You tell me.<\/p>\n
I know<\/i> that the right software and the right settings are key to electronic privacy on computers. But are there some computers (laptops, especially) that are inherently more private and secure due to their hardware?<\/p>\n
I always buys used Lenovo laptops. They (and their predecessors from IBM) are the sturdiest beasties in the computer world. Mine have been knocked off tables by rambunctious dogs (or by me) dozens of times, and while various plastic bits may have cracked or broken off, the workings inside their titanium cases have just gone right on ticking.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the other day my main computer (ThinkPad T400) was sitting on a hassock next to a window when Ava spotted a cat. This time she didn’t knock the computer to the ground. That would have been fine. Nope. She stuck a claw into its screen.<\/p>\n
Oh, it’s still working just fine. But when you spend as much time at the computer as I do, a dog-claw-sized hole in the middle of the display will drive you nuts. So I’m thinking about a new (used) laptop. It’s about time for one, anyhow.<\/p>\n
But one of the things I like about this one is no built-in camera<\/i>. It’s got a stupid fingerprint reader, but that’s totally ignorable. It worries me that the newer an electronic device, the more likely it is to arrive with hardware and pre-sets to communicate with Uber-Snoops. Shel reminded me of such unknown hazards when he posted this link<\/a> in comments.<\/p>\n That’s not for me. But then, neither is the prospect of buying increasingly older laptops just to avoid creepazoids.<\/p>\n So tell me: how far off-base am I in thinking that I should be able to buy a recent, but used, laptop that isn’t designed and pre-set to betray its users to Our Robot Overlords?<\/p>\n And if I’m not off base, what are some good candidate laptops built in the last few years?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You tell me. I know that the right software and the right settings are key to electronic privacy on computers. But are there some computers (laptops, especially) that are inherently more private and secure due to their hardware? I always buys used Lenovo laptops. They (and their predecessors from IBM) are the sturdiest beasties in the computer world. Mine have been knocked off tables by rambunctious dogs (or by me) dozens of times, and while various plastic bits may have cracked or broken off, the workings inside their titanium cases have just gone right on ticking. Unfortunately the other day…<\/p>\n