Home Servers: The Future of Privacy
Bitcoin, Communication, and Useful Apps
Over the course of the next few years, I want to migrate away from apps and platforms that do not preserve my privacy. The more I learn about how my data is being used by companies offering free services, the less I want to use them.
But I still use them… Why?
They’re amazingly built.
Instagram is incredibly addictive. Scrolling my newsfeed on Facebook boils my blood, and gives me regular drips of dopamine. The 280 character limit on Twitter is just the right amount of letters needed for everyone to fail to make the points they’re trying to make; genius. Google drive makes creating documents super simple and easy to collaborate on; it’s perfect for my business.
But all of these apps are free at the expense of my privacy. What are the alternatives? Do they already exist? Are they ready for me to start using them?
The Home Server
The internet is changing. We went from a decentralized internet (1960’s - 1990’s) to a centralized internet (1990’s - 2008) and now we’re transitioning into a hybrid model.
In the early stages of the internet, much of the infrastructure was run by government, universities, and corporations. Everything was open, and censorship was only implementable by individuals, as there were no large controlling entities with the power to censor information across the entire network.
In the centralization phase of the internet, we saw the emergence of tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter. With their prolific rise, came prolific power. These single entities gained the ability to filter what the rest of the people on the internet was able to view.
They control the hardware that runs the internet, and the software that we all convene on to discuss the hot topics of the day. With these two tools in the hands of few, I argue that this is simply too much power for any one organization to have.
It’s really no wonder that this centralization of power has lead to its abuse in the form of content filters, narrative controls, and censorship.
One of the reasons I am so against censorship and data control is because our realities are shaped by the information we’re exposed to.
Who controls the past, controls the future — George Orwell, 1984
But the ability to control information is changing. It starts with the home server.
Home Computing
Home computing arguably began in the 1980’s. The stereotypical nerd, geek, and cypherpunk all ran their own home servers out of passion, curiosity, and necessity.
There was simply no other way for some people to get on the internet, other than to learn how to set up their own server, and network. But this option was only available for those who spent the time to figure it out.
Perhaps now is the time to define home computing for the purposes of discussion.
— Home computing is the running of hardware and software that gives the user access to essential functions of the internet.
What are those essential functions? To trade, transfer, and share information of any kind, in any way.
Some examples of home computing applications are the TOR browser, BitTorrent, and yes, Bitcoin.
TOR (The Onion Relay): Uncensorable internet. This network gives people the ability to create websites that facilitate the trade, transferring, and sharing of information.
BitTorrent: Uncensorable File Sharing. This network allows people to transfer large files between one another.
Bitcoin: Uncensorable Money. This network allows people to trade, transfer, and share money (a form of information) with one another.
On these three tools alone, the entire home computing system architecture can be built.
The Umbrel Home Computer
Last year I bought a Raspberry Pi 4, and installed a free operating system called Umbrel on it. The Raspberry Pi is a computer. A full blown computer many times more powerful than the Apollo rocket that took humanity to the moon.
The Raspberry Pi will be the first computer I give my children to teach them about computers. It is an ultra simple, ultra lightweight computer capable of great things.
It is on computers like this that home computing is made possible. A Raspberry Pi 4, with a 1TB hard drive, 16GB SSD (for the OS), can be purchased for about $250 USD. A price that is much more accessible than a $3,000 MacBook Pro.
Umbrel Apps
Umbrel was originally designed to be a plug-and-play Bitcoin Full Node. An out-of-the-box computer that contributes to the running of Bitcoin. But perhaps one of the coolest features of Umbrel is their App Store.
If you remember the launch of the Apple App Store, then you remember there being 5 Apps, then 100 apps, then 10,000, then 1 million apps in a short period of time. The reason why this model is so successful, is because the model outsources innovation.
Build a platform that others can extend with their own apps, and your platform will become ubiquitous. This is exactly what we’re seeing play out with the Umbrel App Store.
I’m going to focus on just a couple of the applications to show you what’s coming down the pipeline years from now.
VaultWarden
The first app is VaultWarden, which is just BitWarden for Home Computing.
BitWarden is a password manager. If you’re still using the same password (with subtle variations) for all of your internet logins, you’re doing something wrong.
The foundation of Home Computing and your digital privacy starts with good passwords. To illustrate my point, here is a password to one of my 356 internet accounts.
oeyydtyPSLtEYkNNjAoY4&%%q
It is 25 characters long, and contains uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
To hack my account using this password, a typical computer would need 30 billion trillion trillion years. Good luck.
SyncThing
So you’re using GoogleDrive to access files online? Me too. But I will be migrating to something like SyncThing in the future. It is my own GoogleDrive, on my own RaspberryPi, shared with no one but myself.
PiHole
If you’re like me, then you hate being served advertisements on the internet. Even if they are useful to me, I don’t like having my YouTube video be interrupted to serve me an ad for insurance.
PiHole lets you block all ads across your whole home network before they ever reach your device. Epic.
SimpleTorrent
Remember how we talked about torrenting being a vital technology to home computing and privacy? Well, SimpleTorrent is just like µTorrent, but it’s integrated into your Umbrel.
TailScale
Another way to enhance your privacy online is by obscuring your IP Address with a VPN. TailScale is a one-click, free VPN for your Umbrel node.
If you’re using any of the above programs I’ve mentioned, then you’ll also want to be running a VPN, because otherwise both you and your Umbrel computer are at risk of being targeted in a hack or attack.
If someone knows your IP Address, then they can figure out your location. If they can figure out your location, then you’re vulnerable to a $5 wrench attack. That is, someone showing up at your door and robbing you.
SqueakNode
SqueakNode is a censorship-proof twitter replica. The end user has the sole ability to filter what they want to see, instead of Twitter HQ bringing a ban-hammer down on their users.
Additionally, users can tip each other on the lightning network.
Since SqueakNode is built right into your Umbrel node, it is super simple to tip, and be tipped in bitcoin.
JoinMarket
Lastly, there is JoinMarket. If you’re familiar with staking cryptocurrencies for a return on other platforms, then JoinMarket will be somewhat familiar to you.
JoinMarket can be used by individuals to obscure the sender/receiver of bitcoin transactions. In essence, JoinMarket makes bitcoin transactions more private and more difficult to trace.
As a bitcoin holder, I can deposit my bitcoin into a wallet that I control, and allow JoinMarket users to utilize the bitcoin for their own transactions. In exchange for “lending” or “staking” my bitcoin on JoinMarket, I can earn a bit of bitcoin.
Just today, I funded my JoinMarket account with ₿ 0.025, so I will know in a few weeks if/how profitable this is. If I ever want to get my bitcoin out, I will always be able to withdraw the amount I put in.
I’m going to dedicate a whole newsletter to diving into the ways you can use Umbrel to make money. I just started using JoinMarket today, so I still need to experiment some more. Stay Tuned.
Join the Home Computing Revolution
It’s going to take some time to learn and familiarize myself with this new way of using the internet. But in my opinion it’s worth it in the long run.
My motivation for using more Home Computing apps is in thinking about what the future looks like. What will Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter look like 20 years from now if we don’t start showing them that we’re willing to leave if they don’t respect our privacy?
For me, this is a long-term, lifestyle shift.
To end, I will leave you with a quote from Edward Snowden.
Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say. — Edward Snowden
Regards,
Keegan
Resources
Cryptocurrency Memes / Podcasts / Charts - v5HP7yBZAzuGVVJ&
Always thoughtful dialog, good Job. PS you left out Yahoo!