Sovereignty
0%What can I do to be more independent, secure, private, and resilient.
Maybe I just like the word Sovereignty. Sounds cool, right?
Anyway, the idea is to look at what dependencies I have. What security holes I have. Where my privacy lacks. And how I can build a more resilient life.
Much of this will be about my online/digital life. That's only natural as so much of everyday life is digital these days. But there is probably also some physical improvements I can make.
This is serious topic. But I'm not doing it out of a fear that something bad is about to happen. In general I'm an optimist. I'm more doing this as I find the topic interesting. That said I also hope it will lead to some improvements in my life.
Security key
Bought a new security key. I already had one but did not use it too often. Now I have two - one main and one backup. I also started using the keys more - first step was to make sure I have them connected with my important accounts.
I secure a lot of my accounts with passkeys. But for a while I have been a bit nervous about what would happen should I lose my phone - or worse: lose access to my Google account.
It feels good to be a bit more resilient on this front. My goal is to not rely solely on any one online provider (or any one physical device).
Reading
I've been reading Extreme Privacy and it has been quite interesting. Initially I devoured page after page, thinking I would implement many of the techniques. But the book is called Extreme Privacy for a reason. Implementing all of it would have a serious impact on my daily life. An impact I don't need to have as I don't need that level of privacy.
That said, there are a lot of good information and plenty of things I can do.
My first step has been looking into Proton.me. I'm trying out some of their services to see if they fit my needs.
I already started using their VPN a while back. Now I'm trying out their Pass and Drive.
Of course using Proton means I'm still relying on a provider. But at least I'm moving some of my reliance from Microsoft and Google to a company that is clearly focused on privacy. I think this is a good first step.
The first thing I have moved to the Proton Drive is my Obsidian notes. This works out of the box on macOS. But syncing to my Android phone was a bit trickier. I've started using Syncthing and so far I'm impressed. Was easy to set up and the folder now syncs better than it did with my previous setup.
Syncthing doesn't sync directly via Proton Drive but instead P2P. Which is actually better as it means I don't rely on Proton Drive (or any other cloud provider) for the sync - should I replace it with something else the sync will still continue to work as before. Proton Drive is now more just for continuous backup.
I'm hoping this will go a bit like my HomeLab experiment.
In that experiment I focused on the technology I use at home and tried out different solutions to improve it. Many of the things I changed have had lasting positive impact on my life.