You could skip all of the basic 101s on this site if you followed a couple of basic rules when you think about your digital life.
If you follow these basic privacy concepts over time, you will become more conscious of the data you give away to data brokers and malicious actors.
Whitelist your life
Whitelisting is a concept that means you only use or allow things that you know are legitimate. You by default block everything except for what you explicitly allow.
The world of IT used to take a blacklisting approach - allow everything and only block what you know is bad. Now, given how much more frequently and easily someone can take your data, whitelisting is a better mental mindset.
Whitelist your life by
Clicking on email links ONLY from people you know.
Always checking the “privacy and security” settings on your frequently used apps and programs.
Sharing documents and files with only the individuals who need the link.
Using specific websites that you know are reliable and trustworthy…and NOT entering your information or navigating to a page you think might not be credible or trustworthy of your data.
Ask yourself, does the site you’re looking at…
Care about protecting the data you send to it? (HTTPS enabled?)
Intend to use your data to sell to others?
Want you to input more information than necessary? (email, phone number, SSN?)
Don’t rely on one thing for everything.
Don’t just use one password. Including password “generations.” One password for everything every six months is still one password.
Avoid relying just one email address. Make sure you separate your email accounts. This way, if one account is compromised, the damage is less catastrophic. This also potentially disinforms companies so they don’t link all of your accounts together.
Get more than one phone number. You can do this now through apps! Phone numbers are becoming as valuable as passwords. You can change someone’s password if you have access to their phone number.
If you aren’t the customer, you’re the product.
If the service is free, it’s because they’re selling you. On the flip side, if you are paying for a service, you are likely paying for a better product, because the company wants to please you, the buyer.
The Terms Of Service and/or Privacy Policies of websites will provide you a better idea if you are the customer or the product. Glancing through will help guide your decisions on what information you should feel comfortable giving a new website, app, or program you might use.
Plan your online life as if someone already hacked your data.
Depending on who you think your bad guy is, you might care more that Google has your data than your government. Or maybe you are concerned about how much your social media knows about your contact information.
Ideally, you should have mitigation plans. If your main email address gets hacked, can you redirect all your emails?
If your SSN and credit card data have been stolen…
Do you have a freeze on your credit reports?
Would you consider filing a complaint with the Internet Crimes Complaint Center?
If intimate images of you have been released online…
Do you know that documenting everything possible is vital in these cases?
If your email address and password have been leaked….
Have you backed up your data and switched email addresses on major websites?
Did you change all of your passwords?
Do you know where your credentials may have been leaked from?
Check haveibeenpwned.com to find out.
Make sure you know your online self.
You need to Google yourself. And Bing yourself. And Yandex yourself.
Make sure you are searching for your:
Associated addresses
Immediate family members
Old usernames and emails
Searching key terms that others may use to find you will help you understand how you could be attacked.
Take small privacy adjustments step by step.
Don’t expect to turn into an off-the-grid privacy guru in a week! Creating new emails, changing all of your passwords, and searching yourself online takes time. These general thoughts and casual steps forward will push you further into better protecting your private parts.