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red2
@fastwebnet.it

red2

Anon

Have to Reluctantly Open a Facebook Account, how to be anonymous + secure?

I have to help clients who have a presence on Facebook.

Will I be able to do this without opening up a Facebook account myself, which I personally have no use for? If I do have to open an account, what are the best ways to remain anonymous and secure? I don't want to be tracked by Facebook everywhere or to link to other sources of information.

So can I just create an account with my initials, use a disposable email address, delete all the cookies and only log into the account when necessary? Or do they use web beacons that I will not be able to avoid once I create an account?
Millenium
join:2013-10-30

Millenium

Member

They have beacons all over.

Fake name and disposable email will get you going. Though they do push you for a mobile number. Last I knew it wasn't required, though.

If you use them on mobile there's little chance of being anonymous considering aggregate data will pin point you with ease.


antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude to red2

Premium Member

to red2
Facebook do not like fake data. I did that for about three/3 weeks, and my account was closed. I made more, but didn't connect to people and it is still active.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

1 recommendation

dandelion to red2

MVM

to red2
Have had a fake name for about 4 years now, only talk to family and no problems so far. I guess if they eventually don't like it, the family will just have to contact me another way.

Elite
Kiss My Ass
join:2002-10-03
New Haven, CT

2 recommendations

Elite to red2

Member

to red2
Don't open a facebook account.
HarryH3
Premium Member
join:2005-02-21

2 recommendations

HarryH3 to red2

Premium Member

to red2
To prevent tracking, perhaps do all your Facebooking from within a Virtual Machine and then revert changes back to the base install of the VM each time you power it off?

This makes configuring and using VM's fairly painless: »www.virtualbox.org

angussf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-11
Tucson, AZ

1 recommendation

angussf to red2

Premium Member

to red2
said by red2 :

I have to help clients who have a presence on Facebook.

Will I be able to do this without opening up a Facebook account myself, which I personally have no use for? If I do have to open an account, what are the best ways to remain anonymous and secure? I don't want to be tracked by Facebook everywhere or to link to other sources of information.

So can I just create an account with my initials, use a disposable email address, delete all the cookies and only log into the account when necessary? Or do they use web beacons that I will not be able to avoid once I create an account?

While you could use VirtualBox to completely isolate your FB activities from your other Internet lives, I think that might be overkill. I would download a portable browser [*] and do my Facebooking (and only Facebooking) from that browser.

I have found portable browsers to be a wonderful addition to my toolkit.

I find it is easy to run multiple copies of the portable version of the Iron Browser at the same time. To run multiple copies of Firefox Portable takes a bit of command-line knowledge or shortcut tweaking as Firefox won't load a new version if it is already running. I prefer Iron over Chrome due to privacy issues with Google Chrome.

* SRWare Iron - The Browser of the Future
»www.srware.net/en/softwa ··· load.php
Portable-Version for USB-Sticks (no Installation; no Admin-rights needed; Profils in the same folder)
* Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
»portableapps.com/apps/in ··· portable

red2
@fastwebnet.it

-1 recommendation

red2 to HarryH3

Anon

to HarryH3
Thanks for all your suggestions.

So I think the idea of an alias and disposable email is at least worth trying. If Facebook has a problem with that, I'll try it again.

The Virtual Machine idea sounds very interesting. I haven't installed any VM software but that makes me wonder if there is a particular browser that might work that way so that cookies, beacons, and history are removed each time the browser is shut down. I imagine that Facebook isn't messing with system files (I run as a limited user) but with the browser itself?

Would it therefore also be beneficial to use an independent browser from the one I typically use (Firefox)?
red2

red2

Anon

Angus, you beat me to it ! That's what I was thinking.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

2 recommendations

DownTheShore to red2

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to red2
Use fake info but use the account in a normal, reasonable manner as if it was under your real name, so you don't raise any flags due to bad behavior.
19579823 (banned)
An Awesome Dude
join:2003-08-04

2 recommendations

19579823 (banned) to red2

Member

to red2

said by Elite :
Don't open a facebook account.
Best advise ever!!
Rojo31
join:2009-04-14
New York, NY

1 recommendation

Rojo31

Member

He said he has to for work.

