How Do We Protect Our Privacy in a System of Datamining?

Are there easy ways to protect our privacy?

E.g. use DuckDuckGo or Mozilla Firefox browsers or search engines?

Or is it easiest just to give up and realise we don’t have any privacy in an economy based on datamining and digital surveillance?

This.

DG…

I’m also increasingly of the latter view. In the wider scheme of things I don’t really think that it matters whether someone knows I Googled hand-held jet washers or bought a new MTB helmet.

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It’s too late to even consider in my view.

Infosec is a far more important consideration.

The fatalistic approach is not for me and never will be. It will also be increasingly out-dated. Tech companies are moving into a world where they will be increasingly broken up or regulated and whilst maintaining your privacy requires some effort at present that’s going to be less the case going forward.

There is a tendency to believe our individual actions cannot impact when that is obviously not the case. Putting your photo online allows ML to use your image to improve facial recognition in hostile regimes for example. It could never be more important to think about the “it’s too late” argument than now. Ultimately it’s about what kind of world you live in.

Some initial thoughts.

  • internet of things items are not about making your life simpler. They are about gathering data beyond your front door. There are a minority of people for whom such things have genuine uses e.g. people with specific disabilities but, otherwise, if you don’t need it then don’t buy or allow it. I do not have a smart meter; Ring doorbell; net enabled alarm system or voice controlled anything.

  • turning off location services on devices for pretty much everything works just fine as does refusing personalisation of anything. Using stuff like Google Maps logged out is just fine too.

  • using VPNs which block much of the tracking thrown at us by Google, Facebook and AWS also helps.

  • fully exploring and understanding device settings can be time consuming but informative and helpful. Your browser does not need your location and nor does your Smart TV. I use DuckDuckGo to search and browse and use zero Google anything bar Maps logged out for navigation because of my VI. The accessibility of stuff like Insta and WhatsApp is awful so I simply refuse to use them putting aside the very good privacy reasons for not using them. Some people will be shocked to learn that I’ve not fallen out of touch with anyone and the world hasn’t ended.

  • I refuse to enable location for Apple Pay and, contrary to their assertions, it works just fine.

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Thanks, Mike.

That’s a very informative and interesting post.

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There are a few simple things that can be done to get a a reasonable level of privacy whilst also retaining much of the convenience of the various online services we use.
Personally I do the following…

(as mentioned above) Use a VPN on all devices and DuckDuckGo for search

On desktop -
Firefox browser with the following extensions

  • Ublock Origin
  • a 3rd party password manager
  • Facebook container (blocks cross site tracking by Facebook)
  • Consent-O-Matic (tool to auto decline cookie requests that are not essential to function of website)

On Apple Phone -

  • The VPN I use on the phone includes an ad blocker
  • Turn off most app permissions
  • Decline app tracking in settings
  • Disable analytics and personalized ads
  • Third party password manager

Apple have done a fairly good job of providing a good set of privacy features in recent years. I’m comfortable with using their devices these days and am now aware of instances where I am “giving away” my privacy in exchange for a convenient service.

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Thank you so much this is a really useful briefing Note.

I don’t see a third party password manager as a contribution to online privacy at all. Giving all your passwords to one service carries a significant risk and there is research to suggest the apps themselves are at risk. Countering this is the convenience and the ability to choose longer passwords without thinking. The problem with all of that is that the very people who tend to use such things do so because they only see convenience. It never occurs to them that they need to turn auto-fill off for example. There have of course hilariously been multiple instances of such managers requiring, wholly unnecessarily, your location etc.

I have a password system. It is easy to remember. It generates passwords of sufficient length and which vary hugely between sites. I’ve yet to suffer any breach in 28 years.

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I should have added that turning off background updates; location based notifications etc. will also assist.

If you are googling for a birthday present or suchlike for another member of your household your suprise present may not be a surprise after all :slightly_smiling_face:

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I know somebody who put on Facebook that it was their Xth birthday with a picture outside their house.
So now everybody knows your address and DOB :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Indeed, the sheer level of “not thinking it through” is quite staggering.

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My missus was a victim of identity theft. We had enormous difficulty reporting it to the police because the perpetrator was the police.

She is now ever so careful with giving out details. She never uses any social media now other than WhatsApp which she uses to contact me cos i can’t hear properly so the phone is off limits. :deaf_man:

I have monthly sub with ITVX that asks for your DOB, it’s not critical, so i just make one up to roughly match my age. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I’ve made up a range of over 18 dates of birth; nationalities; genders; post codes and whatever else was utterly irrelevant provided I was over 18 and entitled to use etc.

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That’ll fox ‘em!

I don’t think I ever enter my correct DOB to anything that I think doesn’t need it. I usually go for a random date in the 1930s, nearly half a century before I was born.

I also have a variety of fake names I use to get free WiFi and the like. Rather than choose something fake but predictable (Mike Oxlong, par example), I usually plump for something like Ebenezer Clutterbuck or Athelstan Flittersnoop. Gives me sometimes smile about, if nothing else.

Mark

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My fave wi-fi network was a seemingly unprotected one I noted as Mrs. H. was parking up outside a children’s play centre in Didsbury.

“Don’t Even F@@@ing think about it”.

My name’s Bob Sherunckle as luck would have it.

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In terms of privacy (and very often speed) I rarely use any free wi-fi on offer. I have two exceptions at the moment. My local Starbucks is in a dip where no 4G/5G works. My football club now has fan wi-fi. In both scenarios not using the wi-fi means no network access. At the football it’s critical to have the access re:my 2.5 hour plus journey home by public transport.

However, whenever I use these networks I’m dilligent and go into my settings and delete records of them afterwards. I would never do banking or other personal browsing on a free wi-fi network. If I’m on a train I’d rather pick up a book.

A lot of these networks demand your email address but then don’t use that to verify your identity so I use an old Hotmail address which I closed down some time ago. A y spam then generated bounces back with no consequences for me.