(5 minute read)

11,101 trackers and ads blocked. Yes, you read that number right – 11,101. The worst thing, this is just in one week of using Brave, the new browser I installed to better protect my online privacy and security. 

The number in that image above is both shocking and revelatory. If everyone knew to what extent we were all being digitally tracked, spied on, had our personal data sold and privacy invaded – without our knowledge or permission in most instances – we would be in for a rude awakening. 

To put it into perspective for everyone, personal data is now the biggest, most valuable resource on the planet! It replaced former number #1, Oil not so long ago. Frightening.

You would never invite someone you didn’t know, to walk into your home, freely open ALL your mail, listen in on ALL your phone calls, read ALL your personal journals or diaries, scan ALL your calendar entries and invites, fossick around in ALL your drawers, or dig around in ALL your rubbish.

But yet we gladly hand over all of our privacy, protection, even our safety and security, to these tech companies without a second thought. As a result, we now willingly give up our basic rights, personal freedoms & liberties, all for the sake of convenience. But at what price does convenience really come?

I’ve been in the processes of stripping back my digital footprint, and taking back my online freedom where I can. I deleted my FascistBook account, sorry, FakeBook… err, FaceBook, back in July 2020 and do not miss it one little bit. 13 years I was on that manipulative “social media” platform. I never signed up for that kind of commitment. None of us did.

This year I deleted my Twitter account after seeing Twitter’s attitude change about advertising, but more so their stance on censorship and arbitrary deletion of Twitter accounts (see image with stats below), that neither broke their rules or terms of use conditions. We saw this being escalated in the wake of the 2020 US election and claims of a fraudulent election result, where one could easily make some compelling arguments but if you did, bang – deleted without warning! Yet they’ll happily retain those account holders who spout Neo Nazi views, terrorist threats, bullying and harassment (especially of women). Because that’s good for social business you know?

In the preceding years prior to deleting Twitter and Facebook, I also deleted my Pinterest and Tumblr accounts – the former having almost 10,000 followers before I exited. But both of those platforms proceeded to also run their own censorship agendas, and in the process, lost thousands of users with their totalitarian rule, with classic and modern art forced off them – for good! So much for artistic freedom and expression.

But it’s not just social media that’s spying on our every click. Apps, browsers, messenger services, are no better, in which we readily give up our privacy, and continue to be tracked and monitored at an alarming rate. 

By giving apps access to your phone (or laptop), such as TikTok, Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp etc, and the myriad of others many download and sign on for, means they can track and follow your every single digital move, inside and outside the app. It’s like a parasite being introduced into your drinking water and unknowingly to you, just taking one sip is enough to ensure you’ll be infected and then infested.

And Browsers and search engines are possibly worse, with the biggest culprit being Google and their evil browser Chrome, along with Amazon and all the rest. 

Both are notorious for not only selling your personal information to the highest bidder, but spying on all their users by installing codes to track your every movement, search, click, and history (kept or deleted), and also through their voice assisted devices such as Alexa. If it wasn’t so scarily real, you’d be mistaken for thinking you were crazy. But real (and scary) it is!

Firefox, also a well known Browser and considered one of the better ones because they use open source code, are also losing their credibility. Firefox Browser is a privacy nightmare.

Microsoft has long been known to install backdoor codes to gain access to people’s data and invade their privacy, while also supplying the NSA backdoor access as well, and then having the gall to complain about it. Make no mistake, they are one of the most nefarious companies out there.

But even Apple, who once championed about people’s privacy when they wouldn’t allow the FBI backdoor access to a suspected criminal’s iPhone, have been found out by installing software that will now, effectively, remove a user’s previous privacy and protection. Apple opens backdoor to your private life.

So what’s the answer? Hide out in a cave? Go back to analogue technology? Revert back to letter writing and paper documents? Unplug? Not very bloody likely.

We’re all “plugged-in” these days whether we like to be or not. Our “smart”phones are the dumbest devices that anyone can carry on themselves now, because they can pinpoint exactly where you are in any moment, no matter where you are. 

An alarming expose by the New York Times, entitled, ‘One Nation Tracked’ (which I urge everyone to read), was as much a disturbing read as it was eye-opening, that even before I had finished reading the article, I was already in the process of revoking access to apps, deleting others, and leaving my iPhone at home whenever I went out. And boy, didn’t I feel free, unencumbered and unburdened by this needless necessity to constantly pull it out and check it every five minutes. My phone now never goes with me, anywhere – ever!

The freedom and rebellion that came from doing that was liberating to say the least. It also meant I could be much more engaged with the people and the world around me, the way we used to be.

While I’m a long way down the road of removing large chunks of my online presence, as a writer and author, I also realise that at this stage I am unable to remove and delete absolutely everything (like almost everyone else). I still have a LinkedIn Profile (although I’ve been off that platform three times), and I also require both a Goodreads and Amazon author profile to sell and market my books. I’m hoping that will change down the line where even they won’t be required.

