XeroBank Privacy

I've been checking out XeroBank as a solution for encrypting my web sessions.

If I use XeroBank, will that essentially block my ISP from seeing/logging ALL of my web activity, including IP addresses of sites I visit?

I see Google revolutionizing the power of user logs and it seems ISPs are moving that direction. Regardless of what their policies say, once the data is there, they can have it forever and use it later for whatever they want.

 

short answer: Yes.

 

Let me put it this way.. NOTHING is 100% secure, and nothing can guarantee that your ISP cannot see your activities.

The rule is... Never do anything illegal or immoral on the Internet, and you wont have to worry.

But if you do anything illegal or immoral, sooner or later you will get caught.

 

If you really want to be anonymous and make sure you aren't leaving tracks behind, I would suggest using xB Machine with your anonymity service. It's a whole operating system that is designed to be leakproof and secure. And about the closest you can get to ultimate secure computing in this life (until we release a new version).

 

I hear you, but it's not about doing anything illegal, it's about retaining privacy in a country (world?) where such rights are drastically being diminished. It's only a matter of time before ISPs are forced to (or voluntarily) start increasing retention of their logs. Couple that with google and other web services building profiles, and all the other sites out there that offer up that kind of information when your name is googled, and I'd say there's no place left to enjoy your privacy. But the key is, it's not about doing anything illegal, it's about protecting your identity and maintaining privacy over those things considered private. Just look at the lady that was unmasked by her AOL searched when AOL said the ISP logs they released were anonymized. I don't want people to know what I search for (what if I have a private illness, want a new job, am gay, like to crossdress, have a spouse that committed adultery, a kid hooked on drugs etc). None of those apply to me, but even so, the Internet is the first place people turn to for research on a topic.
That information should remain private and not accessible to multiple corporations or law enforcement agencies to compile information and stick in my file. This may not be the case now, but with increasing technologies and methods for data indexing, searches and storage, it could very well be the case in the future.
Better to stay ahead and protect yourself from the system when you see a trend starting to form, rather than lie down and take it by saying "i haven't broken the law". I'd like to protect my right to privacy...that's all.
Thanks for the inputs so far.

 

Thanks Steve, I'll check it out tomorrow. How about the issue of surfing without being logged (from ISP etc)? Does xB Machine take care of that or is that the anonymity service you mention? Is that was XeroBank personal account service will do? or does it just protect your connection from eavesdroppers, but not from letting your ISP see your web activity?

 

Fontaine, xB Machine will work on xerobank, tor, and just about any ssh or openvpn network out there. It is "leak proof" and can't communicate without being encrypted/anonymized. That includes protection from your ISP, first and foremost.

 

When you say "we", do you mean you are a programmer for Xerobank?

 

What makes you so sure that they have not been doing this already for years?

 

http://dandies.org/files/e620eb97d7105d321ac2acd29fd6c140-7.html

Read that. I have read many other reports that Tor users are not anamous as they think they are.

 

Tor users can be identified according to some websites I came across. Tor users think they are anamyous, but they arent according to some reports.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/10/18/tor-ip-anonymitity-compromised/

http://dandies.org/files/e620eb97d7105d321ac2acd29fd6c140-7.html

 

Let me tell you something about the way law enforcement works, the more you do to "hide your tracks", REGARDLESS of illegal activity or not, the more suspicious you look. You can subscribe to as many "anonymous" services as you wish (not knocking your service Xerobank), but you CAN NOT COMPLETELY HIDE. Besides, the moment you "cease to exist" on your ISP's servers, red flags are going to go flying up in the air and you MAY even get booted as a customer. Like I said previously, the more you try to block, the more guilty you look, that is how the world works now.

Also, just in case you weren't really sure, I'll let you in on a secret: Computers are the best man-made snitches ever devised.

 

Yes, I do some programming for xerobank software. As to the issue of looking suspicious, the point is to get as many people using cryptography and anonymity as possible by incorporating it in all parts of interaction. The xB Machine does that for all applications/traffic, etc., no matter what you do. While nothing is 100%, we can get to say 99.999% with some level of confidence. For example, for some of our government and corporate clients, we offer covert channel communications. Someone watching your internet connections wouldn't be able to tell you're covertly communicating. To them, your protocol looks like normal web surfing but you could secretly have a 5kbps anonymous stream. Again, it isn't something generally available to the public, but it isn't impossible either.

