If you don’t know what Facebook knows about you, you should – and you will, if you read this article. And then some. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google, Instagram… we commonly refer to these services as “social media”. The premise is that they allow you to easily share info with your friends and family. And
There’s a new option in the Facebook mobile app called “Protect”. Click this will take you to the app store and point you at the VPN service called Onavo. Facebook bought this company back in 2013 and it’s very clear that the purpose of pushing people to use this service is to collect more data
Every new computer comes with one account, and most people never change that – but we all should. The default account on your computer is an administrator or “admin” account. This account has full permissions to do anything – which is convenient, but dangerous for daily use. One of the first things you should do
[Updated: Feb 5, 2022] I’ve removed the introduction to this list. If you’re not already convinced that privacy is a basic human right and that we (as consumers and as citizens) need to actively demonstrate our desire for privacy, read this. Here’s your action plan for Data Privacy Week. You can probably do most of
I just read an entertaining and interesting story that was published about 16 years ago in Willamette Week, an indie newspaper in Portland, OR. This article was published shortly after 9/11 and the sweeping new government surveillance powers that came as a result. In particular, the article discussed a rather disturbing investigative technique used by
The holiday season is upon us, and that means people will be scrambling to find the best presents for their friends, family and loved ones. Geeky gadgets are always popular, but not just for the recipients! The Internet of Things (IoT) has been a major boon for hackers and marketers, as well. So let me
[Update 2019-04-07: While Quad9 is still a good option, you should check out Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 service which will come with a new free VPN service called Warp.] Evading malware can be difficult these days. The bad guys are very clever and surfing the Internet involves several complicated technologies. Software is rife with bugs and traps
Every application you install on your smartphone comes with a set of permissions – a list of things it would like to access. This includes things like your camera, microphone, location, contact list, photos, calendar and more. While these functions allow your apps to do amazing things, they can also compromise your privacy. These permissions
Full disclosure: I’m an Apple user and have been for decades. But one of the reasons I’ve been such an ardent Apple fan is that I’ve always felt like they had my back. I’m not sure how much of this is altruistic – but you can argue that the actual reasons might be more compelling
Somewhere along the line, corporations decided that they needed to tack licensing agreements (terms of service) onto just about every product produced. We’ve gotten to the point where we just ignore them and click “Agree” or rip off the little sticker that says something about “by removing this sticker you agree to…. ” blah, blah,