My Google Gmail account, however, has been a much tougher and trickier proposition to rid myself once and for all of, and be free from the shackles of Google Inc. 

Like most people, our email account is linked to so many login accounts. From online shopping, banking, memberships, subscriptions, newsletters etc etc etc. The list is endless. But there is a light out there for all of us, if we choose to go toward it and take back our privacy.

But other than going tribal and living out in the remote wilderness somewhere and sending smoke signals, or turning your phone off – something almost no one does – what can we do about it? Well below there are some great options at your disposal to help you minimise the risk to being overexposed, oversold, and overtly spied on, and thus, protecting your security and privacy.

1. CHANGE BROWSERS

First, dump Chrome, Safari, Firefox from your laptop and phones, and run with Brave. That’s the easiest first step anyone can take. I’ve also found Brave is much faster than the other browsers when loading websites, thanks to its aggressive blockers which stop ads and trackers loading and slowing it down.

2. GO GOOGLE-LESS

Second, never ever use Google! Instead, opt to use the much more secure and protected, DuckDuckGo. Unlike Google who manipulate search results and add hidden surveillance technology, DuckDuckGo remain completely unbiased, won’t distort or skew results, nor install trackers, sell your data, or spy on you in any way.

I use both Brave and DuckDuckGo, and other than my privacy and data remaining protected, I feel much more in control of my digital life.

3. DITCH WHATSAPP AND SKYPE

Third, ditch WhatsApp (a subsidiary of Facebook) and Skype (owned by Microsoft), and run with the much more secure, fully private, Signal. Signal is a cross-platform centralised encrypted instant messaging service where users can send one-to-one and group messages, files, voice notes, images and videos. Best of all, there are no ads, no affiliate marketers, and no creepy tracking. Oh, and you also can make voice and video calls to anyone, anywhere in the world, with no fees or long-distance charges. If it’s good enough for whistleblower Edward Snowden to use, then you know it must be secure.

4. SWITCH EMAIL PROVIDERS

ProtonMail is a company based in Switzerland, a country that has long been revered for its stringent privacy and security laws (Swiss Bank Accounts anyone?). ProtonMail use end-to-end encryption on all your comings and goings, and that therefore means you cannot be tracked, have your personal data sold, or worse. Sure, it’s a pain in the arse to have to manually change every single online login account linked to your gmail (or yahoo, hotmail etc), but the resulting freedom and protection that comes with that, is worth the few hours of pain it takes to switch it over.

5. UNINSTALL APPS

One of the best ways to ensure your privacy remains exactly that – private, is to uninstall many of the apps which have their own website to log into. Super simple to do, and worth the extra seconds it takes to login on an app’s website rather than handing over the keys to your digital fortress by using their very invasive apps. And honestly, how many of those apps do you really need or ever use anyway? AngryBirds, Candy Crush. Really? Trust me, the more you uninstall of these and the less you have, the safer your online privacy and personal information will be.

6. REVOKE PERMISSIONS

This is another super simple thing to do. Revoking permissions from apps, social media platforms, websites etc, is akin to a full body cleanse taken in a Turkish bathhouse where they scour you clean by virtually removing layers of skin with their overly vigorous scrubbing. By revoking and removing permissions, your personal data and information cannot be shared so wildly and freely.

7. INSTALL A VPN

Next, install a VPN (virtual private network), which offers you further protection by giving you online privacy and anonymity. VPNs mask your internet protocol (IP) on unsecured networks to protect your online identity, hide your IP address, and shield your online data from third parties. VPNs use real-time encryption and send your internet data through a secure virtual tunnel to minimise the possibility of anyone, or any company, tracking you. Most important, VPN services establish secure and encrypted connections to provide greater privacy so your online actions are virtually untraceable. Best of all, most are free and/or easy to install.

STAY PRIVATE. LIVE FREE!

When you delete apps, uninstall browsers, revoke access and permissions, use VPN’s, secure search engines, and encrypted email providers and messenger services, you are sending a very strong and loud message back to these unethical companies, while in turn protecting your personal data, privacy, and quite possibly, your safety and security.

There are even more steps you could take to guard your online privacy and personal data, such as installing Linux Mint, a secure and open source operating system instead of using the out-of-the-box OS’s that come with Apple products and Microsoft and Windows programs. I’ve not reached that stage yet, but I am a Mac user (like so many I know), so I may well have to for even greater protection and privacy.

While it may seem like a hassle and be a time consuming process to take these relatively simple action steps in order to make these very beneficial changes, in the end, isn’t your own personal information, privacy, security, and safety, worth it?

Feel free to comment below if there’s anything I missed or that should be included which offers other alternatives for even greater online privacy & protection.

*UPDATE*

A week after publishing this blog, that number on the Brave tracker and ad blocker counter rose to 16,666 (and counting). It’s mind-blowing and unsettling to say the least. Where our personal data and private information goes, and more importantly how it’s being used, is anyone’s guess.