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

1 recommendation

dib22 to red2

Member

to red2

Re: Have to Reluctantly Open a Facebook Account, how to be anonymous + secure?

said by red2 :

what are the best ways to remain anonymous and secure?

Eventually facebook will find and remove you if they can't verify you.

That said I have had an anon account since 2010 and it still stands... not sure why it is still there... perhaps their system "thinks" they have pegged me to a real person.

As for security... make sure you log out and clear cookies when done with facebook and block all facebook domains from your machine, the tracking facebook pulls off makes google seem like a beginner

neochu
join:2008-12-12
Windsor, ON

1 recommendation

neochu to Rojo31

Member

to Rojo31

Re: ‏

said by Rojo31:

He said he has to for work.

Get on Facebook or starve as your permanantly unemployable without it. Many jobs have specific requirements for work to have it. And in that case it becomes a corporate account specified by corporate information policies (ala a Marketing account). Then pretty much you don't have alot of risk outside of the parameters already set.

Personal account requirements are very, very much an increasing thing. Employers EXPECT you to have it like you do with a resume because of majority rule. If you don't your almost totally excluded by computer based hiring systems leaving you with a disadvantage. That means you have to provide real info and surrender your information if you expect to eat.

Eventually expect legal social and moral consequences if you don't get a face-book as we all become human cyborgs connected by the internet hive mind collective.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to angussf

Premium Member

to angussf

Re: Have to Reluctantly Open a Facebook Account, how to be anonymous + secure?

That's pretty much what I do. I have a copy of Iron that is used solely for my (real) Facebook account, and I never log into Facebook from any other browser.

tempnexusawa
@dtra.mil

tempnexusawa to red2

Anon

to red2
Virutal Machine? Why the hell go that far?
Run Sandboxie and a browser in a sandboxie and tell the sandboxie to empty everything once the browser is closed.
Do your facebook stuff and close the browser...all traces of facbook tracking activity are gone.
tempnexusawa

-1 recommendation

tempnexusawa to neochu

Anon

to neochu

Re: ‏

said by neochu:

said by Rojo31:

He said he has to for work.

Get on Facebook or starve as your permanantly unemployable without it. Many jobs have specific requirements for work to have it. And in that case it becomes a corporate account specified by corporate information policies (ala a Marketing account). Then pretty much you don't have alot of risk outside of the parameters already set.

Personal account requirements are very, very much an increasing thing. Employers EXPECT you to have it like you do with a resume because of majority rule. If you don't your almost totally excluded by computer based hiring systems leaving you with a disadvantage. That means you have to provide real info and surrender your information if you expect to eat.

Eventually expect legal social and moral consequences if you don't get a face-book as we all become human cyborgs connected by the internet hive mind collective.

Well shit I guess thanks goodness for Defense Agencies work place.
Expand your moderator at work

neochu
join:2008-12-12
Windsor, ON

1 recommendation

neochu to tempnexusawa

Member

to tempnexusawa

Re: ‏

said by neochu:

Well shit I guess thanks goodness for Defense Agencies work place.

With a '.mil' email and position facilitating that your employer already knows everything from when you eat to when you well take a dump on the toilet. Your phones are likely bugged and they make you install NMAP to your computer to monitor classified data being used on any computers (per DOD standards)

They don't need a facebook to mine the data for their social engineering based human resources optimization operations because they have the NSA to take care of it offline for them.

siljaline
I'm lovin' that double wide
Premium Member
join:2002-10-12
Montreal, QC

1 recommendation

siljaline to dandelion

Premium Member

to dandelion

Re: Have to Reluctantly Open a Facebook Account, how to be anonymous + secure?

