From 08994699bb7d70684684cfc7894e37a2347c4dad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bob Mottram Date: Wed, 2 May 2018 10:43:42 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Data protection advice in faq --- doc/EN/faq.org | 11 ++ website/EN/faq.html | 322 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------- 2 files changed, 185 insertions(+), 148 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/EN/faq.org b/doc/EN/faq.org index b34bbc97..22f66ec9 100644 --- a/doc/EN/faq.org +++ b/doc/EN/faq.org @@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ | [[How is Tor integrated with Freedombone?]] | | [[Can I add a clearnet domain to an onion build?]] | | [[Why use Github?]] | +| [[What are the data protection implications of running this system?]] | | [[After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in]] | | [[Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io?]] | | [[Keys and emails should not be stored on servers. Why do you do that?]] | @@ -135,6 +136,16 @@ At present Github is useful just because of the sheer number of eyeballs and the The source code for this project is experimentally independently hosted, and it is expected that in future the main development will shift over to an independent site, maybe with mirrors on Github if it still exists in a viable form. Currently many of the repositories used for applications which are not yet packaged for Debian are on Github, and to provide some degree of resilliance against depending too much upon that copies of them also exist within disk images. +* What are the data protection implications of running this system? +Data protection laws such as GDPR in the EU or the Data Protection Act in the UK usually only apply to formal organizations which are recognized as being legal entities. So you have to be running a business or a charity or some other formal organization in order for the storage of what's known as /personally identifying information/ to potentially become a legal issue. Laws like this usually include: + + * A right to obtain your information + * A right to be forgotten (i.e. to have your data permanently deleted) + * Ensuring that stored personal data remains accurate + +If you're self-hosting then in the language of data protection law the "/data controller/" and the "/data subject/" are one and the same, so there isn't any power differential of that sort. Freedombone is only intended for small numbers of users, so if you are hosting more than one person chances are that you know the others quite well and can arrange to update their data or delete their account if that's needed. Even if data protection laws are later extended to include home server type scenarios it's unlikely that this will become a problem. + +For the mesh version similar applies. Each peer stores their own personal data and it never gets aggregated and stored in any centralized way. * After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in This system tries to block port scanners. Any other system trying to scan for open ports will have their IP address added to a temporary block list for 24 hours. * Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io? diff --git a/website/EN/faq.html b/website/EN/faq.html index 93a60fa0..5e419856 100644 --- a/website/EN/faq.html +++ b/website/EN/faq.html @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - + ‎ @@ -262,159 +262,163 @@ for the JavaScript code in this tag. -What applications are supported? +What applications are supported? -I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system? +I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system? -What are the best microSD cards to use? +What are the best microSD cards to use? -On a single board computer can I boot from an external SSD or hard drive? +On a single board computer can I boot from an external SSD or hard drive? -Why Freedombone and not FreedomBox? +Why Freedombone and not FreedomBox? -Why not support building images for Raspberry Pi? +Why not support building images for Raspberry Pi? -Why use Tor? I've heard it's used by bad people +Why use Tor? I've heard it's used by bad people -How is Tor integrated with Freedombone? +How is Tor integrated with Freedombone? -Can I add a clearnet domain to an onion build? +Can I add a clearnet domain to an onion build? -Why use Github? +Why use Github? -After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in +What are the data protection implications of running this system? -Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io? +After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in -Keys and emails should not be stored on servers. Why do you do that? +Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io? -Why can't I access my .onion site with a Tor browser? +Keys and emails should not be stored on servers. Why do you do that? -What is the best hardware to run this system on? +Why can't I access my .onion site with a Tor browser? -Can I add more users to the system? +What is the best hardware to run this system on? -Why not use Signal for mobile chat? +Can I add more users to the system? -What is the most secure chat app to use on mobile? +Why not use Signal for mobile chat? -How do I remove a user from the system? +What is the most secure chat app to use on mobile? -Why is logging for web sites turned off by default? +How do I remove a user from the system? -How do I reset the tripwire? +Why is logging for web sites turned off by default? -Is metadata protected? +How do I reset the tripwire? -How do I create email processing rules? +Is metadata protected? -Why isn't dynamic DNS working? +How do I create email processing rules? -How do I change my encryption settings? +Why isn't dynamic DNS working? -How do I get a domain name? +How do I change my encryption settings? -How do I get a "real" SSL/TLS/HTTPS certificate? +How do I get a domain name? -How do I renew a Let's Encrypt certificate? +How do I get a "real" SSL/TLS/HTTPS certificate? -I tried to renew a Let's Encrypt certificate and it failed. What should I do? +How do I renew a Let's Encrypt certificate? -Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge +I tried to renew a Let's Encrypt certificate and it failed. What should I do? -Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc? +Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge -Tor is censored/blocked in my area. What can I do? +Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc? -I want to block a particular domain from getting its content into my social network sites +Tor is censored/blocked in my area. What can I do? -The mesh system doesn't boot from USB drive +I want to block a particular domain from getting its content into my social network sites -Mesh system doesn't connect to the network +The mesh system doesn't boot from USB drive + + + +Mesh system doesn't connect to the network -
-

