[PLUG-TALK] Email services shut down rather than comply with spies

Keith Lofstrom keithl at gate.kl-ic.com
Sun Aug 11 18:08:02 UTC 2013


On Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 10:43:16PM -0700, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> Is there a firefox add-on that can poll and pull mail
> automagically?  While a server is better in the abstract,
> lots more users have firefox as a "platform".

I realized that Thunderbird with POP3 is a good multiplatform
alternative for most people.  I do not normally install Tbird on
my machines, disliking the security implications of html-enabled
mail browsers, but I expect it is no less secure than browsing
gmail with Firefox. 

I've installed Thunderbird on the server for my wife, who has
rather a lot of stuff stored on gmail.  She can run Tbird remote,
via SSH -X and OpenVPN tunnel, from whatever secure machine she is
using.  Not from friend and family machines, but I assume those
are jampacked with malware anyway.

Tbird with POP download is more secure than leaving email on Google
for the NSA to peruse.  Of course, Google still has copies on their
backups (and I do on mine), but that might be three cups of coffee
to access rather than one.  The spies will go after the easier
stuff first.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993



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