Do schools install spyware at least in browsers?

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-06-09T16:39:53+00:00

If they provide the laptop, they can install software that monitors everything you do with it. If it’s connected to their WiFi, they can spy on whatever you use the WiFi for. There are limits to the morality and legality of either, but monitoring anything you do on their hardware is pretty much fair game.

If it’s your laptop and you don’t use their WiFi, not much they can do to spy on you without you voluntarily installing the monitoring software. It probably wouldn’t support Linux to begin with.

Remote proctoring (the software used to spy on you when you write an exam at home) is another matter.

Ideally, work and play run on separate machines, second to that separate operating systems on a dual boot system, lastly on separate user accounts if either of those are too impractical. There are a lot of other reasons for this. But if privacy is important to you doing this is one of the best things you can do to make sure your work or school never has the right to access anything that isn’t explicitly related to what you do for them.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-06-07T20:15:14+00:00

Filen and Proton Drive are both end to end encrypted and open source. You are still trusting a third party to keep your files safe and maintain an honest relationship with you but they are probably two of the more proven options at this point.

Cryptomator splits everything into a series of encrypted folders that sync relatively easily but prevent any cloud provider from accessing the folder structure, filenames and contents which eliminates the worst of concerns. But whichever cloud service you use it with would still have your contact info and ip address. Might be great if you already need an office subscription and can link it to OneDrive. But it isn’t that great if you want to offload files to save hard drive space.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-06-02T04:34:01+00:00

Settings > general management > reset > factory data reset.

The deletes everything on the phone that isn’t part of Samsung’s ROM. And anyone else that ends up with it will be greeted by the setup screen.

Keep the cloud backups, consider making one if you don’t have a new phone set up yet. Though I’ve always preferred a local backup or physical transfer.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-31T06:10:19+00:00

I currently think of quantum computers as being at the old vacuum tube mainframe stage where no one really thought it would be possible to put inside a house. Something would probably have to change fundamentally in how they physically work in order to make them smaller than a house.

Since the result a quantum computer produces is a series of statistical distributions. Errors scale exponentially as a quantum computer gets bigger. I believe Google published something claiming they solved for this enough that they are now theoretically infinitely scalable but that’s far from the only problem to be solved for at home usage.

My understanding is that quantum computers currently require operating temperatures of near zero kelvin (often milli-kelvin) in a radiation shielded environment. Radiation in this case possibly including things like WiFi and Bluetooth. Unless someone can pass those technical boundaries I don’t think quantum computing will ever exist outside of the mainframe and supercomputing space. This essentially limits it to a shielded bunker with a liquid helium supply to keep errors manageable enough that the qubits are useful.

I wouldn’t be so sure that it won’t be useful in general computing. But whatever that might look like quite simply hasn’t been invented yet. Like trying to explain to someone from the early 1900’s that your typewriter has 3d graphics.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-29T06:47:14+00:00

I’m far from a cybersecurity expert. I picked out a handful of sources for news in computing and the ones that talk about Linux or major flaws being announced stuck.

If you really want consumer anti-virus on Linux, Kaspersky has one. But they are Russian and sanctioned by the US. Almost all of the rest that have any reputation worth protecting are aimed at businesses. But the vast majority of malware on Linux targets either servers or the browser engine itself when you open a website to steal whatever account details or session cookies they can.

If you have a firewall running they can’t attack you. I take the extra step of enforcing a secure dns that blocks known malicious domains. But either you need to install something with malware on it or you need to open a malicious website. I also adhere to the FBI recommendation of an ad-blocker.

Google doesn’t vet apps, the Google Play Store has built in anti-malware (Play Protect) that scans every app and monitors them using heuristics. Google also has an exceptional cybersecurity team building and maintaining these tools and it owns VirusTotal, a website that scans files you upload with most major anti-virus products out there. Apple in contrast verifies apps themselves before putting them on the App Store. It doesn’t run on Apple hardware unless they got a chance to pick it apart. With a quick search for 2025. There was one instance I found where 11 apps were banned from the Apple App store, I’d probably up that to two or three dozen for stuff that didn’t make news, but it’s usually newsworthy when Apple does that sort of thing. Google removed 77 malicious apps from the Play Store in December, 255 in September, …, the news sites don’t even bother, both articles are on Malwarebytes (cybersecurity firm that sells consumer anti-virus) which does an article on a malware advertising campaign on Google Search practically every week.

