(Official discussion) Digital security 101

John AdamaStaff - May 5, 2021

[See the full post at: Digital security and privacy 101]

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I’m relatively new to this kind of stuff so this article was very helpful.

I actually did switch to Signal instead of Whatsapp a few months ago and love it so far. I saw this chart online today of what information each app collects and it just confirmed for me that it was the right decision to switch.

If you can’t read it too clearly, here’s what it says:

Whatsapp:

Developer’s Advertising or marketing

1. Identifiers
2. Usage Data

Analytics

1. Purchases
2. Location
3. Contact Info
4. User content
5. Identifiers
6. Useage Data
7. Diagnostics

Product Personalization

1. User Content

App Functionality

1. Purchases
2. Financial Info
3. Location
4. Contact Info
5. Contacts
6. User Content
7. Identifiers
8. Usage Data
9. Diagnostics

Other Purposes

1. Contact Info
2. Identifiers
3. Usage Data

——————————–

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Where as Signal only collects:

App functionality

1. Contact Info – Phone Number

 

During this holiday season, before you buy a new gadget check out privacynotincluded.org. It is a website from the Mozilla Foundation (guys who make the private internet browser Firefox) where researchers have spent 1000 hours researching the privacy and security of popular items. They are hoping to inform you of that new exercise bike and how it will record your info and who it is being shared with. 

 

A very relevant and helpful website Supersonic.

Thank you for sharing.

 

I used to use a small post-it note to cover the webcam of my laptop but one day I was doing some artwork and was using my art tape and realized that it doesn’t leave a sticky residue behind. That was always my problem with taking the post-it note on and off was that I then had some sticky goop to clean off. 

I’ve been using 0.5 inch wide art tape for a while and love how it doesn’t leave any stick behind. You can trim it to size of your camera lens and fold over a portion on itself to create a little tab to grab. For $6, you can make camera tabs for yourself, all your family, and your friends for the rest of everyone’s lives. The roll will go a long way.

One thing I realized though is that this tape has such low tack that it doesn’t stick onto the screen protector for my cellphone. So my phone’s selfie camera is still uncovered.

 

Sharing a news article sent in by a reader of the site – Wyze cameras were vulnerable to strangers watching your feed for years

Good new is that it has been patched now for more recent models. Remember to update the software of your devices, apply a good strong password, and lock down what you can.

 

Suggested addition: Use privacy-focused search engine such as Duck Duck Go rather than Google Search.