AnonTalk BBS

How to further enhance your privacy here

AT, unlike every other (known) Web service, actually truly cares about your privacy. To the extreme. However, there are some things that you can do to enhance your privacy that we cannot control. Since this is such an important subject to us, it has been given its own dedicated page.

Not all AnTs need this level of privacy, but many want it, and you really should consider listening to the advice here even if you currently believe that you "have nothing to hide". You will thank yourself later. Here are the things that you should do:

Make a proper bookmark of this site in your Web browser. You will not only save a lot of time but also don't risk getting "phished". Surprisingly many people seem to type out a domain each time they want to visit it. This is far from safe and very inefficient.
Always use the HTTPS version of this board. All data to and from the server will be strongly encrypted.
If you ever use the HTTP version by accident, immediately switch back to the HTTPS version and quickly regenerate a new password (and don't forget to make a new backup after doing so).
If you have decided that you only ever want to use HTTPS mode, enable "iron cookie jar mode" in the dashboard. This makes it impossible for some third-party site to trick your Web browser into connecting to the HTTP version and sending the cookies over the Internet (not to them, but still unencrypted).
Copy the writing style of somebody else who writes well (but don't pretend to be somebody else). This has been observed countless times here ever since the early days.
Use perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation. This benefits everyone on multiple levels and you will blend in since this is actually more or less a requirement here.
If you suspect that somebody you know "in real life" may be frequenting this Web site as well, make up "white lies" about insignificant details when you are telling personal stories. For instance, if you actually wore a green shirt one day, and that detail couldn't possibly have any impact whatsoever on the story, instead claim that you picked a brown shirt in the text. (That is a rather stupid example, but you get the point.)
"Lock" your computer whenever you are not around, so that a password is required in order to start using it again. On all modern versions of Windows, this can be achieved by simply pressing "WinKey" and "L" at the same time. Note that you have to set a password first (control panel → users). All modern operating systems should support this in one way or another.
If you necessarily need to have people around and surf AT, you may want to turn on "tinfoil mode" in order to hide your contributions.
Store your ID backup on a TrueCrypt (or similar) encrypted device (memory stick or whatever), which you also keep physically hidden. It is also a very good idea to do the same to the entire computer (typically just the hard disk drive) that you use primarily.
If there is a DNS or domain problem with anontalk.com, do NOT use any "alias" host such as at.example.com, but instead edit your "hosts" file.
Turn on "proxy mode" (in the dashboard) and use the proxy hyperlink when opening "suspicious" links found in posts.
Stick with your ID; after only 100 posts, your IP addresses will no longer be recorded even temporarily.
Use the private message system instead of e-mail whenever possible.
If locking your computer is not an option, and you don't want to bother with multiple users that need to be switched between, and you don't trust "tinfoil mode", or don't want to have to enable/disable it frequently, or maybe you don't even want anyone to know that you even use this board, it is a good idea to install a different Web browser that you exclusively let your guests use.
The "ID card" file is just a plaintext file. You can freely rename it to anything you want, such as "vacation.jpg", "DSC00001.JPG", "virus.exe" or "homework.txt", to hide its true meaning. (As long as you don't modify its contents, obviously.)