Many do run Facebook under aliases for various reasons:
»www.facebook.com/help/16 ··· account?
Your account can be locked at any time if Facebook finds it or someone reports it.
Just saying.

tempnexusawa
@dtra.mil

2 recommendations

tempnexusawa to neochu

Anon

to neochu

Re: ‏

said by neochu:

said by neochu:

Well shit I guess thanks goodness for Defense Agencies work place.

With a '.mil' email and position facilitating that your employer already knows everything from when you eat to when you well take a dump on the toilet. Your phones are likely bugged and they make you install NMAP to your computer to monitor classified data being used on any computers (per DOD standards)

They don't need a facebook to mine the data for their social engineering based human resources optimization operations because they have the NSA to take care of it offline for them.

Hell I signed up for that, they pay me for it, know that I traded my personal life so they can know me.

However, I don't want to trade my personal life to consumerism i.e. facebook, flicr, tumblr, google+, amazon, TARGET or anything along those lines.

It's the devil you know......

neochu
join:2008-12-12
Windsor, ON

1 recommendation

neochu

Member

said by neochu:

Hell I signed up for that, they pay me for it, know that I traded my personal life so they can know me.

However, I don't want to trade my personal life to consumerism i.e. facebook, flicr, tumblr, google+, amazon, TARGET or anything along those lines.

It's the devil you know......

exactly and as it should be. Though every company on the planet is going to justify "security" issue if you have no facebook and will use it to exclude you.

ala your a risk because you wont follow the crowd.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

2 recommendations

antdude to 19579823

Premium Member

to 19579823
said by 19579823:

said by Elite :
Don't open a facebook account.
Best advise ever!!

FYI: Advice = noun; Advise = verb. You're welcome. But yeah, that's an excellent idea!
Expand your moderator at work

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

1 recommendation

sivran to neochu

Premium Member

to neochu

Re: ‏

I've only been out of the job market for a couple years, but I don't recall ever running into anything like that.

I call shenanigans.

vaxvms
ferroequine fan
Premium Member
join:2005-03-01
Polar Park

vaxvms to red2

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to red2

Re: Have to Reluctantly Open a Facebook Account, how to be anonymous + secure?

Get a name, address, dob from an obituary to create a FB account. Boot Ubuntu from a CD to visit Facebook. Before shutting down use ifconfig/iwconfig to get a new ip address.

TopShelf
join:2010-06-25
·GCI

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Member

to red2
InPrivate browsing and a handful of TPL lists have worked for me in providing a modicum of privacy.

The only downfall is I can't be "remembered" by some of my favorite websites. So when I close my browser and later go back to a website, I have to sign in all over again.

I added -private to the end of the target line of Internet Explorer's desktop icon so I can always open a browser in InPrivate mode.

GuruGuy
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Atlanta, GA

GuruGuy to red2

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to red2
I'm confused as to how you are going to help clients and yet be anonymous? How will they know it is you?

red2
@fastwebnet.it

red2

Anon

said by GuruGuy:

I'm confused as to how you are going to help clients and yet be anonymous? How will they know it is you?

It would be hard to do anything for them on Facebook if it requires me sign in and I don't have an account. It is often necessary on some of their sites as well as a sign-in tool.

While I wouldn't mind using my name, I have no personal interest in having a Facebook account. My far greater concern about anonymity is not so much whether my clients know it is me, but in having Facebook web beacons tracking me all over the web.

So at this point, the best strategy seems to be the use of a portable browser used only for Facebook activities, a disposable email address. Using fake info as if it were real, and deciding whether to use my real name or an alias.

angussf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-11
Tucson, AZ

angussf to Millenium

Premium Member

to Millenium
said by Millenium:

Though they do push you for a mobile number. Last I knew it wasn't required, though.

It's required now. I might have to get a $15 TracPhone just for FB.
Amazon.com: LG 800G Prepaid Phone With Triple Minutes (Tracfone): Cell Phones & Accessories
»www.amazon.com/LG-800G-P ··· racphone
Price: $14.99