Top 10 Reasons Why Top 10 Lists to Protect Yourself Online Are Worthless.
By now, most of you know that your ISP will be legally allowed to sell your browsing history…without your consent. This is irrational, irresponsible and a dangerous precedent. Having said that, it’s alarming how “experts” — in an attempt to assuage people’s fears — offer ways to protect oneself online that are ultimately impractical and futile. I’m going to call one out, not because I harbor any particular ill-will toward the author (I’m sure he is a great guy). Rather, it’s exemplary of every article I’ve read in the last two weeks.
The article I’m referring to, and commenting on below, can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/jwl646n
Let’s walk through the example Top 10 list below and...
“10 practical privacy tips for the post-privacy internet”
ISPs and providers can now sell your personal data thanks to the U.S. Congress. Here’s what you can do to maintain your online privacy.”
Article Tip #1: Educate yourself about cookies and clean them out regularly
SudoSteve’s take: Really? “Educate”? For one, I don’t think the average person takes the time to read about our country’s $20 Trillion deficit, let alone reach out to their representative to ask them to get this damn bill off the table in the first place. Yet, this author thinks his readers are going to read up on cookies?!!! Most people don’t even know what cookies are! If you do, have you ever tried to clean out your cookies? They’re like STDs; you can persistently “clean them out” but they inevitably come back with a vengeance.
Article Tip #2: Use two, or even three, browsers
SudoSteve’s take: So now I have to use multiple browsers, separating my bookmarks across multiple apps and multiple platforms? Then, I’m in update hell and have to remember where my fantasy stats page is versus where my favorite alt-right news site is? This is like saying I should use Microsoft Word, Apple’s Pages, and that useless open-source word processor, in tandem to write my angry blogs.
Article Tip #3: Disable Flash or option it
SudoSteve’s take: So I guess this means you should use Flash only when you must. Fair enough, but you’re basically telling me that I can’t price that car from Mercedes, check out the latest Coke commercial, or research GPUs from NVIDIA. This is like saying “don’t drive through that dangerous neighborhood…unless you have to.”
Article Tip #4. Change your DNS server
SudoSteve’s take: While I realize ‘Network World’ is basically built for security nerds (of which, I am a reformed one), I can’t believe this is even an option? Who does this? In fact, who even knows what this is? Most ‘normal people’ can barely understand a website’s terms of service and privacy policy, let alone the fundamental underpinnings of the internet. Go ahead and try explaining this option to your nana.
Article Tip #5: Lose search engines that track you. Now.
SudoSteve’s take: Wow, thank you for this incredible insight. I love DuckDuckGo, but let’s be honest; Google still offers the best results (I sadly admit), and results matter. Whether you’re searching porn or Pokémon GO, a side-by-side comparison of DuckDuckGo and Google is self-evident. This is simple math. If you own nearly 70% of the global search market, you’re going to be better at search results by definition. This tip’s suggestion is basically asking me to use an inferior product in exchange for better privacy. I’ll choose better results with Google.
Article Tip #6: Use the Tor browser(s)
SudoSteve’s take: I love Tor in theory like I love Alec Baldwin. He’s one of the best actors of our time, yet we all know he’s probably a jackass in person. Tor is the same: the design is amazing, the promise for anonymity hopeful, but the reality is that it’s a major letdown. It’s slow, more than half the major sites don’t support it, and we all know the bigger surveillance agencies have already compromised it.
Article Tip #7: Remove your information on websites
SudoSteve’s take: OMG! I’m laughing now. The author has clearly never tried to do this! First of all, there are entire businesses whose sole purpose and existence are based on charging people obscene amounts of money to do this very thing. Why? Because it’s SO DAMN HARD! Julia Angwin did a great job describing the absurdity of this process in her book “Dragnet Nation”, but let me distill it down for you. Make a copy of your license, fax (yes, 1990 called) it to whitepages.com and request that they remove it. If you’re lucky, they’ll acknowledge you and if you’ve won the lottery, they’ll actually remove the entry. But guess what? Next month, you’re right back on the list. Why? Because they got it from someone else who you didn’t send that copy of your license to. There are hundreds of these PII purveyors out there. Sorry Tom, this is the worst (and most useless) piece of advice on the list.
Article Tip #8: If you have the luxury, change ISPs
SudoSteve’s take: Simply put, this is like trading out one STD for another.
Article Tip #9: Use virtual machines
SudoSteve’s take: Why not just tell people to use Flux Capacitors? Ok, I will grant you that this is an article on a site for nerds, but how many of those marketing nerds reading about the next security trend understand VMs? And, even if they did, how many could actually install and configure one? They can barely get their IT team to resolve their WiFi password issues.
Article Tip #10: Modify your browser as little as possible
SudoSteve’s take: Ok, sure. So all the modern conveniences with my digital world go directly into the toilet? Which means that 1Password extension that saves me from going postal because I can’t remember my password, or that TinyURL tool that packs up incomprehensibly-long urls, or — ironically — that favorite ad-blocker tool of mine, all go bye-bye? Cool. What’s next, do I move back to a flip phone?
Epilogue
So, can you sense my outrage, disappointment and exasperation? I’m being a little harsh on Tom, I know. And, I am exaggerating a bit to get my point across. Instead of providing practical advice — or better yet, practical solutions — the so-called experts are simply telling us to opt-out of the digital world; Stop using the things that make navigating that world so useful. This is just plain wrong. Rather, I would argue we focus on solving the root of the problem. I’m not saying we shouldn’t forcefully blast our incompetent and “no-skin-in-the-game” politicians, but this will only postpone the problem. We need more radical, yet practical, options.
More on that later, but if you know anything about me, you know where I stand.
PS: Tom, feel free to blast me @sudo_steve
;-)