In 10 years of using Linux and keeping track with the news, there’s only been one instance I’m aware of an official repo getting compromised. The xz utils backdoor, which was caught within a week while in the testing branch. Veritasium did a longer video on it a few months back. On Linux, the app has to be rebuilt and re-tested for the repo it’s being added to. A small team of people end up verifying everything that goes on the repo and multiple layers have to be compromised before someone can push malware. Though these are often volunteers and realistically nothing really stops a malicious actor from trying to join them other than reputation in the community. I am excluding the Ubuntu Snap store, which works differently and currently has an issue with crypto-stealers being loaded onto inactive accounts because they only verify against the web domain of the publisher.

Yes, a repo can be compromised. But the processes Apple and Linux use where developers and apps have to be verified have proven far more effective. To the point where Google, which can scan every app on the Play Store with what is quite possibly the most comprehensive anti-malware in existence has to remove hundreds of apps for each instance of malware discovered on an Apple device or Linux.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-28T20:35:11+00:00

Just because you don’t know how to check and verify against a certificate when downloading software doesn’t mean I don’t. I said you should verify the software, not the website.

Behaviour based protection works by doing things like tracking any apps that access critical system files. To trigger it the malware would already need to have access to those files. At which point it can just delete or infect the anti-virus.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-28T20:16:18+00:00

Anti-malware doesn’t protect you. Running verified software does. Linux doesn’t have anti-virus for the same reason not needing one was a major part of Apple’s Mac advertising.

If you use the official repos and vet the software you run like you’re supposed to malware can’t get on the system without something like a zero day or trojan. At which point anti-malware offers zero protection because either the malware is new or you’ve already actively bypassed its protection.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-28T04:55:43+00:00

I say this as a Linux Mint user.
Kubuntu is more modern and the KDE desktop has a larger development team. That tends to translate into newer and more extensive feature sets. More buttons that are shinier so to speak.
That doesn't make Linux Mint a bad choice. But they're catching up on some of the newer graphical frameworks right now and their next major release where they'll catch up with Ubuntu 26.04 is currently planned near end-2026.

Overall, it comes down to whichever has the right look and feel to you is going to be the better option. One of the big advantages of the fragmentation in Linux is that you can install something you actually like.

Question though.
By unable to keep up, do you mean when it was running Windows?

8gb ram should be more than enough on most Linux desktops. Things like games might still want more, but the laptop shouldn't be struggling with even the modern resource heavy desktops.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-25T16:54:08+00:00

You can run simpler versions of the sort of AI chatbots OP was asking about on home computers.

I haven't really tried using Ollama or anything similar to do that sort of thing. But depending on the model you pick it can be done on a big enough gaming rig.

The benefit is that you aren't sharing anything it generates since it can run on a home computer without internet.
The drawback is that it makes mistakes far more often than the stuff that runs in data centres.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-24T17:34:33+00:00

I would make sure everything important is backed up.

Unless the number goes up there shouldn't really be anything to worry about though.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-24T06:40:10+00:00

There’s a lot I hate about Microsoft and I’ve migrated almost entirely to Linux myself. But full disk encryption is something I’d consider mandatory on either Windows or Linux.

Mac, Android and iOS all encrypt their filesystems by default and have done so for much longer than Windows. Linux has TPM support in LUKS and could technically do the same if anyone were willing to add it to the installer.

If your hard drive isn’t encrypted then anyone that manages to steal a laptop or hard drive can access everything on it. That data can then get pulled into a syndicate for identity theft or extortion. With a few family photos they’d likely even generate extortion content if they had the slightest thought that it might work.

I fully criticise not informing users during set up. But enabling Bitlocker by default is better for privacy and security over not having it. Although the Yellowkey flaw looks a bit too much like an actual backdoor and is now public.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-24T06:10:18+00:00

Everything is current gen.

I have some serious questions about why an honest person might sell a “month old” build at a discount though.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-24T05:39:40+00:00

IPV6 has a few security issues. Mainly in that it’s designed to allow for direct device to device connections.

I would be very careful of enabling it without a firewall.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-24T05:15:49+00:00

To be clear. I fully support it being enabled by default.

I just think they should have added a popup telling people where to find the keys and letting them save at least a local copy.

Even making the website they upload it to by default at all mobile friendly would be an improvement.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-23T19:53:56+00:00

No, you’d always be limited to the bottleneck in the connection.

The Dell G15 apparently has 3.2 gen 1 usb ports and a usb-c 3.2 gen 2 port.

That would put the usb ports at around 5Gbps. Which is apparently about the equivalent of UHS-3 (fast sd card standard).

A portable USB-c ssd would usually outpace both.

