[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I must confess that I’m an analog man stuck in a digital world. You are a LOT more “hi-tech” than I am - I don’t even have a facebook. I have no idea what half of what you just wrote about means. I basically stick to the whole idea that if I don’t want it published on the front of the NY times, I don’t do it online. There have been some notable exceptions to that, though! LOL
Privacy IS a big interest of mine, so please continue to enlighten us. Perhaps dumbing it down a little so that I can know what you’re talking about.
Most of the privacy stuff that I do involves LLC’s and addresses/phone numbers that don’t really link me to where I actually live. And I use snail mail a lot for important things rather than email. And I shred EVERYTHING. It’s not that I’m doing anything illegal or what not, its just that I understand how easily one’s credit can be compromised (and I don’t want crazy ex girlfriends showing up unannounced). But I’d love to learn more about what online privacy concerns you have. I HAVE noticed that pop up ads are now very specific to what I’ve recently been searching for - even under other user names and browsers. So they must be infecting my computer with cookies or something?[/quote]
I’m kid of in the same boat as you. This forum is about the most public I get, and even here, I’ve gone back and edited posts to remove some even not-so-personal information. However, I do communicate personal information online, through email and other mediums, that I would not want out there for my sake or the other person’s… and you read about the NSA’s (or was it the FBI’s?) top priority for 2014 being to get legislation passed saying they can go through everyone’s old emails and intercept chats and texts for no reason, the over 1 million people working for these organizations with clearance to do this, and the abuses that have already happened, it is concerning.
Let’s say you’re working overseas and communicating with your wife. Sending an international email is a red flag to begin with. Now, lets say the wife of her cousin in Thailand, whom she has never even spoken to, got arrested for protesting… all of a sudden you’re on the watchlist. Now, lets say you’re gone for awhile, and the wifey sends some titty flicks or whatever. It’s two consenting adults doing what adults do to maintain a long distance relationship. I can only do so much, but I would want to protect my wife from these getting out in the first place. But saying “keep your mouth shut” doesn’t exactly work because, well, I still want to see some titties!
That being said, I use most of these tools to protect myself from 3rd party private companies (legit and otherwise) that make money off of selling your information, so that I don’t get flooded with phone calls, emails, Nigerian priests, or whatever else is out there (I’ve been using these, or similar products, for years, so my exposure has been limited).
Anyway, regarding a “dumbed down” version, I’ll clarify what I can. I’m no expert and have never had a smart phone, so I do not know much about that side, but here’s a super simple primer.
Cookies: These are simple files used by websites to transfer information. This information can be things like preferences, login credentials, form information, and ranges from innocent/mundane to specifically targeted to track everything it can. To control for this, I do 2 simple things (I use firefox, so these directions will be for that, Chrome has a shady privacy policy), 1) Under (alt) Tools > Options > Privacy tab, I accept 3rd party cookies only from sites I visit (never accepting them is sensible as well). This prevents services like DoubleClick that make money off of selling your information to advertisers from doing a whole lot. 2) I also have my browser prompt me on whether or not to accept a cookie from a site I visit. This can be a headache in the beginning because you get prompts all the time, but over time, you’ve given preferences for most sites that you visit, and you no longer get bothered. Occasionally, however, I’ll block a cookie that I need to use a site properly, and this can sometimes take some time to undo (figure out which cookie, change preference, etc.).
There’s also something called LSO Cookies, which basically sit a little deeper in the system. For this, I use an addon called BetterPrivacy that just deletes them whenever I close my browser.
Passwords: This is common sense, but you should have different PWs for different sites, using typically recommended protocols: numbers, special characters, long, bascially gibberish, and you should write them down on a piece of paper, not your computer.
I mentioned the other addons I use in my previous post. Like I said, these are all pretty simple: No script shows a box where Flash should be and you click the box if you want to allow it. HTTPS Everywhere automatically ops for the secure version of a site. DoNotTrackMe, you just click where you want to insert an email (or phone number or CC number), and it creates a dummy email address on the spot that gets forwarded to your email; if you start having a problem with it, you just delete the dummy email. Adblock blocks ads with a whitelist that allows certain components to be run and not others; only time I ever encountered this was trying watch some stuff on NBC’s site, where I had to disable it until it started, but re-enabled it after it began to skip the commercials.
PGP is pretty good, but the person on the other end needs to use it as well. And, lets say you’re applying for a job, if you send and email w/ all this gibberish in it (the key), they’re going to think you’re weird and probably not respond. And I agree that all of these 3rd party products are suspect. Heck, they even confirmed that the NSA was routing computers from Dell and Amazon through their offices to install chips to track activity.
All of that being said. Some would argue that it is unethical to block ads and take other steps because that is the way these companies make money and by blocking them you are “stealing” from that company and limiting the content that can be produced because they have to produce more dumbed down and generic products to appeal to a wider audience.