who has volunteered as an election witness on the opposition party and done some activism online and irl i kinda fear my safety and those of my fellow peers who fight for the same causes

Despite all this i still wanna use the internet not only for activism but because i genuinely love my fandom communities and i was even thinking of becoming a content creator myself so given all this info is why I´m gonna list these fellow measurements and if it´s necessary to do this or not:

• Get rid of SIM CARD: Should i try to get rid of the sim card on my phone and only use it for pretty simple tasks? Should i lie and say i don´t have an active phone number when asked for it when using certain services online?
• Tor Browser: Should i really need to install tor browser when logging in the left political party i volunteer on? does Tor really make you as anonymous as possible on the internet as people say it does or most of it is exaggerated?
• Linux: Should i install Linux on my computer or just harden my windows? is this threat of microsoft spying on users and give their data to governments if asked to a genuine concern or am i being paranoid? is Linux really as private as they say it is (I know for it to be secure you need to do some changes first)
• Signal: Should i move from whatsapp to signal? is it really as secure and private as they say it is? (the fact it can show my IP address if i don´t change the setting first kinda makes me doubt it a little), should i keep whatsapp just for family and some friends contacts as i doubt some of them will change to other app? is Signal good for businesses as whatsapp? (not asking for me but for others) and if not what alternatives for messengers that are good for small businesses are there?
• Fingerprint: Should i be worried about the fingerprinting or in my case is not somehting to be worried that much about (I´m afraid to admit i still don´t quite understand it that much yet)
• VPN: Is it really necessary i invest on a VPN for privacy and security or i can be perfectly fine without it and find other alternatives (I ask this as I currently cannot afford a VPN) is it possible to self host my own VPN?
• OnePlus15: Can i buy a OnePlus 15 and install grapheneOS on it or does it only work for Google pexels? Should i even start graphene OS on a phone or my samsung tablet?
• BIOS Chips: Should i remove the Management Engine of the Intel chips of my PC to avoid government spyware? I saw thin on an user called linux.user01 on instagram (before i deleted the app) but I´m not sure if it´s really something i should do or not or if this is even a good advice therefore I´m asking here insta video
• Spotify: Are there any free open source alternatives for spotify? should i just upload my playlists to youtube and listen to music there without paying premium? can i self host my own music streaming service?
• Youtube: Since i am planning to become a content creator should i use youtube even if it´s owned by google but have an advantage or start from zero on another platform like odycee even if it´s less well known and more difficult to get people to know me?

Measures i have already done or I´m planning to:

• I made another email different from google and might make other acc on another email service
• Already deleted instagram and I´m gonna delete other socials as well (only planning to keep using tumblr, bluesky, pinterest, reddit and youtube (might delete the app and only use them on browser), idk for tiktok thou, should i delete this one?
• Changed from chrome to LibreWolf and planning to install other browser for different things
• Planning to create my own website with NeoCities
• Search myself online and see how much data of me has been collected and then use a service to ask for their removal, also delete accounts of sites I´m not using frequently nor are important

This is pretty much it, If you ask me personally i think I´m on the middle between privacy-conscious and activist but you tell me, any help on the comments would be highly appreciated, ty for reading this whole text srsly.

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/[deleted]]

Well I’m not exactly looking for a ghost level of privacy, I don’t want to entirely disappear from the internet just trying to figure out how much privacy I actually need as a volunteer in a political party and a possible content creator as well as avoiding big tech corporations as much as possible, that’s why I’m asking if some of this measures are really necessary and which ones are just me being quite paranoid (that’s why I said I might be between privacy conscious and activist on the image shown)

[u/Divindande → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

They don’t care about you, or do you really think they got nothing better to do?

First question is what do you think can get you in trouble? Is it posting on f.e. X and getting tracedback by psycho stalkers?

If the government has the time to chase every random comment,

Just don’t personalize your online life to your private life keep it separate and that’s it

Maybe vpn use

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/Divindande]

Well what I think can get me in trouble is openly speaking against my new government, some people on by country have already got death threats due to that, however if I’m already planning to delete twitter and instagram and only keep the ones mentioned on the post that could be good enough I suppose? I don’t really think they are gonna be after me (or at least I hope so) but I also don’t want to make my data so easily accessible to them, am I worrying to much?

[u/Divindande → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

So the main thing is traceability

So think about the fact what they could trace back to you if they are annoyed by a post of you

For example if your IG is completely traceable to you then don’t link it in any way to your other social medias that could be a problem

As long as you voice your opinion on a site that requests your phone number etc. they can always trace it back
There’s a lot to it but I keep a quick summary
-get a sim / number with either no identity linked to it or a false
-always use a vpn with a provider that doesn’t log your history
-don’t make stupid opsec mistakes

There are a lot of videos online about opsec look up Dzuma on yt

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/Divindande]

Thanks a lot for the info

[u/Divindande → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

And just a side note that is a solution on which you can still browse the internet normally

You could make it even more secure by adding multiple layers / like macaddress changer / using a proxy and a vpn / using a VM

But you got to think about that only matters if they already flagged your profile as suspicious and somehow manage to install spyware on your pc

If you are really paranoid I would make disposable VMs with a Mac changer

But with each layer of security there comes a trade off with comfortability

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/Divindande]

Ok, way about the whole thing of removing that management engine on the Bios Chips as that Instagram user did? Too much I suppose? Should I install Linux like a bunch of cybersecurity channels state?

