Questions tagged [privacy]
Questions related to privacy management with Ubuntu OS, network, apps, etc. and related issues.
177
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Does opening a picture in a temporary filesystem leave any traces with Eye of GNOME/eog?
Does the Gnome package eog leave any thumbnails or other privacy leaking information when opening a picture in a different filesystem?
I know that thumbnails are created by default in the home ...
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0
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66
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UFW VPN Killswitch doesn´t work, stopps all traffic?
So Nordvpn's new update basically messed up the killswitch and I wanted to set up one myself in order to maintain some basic privacy.
I followed this guide mainly: https://adamtheautomator.com/linux-...
- 11
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26
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Namespace isolation
Can namespace isolation be used to prevent a process from seeing the host directory tree. Or only allowing the process to see a part of the host directory tree or perhaps a completely different type ...
3
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1
answer
210
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After suspend, on resume, Ubuntu briefly shows content of session before displaying the lock screen [closed]
This happens to me about 10% of the times when I resume my laptop from suspend mode. I feel that this is problematic for privacy because someone physically near my laptop could briefly see what is in ...
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95
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Trying to copy entire folder and subfolders from external HD to internal HD
I am a long time Windows user and just starting to use Ubuntu so forgive my newbie questions.
I am trying to copy all my data files from Windows to Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS.
I have copied the data drive of ...
- 45
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53
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Hide files and folders from specific apps only
I want to make a folder invisible to just one specific application. Is there any way to do that?
I want the folder to be visible to everything else on the system, just not the one specific application....
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86
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How can I wipe clean personal metadata from multiple Windows 7 files before copying to Ubuntu?
I know how to remove personal metadata from individual Windows 7 files (R click > Properties > Details > Remove Properties and Personal Data > Create a copy with all possible properties ...
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60
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unable to create onion domain
# This file was generated by Tor; if you edit it, comments will not be preserved
# The old torrc file was renamed to torrc.orig.1, and Tor will ignore it
Hidden Service
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/...
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26
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wifi usage history of what program used wifi and how much that program send or received
Hi i use linux and i am searching for a software or a way that save history of my wi-fi usage. to know which program used wifi and how much data it sent or received if i know where it sent it will be ...
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23
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File present in "recent files" of nautilus, but I was not who opened it!
Consider now it is 12:05 pm. I had finished working on a file (say 12:02 pm), I saved it and I wanted to attach it to an email, so I browsed for it, selected "recent files", and oops! The ...
- 347
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167
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How to strip image metadata from images embedded within a pdf from the command line?
I know that exiftool is used to strip metadata from many types of files, including image file formats and pdf format. I want a way to strip metadata from images embedded in a pdf from the command line ...
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36
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Login Screen: Disable the password visibility toggling button
I have a default 20.04 Ubuntu install and the login screen has a password-visibility toggling button (an eye). I wish to disable this button and make the password always invisible. How can I do this? ...
- 1,276
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31
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Desktop is briefly shown after waking from suspend/sleep
I open or close my laptop lid to initiate a sleep/suspend or wake it. When waking the laptop, it flashes my desktop briefly before blanking the screen and then showing the login. This is a potential ...
- 101
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How to install the mullvard VPN on ubuntu
Those are the steps to install MUllvard open vpn
1- Using NetworkManager on Ubuntu 16.04 or newer
2- Open a terminal and issue sudo apt-get install openvpn network-manager-openvpn network-manager-...
4
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1
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How to install the LibreWolf Browser (incl. DRM support)?
There is a newer browser, called LibreWolf, an independent fork of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy, security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox.
LibreWolf uses ...
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436
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Is Ubuntu phoning home and is it sending data to Amazon?
I am viewing this video (published on Feb 16, 2013) in which Richard Stallman tells us that when you type something in the Ubuntu search bar, Ubuntu will send the search query to their servers and in ...
- 808
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Can an error report include memory dumps from programs other than the crashed one?
If gedit crashes and I choose to send the error report from Ubuntu 20.04, will the memory state information in the error report only include gedit's memory or can the error report include memory dumps ...