What applications are supported?

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+
+

What applications are supported?

+

See here for the complete list of apps. In addition to those as part of the base install you get an email server.

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I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system?

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+
+

I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system?

+

Yes. The minimum requirements are to have some hardware that you can install Debian onto and also that you have administrator access to your internet router so that you can forward ports to the system which has Freedombone installed.

@@ -424,17 +428,17 @@ The lack of a static IP address can be worked around by using a dynamic DNS serv

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What are the best microSD cards to use?

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+
+

What are the best microSD cards to use?

+

There can be big differences in the performance of microSD cards, and the cheaper ones are almost invariably terrible and/or unusable. Sandisk and Samsung currently appear to be the better brands. You can find some performance benchmarks here. However, benchmarks like this only give a very rough idea of performance and they can vary significantly between individual cards even within the same brand.

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On a single board computer can I boot from an external SSD or hard drive?

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+
+

On a single board computer can I boot from an external SSD or hard drive?

+

Some single board computers, such as Cubieboards or OLinuxino, have a SATA socket on them which enables an external drive to be connected. This is usually intended for extra file storage, but it is also possible to run the operating system from an external drive. This can have the advantage of significantly increasing the read/write performance and your apps will appear to run more quickly.

@@ -465,17 +469,17 @@ When the image is created then use the dd command to copy it both to a microSD c

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Why Freedombone and not FreedomBox?

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+
+

Why Freedombone and not FreedomBox?

+

When the project began in late 2013 the FreedomBox project seemed to be going nowhere, and was only designed to work with the DreamPlug hardware. There was some new hardware out - the Beaglebone Black - which could run Debian and was also a free hardware design so seemed more appropriate. Hence the name "Freedombone", being like FreedomBox but on a Beaglebone. There are some similarities and differences between the two projects:

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Similarities

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+
+

Similarities

+
  • Uses freedom-maker and vmdebootstrap to build debian images
  • Supports the use of Tor onion addresses to access websites
    • @@ -489,9 +493,9 @@ When the project began in late 2013 the FreedomBox project seemed to be going no
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Differences

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+
+

Differences

+
  • FreedomBox is a Debian pure blend. Freedombone is not
  • Freedombone only supports Free Software. FreedomBox includes some closed binary boot blobs for certain ARM boards
    • @@ -506,9 +510,9 @@ When the project began in late 2013 the FreedomBox project seemed to be going no
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Why not support building images for Raspberry Pi?

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+
+

Why not support building images for Raspberry Pi?

+

The FreedomBox project supports Raspberry Pi builds, and the image build system for Freedombone is based on the same system. However, although the Raspberry Pi can run a version of Debian it requires a closed proprietary blob in order to boot the hardware. Who knows what that blob might contain or what exploits it could facilitate. From an adversarial point of view if you were trying to deliver "bulk equipment interference" then it doesn't get any better than piggybacking on something which has control of the boot process, and hence all subsequently run processes.

