Yes. I fully understand, and it applies also to brick and mortar life. One can only secure one's home to the degree that it might encourage criminals to move on to 'easier pickings'. But if said criminal wants in, he's getting in.
The truth is that I lead a pretty normal existence. There is nothing that would cause me serious grief were a random 'browsing', download or search (or any of my online activities) be 'exposed'. It would violate my sense of privacy, but no catastrophic consequences could be expected. I will say that Gov't's desire to have their fingers in all aspects of life these days is a concern
. And what is constitutional today (and for the past 250 yrs) may well be illegal tomorrow.
Today, one never knows what search or what website may put one on a given entity's "list". And given the lack of logic and common sense that prevail in the upper echelons of administration, that could be a bad thing.
So, concrete? No. But general privacy as could mostly be expected in the past is now technologically circumvented. This is my concern (which, these days may be considered trivial).
And of course, the convenience of dealing with financial institutions online (but I
think those activities are mostly secure).
Agreed. Even more so than in 'real life'. And it so happens that the above statement sums my philosophy up nicely. I am not a trusting soul. Thus my postings.
Illegal activity is not a concern here, but avoiding the appearance of impropriety is certainly a worthwhile consideration. There's that tightrope again.
So, ironically, this thread has left me to do mostly what I have always done online. Use common sense and caution, trust no one. I do use FF with various addons (of the security variety). The valuable conclusion though is that my contemplation's of using a vpn or similar method of retaining privacy could be counter-productive.
If anyone has a suggestion that would remain 'on the tightrope', please feel free to post.
And thanks to sfx2000, L&LD, and yorgi for your comments. Very much appreciated!
Also, apologies to MunQ (OP) for taking up so much space in his thread. Thanks for your patience.