10 serious moves to protect your privacy

Historical text from HellasProject (2009–2014). It is not current advice or a present-day service.

The other day I had a friend’s iPhone 4S in my hands so I could take photos and video. The first thing I asked — I always do — was “What’s the passcode?” and the answer was “…I don’t have one!” I immediately thought: how can a device that can literally burn someone if it falls into the wrong hands get so little attention for privacy? Every day there are reports of stolen iPhones, and then people cry because their photos turned up in some Facebook group.

This post is for you, the people with an iPad and no passcode, the girls who leave Gmail signed in on a boyfriend’s computer, and you, yes you, reading this with no worry at all. Follow a few practices that can give you a level of protection for your digital — and not only digital — private life.

1. Put passcode protection on your devices: smartphones (iPhone/Android/iPod touch), tablets (iPad/MS Surface/Chromebook/slates), your computer, and so on.
Some people I know say “who puts a code in every time,” as if those two seconds or less will kill them. Look: leaving these devices unlocked is like leaving your car or even your house unlocked. If you are lucky, nobody will abuse the access. If you are not, they may not only browse your profiles but file you, use sensitive information, even move money. If that sounds paranoid, you almost certainly know someone whose profile was “hacked,” or a friend who woke up to messages because people thought they had changed sexual preferences. These things start as jokes and become serious crimes. They also include the “I took my girlfriend’s phone, read her messages out of curiosity, she found out, we fought, we broke up” stories — those have been heard too.

2. Set a Google Alert for your name.
It is an extremely easy way to know when and where your name or nickname is mentioned online. You can have it ready in a minute. Enter your first and last name, other variants (for example Latin characters), your usual nickname, your email or site or parts of them, and whatever Google sees on the internet that relates to you, you see too.

3. Sign out of Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and so on when you are done.
That cuts tracking from sites and services that log everything while you surf, and it also stops the next person at the computer from opening a site you used and finding everything ready on a plate — especially on someone else’s or a shared machine. Yes, people really forget to sign out, with ugly results.

4. Do not freely give email, phone numbers, or postal codes when asked.
Obvious: if a shady type in a bar asks for your address, you will not give it. If the same person wears a suit or a Public store uniform and says you won something, you will rush to give not only your details but even your eating habits. Just say no. If you cannot see yourself refusing, picture the shadowy guy in the bar.

5. Encrypt your computer.
The word “encryption” may sound heavy for a simple article, but it is relatively easy, especially if you are a MacHead.

Encrypting the computer means someone needs your password (or encryption key) to see what is on it, let alone use it normally. On a Mac, go to Settings, choose “Security and Privacy,” then “FileVault,” and turn FileVault on. I will not go into jargon beyond saying FileVault is strong. For PC users (grandma says we should not lose you as customers) I would suggest BitLocker.

6. Gmail addicts, turn on 2-step authentication on Gmail.
History was written with Mat Honan’s epic hack at Wired, which probably would not have happened if 2-step verification had been on. This simple step makes the account extra safe. For each new device, browser, or mail client you need a second code sent to your phone (yes, it works in Greece; tested). Even if someone has your password, they cannot use Gmail on a foreign computer. Google says millions of users already use this, with thousands added daily. Be one of them. The downside: if your phone battery dies, you are stuck. James Fallows notes you can keep a printed backup sheet for emergencies or when you cannot use the phone (for example on a plane). Alternatively you can disable it temporarily for a flight, or turn it off entirely and risk an “epic” hack. Your call.

7. Pay cash for sensitive purchases.
You do not want your purchases feeding more ads, or later finding “that” thing you bought with PayPal in your face. You have seen the movies: even people outside banks and agencies can get at purchase data. It is and will be the biggest food for data mining. Read the story of a data-mining CEO and how he even pays for junk food these days.

8. Set Facebook to “Friends Only.”
Do you think people learned after so many hacked profiles? It is still almost daily, plus new chain apps that used to live on email and now trick someone into tapping “who looked at my profile.”

Visit Facebook Privacy Settings and make sure the default is Custom, then choose who and which networks see what you do.

9. Clear browser history and cookies often.
When was the last time, honestly? If you are still thinking, set the browser to clean on close. Find the privacy settings and choose “never remember history” or similar. If your browser cannot do that well, try Firefox with the TACO add-on to clean tracking and preferences.

10. Use an IP masker.
When you visit a site you leave an IP footprint. If you want to read a blog without sharing the who/how/where/when, or a competitor, this is the way. Shared information can include what program you use, what computer (OS, screen resolution), even geography down to ISP and concentrator. Analytics people use that to improve a site, but you do not always want it open. For example, if you came here from Facebook I would know, roughly where you are, how long you stay, or if you leave before a reasonable reading time. To hide about 95% of that you can use Tor or an easy browser service such as HideMyAss.com.

These are simple steps, not paranoia, to protect yourself as well as you can. The network is now part of daily life. If you take no measures you are burnt paper. Why not be ready for a malicious attack? Do not ignore that your information is spread around the internet and can be used for more than simple statistics.

Your neighborhood paranoid, -Som

Inspired by Facebook and other social networks, Wired, Forbes, Wikipedia, Google…