Is there a rundown of privacy frontend instances? Which ones are the most private?
from marcie@lemmy.ml to privacy@lemmy.ml on 15 Jul 2024 06:08
https://lemmy.ml/post/17999525

I’m looking for ones that ideally don’t log IP. Is there a guide somewhere that looks into each of these instances and whether or not they fulfill the privacy promise?

I’m most interested in Invidious.

#privacy

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refalo@programming.dev on 15 Jul 2024 06:10 next collapse

there is no way to verify they don’t actually log anything

helenslunch@feddit.nl on 15 Jul 2024 18:31 collapse

Eh. You can inspect the source code. Certainly there’s no way to verify they haven’t modified the source code but also why would they modify it to store your IP?

refalo@programming.dev on 15 Jul 2024 19:00 collapse

The source code of the frontend is unrelated to the webserver they use, which can absolutely store your IP.

ssm@lemmy.sdf.org on 15 Jul 2024 06:18 next collapse

I trust my folks at sdf as fellow unix hackers.

TheBigBrother@lemmy.world on 15 Jul 2024 06:25 next collapse

Trusting is good, but… don’t trusting is better…

Lowpast@lemmy.world on 15 Jul 2024 07:13 next collapse

DIY

LittleBobbyTables@lemmy.sdf.org on 15 Jul 2024 07:17 next collapse

As another commenter said, it’s not possible to verify. You’ll just have to take each instance’s word for it.

Instance lists for some privacy front-ends will point out additonal info, such as if each instance is using CloudFlare or not (this may or may not be useful depending on if you distrust CloudFlare), some other services (like Rimgo, a private Imgur frontend) lets the instance hoster customize the privacy policy. But once again, this is all relying on the instance host telling the truth.

Kory@lemmy.ml on 15 Jul 2024 07:54 next collapse

www.privacyguides.org/en/frontends/

umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml on 15 Jul 2024 07:59 next collapse

To be 100% sure? Host it yourself. There is always a chance the operator violates your privacy, willing or unwillingly.

helenslunch@feddit.nl on 15 Jul 2024 18:32 collapse

To be 100% sure? Host it yourself.

I mean for privacy, not really. Then the site in question is logging all of your activity from your personal IP, as opposed to an IP shared with others.

Fisch@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Jul 2024 20:20 next collapse

Making it available to others as well would be the perfect solution then

helenslunch@feddit.nl on 15 Jul 2024 20:42 collapse

It’s also a great way to have your server completely overwhelmed with traffic but yeah.

umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml on 16 Jul 2024 00:30 collapse

Self hosting doesn’t limited to hosting in home. It can be a VPS, colocation, or even in your work place if the IT department is happy about it.

helenslunch@feddit.nl on 16 Jul 2024 00:44 collapse

If it’s a VPS, it’s still your IP

TwilightKiddy@programming.dev on 15 Jul 2024 09:39 next collapse

Use FreeTube with VPN. But you’ll have to find a VPN provider you trust, of course. Should be a bit easier.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip on 16 Jul 2024 01:58 collapse

It is just Invidious

0xtero@beehaw.org on 15 Jul 2024 10:33 next collapse

Self-host? Or use VPN to connect.

telep@lemmy.ml on 15 Jul 2024 16:49 next collapse

self hosting is the only way to guarantee logs arent shared.

however it also means that your server address only pulls requests for things YOU look at, not the whole pool of people using the server. imo this is a bad trade off as it would allow the services to track my browsing easily anyway.

personally I would recommend looking at libredirect with a large # of frontend instances selcted & a vpn/tor. these websites normally work without javascript, so assuming you have a privacy focused browser your IP is the only tracking metric they really have. spreading your requests out over different servers whilst using a proxy would make this really difficult to correlate as it would require that mutliple instance operators were malicious & collaborating.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip on 16 Jul 2024 01:58 collapse

Piped is good although it is weakened by the Google attacks. It will be back to normal after a while.

CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml on 16 Jul 2024 03:18 collapse

Freetube had an update I think either yesterday or the day before and that seems to have recovered now.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip on 16 Jul 2024 03:55 collapse

Freetube is invidious under the hood