In an October 2018 speech, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on what
he believes are the wonders and dangers of technology. A summary of that speech
was detailed in this
INC online article and the one statement they identified as among
the more significant was:
“Our own information, from the everyday to the deeply
personal, is being weaponized against us with military efficiency.”
The entities utilizing and ‘weaponizing’ our personal data
isn’t just ‘bad actors’, but legitimate companies and services we use every
day. Every website you visit with an ordinary browser has the capability to
track each and everything you
do on that website – and most DO!. Additionally, your internet service provider
also knows a lot about your internet behavior and many save and sell that
information as well. While most of us are aware that websites track our usage, what
we do not know is the specifics of that monitoring and what they do with it.
Some of the major companies (Google, Apple, Facebook) now
provide methods for you to view and delete some of this data – emphasis on
SOME. Without using tools like an anonymous browser and a Virtual Private
Network (discussed in our Cybersecurity 102 seminar), we will always leave
traces of our internet behavior for others to mine and potentially use.
Information that is on the Internet, STAYS on the Internet, but unlike Las
Vegas there is absolutely no guarantee of privacy.
Other than pulling the plug and living like it’s the pre-1990
once again, what can one do? [Once again, our Top 3…]
1.
Pay more attention to your online activity. Not
only the websites that you visit, but what information you provide them. [ Did
you know that if you type information into a web browser – even if you do not
press a button, all of the information you type can be captured and saved? ] Avoid
giving personal information whenever possible – be a passive viewer / reader vs
a participant.
2.
Use a different email address for your
non-personal contacts. It only takes a few minutes to create a free new email
account in Gmail and you can forward all of them to your main email. Get a free
Google Voice
number that you use when a phone number is required. Most of us keep our
cellphone numbers forever, don’t make it easy for the Robo callers to get
yours.
3.
Use your browser in anonymous mode. All of the major products have an option to
run in a mode that will limit some
of the activity that can be tracked by the websites you visit. However, this
does nothing to prevent your internet service provider from knowing which
websites you visit. If you want to take
this to the next level, get the free Brave browser for your desktop and
mobile devices. Brave has a number of interesting features that work to protect
you and your privacy, including the ability to use TOR (the Onion Router). [ See this article
for more information on TOR.] If you
really want to take it to next level, then use Brave along with a VPN (we
recommend Nord VPN). Those two together, will give you a much higher degree of
online security – but only if you also avoid freely giving your personal
information when you visit websites.
Remember that nothing is 100% secure on the internet so
always remember to monitor your accounts on a regular basis. Security is
inconvenient, but the alternative is much worse.
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