By Greg Locke, Managing Editor for Visuals
St. John’s, Newfoundland — Watching the tech billionaires lining up and bending over for Donald Trump at his inauguration, ushering in America’s Age of Authoritarianism, drove home who these people really are and the ethics and morals they believe in. Which are few. They are the new Oligarchs in Trump’s government. They control the money, the tech, mass communications …and your data.
Every time you travel, use your credit cards, look up something on Google or Bing, browse websites, post a Happy Birthday on FaceBook, buy fast food, pet food or gas for your car… they know. Then they sell what they know about you to others for profit without your knowledge.
You may say “I didn’t consent to that!” Yes, you did. It was in the Terms of Agreement and Consent you didn’t read when you signed of for that online account.
The sociopaths like Elon Musk we know and understand. Same with Jeff Basos of Amazon. But for Apple and Google execs, who sell themselves as the “good guys,” the hood has now been pulled off.
Anyone remember Google’s motto of “don’t be evil” ? …yeah, right. Worse is a person named Peter Thiel. Founder of PayPal. Original investor in FaceBook and now a venture capitalist funding things like the American right and Donald Trump. Vice President JD Vance is his boy in government now.
The ones just out of the spotlight are the most dangerous. If you have used or continue to use PayPal, eBay, Amazon, FaceBook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Apple, Google …and God knows how many others, you are supporting these people by giving up your data and privacy to them to sell to the highest bidder. Literally. If you are not happy about this but feel helpless, there are still some small things you can do to protect your data, privacy and ethical boundaries.
Working in the Data Mines
There is no way to really make this short, sweet and simple. Internet and social media security is big business and complicated. If it wasn’t, we would all be safe and some people would not be making billions of dollars off of it. This doc is 2895 words long. It includes just the bare minimum a person should do to keep their data secure and maintain a basic level of privacy.
The social media silos of Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram and Google have been falling into disfavour in recent times and it’s come to a head this year as more people realise how much they have manipulated our lives and social engineered us into providing these companies with all our personal data and tracking our every move and purchase. Not just on the internet but in real life as well.
Back in 2016 while travelling back and forth across Canada on a project, I let Google track me non-stop for six months as an experiment.
Then I pulled up my Google records for a look-see. Just with it pinging cell phone towers and my use of Google Maps and search history, it knew every town, city and airport I was in. It knew where I drove and the gas stations and restaurants I stopped in. It knew when I was lost. When I was looking for a place to eat or sleep. It knew who I was with and where because of the proximity of our cell phones and for how long. It knew who I called and for how long.
Because I used Google Drive to back up my work on the go, it knew what I had taken photos of, where, what time and how many. It knew when I posted to FaceBook, Instagram and my own website. Google knew more about me than my wife or mother that year.
Running Interference
All of this is not just to sell you shit you don’t need. It is used to manipulate public opinion and elections through social engineering. The Tech Bros are the arms dealers or mercenaries of the digital world, selling your data to everyone from Walmart to data brokers to state actors such as Russia, Isreal, Iran, India and China …to keep the list small. They use it to track political dissidents and manipulate and disrupt foreign elections with targeted messaging, sowing discontent and anger and spreading dis and misinformation.
If it were not for traditional journalists and academics on FaceBook, nothing you read there could be considered truthful. This is why Facebook throttles or kills real journalism on its platform. The most egregious of this practice that became public, thanks to solid investigative journalism, is the sale of personal data of billions of people by Facebook (Meta) to Cambridge Analytica, which worked with Russian Intelligence services and is known to have manipulated elections in Europe, Asia and Africa as well as the USA and Canada. More often than not, Cambridge Analytica works on the side of right-wing political operators or dictatorships. It is a menace to free and fair democracies and civil society in general.
As someone who has worked the Internet for fun and profit since the 90s, before Windows, Apple or web browsers, I can tell you that everything is fluid and changes constantly, so you need to be aware of where you travel and what you leave behind on the internet.
The basics you can do to protect your privacy and data
If all of this makes your head hurt and feel nausea with existential dread that’s understandable. But there are little things you can do to get some control back. Yeah, leaving social media sites and giving up their conveniences is hard. They have become a part of our lives and we depend on them for communicating globally for both business and personal adventure. We were manipulated into putting ourselves in this position by people like Zuckerberg.
If you can’t cut the hardwire cable or the wifi signal here is my list of what to do to make your online life more secure and cut off as much leaky data as you can. For business, it is this plus additional measures for your websites. Too much and too techy to deal with here but if you are interested, please feel free to get in touch.
