Why Privacy
Entry posted by Frustration in Internet Privacy
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So this is kind of documenting my journey down the internet privacy rabbit hole. I'll kind of share what I've learned as I go hoping that others can gain something from it.
First off "Why Privacy?"
Perhaps the reason I hear most often against maximizing online privacy is that you don't need it. This can be summarized in the philosophy of "I'm doing nothing wrong, so I have nothing to hide."
I personally think that most people who fall in this camp don't have the faintest idea as to how much information you can actually find out about someone online. If you do and still don't care, that's your choice. However, I want to ask: Do you feel uncomfortable with someone watching your phone over your shoulder? How about looking through your search history without telling you? How about tracking your location at all times? I think that would make almost anyone uncomfortable.
The levels of privacy.
Like most things privacy comes in levels, which I will summarize below, and throughout this blog I will use to help you achieve your desired level of internet privacy.
Level 0. "I don't like hackers" People at this level are only really concerned with protecting themselves from hacking, scams and extortion.
Level 1. "I'm doing nothing wrong, but I'm also doing nothing you need to know about." At this level people take the basic precautions to avoid the most invasive corporate and government espionage and are contentious about how much of their information is available online.
Level 2. "Data collection is theft." At this level most people feel like they own their personal information, and anyone collecting it is stealing. These individuals go to just as extreme lengths to protect their data as they do to protect their belongings, and guard it just as jealously.
Level 3. [Error 404: Not Found]. At this level people go to extreme lengths to remove any and all traces of themselves from the internet. This level almost requires you to not use the internet at all.
Who do we need privacy from?
Well, everyone really, but there are some culprits that are bigger than the others.
- Big tech companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft
- Government agencies like the NSA if you live in the US
- Hackers and Scammers
- Your Internet Service Provider(ISP)
- Every website you visit.
I'll get into how to protect yourself later, but for now let's see just how much information they have access to.
First go to this website https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
Unless you have already taken steps to protect yourself you might be surprised on how accurate of a location this random website was able to get from you. Well, it's not just this one. Every website can collect this information from you.
To see this on the shard go to your Account Settings > Recently Used Devices. You should see not only what devices you used, their operating system, the browser you used, and the location you used them from.
Other services are even more invasive tracking what other devices are logged on using the same mobile or wi-fi network, location, search history, mouse movements, keyboard patterns and so much more.
Why do they collect all of this data? Most websites and social media companies use it to sell targeted ads, so you can pay money to send the same advertisements to all members of a family, to people who watched your competitors ads etc. etc. Most governments use it to track, influence and control you.
In the next installment I'll start going though ways to protect yourself and your information.
Edited by Frustration
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