10d (edited) • General discussion
WHY I STARTED THIS COMMUNITY 🙂
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL GUARDIAN
WHY I STARTED THIS COMMUNITY
When I first started putting The Digital Guardian together, I thought I wanted to create a course. I wanted to teach people about digital privacy, smartphone security, encryption, and the different ways we can protect ourselves and our families.
But as I got deeper into designing the course and putting the lessons together, something just didn't feel right to me.
I started realizing that what I really wanted to do was talk about these things, share my experiences, and explore these subjects in depth.
This is where my genuine, day-to-day interest and passion is.
It's easier for me to convey an idea when I can explain it in detail, work through the technical side of things, and have time to think and reflect on what I'm trying to communicate.
And I know a lot of people learn better by listening to conversations. I certainly do.
When I was a pipe welder throughout my twenties and early thirties, I spent countless hours listening to podcasts while I worked. I learned so much from those conversations over the years, and I came to appreciate the value of absorbing information through long-form discussions.
But I also understand that not everybody has the time or interest to listen to an hour-long conversation just to learn something about their phone.
And that's where I started thinking about doing things a little differently.
I want The Digital Guardian to be both an educational community and a podcast, with an additional option for people who want me to personally configure a privacy-focused smartphone for them.
A place where I can share information through written posts that anybody can read, while also having a subscription-based podcast where I can take these subjects much further.
Because sometimes I just want to explain something, and other times I want to spend an hour exploring why it works the way it does.
And I think there's value in both.
WHY THIS IS PERSONAL TO ME
I want to share some of my experiences because this isn't something I just decided to do to start a business.
I'm a targeted individual, and I describe myself as a survivor of serious gang-stalking and organized assault. I've experienced some very serious violations of my privacy and personal security over the years.
I've had my personal information stolen. I've had bank accounts emptied and shut down without warning. I've had problems with Facebook profiles and Venmo accounts.
I've experienced what I believe were unauthorized intrusions into my phones. I've sat there looking at my device while things were happening on it that appeared as though somebody else was controlling it.
I've even experienced incidents involving my television while I was sitting there watching it, where it appeared somebody else had taken control of the device.
I haven't been able to independently establish exactly what caused every one of those incidents, but I know what I experienced, and those experiences have had a major impact on how I look at technology and how seriously I take my privacy and security.
And that's not all.
LOSING YEARS OF WORK
I spent approximately two and a half to three years building a website.
I put an enormous amount of time into it, developing it, building relationships with customers, and creating something that people actually depended on.
Then, following a controversial stance I had taken publicly, the website was taken down under circumstances I still question, and I was barred from accessing it and the customers who depended on it.
Years of work, gone.
And I couldn't even access the people who relied on what I had built.
That experience changed the way I looked at the services and platforms we depend on.
Think about that for a moment.
You can spend years building something, developing relationships, investing your time and resources, and creating something that becomes part of your livelihood.
But if everything you've built depends on infrastructure that somebody else controls, what happens when you lose access to it?
How much of it do you actually own?
And how much control do you really have?
That's something I think people need to start asking themselves.
And something else happened just this year that really drove that lesson home.
EIGHT YEARS OF GRAPHIC DESIGN WORK — LOST
Only a few months ago, my Canva account was shut down, deleted, or otherwise made inaccessible without warning.
When I opened my account, my work was gone.
Eight years of graphic design work. Everything I had created and stored there since 2018.
Product labels, passion projects, designs I'd worked on for businesses, and hundreds of graphic designs I'd created over the years.
Some of my most personal thoughts and memories were tied to that work.
And all of it was lost to me.
What really bothers me about that experience is that it happened while I was already deeply invested in digital privacy and security.
I was already researching these things, securing my devices, learning about encryption, and taking steps to protect my information.
But I hadn't taken those same precautions with my Canva account.
I hadn't made sure I had independent copies of everything somewhere I controlled.
And now I regret it.
So let that be a lesson to everyone here, myself included.
It can happen at any moment, to anyone.
You can know better and still overlook something. You can use a service for eight years and assume that everything you've created will still be there tomorrow.
Until it isn't.
And that's why I think it's so important that we understand who actually controls our information and what happens if we lose access to the services we're depending on.
Why should we have to ask somebody else for permission to access our own work?
Why should we be guests in the house of our own data?
I learned that lesson the hard way, even while I was actively learning how to avoid exactly these kinds of situations.
THERE'S ANOTHER PART OF MY LIFE THAT SHAPED ALL OF THIS
I'm also a survivor of sex trafficking.
I was trafficked as a child and as a young teenager.
That's something that has affected my life in ways that are difficult to put into words, and it's one of the reasons personal privacy, security, and protecting vulnerable people are so important to me.
When you've experienced exploitation and the loss of control over your own life, personal autonomy and safety take on a different meaning.
And when I think about the amount of information we carry around on our smartphones today, I think about how that information can affect not only our privacy but also our physical safety and the safety of our families.
Our locations, conversations, photographs, financial information, children's information, and daily routines.