@@ -518,9 +522,9 @@ So although the Raspberry Pi is cheap and hugely popular it's not supported by t

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Why use Tor? I've heard it's used by bad people

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+
+

Why use Tor? I've heard it's used by bad people

+

Years ago Tor was usually depicted in the mainstream media as something scary inhabited by cyberterrorists and other bad cybers, but today to a large extent Tor is accepted as just another way of routing data in a network. Depending upon where you live there may still be some amount of fearmongering about Tor, but it now seems clear that the trajectory is towards general acceptance.

@@ -541,9 +545,9 @@ On the negative side it's a complex system which is not fully decentralized.

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How is Tor integrated with Freedombone?

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+
+

How is Tor integrated with Freedombone?

+

Within this project Tor is used more to provide accessibility than the anonymity factor for which Tor is better known. The onion address system provides a way of being able to access sites even if you don't own a conventional domain name or don't have administrator access to your local internet router to be able to do port forwarding.

@@ -561,17 +565,17 @@ Even if you're running the "onion only" build, this only means that sites are ac

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Can I add a clearnet domain to an onion build?

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+
+

Can I add a clearnet domain to an onion build?

+

You could if you manually edited the relevant nginx configuration files and installed some dynamic DNS system yourself. If you already have sysadmin knowledge then that's probably not too hard. But the builds created with the onion-addresses-only option aren't really intended to support access via clearnet domains.

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Why use Github?

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+
+

Why use Github?

+

Github is paradoxically a centralized, closed and proprietary system which happens to mostly host free and open source projects. Up until now it has been relatively benign, but at some point in the name of "growth" it will likely start becoming more evil, or just become like SourceForge - which was also once much loved by FOSS developers, but turned into a den of malvertizing.

@@ -589,17 +593,39 @@ Currently many of the repositories used for applications which are not yet packa

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After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in

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+
+

What are the data protection implications of running this system?

+
+

+Data protection laws such as GDPR in the EU or the Data Protection Act in the UK usually only apply to formal organizations which are recognized as being legal entities. So you have to be running a business or a charity or some other formal organization in order for the storage of what's known as personally identifying information to potentially become a legal issue. Laws like this usually include: +

+ +
    +
  • A right to obtain your information
    • +
  • A right to be forgotten (i.e. to have your data permanently deleted)
    • +
  • Ensuring that stored personal data remains accurate
    • +
+ +

+If you're self-hosting then in the language of data protection law the "data controller" and the "data subject" are one and the same, so there isn't any power differential of that sort. Freedombone is only intended for small numbers of users, so if you are hosting more than one person chances are that you know the others quite well and can arrange to update their data or delete their account if that's needed. Even if data protection laws are later extended to include home server type scenarios it's unlikely that this will become a problem. +

+ +

+For the mesh version similar applies. Each peer stores their own personal data and it never gets aggregated and stored in any centralized way. +

+
+
+
+

After using nmap or other scanning tool I can no longer log in

+

This system tries to block port scanners. Any other system trying to scan for open ports will have their IP address added to a temporary block list for 24 hours.

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Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io?

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+
+

Should I upload my GPG keys to keybase.io?

+

It's not recommended unless there exists some compelling reason for you to be on there. That site asks users to upload the private keys, and even if the keys are client side encrypted with a passphrase there's always the chance that there will be a data leak in future and letter agencies will then have a full time opportunity to crack the passphrases.

@@ -609,9 +635,9 @@ Saying something resembling "only noobs will use crackable private key passph

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Keys and emails should not be stored on servers. Why do you do that?

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+
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Keys and emails should not be stored on servers. Why do you do that?

+

Ordinarily this is good advice. However, the threat model for a device in your home is different from the one for a generic server in a massive warehouse. Compare and contrast:

@@ -669,9 +695,9 @@ In the home environment a box with a good firewall and no GUI components install
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Why can't I access my .onion site with a Tor browser?

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Why can't I access my .onion site with a Tor browser?

+

Probably you need to add the site to the NoScript whitelist. Typically click/press on the noscript icon (or select from the menu on mobile) then select whitelist and add the site URL. You may also need to disable HTTPS Everywhere when using onion addresses, which don't use https.

