helpimnotdrowning.net (eternally unfinished)

  • 2 Posts
  • 14 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • Basically, the idea is that a server can refuse to serve you (or degrade your experience with captchas/heavier restrictions) unless you (your device) complete a “challenge”. This could be something like the browser (through a system API) checking some device details like

    • root/admin
    • unlocked bootloader
    • extensions (either bad extensions or something like an Adblock)
    • VPN (potentially “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”)
    • installed apps (Adblock via DNS like blokada,
    • device emulation
    • TPM (generate secure key to make sure device is “real”)
    • OS state (heavily modified?, untrusted OS?)

    etc. Basically making sure the “environment” is clean and not tampered with (trusted).

    The problem is with what defines a “trusted” environment. It could start at just making sure the device isn’t rooted (like Android’s Safetynet/Play Integrity check; most people don’t root their device & don’t/won’t care, also easily justifiable since it can be a security vulnerability because the device is “wide open”).

    Then, like the article mentions, the device makers (Google (phones, chromebooks), Microsoft (Windows, Xbox), Apple (macOS, iOS, visionOS, etc), Meta/Facebook (Oculus), etc) could change their terms for attestation and deny approval on stricter, potentially anti-consumer criteria such as device age (forcing you to buy more things).







    • Revanced Manager, a YouTube(+more!!!) patcher to remove, er, unwanted features.
    • Bitwarden Password Manager, password manager I switched to when Lastpass went down the shitter and wanted me to pay. I even ended up paying 10/y for TOTP in bitwarden, but only because I felt they actually deserved it, unlike lastpass
    • Mull, A Firefox fork with privacy enhancements, free modifications, and extension support. Mozilla, Firefox, and the Gecko engine help to fight the Chromium monopoly, which powers browsers like Chrome, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, etc.
    • Termux, terminal emulator for Android. I really only use it in conjunction with Tasker (nonfree), but still useful for one-off applications
    • K-9 Mail (soon Thunderbird for Android!), the only mail client for Android Ive ever used (apart from the gmail app). Now owned by Thunderbird and excited for it’s future.
    • Yuito, my preferred Mastodon client. I like it.