I’m not sure what the issue is here… Did you know that your ISP has a record of every website you’ve ever been to on a server you don’t control and they can look at it whenever they want?

It is part of the purpose of HTTPS that your ISP does not have the URLs of pages you visited, nor the content of the data sent in either direction. That information is all encrypted from your browser to the web server and vice-versa.

Classically, they would have the domain names (e.g. lemmy.world) as you'd usually be using your ISP's DNS server; and even if you were using a remote DNS server the DNS traffic would be unencrypted.

But these days, they might not even have the domain names, as DNS over HTTPS is a thing in many browsers today.

[–] RedWizard@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Yes there is a distinction between webPAGE and webSITE. Which is why I used site and not page. I never said they have the URLs, that was you.

I build and maintain networks for a living, so I know what the network operators do and do not have access to.

As a user of any network, you should be walking around under the assumption that every network is hostile.

Regardless, my point still stands. You should have no expectation of privacy when you don't control the system your using. Especially these self hosted federated systems. Let alone a public webform where your sharing your thoughts and ideas and other PII.

Don't use repeat usernames across services
Don't include your full name
Don't include your photo
Ditch your account periodically and make a new one
Maintain separate accounts for different interests, especially NSFW content.

If you leave a trail of breadcrumbs, you will be found.

Unless the DMs are encrypted using your own keys, your DMs are one SQL query away from being nightly reading material for any instance admin.

That's the leading privacy concern with these systems. You might think your DMs are private, but unless their encrypted, any DBA can read them. You better hope the Admins of your instance have no voyeuristic intentions.