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228
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How to see a list of proprietary software installed in Ubuntu? Including ALL
Is there any command to list only proprietary software installed or have been ever since Ubuntu was newly installed?
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226
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Is there a privacy risk with gedit on Ubuntu?
I am switching from a GUI based password file to a text based one and I intend to encrypt with openssl.
openssl might be employed in a way similar to the following.
The following script might have a ...
- 9,053
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60
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Preview of previous usage while locking the screen
When I am browsing on Firefox{installed through Mozilla's site}, I have (say) 2 tabs opened.
I am reading on the second tab. When I want to go away from my computer for a few minutes, I click Ctrl+Tab ...
- 111
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Install and run Zoom Client inside a sandbox
With COVID-19 pandemic there was a boom of video conferencing. Although there are good free and open source alternatives like Jitsi (with e2ee coming soon), Zoom became popular. Is not a secret that ...
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Ubuntu 18.04 desktop bug - location services cannot be disabled?
I recently noticed that, despite location services being disabled in the settings menu, the location service indicator will sometimes show in the upper right corner. When I navigate to the settings -> ...
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3
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255
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How can I prevent a third party software to gather data from my device?
For work purposes I have to use a not open source software that collects and sends to the producer MAC address, other device IDs and other hardware datas (from its privacy policy, which is not very ...
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Why is my system connected to an Amazon AWS server?
From a fresh reboot I entered netstat -an | more in a terminal shell and located a foreign ip address 99.86.32.24 from netstat's output connected to my system over port 443. I've opted out of sending ...
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How is my language exposed when im on the web?
This is driving me nuts. I use a VPN (that protects against leaks and shuts down internet in case it suddenly stops working) and then go to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ to confirm that it actually ...
- 11
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225
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Camera turns on on startup
I have a laptop which has ubuntu 19.10 on it.
Every time I start my computer, the LED indicator for the web cam turns on.
why is it happening ?
Update 1:
I ran ls -ltrh /dev/video*
and got:
crw-rw-...
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89
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How private is visual studio code on ubuntu?
I can install visual studio code on ubuntu bionic beaver. When I go to the software manager I find it in the list of applications but I do read that:
"This application has no limitations and has ...
-2
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1
answer
57
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Book recommendation for a novice [closed]
I'm 30+ with a family and working in a non-IT field. I've been getting into IT privacy and security and playing around with Ubuntu. What would you recommend for me to read so I can learn more. I'm ...
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1
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2
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170
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On awake the unlocked desktop shows for a blink moment [closed]
When I close my laptop, on Ubuntu 19.10, I want to prevent others from accessing my computer and also hide, whatever is shown on my screen.
Now, when I open the lid, the desktop shows for a fraction ...
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89
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Ubuntu remembers every drive ever connected and every dvd ever inserted and PCmanFM shows it in folder panel
I am using PCManFM 1.2.5 as file manager on Ubuntu 18.04.2. When I go to my media folder, there I find listed the names of every external drive I ever connected and every disk I ever inserted in my ...
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76
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How does installing ubuntu alonside windows work?
I am curious about is there any difference between installing just Ubuntu and installing Ubuntu alongside Windows 10?
Do they run separately or together?
As you know, Windows 10 is a privacy killer ...
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2k
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Does Ubuntu Server 18.04.2 LTS "track" users in any way?
I am considering Ubuntu Server 18.04.2 LTS for a personal home server. Though, reading online about things like Zeitgeist and Unity Dash (Online Search Results) I became a bit concerned about privacy. ...
user762164
3
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457
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Disable media key actions on KDE Plasma lock screen
It is a neat feature that there is a whitelist for certain key actions while the KDE Plasma lock screen is active. These whitelisted actions include volume and brightness control, and also media key ...
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336
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How to prevent someone from logging in into Ubuntu without knowing the password?
I just had my browser tabs changed when I just logged in today, it was Incognito so I can't tell if I can go back to it, but I'm very confused as to how can someone logged in to my computer without ...
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List and remove unofficially installed CA certificates
This article expose how around 18% of HTTPS connections are being detected as intercepted by MITM proxies. As the great related paper states:
To circumvent this validation, local software injects a ...