There are text books on this stuff but I will point you in the right direction and you can take it from there for a setup that works for you. With security comes some inconvenience and a little work. That’s why the social media companies make it so easy to give control to them. So, you will choose the easy path. We are humans after all.
Here is my basic setup for both personal and business. I run two Windows workstations, a Window laptop, a Linux laptop, two Linux servers and four Android mobiles.
WEB BROWSERS:
Let’s start at the beginning. This is where all data flows.
The most secure web browser is Mozilla Firefox and its suite of plugins that does things like block ads, block tracking and has a container which you can place FaceBook, Instagram or any website, so they cannot cannot see whats on your computer or where you travel in cyberspace. Firefox is cross-platform, so it works on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and Chrome OS
https://www.mozilla.org/
Make sure to get the following Extensions and plugins.
- FaceBook (Meta) Container
- HTTPS Everywhere
- Privacy Badger
Download it for all your devices and use the Password Manager.
SEARCH ENGINES:
Replace your Google searches with Duck Duck Go as your default search engine in your browser. This can be done in the FireFox settings or download their mobile app.
I also strongly recommend Malware Bytes security programs. The basic protection is free but the paid products are well worth it for anti virus, ransomware and spyware. They even have a good VPN service. https://www.malwarebytes.com/
Delete all other antivirus/ security programs such as Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky.
They all suck anyway. NEVER, EVER use Google Chrome, or Windows Edge /Co-pilot. These are nothing but spyware.
Email and Text Messaging
#1. NEVER, EVER use Gmail ! …never. Please stop. It is a major security problem. …not to mention the spam. Google sells your data and email addresses. Simple as that. …and you know it so just stop. Email program options are
- Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
- eM Client (Windows, Mac, Android)
- Enlightenment (Linux)
- Proton Mail (Secure, encrypted plus webmail service with lots of routing and alias options)
- Microsoft Outlook …maybe. Its changing. Lets wait and see. It used to be the standard for email but Microsoft is “making it better”. We’ll see.
I also highly recommend having two or more email addresses. One private just for close friends or personal business. One you give out publicly. Control your information and privacy.
Messaging Apps.
#1 Stop using standard SMS text messaging immediately. It is old tech and not secure in any way shape or form. It sends open readable text across the internet for anyone to read. China has just been discovered to have hacked three of the major telcos in the USA and can access all text traffic. I’m sure others have also. There is nothing that can be done about this. Sadly, too many companies are unbelievably using it for 2 Factor Authentication (2FA). Hell, even the US FBI and Canada’s RCMP have issued warnings about using SMS texting.
#2 Don’t use Telegram. Its Russian spyware. Straight up. …unless you are doing specialized work or otherwise need to communicate in the Eastern European sphere.
SIGNAL.
For me Signal is the only option I prefer. It will manage text messages, voice, video, groups chats with end to end encryption. Full featured. There is a reason that journalists, media organizations, aid agencies, NGOs and anyone concerned about security and privacy use it. Cross platform for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. https://signal.org/
It is the only thing I use when I want private secure calls and text with family or clients.
What about What’s App?? What’s App is a separate business unit of Meta. It is secure and encrypted and does the same as Signal. It still appears to be good even though it is owned by Meta. The problem is Meta keeps it “closed source” and does not say what its policy is about giving up user info to outside commercial or government parties. Meta has already proven they can’t be trusted so why take a chance. …and, well, Zuckerberg. Just use, and get your friends to use, Signal.
Phone specific security
– #1 with a bullet. Don’t use public wifi without a VPN. They are nothing but spyware and data suckers, ESPECIALLY in airports and hotels. Most dangerous places for hacking ever.
Up your data package and use data or get a VPN from Malwarebytes or Mozilla. If you travel a lot, get a portable travel router or personal internet hotspot device.
– Turn off location tracking services unless you are using it, such as on Google maps.
– Turn off Blue Tooth unless you are using it. Especially in public places.
– Turn off your wifi when not using it.
– Delete all apps you don’t need or use.
– Set up a password and encryption. Set how many times a failed log in attempt will “brick” you phone. … wiping all data and operating system. Extreme? Yeah, I know but helpful if your phone is lost or stolen.
– If your phone is taken by police, border guards or airport security in ANY country for any reason you must assume it has been tampered with if you get it back, and you must not use it. Contact your mobile service provider and get a new phone and sim card.
One more thing. Turn off and restart you phone at least one a month.
The Social Media Problem
I think we are all agreed that we hate Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and Google and their weasel owners.
