[hilbert42]

It's not a matter of being completely anonymous, if that concerned me then I'd never use the internet. After all, ISPs know who I am and where I'm located so anonymity isn't the issue.

What is at issue is the wholesale collection of our data by Big Tech without our full permission and proper disclosure, and that includes the end uses to which it is put and who has possession of it. The other key issue is the atrocious way governments have abrogated their responsibilities in these matters.

I agree with you that firmware on the phone's baseband chips cannot be trusted (nor any other binary blob)—nor can Intel's secretive and all-pervasive AMT on its PC/CPU chips for that matter. (In my opinion, surveillance via embedded firmware together with what actually goes on in firmware and cloaked from view by the compilation process is serious matter that all too few bother to consider important—remember the VW emissions affair and you'll get my gist.)

That said, I accept that some 'spurious' data does escape through my systems—even LineageOS has Google addresses in its kernel—but that's not the point which is essentially that I am effectively obfuscating and disrupting the collection of my data to the point where what's left is essentially worthless to others. A check of the data and IP addresses that pass through my routers shows that my efforts have made an enormous difference (in effect, I stop well in excess of 99% of unwanted traffic by using a combination of quite different technologies). Combine this with the fact that I use multiple different browsers which also report randomized browser user agent IDs to reduce browser fingerprinting, and it turns out what I've done is quite effective. For instance—except for when I'm testing, etc.—I never see ads on my mobiles or desktop PCs and those that I've accidentally seen have never been target at me as a direct consequence of my circumstances or interests.

However, the bigger issue for all of us is that all-encompassing surveillance, whether it's by the State and or Big Tech, reduces both our freedoms and autonomy to act as humans. That's why we must resist it.

[guidance]

Good post bro. +1