There are no new AMD or Intel processors that come without ST (formerly PSP) or CSME (formerly ME).
>The management engine that included in chipsets can be switched off permanently.
This is factually incorrect. me_cleaner cannot neutralize or disable modern CSME, there is no way to verify the HAP bit does anything at all, nor that the included TCP/IP stack on the Minix OS cannot accept remote commands to disable the HAP bit, if set. To our current knowledge, only the onboard GbE controller is accessible to CSME's TCP/IP stack, but we're working with extremely limited information. These are closed-source, hardened opaque-boxes that are deliberately designed to be inauditable and tamper-proof. Adding firmware support for other ethernet controllers or wireless cards would conceivably be trivial.
>In general usage, it does not matter while you use third party controlled CAs, distro repositories and automatic updates,
I compile from source. OS, drivers, browser - all of it. I don't care if you think this is "unrealistic for the average user", my objective is not to have the security model that the average user has.
>not speaking about microsoft, google, nvidia, valve, mozilla spyware that can do anything with your data anytime they (or US/EU government agencies) want.
I do not run Windows, I do not use chromium (or firefox) based browsers, I do not use a discrete GPU, I don't have anything remotely gaming related (like steam) installed.
What I do have is a constitutional right to privacy that does not end where my CPU begins, and an unshakeable resolve wherein I refuse to voluntarily cede that right to privacy just because so many others do.
I am not a big fan of ARM as many ARM chips have a TrustZone core, which is in the same camp as (CS)ME and AMD ST (PSP).
Fun fact: AMD ST (PSP) is actually implemented using an ARM TrustZone core.
Anger might help, if channeled properly into lobbying your representatives in Congress. Making up imaginary constitutional rights to a DRM-free PC won't help at all, though. Intel and AMD have the right to shove their spyware into their silicon, just as Microsoft has the right to shove theirs into their OS. You have the right to decline to buy it. Your rights end there, given that nothing they are doing is actually illegal.
That last part could change, which is why I recommend lobbying. It should be completely illegal to use a Wintel PC for a vast number of things that people are currently using them for, from healthcare to government services to military applications. If we can convince Congress of the threat, they can pass legislation that will wreck the business model of anyone who doesn't give the user -- or at least the admin -- control over what information the PC sends out and what it can receive. They will change their tune in a hurry when that happens.
That sounds good yet in practice even medical hippa privacy is bunk. Last week I went to a big hospital for a walk-in xray. They refused to take the pictures until I consented to their standard forms which provide for my results to be given to unnamed research groups. The check-in person acted like I was the first person ever to try to strike out that part of the form/contract. They literally refused treatment and the 'patient advocate' played her role of being pleasant and clueless.
I complained to hospital licensing at State which was rejected because it was not an unsafe care issue.
It's not a one-and-done solution but it's a big step in the right direction for government, especially for digital privacy.
Correct.
>just as Microsoft has the right to shove theirs into their OS
Correct.
>You have the right to decline to buy it.
Ding ding ding!
>Your rights end there, given that nothing they are doing is actually illegal.
Correct. I am making a market demand with my money, not a legal order for these companies to stop producing untrustworthy hardware and snoopy software.