Win Friends And Maintain Privacy
“Let’s face it, when it comes to internet security, humans are the weakest link.” We live in a time where most of our lives take place online. So why do so many of us only consider our security in the physical world? It’s time for that to change — for yourself and your friends. Because as we just learned up top, the weakest link in a security chain are the people. For you to be secure, your friends need to be secure too. Not only that, but when all of us start to make small security statements it becomes a symphony of security — preferably end-to-end encrypted too.
Now if your friends are anything like mine, they’ll be complacent with the status quo. So you’re going to need some talking points here, right? Just ask them to imagine living in a world where omniscient corporations have built identities from the data they have collected (and own) about them. Ask them to imagine living in a world where that data tells the corporations who your close connections are. Imagine living in a world where some of those corporations alter artwork to strap you to the couch and ask you if you’re “still watching.” Have them imagine living in a world where some of those corporations unknowingly help bad actors gain unfettered access to troves of data, and then let those bad actors influence their behavior. And then break it to them, that’s the world we already live in.
If you don’t own and control your data, then someone else does. Would you give a corporation unfettered access to you house? Nope. So why are you doing it with your digital lives? Right now there aren’t a lot of tools to help you take back your privacy, at least not yet. But, there are some tools available today to help you begin to maintain your privacy.
Messaging
Signal: an open source, end-to-end encrypted messaging service. Signal is widely respected among privacy professionals as the platform agnostic secure messenger.
iMessage: iMessage is the default Apple-to-Apple communication platform. It operates across iOS and MacOS sending secure, end-to-end encrypted messages.
Browsing
Firefox: a privacy focused browser with great default options with the ability to further customize with extensions. Additionally, it shows you how many data-collecting trackers are actively being blocked.
TOR: a modified version of Firefox with even more privacy protections by default. Browsing with TOR blocks your internet service provider, and anyone watching your connection locally from tracking your internet activity. Additionally, the operators of websites and services will only see a connection coming from the Tor network rather than your real IP address.
DuckDuckGo: the best privacy-conscious search engine around. DuckDuckGo shows you how trusted a site is, blocks trackers to stop advertisers, and never tracks your search history.
Extensions
Privacy Badger: a browser extensions that automatically learns to block invisible trackers. Privacy Badger supports Google Chrome, Firefox, Firefox on Android, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.
HTTPS Everywhere: this browser extension encrypts your communications with major websites, which makes your browsing more secure. HTTPS Everywhere can be installed in Firefox, Firefox on Android Chrome, and Opera.
uBlock Origin: an open source and free to use ad blocker. uBlock can be installed in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
ProtonMail: a fully encrypted email client from an organization with a shared vision of protecting civil liberties online.
VPN
ProtonVPN: a secure and private VPN with a free tier from the same people that make ProtonMail.
There are the tools we use, love, and recommend; but we urge you to do your own research too. Reach out and let us know what privacy tools you love to use too!
We cannot change privacy alone, but together we can make a difference. Every end-to-end encrypted message we send is a win. Every tracker we block is a win. We can teach the internet to change — we will teach the internet to change.
The biggest privacy tool is on its way. Vael is on its way.