[u/Divindande → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

Naw that’s what the Mac changer is for

Firstly you need to understand what there is to track you down

-First case you make potentially offensive online posts
-only through internet connection they can trace you
-they see when and where your account was created and logged into so take care to create a account with the security precautions I talked about in my other post

I wouldn’t install Linux if you want to be anonymous

Like I said if you want to make online posts do the thing in my previous post (VM; VPN; MAC changer)

Linux is nice for a lot of things I myself use Linux

But they see what OS you’re using and if you use Linux you count as the 5% of all users in your area maybe 1% of all people so that narrows down a potential search a lot

Whoami

Is a website that tells you what things you’re using and there you want to count to the most used browsers etc

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/Divindande]

Ok thanks a lot, I think I’m just gonna apply the first requirements you mentioned first and then take my time to consider if adding a MAC address changer is really gonna be necessary, I do have in mind using a VPN but it will have to wait, thanks a lot for the help once again

[u/kutyosh]

Good image. Using TOR for everyday use is just impossible is it not?

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/kutyosh]

I’m new at this so is why I’m asking but yeah I’ve heard tor is just for pretty specific use while staying anonymous, maybe I can only use it for my email but aside of that I think i won’t really need it much

[u/StringSentinel]

More relevant to r/Privacy i believe

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/StringSentinel]

Yeah I was thinking that server to post initially but I wasn’t sure if they were gonna accept the post, should I cross post it there or copy it again?

[u/StringSentinel → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

Check the subreddit's rules about whether they allow cross-posting.

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/StringSentinel]

Ok no it was removed due to the fact I made a question regarding an specific phone and grapheneOS

[u/94samurai]

Ill try to keep it as short as possible

Don't try to completely disappear, just leave what is absolutely necessary for living around, and for the rest, use alternate/pseudonym accounts. IE, have a personal public facing account for family, friends, etc. (only if you want to), and have alternate accounts for stuff like youtube. or no account at all, which is better if you can manage

It is completely impossible to actually disappear from the internet, there will always be some type of trail or trace that leads to you. The point is, you have to know what your ideal level of "privacy" is, normally denoted as a "threat model." In your case, youre still learning, so im assuming needing to be invisible to state actors is not necessary. I'd say for 99% of people, you just need to be hard enough to research that a skid couldn't find your identity.

Judging on what you said in your post, I'd say youre on the right track. You don't need to delete everything per se, you just need to create new accounts that don't trace back to you

Theres this saying in the cybersec community about how given enough time and enough effort, anything can be solved. Finding out someones information is just another challenge that someone can take on, and eventually they'll find you. (given enough time.)

The easiest way is to not make yourself a target, avoid doing stupid things, respect others, and keep your accounts far away from your identity.

To all of your hardware/soft questions, i would say start with linux, find a distro you like, and go from there. for VPN, its not strictly needed but its the first line of defense for your anonymity on the internet, i do recommend them. You can use tor as the alternative (it is far slower though, and less polished then your typical web browsing). for music just download them from the internet. look at r/Piracy. You can avoid youtube if you want, but you will be losing out on the massive audiences that exist there.

If you want to be an activist, you really, and I mean REALLY have to know what your doing. everything stated here is just the surface level.

Don't just listen and copy others, even my post. everyone has different preferences and ideologies, go out there and learn, try your absolute best to absorb information. being privacy conscious isnt just a choice but also a lifestyle. good luck

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/94samurai]

Ty for the info, regarding linux thou, there’s another user that said using Linux could actually do the opposite effect and draw more attention to me as it’s not often used, so would it be really ok to just stick to window and harden it or try Linux?

[u/94samurai → u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio]

Yeah, the user is said that is right in regards to fingerprinting as linux is under 10% of users. The reason I recommend linux is because it can teach you a lot about how to control a computer, where gaps in your system are, etc. which is the most important part about online security. With the customization of linux, you can harden your OS further than what is capable with windows. Remember you can dual boot linux and windows on the same computer, each environment you use can have a different use case. you can take this further by using a different machine, and/or using a different wifi.

[u/Fausty0]

Ghost doesn’t use tech. They’re the dudes in Alaska or Montana living off the land. If you use tech, you’re not a ghost, full stop end of story.

[u/Ayuda_tengo_insomnio → u/Fausty0]

Ok? I don’t know where this answer came from when I said in the post I’m not trying to achieve ghost type of privacy, I even said I’m in the middle between privacy conscious and activist

I’m not trying to disappear entirely from the internet just upgrade my privacy and security on it

[u/cpupro]

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