Some of our most sensitive information is stored on these devices, and we routinely give applications and services access to it without really understanding what they're doing with it.
Who's collecting that information?
Where is it going?
Who has access to it?
And how do we actually know that it's being protected the way we're told it is?
These are the kinds of questions I want people to start asking.
Because this information isn't just data sitting on somebody's computer.
It's information about our lives.
And I believe people deserve to understand how it's being used and what they can do to protect it.
So when I say this is something I'm passionate about, I mean it.
HOW THIS COMMUNITY WILL WORK
I want to structure The Digital Guardian around three different levels of participation, so people can learn and get involved in whatever way works best for them.
FREE COMMUNITY — EDUCATIONAL POSTS AND DISCUSSIONS
I'll be publishing written posts covering digital privacy, smartphone security, encryption, application permissions, networking, open-source software, and the different ways we can better protect our personal information.
I'll also be sharing my experiences, things I've learned, applications I've tested, and subjects I believe people should be paying attention to.
I don't want these posts to be nothing more than advertisements for the podcast.
I want them to provide real value.
I want somebody to be able to come here, read a post, learn something about how their phone works, and walk away with a better understanding of what they can do to protect themselves.
These educational posts and community discussions will be free.
THE DIGITAL GUARDIAN PODCAST — PAID SUBSCRIPTION
The podcast is where I want to take these conversations much further.
This is where I'll be discussing subjects in greater depth, exploring technical concepts, sharing more of my experiences, and talking about the things I'm researching and working on.
I'll also be walking you through GrapheneOS and showing you how these phones actually work.
I don't want to just tell you that GrapheneOS is more secure. I want to show you why I use it, how its security protections work, and what makes it different from the Android operating system that comes installed on most smartphones.
I'll be taking you through the operating system, explaining its exploit protections, application isolation, permissions, and the different security features built into it.
I'll also be giving you real-life demonstrations, including controlled tests showing how certain attacks or unauthorized actions can be blocked or restricted.
And I'll be walking you through the software I personally use.
Over the past year, I've researched, installed, compared, and tested hundreds of applications. I've spent an enormous amount of time trying to understand how they work, what information they have access to, and whether their privacy and security claims actually hold up.
I want to take you through that process.
I'll show you the applications I've chosen, how they function, what I like about them, what their limitations are, and how to configure them.
Essentially, I want to give you a tour of the operating system and the software I've spent the past year familiarizing myself with.
Because I don't think people should have to become cybersecurity professionals just to understand what their phones are doing.
The podcast will be available through a paid subscription. Producing long-form content, researching subjects, testing software, and putting everything together takes a significant amount of time, and I want to be able to dedicate that time to doing it properly.
But I don't want somebody to feel like they have to pay just to learn something about digital privacy.
That's why the written educational content will remain free.
VIP TIER — DIGITAL GUARDIAN DEVICES
I'm also beginning to offer Digital Guardian Devices.
These are smartphones that I'll personally source, configure, and prepare with GrapheneOS and a curated selection of privacy-focused applications.
The idea is to make these devices more accessible to people who want better privacy and security but don't necessarily have the time, experience, or confidence to configure everything themselves.
You won't have to figure out which device to buy, whether it's compatible, how to install the operating system, or where to begin with choosing applications.
I'll take care of that process for you.
I'll source the device, install GrapheneOS, configure the operating system, and install the applications you've selected from the software I offer.
And I'll explain what you're getting and how to use it.
I want people to understand their devices, not just receive a phone with a bunch of unfamiliar applications installed on it.
WHY WE USE GOOGLE PIXEL HARDWARE
Now, something I want to explain because I know some people are going to question it is why we're using Google Pixel phones.
You might be thinking, if we're trying to get away from Google's ecosystem, why would we use a Google phone?
And that's a fair question.
But there's a difference between using Google's hardware and using Google's entire software and services ecosystem.
GrapheneOS uses the Android Open Source Project as its foundation, along with extensive additional security and privacy protections.
Yes, some of that code was developed by Google. But much of the operating system's source code is publicly available for people to examine, audit, and modify.
What we're getting away from is the requirement to participate in Google's proprietary application and services ecosystem.
You don't have Google Play services installed by default. You don't need a Google account. You don't have to use Google's applications or depend on Google's cloud services just to operate your phone.
You can keep location services disabled, choose your own applications, use your own password manager, configure your own DNS and VPN, and control much more of how your device operates.
And you can still use your phone for the things most people need a smartphone to do.
Now, there are tradeoffs. Some applications depend on Google Play services, and certain features may not function the same way without them. But that's something I'll be walking you through and demonstrating.
The reason we use Pixel devices is that their hardware security architecture meets GrapheneOS's requirements. We're using that hardware to run a different operating system with a different approach to privacy and security.
We're not trying to pretend Google never had anything to do with the phone.
We're separating the hardware we want from the services we don't want to depend on.
WHICH PHONES WILL BE AVAILABLE?
For now, I'll primarily be offering Google Pixel devices, starting with the Pixel 8 generation and newer.