They have manipulated and used us and our personal data to make billions of dollars. Worse, like some Orwellian social engineering experiment, they have manipulated public opinion, elections and governments against the best interests of democracy, civil rights and public policy.
Here are some small things you can do to fight back and protect yourself and community. I know we all love our social media so its going to be hard to do the right thing.
TWITTER/X
Just kill it. Its dirty and toxic. Delete Elon Musk from your life and delete your Twitter/X account and remove the app from your phone. You’ll feel better immediately.
Bluesky is an alternative, built by ex Twitter people. No ads, not algorithms, and what Twitter should have been. People are flocking to it and fleeing Twitter/X already. Staying on Twitter supports Elon Musk, his behavior and his right-wing interference in governments around the world. Not to mention you are being manipulated. Ditch the Trolls. Go sign up with BlueSky. See what social media should be
This is a hard one, I know. It is so ingrained into our daily lives now.
For me it has become my Rolodex (look it up kids!) of friends and family around the world. It provides quick easy connections — but we have to move on and get our friends and family to come with us.
Meta and Zuckerberg are a threat to civil society and your privacy and should not be supported. Right now there does not seem to be any Facebook-like alternative but I do find BlueSky can do the same job but with a different user interface.
For now just try to ween yourself off it slowly and get your family and friends to follow you to a new platform.
For me I need to keep it for business as a media manager, but I will be cutting down on my personal posts and interaction with it, using it only for client work and, if I need to rarely, personally. FB Messenger is easily replaced with Signal.
Another hard one but at least there are good alternatives out there or going public soon for the photo focused social media. If your income is not derived from social media, then I feel this one should be easier than FaceBook to kill and go cold turkey. BlueSky again is filling the void. It’s user interface looks like Twitter but it is much more flexible and programmable to your personal tastes. The developers are also currently working on a more photo centric plug-in or sister app called Flashes. Cute name, eh? Open Beta testing is happening in February 2024.
Foto is a beautiful photo sharing /social media app currently in Beta but about to go public as a Instagram replacement. I have been using the Beta during ongoing development this year and it’s lovely and has a clean user interface and none of the garbage of sponsored content, paid ads, algorithms and tracking of Instagram. …and it’s built by nice people who want something better than Instagram.
https://fotoapp.co/
What is Linkedin anyway? It’s a social media site for people involved in business HR, sales and marketing. They talk business and promote themselves. Same as every other person on social media except they call it networking. If you are not on there already you probably don’t need to be unless you love talking about business. Kind of boring if you don’t “do business.”
Now owned by Microsoft, Linkedin it is probably the most secure of the social media platforms now, which is good. The feed is clean and you get what you follow with little algorithm driven garbage and sponsored content. But they do spam you to get you to buy a higher level of subscription service. …all business.
You don’t need an alternative to this.
Video Conferencing
Zoom is an outright security risk. They have admitted they use your video conference and data to train their AI. Many companies do not allow its use now. Microsoft Teams is riddled with bugs and while no specific security threat has emerged, anything that buggy is a potential security risk. I have a client that is large global media corporation that has a custom version. It works well, but most of us will only use the free version. I’ll leave this one up to you, but once again you can have secure and encrypted video conferencing with Signal and What’s App. They would be my first choices.
Your Websites
There is a lot you can do if you run websites or use cloud or data services.
The first and easiest is move your websites and mail hosting service off of USA or UK based servers. You have little to no protection in the USA or UK. There are a number of Canadian web hosting companies in Canada who host their servers in Canada which have much stricter privacy laws than the USA or UK …and certainly any Asian country. With the exception of Iceland! Iceland has the best internet rights and privacy laws in the world and your data will be safe there.
Personally, I use Web Hosting Canada (www.WHC.ca) in Montreal to host over a dozen websites, mail servers, cloud storage, SSL and domain services.
Also. check out Canadian Cloud storage host Sync.com. and ditch Google Drive, DropBox, MS One Drive and what ever that Apple storage thing is called.
Stop using and supporting AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Jeff Bezos. Don’t give him your money or data. Stop using Google services and cut you exposure to Google as much as possible. Microsoft is just as evil as the rest of them but I have found their web services more reliable and have higher security and privacy standards than AWS or the social media platforms. Just avoid their eco-system if you don’t need it.
FINALLY! …thanks for making it this far.
If you want to keep up to date on personal Internet security follow my friend Naomi Brockwell on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/@NaomiBrockwellTV
also
Mozilla.org
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/
Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/
The Citizen Lab – University of Toronto
https://citizenlab.ca/
