We acknowledge that many of you might feel uncomfortable copying and pasting blocks of text from your terminals, especially if you do not fully understand what that block of text means. And let's not even get started on screenshots...
We all know what it's like when someone asks for some information that you believe they shouldn't be asking for.
However, it is possible that some people might either divulge too much information, or refuse to divulge completely innocent information altogether. Both of these circumstances aren't exactly ideal.
This guide is intended to address how to respond when someone asks you for information about your circumstances.
This guide will go through some of the most common things that will be asked of you if you are encountering technical difficulties, and need assistance.
It will explain: - What each of those things are - What they look like - What bits of information are needed in order to successfully answer your question - What bits of information could potentially leak information about you - What bits are not going to leak information about you - How to redact information successfully, while still being able to get a satisfactory answer to your questions
If anyone else has examples they have encountered, please add them to the list, so that we can better help those that need help.
This is about helping users, particularly non-technical users, understand what it means when people ask them to provide information about their machine for diagnosis, and how to make a conscious decision to share, or not to share.
This guide is NOT about: - How to be Hackerman or Mr. Robot - How to hide from the government - How to use a VPN/Tor/I2P - How to hide illegal activities from law enforcement - Anything related to the GDPR or similar data protection legislation - Conspiracy theories - Fear-mongering - "Tinfoil hat" topics - OpSec - (i.e. adjusting your personal behaviour based to avoid divulging of secret information) - Anything else of a similar nature.
They are NOT relevant, they have NO place here, and they belong in a separate guide.