Sovereignty
GreatWhat 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.
A decent little project. Much of this was just me checking up on my digital life.
I've made some good improvements. Cut some cost and strengthened some tools and processes.
Unfortunately one of the things I have also realized is how hard privacy is in our modern world. I have tried working a bit on it but I fear I'm still leaking information left and right with my online presence. Some of the measures I'd have to take to prevent this are just too cumbersome. This is really unfortunate. I have made small improvements here and there but I still have a ways to go.
Watched How to ACTUALLY Quit Spotify. for some inspiration on how to listen to music offline.
Some good information but for now I'm simply using Musicolet and Syncthing to sync files. On my Mac I'm using IINA.
I haven't really spent much time testing different apps. But for now these work just fine for me.
GrapheneOS
I have bought a new phone and installed GrapheneOS on it. So far the experience as been smooth. I have not really started daily driving it fully so I still don't know how that will feel.
My old phone was getting so old that it no longer receives security updates so that is why I decided it was time for a new phone. And as part of the experiment here I decided to try out GrapheneOS.
One of the really refreshing things about a new phone has been the opportunity to clean out apps I don't use. Normally I'd just let Google sync everything from my old phone. But this time I have not done that. I want to try to keep my new phone more minimalistic.
Vivaldi
I have switched to Vivaldi as my main browser. The thing that kept me from doing this previously is that I used the built-in Google Password manager in Chrome. But now that I'm using Proton Pass I can freely switch browsers.
More Syncthing
I really love Syncthing. I have created my own workflow that allows me to maintain music and podcast videos/audio on my laptop and then always have it synced with my phone.
Doing this I think I'll be able to end my reliance on YouTube Music / Spotify. It feels good be more in control of my own media.
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.