Why Your Privacy Matters: What Most People Don't Seem To Get
Have you ever talked to someone about government intrusion into our privacy and had them say:
"If you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of???"
Well, @shayne is here today to explain why that is such a dumb argument for why you should have protection from the Government digitally violating your privacy.
I even made a YouTube video about it at the time:
The government loses 19.6% of the information they take from you
This is the sad truth.
We learned conclusively from the Vault7 WikiLeaks files that the CIA has access to practically any digital information we have at any given time. So long as that information is on a device that has access to the internet, the Government has given itself permission to break in and take it.
However, according to SSRN: Taking Stock: Estimating Vulnerability Rediscovery, 19.6% amount of the data that the CIA has accessed of ours is "rediscovered" by hackers, moles, and other bad actors who troll around government databases looking for valuable information to steal.
These are things that you probably use which are compromised:
- Online bank account
- Email passwords
- Online cryptcocurrency exchange accounts (Coinbase, Poloniex)
- Any file on your computer that accesses the internet which is not also cryptographically secured in some other way
How to protect yourself
Well, blockchain technologies to a long way in helping us to secure ourselves.
Steemit is inherently more secure than a bank account
With something like Steemit, there are hardwired measures that can actually protect us. For instance, if you move certain of your Steemit holdings into your Savings Wallet, it takes a certain amount of time to move funds, and your Steem Power takes a full 13 weeks to completely power-down.
This means that even if someone was to gain access to your Steemit account, they would not be able to just drain your funds and run away without giving you some kind of chance to recover your account.
Hardware Wallets
I've seen some people lately saying that hardware wallets are a scam. I don't agree.
Because access to the keys which unlock a hardware wallet are kept on a separate device which does not touch the internet, the funds on these wallets are safe from digital intruders.
When I first saw the Vault7 dump, I quickly realized that my KeepKey wallet was the only secure digital account that I possessed.
Stay on top of your passwords
I know this is a pain, but you have to do it.
Either create very complex passwords that are enough to make any intruder simply pass it over for an easier victim, or get a password managing service. I don't have any in particular to suggest, so if you're shopping for one just make sure to do your homework.
Us Tor browser and VPNs
Tor Browser is a distributed search engine which makes it very hard for any malicious actors to detect the source of your activity. You can download it here:
VPNs are Virtual Private Networks. They extend a private network across a public network, and enable users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.
"In the simplest terms, it creates a secure, encrypted connection, which can be thought of as a tunnel, between your computer and a server operated by the VPN service."
~ Eddy, Max (March 2017), PC Magazine: pp. 64-72
A good VPN is TunnelBear:
The Government isn't going to help you
If you data is accessed by a malicious actor because of Government incompetence, you're basically screwed.
They've basically made it much harder than it has to be to maintain secure privacy.
So it's up to us, once again, to not only protect ourselves from the bad guys, but also the self-appointed "good-guys" in the Government.
It has nothing to do with the contents of your computer. It is not about your browser history or your dirty little secrets. It's about your identity and how the Government allows access of the most sensitive parts of it to the very people who want to steal it.
It's up to YOU
What do you think of this?
Is there a security measure that I've gotten mixed up or missed? Feel free to share it in the comments below -- I'd really appreciate it.
hey it's me AGAIN
and again a very nice post i have to say
in my opinion using tools like TOR just puts you in the focus of them
because you try to hide something, even if its not the case ^^
and its very well know, that even with Tor you are not save.
there is no save system out there :-) nononono ^^
what about a strategy with providing them with all content they are expecting to see?
like just send out so much mainstream gossip and hide in the mass...
i'm sure its pretty easy to focus on internet IPs with low traffic, vpn, proxies and so on
isn't that an obvious target to check on?
Are there any tools that you know that accomplish such a thing?
just open some social network platforms.
they send and receive serious traffic ^^
But i'm sure there are enough tools you can use
Great post by you and I love the feel you get reading this -- you can literally feel how disgusted you are at the constant gov't harassment and intrusion and their complete fg everything up on top they touch like you mention.
Dear Gov't -- how about you lose 19.6 of your staff and police statism and START by giving everyone back 19.6 of all the taxes you have extorted from humanity with your nonsense, cabals and federal reserve fraudulent monetary policies in most countries.
Sincerely,
The Management.
lol
That's awesome!!
XD
Thanks buddy!!!
Anyone with nothing to hide must be living a very boring life!
Gonna upvote that one
Whenever i'm having a political discussion at home, and I start talking about topics that contain bombings, or killings or take overs, my girl always turns to her laptop and shouts, as if talking to the CIA" We don't mean us!" WE have no weapons!" The idea of having no privacy is scary. To think that we live in an age where the thought crosses our minds that we have to be careful what we say in our own homes.
Right??? These bastards!
Thanks so much for this! While I agree that privacy is important, it feels like a losing battle at times. And security, even in the world of Steemit and cryptocurrency, is a huge concern for a semi-technical person like myself. I just posted about this today -- https://steemit.com/steemit/@redhens/are-crypto-criminals-a-threat-to-taking-steemit-mainstream
But you've provided some real practical info that will definitely help. Thanks!
@redhens
I agree with a lot of what you said about privacy..... Very well said!
Followed and upvoted
Thanks for sharing that!
very good article!
I am so glad you put together this highly informative post that we all need to take seriously. The idea that we should surrender our privacy should never be acceptable. Thanks again for sharing this!
Upvoted!
Never surrender! To ANYTHING!!!
I couldn't agree more!!
sometimes I worry about the introduceyourself.. we lose our complete anonymity with a date stamp.. i'm probably going to do it
at some point.. but i'm still paranoid
Is that your face in the avatar? lol
Well, you can verify yourself without showing your face or anything like that.
This post is RICH in good advice, most of the stuff I'd never think of, and I recommend my followers read it.
Absolutely. It also got me to thinking, how can we keep other people safe. By other i mean how many of us take care or elderly parents that also use email and other services. Another token would be our kids. My kids are continually looking for wifi networks to use, no matter how much I tell them its terribly unsecured and prone to hacking. They look at me like im retarded. ...
God help us all.
Awesome! Thanks :D
Tick tock I'm glad you're gagging on cia indignation