I don’t do book reviews often. (If you’re counting, that’s two.) But I’m utterly compelled to write about Privacy is Power by Carissa Véliz. I’m truly not prone to hyperbole, but I feel this is one of the most important books of our time. You need to read it. Our privacy is under assault like …
Amazon is rolling out a new feature for its Echo and Ring product lines called Amazon Sidewalk. The basic idea is that it will create a wireless local network that allows all of these devices to connect to the internet from just about anywhere, even if your personal internet is down. Sounds cool, but the …
One of the major perks of modern smartphones is the built-in camera. When was the last time you actually carried (or bought) a separate camera? I used to love the little Canon Elph cameras because they were small enough to carry around on a belt holster. But it’s gathering dust now because my iPhone arguably …
If you haven’t heard of TikTok, you’re probably not a teen. This relatively new social media service is very popular with the younger generation. It’s been downloaded 1.5 billion times. With this app, you can share short videos and … well, you know, goofy social media stuff. I’m old. I don’t get it, either. The …
There’s not much going on with respect to cybersecurity, other than the usual stuff. There have been several bugs found recently in Chrome, iOS/macOS, Office 365, Microsoft Teams… you name it. But the response to each of these is the same: update the software. So keep on top of your software updates! I’ve been reading …
[Updated: Nov 30, 2019.] The holiday shopping season is once again upon us! And that means it’s time to update my annual gift guide. Unlike other guides, I’m not here to tell you about the hottest Black Friday deals or how to get free overnight shipping on Dec 23rd. My naughty and nice list is …
As Independence Day rolls around for those of us in the USA, our right to privacy is under attack from many angles. While surveillance capitalism is the area I tend to discuss most, our own democratic governments are perhaps the most existential threat to individual privacy. Welcome to Big Brother 2.0. Going Dark? The leaders …
If the eyes are the window to the soul, then it should come as no surprise in the age of surveillance capitalism that marketers are clamoring to look deeply into yours. That’s metaphorically speaking, of course. In reality, it’s more skin deep. As humans, we’ve been trained since birth and via natural selection to rely …
Rather than write a new article every year, I’ve decided to update my original article on Data Privacy Day. This article tells you how to vastly improve your privacy and guard your data from prying eyes right now. Data Privacy Day 2019 also just happens to exactly coincide with the airing of the 100th episode …
