8 steps to reclaim your online privacy and prepare for 2017
Here is what I did in one day to protect my data and my beloved private zone.
Last years were not very kind to our privacy. Our own governments are spying on us, hackers are selling our data and companies are making huge profits by addicting us to junk information with ads based on detailed profiles of our lives.
There are people fighting to save us from a complete erosion of our privacy. But what is at least as much important is saving ourselves and reclaiming our privacy both as citizens and customers.
I took a few basic steps to reclaim my privacy and gain some freedom in the process. I want to share these steps with you, along with guides for each of them. You will find these guides after clicking at the links in the text.
This is not meant to be an expert advice. If you have special needs because you are an activist or a journalist in an authoritarian country or you seek a solution for your business, you might need to dig deeper.
1. Enable encryption on your computer and smartphone
Encryption makes sure no one can access your data without knowing your password or fingerprint (or putting a lot of effort into it). Turning on the encryption is easy on Mac OS, iOS and Android. With Windows, there are some limitations, but the guide goes through them.
2. Set up the operating system to stop snooping on you and protect your privacy
Turn off snooping, location services and change other settings in Mac OS, iOS and Android. Windows 10 is quite nosy and I found it best to use the O&O ShutUp 10 tool to turn off the intrusive services.
3. Use a privacy-conscious browser and set it up properly
Today, it seems that Mozilla Firefox is the best option for an average user when it comes to privacy. That’s because of specific protective functions and settings, and also because of the values of the Mozilla Foundation. You should also change certain settings to automatically delete cookies and reject tracking.
4. Install privacy-protecting browser add-ons
To enforce an encrypted connection (HTTPS) with websites where possible, use an add-on called HTTPS Everywhere. To block ads and trackers that watch your behavior on specific websites but also how you move between them, install uBlock Origin (don’t confuse with uBlock), complemented by Decentraleyes.
5. Use an encrypted chat not controlled by a privacy-breaching company
Recently, even some of the most popular messenger apps began to use encryption, though as you can see in this chart from Amnesty International, it’s often not enabled by default or still lacking. Furthermore, with WhatsApp now under control of Facebook, there are doubts whether it can still be trusted. My personal and Edward Snowden’s recommendation is Signal Messenger, but there are some others too.
6. Escape the Google ecosystem
Google is the second most valuable company in the world and its business model is advertising (sad, isn’t it?). That means it wants to know everyting about you to sell targeted ads.
Maybe we can trust Google itself (for now) that it won’t turn evil on us. However, as revealed in the Snowden’s PRISM leaks, it’s already compliant with massive surveillance by intelligence agencies. And it’s not alone.
Therefore we need to turn to companies which are either decided to resist giving away our data, or, ideally, not storing any data that could be used against us. Start by replacing the search and e-mail features for privacy-conscious options.
- DuckDuckGo is a great alternative to Google Search. It works very well and it doesn’t store anything about your searches.
- ProtonMail, founded by people from CERN, is a secure encrypted and free alternative to Gmail.
If you still plan to use your Google account, you can turn off many tracking and data-storing options in your account settings.
7. Reclaim your privacy on Facebook (or leave it alltogether)
Leaving Facebook is hard these days, since everyone is already there and most people are using it as their preffered way of communication. I am keeping my Facebook account for now to share the content I create or curate, to see the events my friends organize and to participate in a few groups.
If you don’t want to leave Facebook, although they really deserve it, you can still tweak many settings there. Here is an article and here another.
Of course, these settings won’t protect you from sharing things you could later regret or which could be used against you. The less information you share, the better. (though there are other views, which advocate creating as much random noise as possible to hide in it, they are not very practical for an average person.)
8. Get a VPN
Your internet provider (ISP), anyone who can tap into the ISPs infrastructure or anyone who has the legal power, could get access to your internet traffic. If you are using encrypted connections to websites (HTTPS) and services, it will be more difficult to see your browsing and internet activity.
But even then, the connection between you and the other side canbe logged and traced back to you. And there is still a ton of websites, services and apps that don’t use encrypted communication.
Everyday, it gets more obvious that the parties which have the most power don’t want you to have any privacy at all. The recent massive surveillance bill in UK, waiting to become a law, is just one of the many outrageous examples (for example, it makes it mandatory for ISPs to log your internet history).
To further protect your privacy, you can use a service called VPN. This video explains how it works. If you can’t watch it, I try to explain it here.
VPN serves like a private tunnel inside the internet between you and the other side (a website, a server), which no one can see inside without great effort.
It encrypts all the traffic from your computer or smartphone and hides your location, so others don’t see your real IP address, but only that of the server your traffic is being tunneled through.
There are many VPN companies with their own advantages and disadvantages, but there are three of them I was recommended.
- AirVPN, which I currently use. They seem to be personally engaged in the fight for privacy.
- ExpressVPN, which seems to fare well in reviews.
- Private Internet Access VPN, which seems to be simple and a bit cheaper.
There is much more to be done, especially when it comes to your own behavior, but this was meant to be a short and practical guide. If you have other tips, be sure to share them with us in the comments.
