Hey guys, it’s always good to avoid controversial subjects, so let’s talk about the pandemic! The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic fundamentally changed the way we go about our lives, but I want to address some of this today. One of the things greatly affected by the pandemic was the right to privacy.

The Pandemic Problems

Working from home and doing so privately has become more difficult with things like employee monitoring software, constant video calls with mandatory rules that your camera is on at all times, and the use of personal computers and “bring your own device” are now commonplace.

But this goes beyond the workplace and education. Many other facets of our lives are now done at home on video conferencing software ranging from therapy sessions, telehealth visits, and town hall meetings. The question is, how are we going to keep our computers clean and maintain our privacy in a post-pandemic world?

Schools, workplaces, and medical services require you use a personal computer, where you keep all sorts of things you’d like private, and they install all sorts of invasive video calling programs, anti-cheat rootkits for online classes, and bossware playing Big Brother to make sure you are working.

Instead of complaining, I want to take this time to either improve what we can do or more importantly, prepare us for the next pandemic. The next time this happens, let’s be ready.

A Disclaimer

Before I proceed with any of this, I want to you to be aware I do this for fun and games because I value my own privacy, but if this is critical to you getting a job, educational opportunity or healthcare treatment, do NOT do anything I say; your well-being is more important than the content I make on my YouTube channel. Pick the hill you will die on wisely and know which battles you can win. Be smart about this and don’t break the law or any guidelines set by work or school.

That being said, your employer or university might be kind enough to offer accomodations, let’s say that, so you can work from home and not have the privacy invasive technology wreck havoc on your personal computer. All of this is also a lesson on social engineering and while social engineering might have negative connotations because of the infosec world, it’s all about everyone getting what they want in the end. They get a good worker and you get your privacy at home and with your data. Think of it as professional excuse making.

I’m not going to go into deep detail, but I’m also going to go over price or potential costs. I understand, especially for broke zoomer students that price is an important consideration.

The “Work” Computer:

Obviously the cheapest solution is to have a dedicated computer. You could use an old computer you have lying around, buy a new one, or convince your employer/school to provide you one.

  • Tell your employer providing you a computer will have everything all preset and it’s more secure as it’s hardware the company controls.
  • Say how technically illiterate you are and installing all that VPN software and monitoring software is too difficult for you to do.
  • If it’s a university, they often allow students to rent out laptops like library books and most other types of schools provide Chromebooks or iPads for younger age groups.
  • Tell them you’re an Arch Linux user and frequently get kernel updates that break PulseAudio and Arch doesn’t natively support Zoom or Teams. (Don’t tell them Flatpak or Snap exist!)

Also when you make excuses like this: do not be hostile or say how much you disapprove of their practices. Your employer or university might feel they don’t have to do anything for you and you are the one on the short end of the stick here. You will get more accomplished by being agreeable and demonstrating the willingness to be a good worker.

The Home Router/Firewall

The con of being issued a computer is many schools or workplaces forbid you from installing software on your computer and this is where a home firewall becomes your first line of defense. A home firewall can be a spare computer or a dedicated piece of hardware to control what happens on your network. This also protects your back if a skilled adversary targets your company or university, like what happened with LastPass.

To prevent any unsavory connections, system calls, or third-party IT software tracking your home address, I use a pfSense firewall on a Protectli firewall when I’m at home . I have had bad luck with OPNSense, but many others tell me it’s great. Both pfSense and OPNSense allow you to set up custom VPN connections with a VPN provider through OpenVPN, Wireguard, or IKE2.

The Most Expensive (Potentially)

Unfortunately, this is a steep price hike. Buying dedicated hardware for this is at least $300 and paying a subscription fee to a trustworthy, commercial VPN provider, which can be up to another $10 per month. You also need the know-how to setup a firewall or acquire hardware to run it.

But using this setup ensures you never download any programs on a work device. Having a dedicated machine also makes it easier to mentally and digitally compartmentalize your work activities from your personal activities. I know when I crack open my Windows laptop I’m there to get work done. I believe with the right investment, this setup is incredibly effective at achieving privacy while working from home.

Using Your Own Computer

So let’s say you can’t get your hands on a device; there’s no budget for you or the school cheaped out on you, what now?

Virtual Machines

The next solution is if you have capable hardware, run a Linux virtual machine. VirtualBox or HyperV on Windows, UTM on Mac, and KVM on Linux through GNOME Boxes or virt-manager will separate your work life from your personal machine through a strong sandbox.

Interestingly enough, all of the video conference software most businesses use, like Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, all work on Linux and Windows. I strongly recommend installing Windows 11, Fedora, or Debian because Zoom, WebEx, and Teams all offer .deb and .rpm packages. You also might want to consider using X11 as your display manager as screensharing is not as functional as it is on Wayland.

The Cons of Virtual Machines

The issue with virtual machines is USB passthrough, which varies wildly from device to device. This means you pass a USB webcam or microphone to a virtual machine so you can use it with video conference software, the same way you do on a physical computer.