@@ -681,9 +707,9 @@ Another factor to be aware of is that it can take a while for the onion address

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What is the best hardware to run this system on?

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+
+

What is the best hardware to run this system on?

+

It was originally designed to run on the Beaglebone Black, but that should be regarded as the most minimal system, because it's single core and has by today's standards a small amount of memory. Obviously the more powerful the hardware is the faster things like web pages (blog, social networking, etc) will be served but the more electricity such a system will require if you're running it 24/7. A good compromise between performance and energy consumption is something like an old netbook. The battery of an old netbook or laptop even gives you UPS capability to keep the system going during brief power outages or cable re-arrangements, and that means using full disk encryption on the server also becomes more practical.

@@ -693,9 +719,9 @@ It was originally designed to run on the Beaglebone Black, but that should be re

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Can I add more users to the system?

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Can I add more users to the system?

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Yes. Freedombone can support a small number of users, for a "friends and family" type of home installation. This gives them access to an email account, XMPP, SIP phone and the blog (depending on whether the variant which you installed includes those).

@@ -718,9 +744,9 @@ Another point is that Freedombone installations are not intended to support many

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Why not use Signal for mobile chat?

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Why not use Signal for mobile chat?

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Celebrities recommend Signal. It's Free Software so it must be good, right?

@@ -743,9 +769,9 @@ To give credit where it's due Signal is good, but it could be a lot better. The

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What is the most secure chat app to use on mobile?

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What is the most secure chat app to use on mobile?

+

On mobile there are various options. The apps which are likely to be most secure are ones which have end-to-end encryption enabled by default and which can also be onion routed via Orbot. End-to-end encryption secures the content of the message and onion routing obscures the metadata, making it hard for a passive adversary to know who is communicating with who.

@@ -755,13 +781,13 @@ The current safest way to chat is to use Conv

-There are many other fashionable chat apps with end-to-end security, but often they are closed source, have a single central server or can't be onion routed. It's also important to remember that closed source chat apps should be assumed to be untrustworthy, since their security cannot be independently verified. +There are many other fashionable chat apps with end-to-end security, but often they are closed source, have a single central server or can't be onion routed. It's also important to remember that closed source chat apps should be assumed to be untrustworthy, since their security cannot be independently verified.

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How do I remove a user from the system?

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How do I remove a user from the system?

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To remove a user:

@@ -776,9 +802,9 @@ Select Administrator controls then Manage Users and then Delete

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Why is logging for web sites turned off by default?

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Why is logging for web sites turned off by default?

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If you're making profits out of the logs by running large server warehouses and then data mining what users click on - as is the business model of well known internet companies - then logging everything makes total sense. However, if you're running a home server then logging really only makes sense if you're trying to diagnose some specific problem with the system, and outside of that context logging everything becomes more of a liability than an asset.

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How do I reset the tripwire?

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How do I reset the tripwire?

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The tripwire will be automatically reset once per week. If you want to reset it earlier then do the following:

@@ -809,9 +835,9 @@ Select Administrator controls then "reset tripwire" using cursors and spa

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Is metadata protected?

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Is metadata protected?

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"We kill people based on metadata" @@ -827,9 +853,9 @@ Even when using Freedombone metadata analysis by third parties is still possible

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How do I create email processing rules?

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How do I create email processing rules?

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ssh username@domainname -p 2222
@@ -885,9 +911,9 @@ Spamassassin is also available and within Mutt you can use the S (shift+s) key t

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Why isn't dynamic DNS working?

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Why isn't dynamic DNS working?

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If you run the command:

@@ -910,9 +936,9 @@ https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/whats-my-ip/
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How do I change my encryption settings?

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How do I change my encryption settings?

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Suppose that some new encryption vulnerability has been announced and that you need to change your encryption settings. Maybe an algorithm thought to be secure is now no longer so and you need to remove it. You can change your settings by doing the following:

@@ -927,9 +953,9 @@ Select Administrator controls then select Security Settings. You w

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How do I get a domain name?

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How do I get a domain name?

