Sure, and I agree backups are important. I still don't like that Immich requires another server to function in the first place. It would be difficult to recommend Immich as a gallery app to someone who doesn't have experience in selfhosting. I personally backup my phone to my own USB stick every few days or so, that way if my phone is ever lost or stolen I still have a backup without the need for a server.
If every app had their own selfhosted backup solution, it wouldn't be very convenient. I'd think it better to run Nextcloud to back everything up than to deal with setting each backup solution up individually. Is there a major benefit to Immich that I'm missing?
Hey, if you can manage it, and if that's what makes you happy, I respect it! I do agree there is more freedom on a desktop, but I've found a balance between minimizing my phone usage and still using it for what I need. I really only use it for messaging, news, pictures, and an occasional game.
A corporate OS on a mobile device with lots of sensors which follows you around everywhere - this is always going to be a privacy minefield.
Have you taken a look at GrapheneOS? It's a "de-googled" version of Android, which means it has none of the trackers and even has a network permission toggle for apps.
I'd love to see a website or app that has a full privacy roadmap. Even if there is one, I doubt it would be very good. You need something that constantly reminds you "Hey, you've been fighting for privacy for X months, and you've achieved so much! Look at how far you've come." It would also need to be tailored to each person, because some people already use Android, others don't, so the switch to a custom ROM may be harder for some people. It would have to make sure to have easy incremental steps, defined goals, threat modeling, "good" rewards, etc.
Sadly, I'm far from capable of coding that, even if I tried. Best of luck to that one Lemmyer that sees this and says "Hold my beer"
Being able to curate my own news without ads using an RSS reader, never needing to remember or come up with passwords thanks to a password manager, not a single ad thanks to uBlock Origin and Pi-hole, never worrying about songs becoming unavailable or price hikes on streaming services, increased battery life due to no invasive programs running in the background, faster and more reliable devices, and... the list goes on. In a way, you trade convenience in some areas to gain convenience in others.
I'd honestly love to share the whole crazy story of how I got into privacy in the first place, but it would reveal too many personal details about me and other people. It's not an easy battle, and I've certainly made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I wouldn't change a single thing about how it turned out. It takes a lot of time and effort, so it is unfortunate to see, as you said, many posts of despair.
Some YouTube clients allow "local extraction" (FreeTube and LibreTube, to name a couple), which sidesteps the need for an instance altogether. However, that then means either 1. You use a VPN to hide your IP from YouTube and risk getting the VPN server IP banned or 2. You don't use a VPN, expose your IP to YouTube, and have a (small) chance of banning your own IP.
The best alternative would be to remove YouTube altogether and switch to something like PeerTube or Odysee, but you can't expect all your favorite creators to be there.
I agree with the first statement that SimpleX is already good enough, since it's been heavily audited. As for the second statement, I would like to point out that, rather than shaming some open source software for being "anti-libre", we should instead at the very least start moving people away from proprietary software, even if that means setting libre software aside for now. Libre software is a radical polar opposite to proprietary software, so it may be hard for people to transition straight to that. Open source software is a good bridge between the two.
As harsh as this sounds, it's true. I've "audited" some of his projects before and found the same massive flaws you have. I tried opening valid issues on one of the projects, hoping to help out (and there sure were a lot of issues), but OP blocked me from opening any issues on any of his projects for "issue spam", and told me to email him. Many of his posts have been removed for promoting "dubious software", so I wouldn't trust these at all. I've warned one of the moderators about him before, but I found out that the moderator is inactive.
Happy cake day! Unfortunately, nothing good can come from surveillance, besides slightly better AI models. The way I see it, privacy is not paranoia, but a modern day revolution.
I knew Instagram was privacy invasive long before I ever started using it. Still decided to use it for some reason. Anyways, glad to have my dopamine receptors back.
You don't have to switch services based on political affiliation. If the only difference is whether or not the company is public about it, there should be no issues with the software itself. It makes it far less exhausting to use a service. Just my two cents.
To be clear, I'm not taking a stance on the Proton issue. I'm simply stating that I trust code more than politics. The services I use are open source, so unless the code is found to be malicious there is no reason to stop using the software.
I did some research. Joplin is not encrypted at rest (but it is encrypted during transit). The TL;DR is that they see no point in at-rest encryption, because disk encryption should already managed by the OS itself.
This video seemed to have been the start of an anti-GrapheneOS movement. I won't get into details, because it's been explained to death, but it's here for your convenience.
That's a good point, and I agree. I still wish Immich could function as an on-device photo app, with selfhosted backups being optional.