Dang I'm trying to reply here and keep getting this error
There is something special in the following text
Awesome info! Thanks for sharing it.
Yep - Using the loopback address in host makes sure the phone home entries using domain names are unable to call home.
But anything with a hard coded address with make it unless blocked by the firewall.
Real privacy in this digital world is extremely difficult to achieve. It also depends who you are concern about.
ie - Average Joe precautions will significantly reduce the risks of identity theft, data leaks and credit card/banking frauds.
I'll add another easy privacy trick - use temporary email services (such as
http://10minutemail.com) for goodies requesting email confirmation.
Perfect for forums and other services where the email will not be used later. Then you don't care when your email leaks. It gives you en email address that last 10 minutes (usually comes with a button to extend the time if needed)
Otherwise get an email service that allows aliases. So you can use dedicated aliases for dedicated purposes - all forwarded to your main email account.
When an alias is compromised - You know where it comes from. Then you nuke the alias, go back to the source and create a new alias (if you want to)
eg:
snow.bladeforum@alias.com
If I get an email from ndog at this address that's fine.
But if
snow.bladeforum@alias.com get an offer for organ enlargement or a notification that my bank account has been locked and I have to kindly give all my credentials. Then I know bladeforum's database as either been compromised or leaked.
Remaining anonymous to an organization with unlimited resources is another story. But those are not interested in the Average Joe, not even the averagely bad ones. If an Average Joe manage to trigger a monitoring alert. They will dig a bit more, watch it for a while then move on once they have the assurance it's just another Average Joe. Things can get nasty if by huge coincidence and bad luck, an innocent person ends up to be flagged as "confirmed" serious threat.