Some might argue VM escapes are a threat, but the reality is business software from official sources won’t contain such exploits. HyperV and KVM especially are enterprise level software and Microsoft and the Linux Foundation will do everything in their power to stop that from happening.

This also requires you have a half-competent gaming computer in order to run a virtual machine effectively. You also need to be sure you can allocate enough storage and if you do something like animation or video editing, this is progressively more difficult. Anti-cheat software and security programs might also alert your proctors or your IT department you are using a virtual machine.

Live USBs

If you can’t get a virtual machine working or you have a low-spec computer, use a live Linux USB. The live USB ensures you can use a separate operating system, but still using the same computer. The problem is removing the USB stick will cause you to lose your setup and lose all of your data. There’s also the issue of performance. Especially on low spec hardware, live USBs are limited in their read speed and running off the RAM of your computer.

Secondary/Portable Drives

To avoid your files getting erased, you could use a portable hard drive or a second drive. If you have a second SSD or hard drive, you can boot into it when you need to get work done. And since you have full control of your hardware, you can use VPN software on your device. Using Windows on a portable hard drive isn’t very feasible (it was discontinued in 2020), but it will if you use a PCI or SATA connection. Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu should work fine regardless of your situation.

Progressive Web Apps

Many programs today are also done in progressive web apps, and using a Chromium-based browser like Brave, you can use many websites the same as you would on Windows. I did a full video on running Discord as a progressive web app and you can apply the same blocking techniques to other web-based software like Google Meet or Slack.

Webcam Rules

Now we also have mandatory webcam rules. Some workplaces, online classes, and telehealth visits require interviews or your work day with your camera on all day. Of course, you could raise a stink about it (and some would argue you should), but it’s far easier to play stupid than say you don’t like something. Whenever you appear in a video call, always have an excuse ready, especially when you take your computer to get setup with your employer.

Desktop Computers

The most successful one I have had is say your main computer is a desktop computer. Most monitors for desktop computers don’t include webcams or microphones and it’s impossible to use video conferencing programs without one. Don’t tell them you use your USB webcam for running a secret Vtuber YouTube/Odysee escapade though!

And notice this: I never lied to my employer; my main computer is a desktop computer and my poor Asus E403NA laptop isn’t good enough to run Zoom. When I told them about my situation, they were happy to provide a Windows laptop with Microsoft Office and monitoring software preinstalled.

Part of making a good excuse is you express that you are trying your best to do what they want. Also pick something that is the most true for you.

“My Internet is bad”

But let’s say your employer or school isn’t as accommodating. They give you a webcam and tell you to get to work. You can also claim you live in an area with low-bandwidth. You know what takes up a lot of bandwidth? It’s the pictures and videos in video calls!

If you were to say, your first couple of calls, disconnect yourself from the network from your settings rather than hanging up in the middle of a call, it will help sell your story. This way, participants in a video call will see you disconnected and you come back, but tell them “Oh my call works better with my webcam off,” they just want you to get work done and will be more likely to adapt to this change.

What about your phone?

One question I heard once from the doctor’s office was “why don’t you use <<our video conferencing app>> on your phone?” But I was prepared. I bought a cheap phone from Best Buy, hit the screen a few times with a hammer, used the Android Debugging Bridge to rip out all Google apps, and brandished it in front of the receptionist and said “Oh, but my Android phone has trouble downloading apps.” And that ended conversation really quick, with my iPhone safely in my pocket.

A Little Bit of Tape

Another weird alternative is putting layers of scotch tape or using a dedicated room in your home for work. Now hear me out: the layers of scotch tape diffuse the mass surveillance and facial recognition done by platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but it allows people to loosely see the detail of you and your workspace.

A Dedicated Space

The other reason why I recommend a dedicated room or space is as a last resort if they demand you remain on camera, you can limit how much of your home they see. Make sure important sentimental or controversial things are not in frame like:

  • pictures of you, your family, or friends
  • certificates or trophies
  • items unrelated to work
  • religious imagery
  • alcohol or smoking products (depending on culture)
  • adult or NSFW material

The reason you need to do this is because first, your coworkers and supervisors will judge you based on your Zoom room, so it’s to be conscientious of this. The other reason it’s easier to mentally be in a room you know you’re going to be working. This tells you mentally, I’m in this room, so I’m going to be working.

The other reason is some anti-cheat proctors will demand you move your computer around and show them the entire room. This way, if you are forced to do so, you can limit what they see.

Takeaways

The culture of working from home may be a new one, but the situation is not entirely hopeless and we have a wide variety of options at our disposal.

  • You can use a dedicated computer or a work device.
  • You can use a Windows or Linux virtual machine to separate your work activity on your main machine.
  • You could use a live USB or a portable drive to boot into Linux and do your business.

You provide sufficient excuses to get your work done and play dumb.

  • You have bad internet.
  • Your computer can’t run the software.
  • The webcam provided isn’t Linux-friendly.
  • That you’re too stupid or tech-illiterate to download their stuff

And hopefully this provides some hope in our ever-connected cyberpunk dystopia.