Ask HN: How do you use LLMs for private discussions?

5•emerongi•2h ago

I sometimes have things to discuss with LLMs, which are more private than usual. I was thinking how to do it in a way that doesn't reveal my identity.

  1. Use Tor to access the provider?
  2. Create a random account?
  3. Use some form of untraceable payment (which one?)
  4. Scrub all information provided to the LLM from personally identifiable information?

It seems like a lot of effort. So is running a local LLM, for which I don't even have the hardware. How do you do it?

Comments

blinded•2h ago

I spin up a gpu instance in a cloud, run my model via vllm, connect to it via an ssh tunnel. done.

stuxnet79•1h ago

Can you elaborate on the first step? Which cloud and which service? What's the cost outlay if you are just having a convo and not doing anything 'agentic'?

blinded•52m ago

Hey sure.

It depends, but usually spin up an h100 on lambda.ai or coreweave. They have capacity and their UIs/APIs are nice. I spin it up for an hour or two, believe it was 6~ dollars an hour.

Once the gpu instance is up, you need to run vllm and a model, ie https://docs.lambda.ai/education/large-language-models/deplo....

Then you can connect your pi.dev, openwebui, etc etc to vllm and interact with it like normal.

downbad_•1h ago

Can't you do it logged out?

hbcondo714•41m ago

Maybe try Ollama Cloud, Prompt or response data is never logged or trained on:

https://ollama.com/pricing

Havoc•35m ago

With a local one

7402•15m ago

With llama.cpp, Intel i9-13900KS CPU, 96 GB RAM, RTX 4070 running locally.

The models I'm using right now with that are:

  gpt-oss-120b-F16.gguf
  Qwen_Qwen3.5-27B-Q4_K_M.gguf
  Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-UD-Q5_K_XL.gguf
  gemma-4-31B-it-UD-Q6_K_XL.gguf

Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (July 2026)

Ask HN: How do you use LLMs for private discussions?

Let's talk about: LinkedIn ghost jobs

Anthropic extends Fable 5 access through July 19

Ask HN: Would filesystem bookmarks be useful in your shell workflow?

Ask HN: Has AI changed the quality of HN posts?

Ask HN: Are systems ready for the first negative leap second?

Ask HN: List of functional institutions fighting towards a free internet

AI and the Fall of Writing

Ask HN: Recommended technographic API?

Whats the Hardest Challenges in AI?

Ask HN: How do you review AI code?

Ask HN: How do you use Vim in the era of AI?

Ask HN: Why isn't Google indexing information about the AT Protocol?

An new try: C++ like program with the same characteristics as rust

Latest Debian 12 update opens MariaDB server to the internet

How does a Dev's job look like in a few years?

Ask HN: Resources for non-web software architecture?

Tell HN: Fable guardrails trigger on random questions

Concerned about how companies will manage their cloud bill once agents dominate

Ask HN: Is anyone experimenting with different ways of using LLMs for coding?

Tell HN: I De-Googled Myself

Map of All Known Knowledge

Bring seamless PQC encryption into every messenger you already use

Ask HN: My father died and I need to find my path

One Wikipedia page costs your AI agent 68,000 tokens

Ask HN: What was the last task where only a frontier model could do it?

Bitemporal provenance in agent memory: What did we believe, when, and why

Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2026)

Ask HN: HN frontpage feels boring now?

Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (July 2026)

Ask HN: How do you use LLMs for private discussions?

Let's talk about: LinkedIn ghost jobs

Anthropic extends Fable 5 access through July 19

Ask HN: Would filesystem bookmarks be useful in your shell workflow?

Ask HN: Has AI changed the quality of HN posts?

Ask HN: Are systems ready for the first negative leap second?

Ask HN: List of functional institutions fighting towards a free internet

AI and the Fall of Writing

Ask HN: Recommended technographic API?

Whats the Hardest Challenges in AI?

Ask HN: How do you review AI code?

Ask HN: How do you use Vim in the era of AI?

Ask HN: Why isn't Google indexing information about the AT Protocol?

An new try: C++ like program with the same characteristics as rust

Latest Debian 12 update opens MariaDB server to the internet

How does a Dev's job look like in a few years?

Ask HN: Resources for non-web software architecture?

Tell HN: Fable guardrails trigger on random questions

Concerned about how companies will manage their cloud bill once agents dominate

Ask HN: Is anyone experimenting with different ways of using LLMs for coding?

Tell HN: I De-Googled Myself

Map of All Known Knowledge

Bring seamless PQC encryption into every messenger you already use

Ask HN: My father died and I need to find my path

One Wikipedia page costs your AI agent 68,000 tokens

Ask HN: What was the last task where only a frontier model could do it?

Bitemporal provenance in agent memory: What did we believe, when, and why

Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2026)

Ask HN: HN frontpage feels boring now?

Ask HN: How do you use LLMs for private discussions?

Comments