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Why Lubuntu 18.04 calls Amazon servers? (motd.ubuntu.com)
In wireshark logs I found that my Lubuntu 18.04 calls Amazon servers. See this log:
17 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.13 DNS 118 Standard query response 0x0e33 A motd.ubuntu.com A 54.194.229.79 A 52.18....
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2
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802
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Ubuntu 18.04: Missing Problem Reporting option in Privacy Settings
I am missing the Problem Reporting option in Privacy Settings, and I wanted to set it as manual. It was there when I installed Ubuntu, but now it's gone.
To clarify, I have Ubuntu 18.04 with the Pop ...
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2
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917
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Prevent Ubuntu from leaking information to the internet upon login
I am surprised to find so little information about what I would consider a serious breach of privacy and security.
It appears ubuntu-report is sending very unique information about your system - like ...
- 15
1
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1
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587
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Can't change settings in Ubuntu 18.04 (Screen Lock)
I can't change any settings inside Screen Lock portion as they are grayed out. Settings options for other categories seems okay.
How can I fix this ?
- 545
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416
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Enable WebRTC in Firefox for whitelisted sites only
I would like to have WebRTC generally blocked in my Firefox browser, except for a small set of websites which I trust and which need this functionality.
I know one can disable WebRTC in Firefox by ...
- 100k
1
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0
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85
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Open Tor from specific Firefox urls
I have Firefox and Tor installed on my Ubuntu 18.04.
Day to day I mostly use Firefox, but in some specific cases I want to open a webpage using Tor.
For example, say I want to open askubuntu.com in ...
- 282
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105
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Ubuntu 18.04 Unity after wakeup shows desktop before login
I have encountered a bit of a security and privacy issue on my Ubuntu 18.04 with Unity. After wake up it shortly shows my whole desktop with everything that was running on it before suspending it and ...
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1
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1k
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Unable to change privacy settings upon install of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
I am new to Linux with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS as of this morning.
Anyone else experienced the inability to change privacy settings upon installation? I.e. I can tap the toggle switch to the "off" position ...
4
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1
answer
4k
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How to clear Weather location on Ubuntu 18.04 (GNOME)
On my Ubuntu 18.04 system with GNOME 3.28 on it I have set in the top-panel's calendar pull-down the weather location so it checks with the gnome-weather application the weather information for my ...
user364819
10
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1
answer
2k
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Is there a technical reason why a Ubuntu One account is needed for livepatching?
In order to set up Livepatch on Ubuntu 18.04, one needs to have a Ubuntu One account. Clearly this choice has privacy implications, and possibly also security ones (for instance, in theory, Canonical ...
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2
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335
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Is it safe to use Bleachbit in a ext4 filesystem with journaling?
I want to shred a file, making it unrecoverable. I normally use the command 'bleachbit -s file'. When I was searching about it, I found out that the journaling in ext4 makes a copy of the file ...
1
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0
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84
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Have I opened myself to a hack from posting terminal output here?
So, yesterday I posed a question where I supplied two dmesg | tail outputs, plus uname -a and ls -a /boot. It disclosed my system time and my username, (plus my VPN provider and other software).
I ...
1
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0
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750
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How to disable unauthorised and automatic connections to extensions.gnome.org?
I'm fairly new to Ubuntu and using version 17.10 with Gnome 3.26.2 in a VirtualBox VM. Occasionally (once a day?) an unauthorised and automatic connection to "extensions.gnome.org" on port 443 is ...
- 111
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566
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Firefox 57 (Quantum) Cookies exceptions not working (in Ubuntu 14.04)
When trying to add servers to black list I can't get it; I type the domain, click "Block", but nothing is added to the list.
I regret so much for updating Firefox to v57 since it's much worse ...
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56
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Do cookies and flash objects change with a new user account? [closed]
I think Chrome's browser cookies and flash cookies are stored in
~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Pepper Data/Shockwave Flash/WritableRoot/#SharedObjects/
When I create a new user account in Ubuntu, ...
- 1