Privacy - Blog Posts

Hey, PSA:

On your phone, go to Settings> Security and Privacy> Privacy> Other Privacy Settings> Ads> Delete Advertising ID

Then go back to Other Privacy Settings> Google location history> Turn off Location History &/or Turn-on Auto-Delete (you can set a time period of how long to keep it)

Then, staying on Other Privacy Settings, go to '+ See all activity controls'> Web & App activity> Turn off (you can also turn-on Auto-Delete for here too)

Then Scroll down to Personalized ads> My Ad Center> Turn Off Personalized Ads.

Google has no business knowing/storing everything you do online, and knowing/storing where you go everyday. Turn it off.

These instructions are for an Android phone, IOS might be different. If you have IOS or another operating system feel free to add on with your own map to where they've buried these settings in your phone to help others.

I feel so proud of myself. 😆 What happened was that I had created a Tinder account to explore the then "new, trending social network" before it was closed down for <18yo users. It was viral in US among teenagers that's why. 😅 So Tinder disabled my account (they gave deadline when it wouldn't be available for <18yo, I was June I think) before I even deleted my account. This is actually a huge concern. They "disabled" my account, means it wasn't deleted just that I couldn't log in. I confirmed with Tinder if it was the case and the response was positive. 😮 The moment I received their response, I immediately requested them to delete my account. Few weeks later, they denied my request and said I can log in again when I'm 18yo to delete myself. 😠 I was so irritated. Met with such resistance, I recalled a law that I had read before regarding personal information. So I went to find out more and used the law against them. I formally issued them a legal request, to delete my account in pursuant to the Online Privacy Act. 😛 Few weeks later, they retreated and passively assented my request. 😄 I honestly love laws. I like reading laws. It's fun. 😋

The majority of all search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo! track you & build profiles, serving different results based on your history. Private Search Engines comes handy which do not store your queries, nor track your steps & provide complete safety for using the Internet.

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This week, privacy is on everyone’s minds. After the FBI demanded Apple assist in breaking into an iPhone, internet and phone users everywhere are wondering about how secure their digital interactions are. Digital Editor Natalie DiBlasio sat down with David Gorodyansky, CEO of AnchorFree, a company that makes the personal VPN called Hotspot Shield that was used to circumvent censorship during the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. He has some tips on protecting your internet privacy. (USA TODAY Tech)

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Brick Pavers - Landscape This is an illustration of a simple brick landscaping in a rustic backyard.

Correct me if I’m wrong but… I think I found a way to not get tracked while using a smart phone. I’m no expert so take all this with a grain of salt. I’m just saying what I think would work.

I’ll talk about location tracking, then web activity tracking. And when I talk about location tracking, I mean getting a phone that does have gps as well as the second phone that doesn’t. Just incase you get into an emergency and need to be saved.

Also, this isn’t supposed to be advertisement, I’m not getting paid to advertise anything. Even if I sound like I’m trying to sell you something.

Ok so my phone’s location can be tracked by gps, cell phone towers and wifi, right? I’m pretty sure, cell phone towers can find your general location but gps and wifi give a more exact location.

So I get a Benco V80s phone — which doesn’t have gps or cameras — and just remove the battery when I’m not using the phone, and only use public wifis in parking lots without cameras, my location can’t be tracked? You must be thinking “You just said wifi can be used to tracked your location! Why would you use public wifi?”

Well, that’s because I like using the internet, and I need wifi to use internet. Public wifi is better than actual home wifi, you don’t want people knowing your home address after all. Plus, after you’re done, you can disconnect from the wifi and take the battery out. It can’t track you after that so why not go to a public restaurant somewhere far from your home or base of operations?

And now you must be thinking “well what about the cell towers?” They can’t track a phone that isn’t on. And you’re literally taking the battery out, so how is that going to stop you?

Well what about getting online activity tracked? Well if live in the uk, you must be familiar with this. Mass surveillance in the uk allows a lot of government agencies to tract your online activities, or at least that’s what this article says.

Comparitech

Mass Surveillance: What does the UK government know about you?

The UK is a member of Five Eyes and has a history of mass surveillance. Learn what the UK government knows about you and how you can protect

But to answer to that is tor for android. Considering the fact that Benco V80s is an android phone, we could download that. If you don’t know what tor is, it’s a project that wants to, as stated on the website “Advance human rights and freedoms by creating and deploying free and open source anonymity and privacy technologies, supporting their unrestricted availability and use, and furthering their scientific and popular understanding.”

Of course, tor isn’t perfect but it’s as private and secure as it can get. And use tor without standing out, read as much as possible form it’s website, look for advice from tor users.

Get a VPN while you’re at it. That’s going to help a lot, I’m not going to write much about it here though. We’ve all seen enough nordVPN ads to know what it’s all about.

Even with all that, don’t go around doing crime. Just don’t, it’s illegal and immoral. That includes “CP” (we all know what that’s supposed to stand for), it’s just wrong. Plus, any criminal things you do on tor will probably make you stand out from the activists, privacy lovers and other normal civilians who aren’t doing crime.

Criminals have been caught using tor before, it’s not perfect, it’s just harder to track. It has more layers of encryption than google and is honestly better than duckduckgo. Read the article bellow for more information on duckduckgo.

Medium

Is DuckDuckGo As Private As It Claims?

DuckDuckGo is a private search engine. It is adamant about spreading privacy around the internet. However, there is one issue we…

So that’s going to at least mostly stop the tracking, what else? Honestly, I don’t know. Just don’t use your personal information online, even when signing up for things. You don’t know if that company tracks or collects data from you after all.

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