Protecting Your Online Privacy & Security
Practical Tips by Andrew DeBartolo
(Photo by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash)
Public Health accessed data from over 33 million mobile phones during COVID lockdowns (here).
Banks froze the accounts of Canadians who donated to the Trucker Convoy (here).
GiveSendGo was hacked, and the names of people who donated to the Trucker Convoy were leaked (here).
People in positions of power have disregarded the rights, freedoms, and privacy of Canadian citizens, all in the name of public safety.
Canadians would do well to take a serious look at their own personal habits and practices regarding their online activity. Digital privacy and security are becoming increasingly important. The truth is that if someone really WANTS to hack your private information, they can. However, we can still make it difficult for them. Afterall, even though someone can open your envelope, you still use one for your letters, don’t you? Being wise with our privacy and security is always a good decision.
Let me offer you a few ideas and options to tighten up your online privacy and security. Hopefully, you can help protect your digital information a little more.
Proton – https://proton.me
Proton offers a secure email, cloud storage, a calendar app, and a VPN, on both your desktop and mobile devices. Because they are registered in Switzerland, they adhere to strict Swiss privacy laws (here). Proton is open-source, user-friendly, and highly functional. Emails from Proton-user to Proton-user is encrypted end-to-end. I would recommend using all 4 items in Proton’s suite.
Signal – https://signal.org/en
The most common messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are totally unsecure and they require many permissions on your phone. Signal only requires access to your phone number. It also uses end-to-end encryption, and it doesn’t have ads or tracking. There is a desktop app you can use as well. Signal is as functional as any messaging app out there.
Keet – https://keet.io
Everyone one is familiar with video apps such as Zoom, Skype, and Hangouts. Keet is another one, but with a few added benefits. It uses end-to-end encryption. It is also peer-to-peer, which means there are no third parties and no servers – Just the people on the call. It allows for unlimited participants with no time limit at no cost, unlike other messaging apps.
Zoho – https://www.zoho.com
Many believe Microsoft Office owns the market, with programs such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
There have been open-source options in the past that have paled in comparison. For those who like cloud document storage with real-time editing, most people use Google Drive or Google Docs. However, all of these are security liabilities. Google stores everything you have on their servers, and Office can get quite expensive. Zoho offers alternatives to all of these, with many free options, and affordable prices for bundles. Zoho uses strong encryption, they have no ads or tracking data, and they do not store anything on servers – you own your own data.