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Suppose that you have bought a domain name (rather than using a free subdomain on freedns) and you want to use that instead.

@@ -993,9 +1019,9 @@ You should now be able to send an email from postmaster@mynewdomainname a
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How do I get a "real" SSL/TLS/HTTPS certificate?

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How do I get a "real" SSL/TLS/HTTPS certificate?

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If you did the full install or selected the social variant then the system will have tried to obtain a Let's Encrypt certificate automatically during the install process. If this failed for any reason, or if you have created a new site which you need a certificate for then do the following:

@@ -1014,9 +1040,9 @@ One thing to be aware of is that Let's Encrypt doesn't support many dynamic DNS

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How do I renew a Let's Encrypt certificate?

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How do I renew a Let's Encrypt certificate?

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Normally certificates will be automatically renewed once per month, so you don't need to be concerned about it. If anything goes wrong with the automatic renewal then you should receive a warning email.

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I tried to renew a Let's Encrypt certificate and it failed. What should I do?

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I tried to renew a Let's Encrypt certificate and it failed. What should I do?

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Most likely it's because Let's Encrypt doesn't support your particular domain or subdomain. Currently free subdomains tend not to work. You'll need to buy a domain name, link it to your dynamic DNS account and then do:

@@ -1052,17 +1078,17 @@ Select Administrator controls then Security settings then Creat

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Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge

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Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge

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That pledge is utterly worthless. Years ago people trusted Google in the same sort of way, because they promised not be be evil and because a lot of the engineers working for them seemed like honest types who were "on our side". Post-nymwars and post-PRISM we know exactly how much Google cared about the privacy and security of its users. But Google is only one particular example. In general don't trust pledges made by companies, even if the people running them seem really sincere.

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Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?

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Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?

+

Welcome to the world of email. Email is really the archetypal decentralized service, developed during the early days of the internet. In principle anyone can run an email server, and that's exactly what you're doing with Freedombone. Email is very useful, but it has a big problem, and that's that the protocols are totally insecure. That made it easy for spammers to do their thing, and in response highly elaborate spam filtering and blocking systems were developed. Chances are that your emails are being blocked in this way. Sometimes the blocking is so indisciminate that entire countries are excluded. What can you do about it? Unless you control the block list at the receiving end you may not be able to do much unless you can find an email proxy server which is trusted by the receiving server.

@@ -1093,9 +1119,9 @@ So the situation with email presently is pretty bad, and there's a clear selecti

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Tor is censored/blocked in my area. What can I do?

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Tor is censored/blocked in my area. What can I do?

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If you can find some details for an obfs4 Tor bridge (its IP address, port number and key or nickname) then you can set up the system to use it to connect to the Tor network. Unlike relay nodes the IP addresses for bridges are not public information and so can't be easily known and added to block lists by authoritarian regimes or over-zealous ISPs.

@@ -1120,9 +1146,9 @@ You can also set your system to act as a Tor bridge, although this is not recomm
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I want to block a particular domain from getting its content into my social network sites

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I want to block a particular domain from getting its content into my social network sites

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If you're being pestered by some domain which contains bad/illegal/harrassing content or irritating users you can block domains at the firewall level. Go to the administrator control panel and select domain blocking. You can then block, unblock and view the list of blocked domains.

@@ -1137,9 +1163,9 @@ Select Administrator controls then Domain blocking.
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The mesh system doesn't boot from USB drive

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The mesh system doesn't boot from USB drive

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If the system doesn't boot and reports an error which includes /dev/mapper/loop0p1 then reboot with Ctrl-Alt-Del and when you see the grub menu press e and manually change /dev/mapper/loop0p1 to /dev/sdb1, then press Ctrl-x. If that doesn't work then reboot and try /dev/sdc1 instead.

@@ -1150,9 +1176,9 @@ After the system has booted successfully the problem should resolve itself on su
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Mesh system doesn't connect to the network

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Mesh system doesn't connect to the network

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Sometimes after boot the mesh system won't connect to other peers on the network. If this happens select the network restart icon and enter the password, which by default is just "freedombone". Wait for a few minutes to see if it connects.