At the beginning of this master's thesis, I present the current state of internet privacy and its importance in connection to anonymity. Next, I look into how users can manage and assure their privacy, and research the topic from a theoretical and practical point of view. The issue of privacy is multi-layered, which is why this master's thesis is systematically divided into different chapters, each one focusing on a specific topic or technique.
The research begins in chapter three, in which I examine the operation and practical value of onion routing, and its greatest representative, the Tor network, which assures the anonymous transfer of packets over the internet. I test the Tor network as a user, then I use it to set up my own website and IRC server, both of which work on the basis of hidden services technology. I establish that the Tor network is extremely easy to use even for a non-technical user, and can be very efficient in protecting a user's privacy.
In chapter four, I focus specifically on web browsing, as it represents one of the most common and widespread uses of the internet. I put emphasis on web tracking and its protection, while at the end of the chapter I research some alternatives to popular web services, which focus on privacy. In this chapter, I establish that the GDPR policy is not effective in protecting the personal data of users browsing the web. Some of the techniques mentioned in the chapter are not suitable for every user. Some of the online services, however, like Startpage, can without a doubt work as a replacement for popular online services like the search engine Google.
The most extensive practical part of my master's thesis is in chapter five, where I work on setting up an on-premise infrastructure and services. Initially, I pose the question of whether self-hosting is reasonable only from the point of view of personal data protection and come to the conclusion that it also makes sense from a financial standpoint, as a basic infrastructure can be established even with a Raspberry Pi 4 budget computer and its corresponding data disks. In this chapter, I introduce the NextCloud software, which can function as an alternative to popular cloud services, such as Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Contact, Google Calendar, and Google Keep. I also explore the setup and use of the Pi-hole ad-blocker. Additionally, I examine the options of using the virtual private network WireGuard to connect to on-premise infrastructure and analyze the importance of setting up a backup system. I discern that although setting up an on-premise infrastructure is reasonable, it is only a suitable option for people with technical expertise.
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