Cloud file synchronization is extremely convenient and today it’s nearly ubiquitous. You might not even be aware that you’re using it right now. These services allow you to synchronize the contents of a special file folder across multiple devices through the internet. When you add a file to this folder, or make a change to …
Mozilla just released a new version of their Firefox web browser. The key new feature is something they’re calling Total Cookie Protection. This feature was accessible in earlier versions of Firefox, but now it’s supposedly on for everyone by default. But is it? The very fact that I have to ask the question should raise …
Convenience is often at odds with security and privacy. In other words, we often need to add some friction to our lives in order to be more secure and private. There are many inconveniences we’ve all learned to live with in the physical world. We lock our houses when we leave. We hide valuables in …
You are tracked mercilessly today when you surf the web, either on your computer or your smartphone. Websites use several different techniques to identify you and record as much data about you as they can. While marketers will claim that you have the power to opt out of most tracking, this is frankly impossible to …
Several years ago, I wrote a comprehensive article on choosing a secure and private browser. I called it Browser Safety: Choose Your Weapon. But I decided it was time to update this article and focus instead on privacy. Security is not really a key differentiator these days. Of the top five desktop browsers today – …
Privacy and security are related, but they’re not the same thing. I would say security enables privacy – for example, using encryption to hide the contents of files and messages. But many companies market virtual private networks (VPNs) as security products, with terms like “military-grade encryption” that are supposed to sound impressive. Much of these …
[This is a multiple-part series – go here for the full list] Welcome to Part 4 of my De-Google series. If you haven’t done so already, I’d start with the first article (strategy), even if you want to read the other articles out of order. You’ll find nice jump links as the bottom of the …
One of my personal goals for 2022 was to “de-Google” my life. I’ve been a huge user of Google’s products for years, so this was not going to be easy. But Google is an ad company and they’ve hoovered up way too much of my data. So I wanted to reduce my dependency on their …
[This is a multiple-part series – go here for the full list] Welcome to my series on reducing my Google footprint, where I explain how to de-Google your life. So far, I’ve explained how to asses your Google privacy “damage” and staunch the “bleeding” of further information. Then I explained how to replace Android, Google …
[This is a multiple-part series – go here for the full list] In preparation for an interview I just did for the Malwarebytes Lock and Code Podcast, I put together a strategy for my “de-Google” project. It’s honestly how I should have started this entire series of articles. But better late than never! (When you’re …
