There are several steps that we can take to limit the data exposure and create a better sense of personal privacy. The goal is to be able to have the information available for data that we want publicly displayed and hide everything else. Its likely that we will never be 100% private but we can strive for less exposure.
“In the midst of this culture of openness and sharing, we need to think carefully about the information we’re volunteering to the world. Sometimes the world is listening.”
― Kevin D. Mitnick, The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data
I recommend that you start with removing the personally identifiable information (PII). According to NIST PII is identifiable information such as address, birthday, DMV DL that can identify a human.
Build Privacy by Search for Yourself Online
A good place to start building privacy is by ‘Googling’ or searching for yourself online. You will find many sites have displayed your email address, home address, phone numbers, etc. Initially, the information gets populated in one database and then copies over to others. Start with requesting removal of your data from the heavy hitters such as Yellow/White Pages, Spokeo, PeopleSearch, etc. There is a requirement to offer an opt out feature which removes your information from the public. A good resource for how to do that on each site is from Business Insider here.
The process to remove your information from each site is relatively quick, once a request is submitted its almost always done within 24 hours. For reference, I have spent about 6 months removing my private information from these sites — there are a lot that store your personal information for public consumption. Finally, It does not have to be something you tackle in one day. Pick one site a week to opt out of and work your way up.
Harden your Devices + Applications
Reviewing security and privacy settings on phones, tablets and desktops periodically will ensure that your device is not spying on you. Additionally, reviewing security settings of installed applications is equally important. Prior to installing anything, ask yourself whether or not you want that application spying on you. Each time you install something on your device, you also allow that application to access other parts of the system. When possible, try to visit the site in the browser instead of installing it to your phone, tablet or computer. Applications will frequently use microphones and cameras to listen for keywords to send targeted advertisements to you. Long term, your private data can stay with that company and they can use it for other malicious purposes or sell it to another company.
Keep in mind that some applications may choose not to honor your security settings and its safer to not have them installed.
Migrate Away From Google
This one may be hard for those of us that enjoy the custom search results and convenience that Google provides. Even if you use a VPN, they can still track you without knowing your IP. For example, when using gmail, you typically sign into the service. Your search results, location, youtube history are associated with your logged in gmail account. To remove that data, click here.
Tracking also occurs via the Chrome browser, even when in incognito mode. In fact, there is a current ongoing lawsuit about data collection when in incognito mode. You can review some of the information they track about you here. Their site specifically states that, google will even store “where you go with your devices, even when you aren’t using a specific Google service, to give you personalized maps, recommendations based on places you’ve visited, and more.” Creepy right? Yes.
Here is an A-Z list of popular products that Google owns, which you may not know about. For a full list, check out this link. Additionally, I will list some potential alternatives that you can try out.
A – Android / AdSense
C – Chrome
E – Google Earth
F – FitBit
G – Google / Gmail
H – Hangouts
Hangouts is a cross-platform messaging app developed by Google. If you would like a private SMS alternative, choose Signal. Signal uses end-to-end encryption, which means that the message is not decrypted until it reaches your device. Most other services, such as Hangouts, decrypts on Googles servers (which means they have access to your messages). You can download Signal through the iOS and Google app stores.
M – Google Maps
N – Nest
P – Picasa
R – reCaptcha
S – Google Sky
Y – YouTube
Youtube’s privacy policy states that they collect your GPS location, IP address, sensor data as well as your browsing history. However, there are some alternatives so that you do not have to download the application to your phone to feed Google with private data.
- NewPipe – According to their site, “NewPipe has been created with the purpose of getting the original YouTube experience on your smartphone without annoying ads and questionable permissions.” This only works on Android at this time but not available in the PlayStore. Installation is fairly easy and instructions are on their website.
- Invidious – The main Invidious site shut down but the code is being hosted on other servers. Head to https://redirect.invidious.io/ to find an open server. Invidious is an alternative front-end to YouTube. This is open source, which means the code is available for anyone to use and view.
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