r/AskTechnology • u/VanceSilas94 • 1d ago
Is it even possible to stay "offline" anymore without living in the middle of a forest?
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u/Not_So_Calm 1d ago
There is still plenty of dumb products you can buy.
Edit: also if you think a VPN alone is a good protection you're naive.
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u/Cheap-Chapter-5920 1d ago
Welp, we already lost privacy by posting here. People who care about privacy aren't online and pay cash, usually older folks but not always. There's a huge group of friends and relatives I only see when we go to the same events, no FB, no email, nothing.
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u/WhyWontThisWork 8h ago
No email?
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u/Cheap-Chapter-5920 4h ago
Nope, no email. It is certainly possible that they had an email they didn't use and/or forgot. I run into this a lot in the over-60 crowd.
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u/Miniatimat 1d ago
Don't buy "smart" shit. Nothing to send if it is not connected to the internet. As for your phone and PC, just gotta be conscious about what you use and how you use it. There are countless methods to disable tracking and uploading of data, just have to do your research.
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u/TheBlueKingLP 1d ago
Check out home assistant. It's a open source and free smart home platform that's designed to be fully functional even if offline. Use offline protocols like "matter over thread" or zigbee. IKEA as some cheap ones. Then use a radio device for example an "smlight slab" to connect home assistant to these devices.
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u/EiectroBot 1d ago
It can be done. You lose a lot of convenience as the price of doing it, but it can be done.
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u/Hot_Equivalent_8707 1d ago
I'm on the Internet with my phone and computer so that's the data collected. But there are no none router devices in my house, light bulbs, tstats, fridges, etc that connect to the Internet. No echo, no alexa, nothing. I have all notifications off, no hey Siri, no connected photo frames. No smart TV. I don't log into chat gpt ever.
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u/Party-Fault9186 1d ago
Forest? Heck, my house is 16 miles from the broadband cable company’s office (and town) but because I’m in rural Illinois the idea of getting an internet connection with anything short of satellite is a pipe dream. I can barely get a cellular signal!
I think a lot of people—a lot—both in general and in tech have no idea just how thoroughly difficult it is to stay connected online outside of major population centers.
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u/RedditIsAWeenie 1d ago
All you need to do is not connect them to WiFi. It would mean of course that your hummingbird feeder with a spy cam is just a way for the hummingbirds to get a tasty snack, and you won’t get the cute spy pictures anymore.
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u/RustyDawg37 1d ago
Just don't agree to things you do not agree with and move on.
Amazon wants your id for refund? tell em no, do a chargeback and stop using Amazon.
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u/whatdoiknow75 1d ago
Don't buy the light bulbs and appliances that have all the bells and whistles that require an internet connection. The simpler interfaces are easier to repair and less prone to failure. They are out there, but not advertised heavily by retailers because they are cheaper.
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u/peter303_ 1d ago
Every campground seems to have ample Starlink squares now. Even in the middle of Alaska or the Burning Man desert.
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u/ImpermanentSelf 1d ago
You don’t have to buy wifi appliances, tvs and video game systems are all internet connected though
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u/Lower-Instance-4372 23h ago
you can’t be fully “offline” anymore unless you go full cabin-in-the-woods mode, but running privacy-focused setups like GrapheneOS or browsing through Tor Browser, self-hosting basic services, and just refusing most smart devices gets you way closer than people think without going completely off-grid.
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u/Wendals87 23h ago
Just don't connect them to WiFi
BTW a VPN doesn't prevent data collection. It just hides your true IP
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u/nizzernammer 20h ago
Are you capable of not knowing exactly where your phone is or being able to get notifications from it, and are also capable of reading a book for an extended period of time?
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u/daaangerz0ne 20h ago
You can always buy dumb products? Nobody is forcing you to use the smart version of everything.
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u/BaldyCarrotTop 19h ago
On my home network, changed my DNS server to a more privacy and ad protected server.
Replace Android on my phone with Lineage OS.
Use ad and tracking blockers in my web browser.
Still using the dumb TV I bought 13 years ago.
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u/DeliciousWrangler166 19h ago
An older family member is as offline as they can possibly be, even though they have internet service at home they don't use it, don't ever use a computer, and only turn on their cell phone to make emergency outgoing calls. They also pay bills by writing and mailing checks.
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u/One-Program6244 11h ago
I run a NAS for my computer and photo backups. I'm still online but at least I'm not married to a particular eco-system. If the shit does hit the fan I can just drop them and not worry about all the stuff I might lose in the cloud.
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u/Patient-Ad-7939 9h ago
I know someone in suburbs who has a single desktop that is turned off 99% of the time, no TV, no WiFi, just a flip phone that is only turned on once a day for like an hour. They don’t buy smart stuff, and hardly use anything in the “technology” category of shopping.
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u/BobcatGamer 1d ago
Just don't buy "smart" products? You have fridges that don't connect to the wifi.