Data Security

General Advice

-Be mindful before you share your personal info online going forward. Limit your sharing of personally identifiable information (PII)

-You may find that weighing the options listed here can feel a bit overwhelming, as we have gotten very used to offloading many of these choices to a single large company (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc). It is important to understand that you should just focus on a few items that you feel are doable.

-Whenever presented with a pop-up your normally mindlessly go through, just take a moment to stop and read it. Often times companies get you to agree to things by having you speed through it to get to where you actually want to go.

1. Internet Access & Day-To-Day Searching

Public V.S. Private Networks

Public networks are often found in places like libraries, hotels, and coffee shops. They are designed to be cost-effective and widely accessible at the cost of the security of your data when using them. Private networks, which are often used by business and families have more built in protections, making them less susceptible to outside influence and attack.

It is important to always think twice when operating on public networks. Activities such as banking, shopping, and communication should be kept to an absolute minimum in most circumstances unless you are using a Virtual Private Network (More info on VPNs below). As there is a higher chance that insecure security protocols or malicious actors could compromise and read your data.

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)

Like the name suggests, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a way of simulating private networks digitally, which can be used to appear as if you are a user from a different location. VPNs also ensure that the data you send has been digitally end-to-end encrypted; in laymans terms this means that your data has been scrambled, and that only you and the intended recipient have the means to unscramble it.

VPNs need to be installed and activated on each individual device you want to use them on. There are many popular VPN services you can use, as with all the topics discussed here you are encouraged to do your own research. ProtonVPN is a good starting place as they have a generous free tier you can use if you are uncertain. Other well regarded options include Nord and Mullvad.

Search Engines and Web Browsers

Search engines are complex algorithms that help deliver the right websites to you based on the query you type into them. They take enormous databases of available websites, scan them, index them, and rank them to show you the most relevant ones. Priority will often be given to the websites that pay the most money for advertisement. As you can imagine, the data you generate when using them is highly valuable; so picking a privacy-focused alternative to Google, Bing, or Yahoo is an important step in retaking your data privacy. We recommend switching to an alternative such as DuckDuckGo, Brave, or Tor.

Web Browsers are the software that allow you to retrieve and display websites found by a search engine in different windows and tabs. Many modern browsers are also able to store your history, bookmarks, and passwords. The most common of these are Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. There are many privacy forward alternatives depending on which features you want, but Firefox and Brave are two very popular options.

Personal Data Deletion Services

There are thousands of companies interested in collecting and selling the data you generate. Keeping track of it all is impossible for any one person. Luckily there are existing laws to ensure that they give you a way of requesting that your personal data be deleted. However, this does not mean data brokers make it easy. Paid services exist that use automated systems to request for your personal information to be deleted on your behalf. These personal data deletion services such as Cloaked, DeleteMe, and Incogni; are well regarded, but we recommend you research which of these services best fit your needs. Doing this can greatly reduce the volume of spam and scam you get.