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
This is a multiple-part series – go here for the full list] I’ve already tackled getting rid of Google Chrome, Google Search and Android, so now we move to Gmail, Gcal and Contacts. I’ve had my Gmail address for 18 years now. I thought it was so cool when it came out in 2004 that
This is a multiple-part series – go here for the full list] One of my main privacy goals for 2022 is to minimize my Google footprint. I don’t think I can get to zero Google usage, mostly because so many people I know are still using it. But I’m going to get as close as
This week is Data Privacy Week! Until this year, it was Data Privacy Day, so I guess this makes it even more important? Of course, we should be thinking about our privacy every day, but we have busy lives and sometimes we just need a reminder to stop and take stock. I’ve fully updated my