 

I understand your point of view Xerobank, and I actually consider a service like yours to be about the only thing left that can provide at least a degree of privacy. My last post was to just advise the OP that services like this are viewed much more suspiciously than they were pre-9/11. What none of us want are more situations where the not-guilty are being treated as the guilty. We have far too much of that already.

 

This was a very interesting remark by you when you said, "Let me tell you something about the way law enforcement works".

Are you suggesting you work for the law enforcement agency? If not, then you are in no position to speak for them or their activity in how they deal with tracing and monitoring peoples activities. To make such comments as you did, are based on your own guesswork, assumptions.

Yet having said that, I agree that there is a possiblity that your comments are accurate. But you are in no position to speak for the law enforcement agency and how they view such things.

 

I am glad you admitted that nothing is 100%, which means you have openly admitted that it's possible for Xerobank, Tor etc. users are open to be monitored and seen what their activities are. I appreciate your honesty, because the truth is... nobody is 100% anonymous. And if someone is using Tor or XeroBank for illegal purposes, then it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when they will get caught. And if someone is using Tor or XeroBank for illegal purposes and assuming they are 100% anonymous, then they are in for a big shock one day.

 

I appreciate your comments, but you seem to be caught up on the idea of people using anonymity services for illegal purposes. It's a shame when talk of privacy can't come up without people automatically reverting to the idea that someone is doing something illegal. Just because someone chooses to use a technology to break the law does not mean that I will not use the same legal methods to protect myself from those that wish to exploit my information.
There will be people that will try to hide from the law because they break it, that will never change. But for those of us that just want to protect ourselves from being taken advantage of and having our information strewn about in a reckless way, well we have no choice but to use the same practices of trying to achieve anonymity in a very big cyberspace. I'd bet that most of the people using a service such as Xerobank are legitimate. Just like most people that fly are not terrorists.

 

And just how "expert" are you in anonymous activity? You are stating the exact same thing I did, that nobody is 100% anonymous. You yourself are making an assumption and doing guesswork if that's the way you want to go about arguing about my statement. I stated what I did about law enforcement not because I am claiming to be involved with it, but because it does not take a high IQ to read/watch the news and read up on and research the new crime-fighting techniques and laws being feverishly created daily, especially in the U.S and U.K.

Anyone who IS in the law field, whether that be police, lawyers, or whatever, will tell you that a good prosecutor will turn your innocent encryption of your data into a malicious attempt to hide when you sit down in front of those 12 jurors. My OWN lawyer has advised me of that during normal conversations. Maybe you just don't realize that the world has changed in the last 7 years. I can't fault you for that if that is indeed the case, you would not be the only one who hasn't payed enough attention to your rights to privacy being whittled away and the ability to say/do things without fear of someone taking them out of context and finding yourself in trouble being reduced drastically.

@ Fontaine- The reason data encryption, whether encrypting a hard drive, certain data on a drive, or encrypting web traffic is coming under fire and will be increasingly so, is because the web is being increasingly used as a crime haven, and, specifically as a terrorist recruiting tool and attack planner. You both need to understand that, whether you like it or not or think it's right, police, both local and federal, are taught that the hiding of anything is cause to investigate even more thoroughly and is a flag raiser. A good cop is a suspicious cop.

 

I never indicated that 100% of all users are using it for illegal reasons. But I believe most do, but not all.

 

I will not even comment on this because it contained the most dribble I have read for a very long time

 

Hi

Do you have any proof if this?

Thanks

 

No. Do you have any proof that it's not true?

 

The very same ulterior motives/reasons can be equally applied to someone seemingly very interested in encrypting/blocking un-wanted access to their computer, could it not? :

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=216137

 

That's exactly what I thought, thanks for proving my point.

 

Hi

But I think since you're the one making the claim, shouldn't you have proof?
Thanks