Curious if anyone here actually uses things like faraday bags when out and about for their phone, privacy screens for their phone or laptop, or go as far as wearing glasses or hats with things like IR illuminators built in to distort/blind night vision on CCTV cameras, etc.
I think we're all pretty hyper focused on online privacy, which we very well should be, but who here is going through great lengths in the real world to do the same? I think the goal isn't to be unseen, but rather unidentifiable or untrackable in the sense that there are cameras everywhere now with AI, major corps tracking your movements in stores to study data to better manipulate consumers into purchasing, or just the city collecting data on foot traffic in a certain area that may be under consideration for a green space or road expansion or something.
jackal wrote (edited )
Privacy in the real world has less to do with buying fancy gadgets and more to do with habits and what kind of clothing you wear.
An few obvious suggestions are that you wear hats and sunglasses when outside, trucker hats are widespread and make you harder to identify, they're a good choice to obfuscate your face while not drawing too much attention, if you wear or use IR devices which will deliberately tamper or make identification harder you will draw a lot of attention, those should be reserved for riots or similar scenarios where confrontation is expected, not for daily use. Along with this suggestion comes another good one of avoiding "eye contact" with surveillance cameras; whenever you enter a public spaces and buildings or a big private business, always assume you're being surveilled, don't look for cameras because if you can see them clearly they can also see your face features, Luigi Mangione got easily identified because he did this exact mistake, multiple times, even though he did try to obfuscate his face.
On the corporates collecting your data to study your purchase habits you can always pay on cash and refuse to pay with a credit or debit card, or a phone, because they (both businesses and banks) will use those transactions to guess your income and how much you spend and where, never buy anything on a business that doesn't accept cash, even if they accept cryptos which I doubt you'll find any, always buy in cash. If a business such as a supermarket offers you discounts with a membership card you can try to cheat the system by providing fake names and identities if they ask for one, if they do not allow an anonymous member card then you can assume those discounts are being paid with your purchase habits and you're giving your consent if you accept them, so reject those discounts at all times if possible.
Another good suggestion and more on the hardcore side is to never, ever tattoo yourself, and if you have tattoos that are on visible places such as arms or legs consider covering them or ideally getting rid of them. Cops love tattoos, because they're akin to fingerprints that can be used to consistently identify people even if they cover their faces.