Ask HN: What has the NSA changed about your daily life?

Hmm..

* I quit using Facebook (didn't delete it.. that data's already out there), and if family really wants to get ahold of me, the messages point at a disposable email address which itself points at one of my real ones.

* I quite using Chrome, not out of any Google animus, but because Firefox has a better plugin ecosystem wrt. privacy.

* Noscript, donottrack.me, adblock, HTTPS everywhere, the whole nine yards.

* I'm in the process of quitting all cloud services I comfortably can. I purchased a HP microserver and a static IP from my ISP, I no longer need most Google services or Dropbox (Owncloud is amazing), soon I'll have my own email locally too and I can quit using them for anything but searches.

* I've started using PGP to communicate with everyone I can convince to set up the software, and always always use it if I have the option.

* I'm still looking for a way to encrypt VoIP in a reasonably palatable way. Skype is right out, but most of its alternatives are terrible for one reason or another.

Absolutely nothing.

1. Educated myself about the issues and how it affects me 2. Looked into small practical steps to change my online habits 3. Signed up to EFF and ORG to get more news, updates and insights on the issue 4. Realised more and more how brave people like Edward Snowden are for whistleblowing

It gives me anxiety every minute of every day to start. Can't really tolerate watching my fellow humans be trampled all over by people they elected into power. Can't really call yourself a free people if you can't even communicate in person or online without being monitored.

btw- i thought we determined that iMessages were bullshit because of key distribution and even if the people couldn't hack it, apple is most definitely givin' it up to big bro..

I've flagged more articles on HN about the NSA.

Nothing. The news describing the leaks indicate the NSA is doing less than I imagined. I'm more concerned about private businesses collecting data about me than I am the government.

Of course the government was spying on everyone since before 9/11. This whole terrorist boogeyman show has happened before, except they were called communists then, and the time was the red scare. Only thing that has changed is that it is much easier for the government to spy on and track the population now since they all seem to be carrying smartphones.

Quit carrying smartphone except for business. Quit carrying ID...this is legal here, unless I am driving or going to a bar. Started using cash/btc for everything. Emailed myself a list of the flagged gov terms. *Use TOR and Tails to visit certain websites that the men in funny hats might not approve of, and to talk about certain things that they might not approve of.

Wonder if I'll get raided by government thugs...

It is curious that there was not on-demand admin access to any windows/mac os install among the docs that Snowden leaked, maybe Greenwald is saving that for another couple weeks.

Oh and for kicks here's something for the NSA bots to chew through, "Assassination, Attack, Domestic Security, Drill, Exercise, Cops, Law Enforcement Authorities, Hazmat, Nuclear, Los Zetas, Snowden, gPGP, DDOS, Hamas, Bulgaria, Jericho, Chemical spill, Cloud, Bacteria, H5N1, 32D3, F2H3, Toxic, Government, Tyrant, Roman empire, Bread and circuses, Avian, CKIR, Subway, Snowcrash, Moon landings, Area 51, Government, Idiots, Orwell, Gas Mask, Hurcles, Windows backdoor, UNIX, Hackers."

I have put much less of myself on the internet. If the information isn't there, then there is nothing for them to spy on.

1. I've stopped using Facebook. although my account is still active. 2. Completely stopped using Chrome, it's a privacy-hazard. 3. Installed some of the software mentioned on https://prism-break.org and telling friends to do the same. 4. I've stopped uploading files to Dropbox. For backup, I've purchased an external hard disk of 1GB capacity. 5. I've switched and donated to Autistici mail for personal purposes.

Any more suggestions? You're welcome.

Will finally try using Comodo Dragon and IceDragon as browsers (windows.)

Not too much but one thing it really did for me was force me to research more about data collection and who knows what.

I downloaded a couple tools such as Tor for specific things that I don't really want connected to me in the future. Additionally, I added the Collusion extension for Chrome to see who is tracking what about me.

In terms of behavior, I've started reducing my activity on Facebook/Twitter.

TL;DR - Became more educated on how the stuff works and changed behavior a bit, but nothing extreme.