Older models, including the Pixel 7, are still supported, but they're approaching the end of their guaranteed security-update period.
And that's something I take seriously.
I don't want to sell somebody a phone without explaining how much longer they can reasonably expect it to receive security updates.
The Pixel 8 generation and newer have a much longer guaranteed support period, so those are the devices I'd generally recommend.
You can choose a more affordable supported model or a newer device with several years of security updates remaining.
Pricing will depend on the particular model, its condition, and the configuration you choose.
These devices are available to order now.
If you're interested in having one configured, just reach out to me directly. I'll explain the available options, how the process works, and what you can expect.
I'm still putting together the educational material and building out this community, and it's just me working on everything right now.
So it's a day-by-day process.
But I wanted to go ahead and make the devices available to people who are interested rather than waiting until every part of the community is finished.
GUARDIANOS AND THE ECOSYSTEM I'M BUILDING
And this is where some of my bigger plans come into the picture.
I'm beginning development work toward my own smartphone operating system, called GuardianOS.
GuardianOS will be based on GrapheneOS, and my intention is to preserve the security architecture and exploit protections that make GrapheneOS so valuable while building my own features, applications, and user experience on top of it.
I don't want to reinvent everything that's already been done well.
I want to build on that foundation.
I'm also working toward developing my own ecosystem of applications and services.
My own networking infrastructure, VPN services, cloud storage, secure communications, and other software that can work together as part of a larger system.
Something similar in concept to how Google or Apple have built ecosystems around their devices and services, but with a much stronger emphasis on user control, privacy, and security.
I've already begun working on parts of that infrastructure, and I'm exploring the development of my own applications, including encrypted SMS messaging.
This is still in the very beginning stages.
Building an operating system and an entire ecosystem of software and services is an enormous undertaking. And I understand that.
But it's something God has put on my heart to do.
I have a deep passion for this work and an incredible drive to see it through.
And I want to bring people along as I develop it.
I'll be sharing what I'm working on, what I'm learning, the challenges I encounter, and how these projects develop over time.
Right now, the devices I'm offering use GrapheneOS. GuardianOS is a separate, longer-term development project.
But this is the beginning of something much bigger that I'm working toward through The Digital Guardian and Waymaker Media.
A PLACE TO LEARN FROM EACH OTHER
I don't want this to be a place where I just stand in front of a camera and tell everybody what to think.
I want people to come here, get comfortable, read, listen, ask questions, share their experiences, and learn from one another.
If you know something I don't know, share it.
If you disagree with something I say, let's talk about it.
And if you're completely new to all of this, that's fine too.
You don't have to know anything about encryption, Linux, networking, or cybersecurity.
That's what we're here for.
I want this to be a community of like-minded individuals who want to learn, grow, and help get this information out to other people.
And I want to learn alongside you.
WHY I BELIEVE WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR WHAT'S COMING
I see a time approaching that I want people to be aware of, and I want people to be prepared for.
We're already seeing enormous changes in technology, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence.
AI systems are becoming capable of interacting with applications, accessing information, and performing tasks on our behalf.
And we've already seen serious security vulnerabilities involving agentic AI, including ways these systems can be manipulated into exposing information or performing actions they weren't supposed to perform.
I believe that's going to become a major security issue in the years ahead.
Then there's quantum computing and the potential for sufficiently powerful quantum computers to break some of the classical public-key encryption systems we depend on today.
These are real challenges that researchers and security professionals are already working to address.
I'm not saying we need to panic about these things.
I'm saying we need to understand them and prepare.
And that's what I'm doing myself.
I'm trying to get out in front of these changes, learning what I can, taking precautions, and making my family and loved ones aware of what's happening.
And I want to help other people do the same.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
I'm going to keep building this community as I go.
I'll continue publishing educational posts, developing the podcast, and sharing what I'm learning as I grow and expand.
There will be more lessons, tutorials, and projects in the future, along with other things I'm working on through Waymaker Media.
But right now, I just want to get started.
I've lost money. I've lost access to accounts. I've lost years of work. I've experienced serious concerns about the security of my own devices, and I've experienced things in my life that have made personal safety and autonomy incredibly important to me.
I can't go back and change those experiences.
But I can learn from them.
And I can share what I've learned in the hope that it helps somebody else avoid going through something similar.
That's where my heart is with The Digital Guardian.
So I hope you'll take this journey with me as I continue building this community.
Whether you're here for the free educational posts, the podcast, or interested in having me configure a Digital Guardian Device for you, I want you to feel welcome.
Share your experiences. Ask questions. Share what you know.
Let's learn from each other, grow together, and help get this information out to the people who need it.
I wish you all the best.
Love you all, thank you for being here, and God bless.
THE DIGITAL GUARDIAN
Don't just use it. Understand it.
I use an iPhone and I am interested in learning how to better secure my device :)
I use an Android and I am interested in learning how to better secure my device :)
I am interested in purchasing a custom phone, with a custom security-hardened operating system :)
I am just here to enjoy the conversations :)
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WHY I STARTED THIS COMMUNITY 🙂
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