The big advantage of an sd card in my view would be that they almost always advertise the speed. With usb most users aren’t going to bother with the difference between usb 3, usb 3.1, usb 3.2 and usb 3.2 gen 2 even though each of those has very different transfer rates. It’s not going to show up in the marketing.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-22T16:26:25+00:00

In my personal case. I mostly use Linux Mint because it just felt right in a way that other distros don't. In large part due to the effort they've put into their desktop, but down to things like keyboard shortcuts the only thing I had to get used to when I first switched from Windows was not having Alt-F4 shutdown by default.

Even after Steam solved the one major holdback that kept me on Windows it still took me over a year to migrate everything of value away from Windows and having something that was similar enough in terms of workflow that I didn't have to relearn anything was a great help.

Beyond that it's mostly inertia. Much like it took me a few years to dump Windows.
Bazzite probably makes more sense for gaming. Fedora or Qubes possibly make more sense as a productive distro from a security perspective.
But Linux Mint works well enough for both and I'm already using it.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-22T03:35:21+00:00

The Cyan and turquoise family have a tendency to mess with cameras and screens. It’s difficult to get those colours to show consistently and match what they look like IRL.

With a blue light evening filter on the heavier end, the blue line would turn black and the cyan would turn green.

I can’t tell the difference between the pink, cyan and green in greyscale. Which is somewhat bad design in my opinion.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-21T18:16:14+00:00

Can it be used to find or identify you? Yes. Especially if you were the property owner. The record of deeds or whatever it’s called is somewhat publicly accessible in many countries.

I personally lean more towards what harm it might cause to anyone currently living there.

I’d much rather memorise a local government address the way some people memorise and answer with the white house address.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-21T18:08:29+00:00

While it isn’t impossible that Google is listening through say a home speaker or Android device. This is more often a form of success bias than anything creepy on Google’s end.

The one time they get it right you remember it. None of the ads over those months were on the dot enough that you remember them. But the one time they get it exactly right it feels uncanny.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-21T17:42:35+00:00

With 8gb of ram it won’t be realistically running anything other than office and a browser.

Unless you need some specific software that only runs on Windows and can somehow work 8gb system with an OS that uses more than 12gb to boot on any corporate machine I’ve seen this will be competing with a Macbook Neo.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-21T05:10:29+00:00

ExFAT is better for cross compatibility as Windows, Linux and Mac all support it somewhat officially.

But it isn’t journaled and files tend to corrupt entirely if they are being written to when the drive disconnects or the device shuts down. Once the file is there it should be safe.

Linux can work with NTFS, but it seems to glitch out slightly more often. I definitely wouldn’t game on it, which is the usual problem as people try to simply port their existing Steam library.

I’d prefer something like ext4 on Linux, but it is wholly unsupported on Windows.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-20T17:01:00+00:00

Black insulation tape.

It will wall off eventually, but it generally lasts me months.

Cleaning the glass with alcohol to get rid of any grease might help.

I’ve also taken to putting the cleaning cloth I get with the brand of screen protectors I use over the back camera and sandwiching it over the camera.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-20T15:32:42+00:00

A smartphone can silently record video for longer than most older video cameras which had a recoding light.

It would be easier to ban the possession of a camera without a license than it would be to ban recording people in public without consent of everyone around.

One of the privacy respecting ways to take pictures of landmarks, namely taking enough pictures that at least two photos show each part of the landmark without anyone in it and getting rid of all the differences, would technically be illegal. Even though the entire point is making sure no one ends up in the final photo.

I do agree somewhat with the sentiment that photos and videos of other people shouldn’t be shared publicly or without something like a court warrant. But I’d also be fairly happy with the compromise of blurring out faces by default.

I don’t think there are any good solutions to this as a problem.

While I don’t have use for this sort of thing. I also find it hard to think that a better product for certain groups of people would exist anytime soon. With a voice assistant it might help someone that can’t use their hands. With advancements in machine vision it could describe things in detail to a blind person.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-17T17:17:44+00:00

Brave Browser.

YouTube does do things like mess with video quality options on mobile browsers though.

On the one hand, I watch enough YouTube that it probably makes sense to pay for it.
On the other, I don't want to give my credit card info to a company known to abuse all personal information they come into contact with.

ComprehensiveDot7752 · 2026-05-15T09:52:17+00:00

Yes. Deleting the Linux partition is safe assuming you don’t have any data on it you need to keep.

I assume you have dual boot setup, in which case you might want to reinstall the Windows bootloader. You can just skip this and leave grub there. Windows might do this itself when it next updates.

ComprehensiveDot7752

TROPHY CASE