Articles tagged: privacy
They Set Up My Computer and Now My Ex Is Spying on Me. What Can I Do?
Trust is tricky when it comes to computers. When you add relationships to the mix, things quickly get complicated.
Why Does My Facebook Post Show as “Unavailable” to Some People?
Sharing posts you find on Facebook often results in an “unavailable” message. That’s Facebook respecting privacy settings.
“Right to Be Forgotten”: Misguided and Misleading
“The right to be forgotten” is a misleading and ineffectual technique to prevent people from finding information on the internet. Bottom line: it can’t work.
Can My Boss See My Mail and Instant Messages?
When using your company’s machine and/or network, it’s safe to assume that your boss or IT department can see your emails, instant messages, and everything else.
Protecting Your Privacy: Points of Vulnerability
Tracing the privacy and security of the path from your fingertips through the services you use to your information’s final destination.
How Do I Delete My Facebook Account Permanently?
Deleting your Facebook account requires some preparation, including understanding exactly what you’ll lose.
How Does Facebook Track Me Even If I Don’t Have an Account?
Facebook can use standard web protocols to get an idea of what you’re doing online, even if you don’t have an account.
How Should I Erase My HDD Before Giving It Away?
Erasing your hard drive before you give it away is important. Exactly how thorough an erase you need depends on your data and level of paranoia.
Setting up Windows 10 for Privacy
Windows 10 privacy seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron, at least based on reputation. I’ll review the choices you can make at setup to retain some control.
Facebook Privacy Settings 2021
You can and should be aware of and control your Facebook privacy settings.
The Biggest Risk to Your Privacy Revealed
We worry a lot about privacy, but our concerns are often misplaced. Fortunately, the biggest risk to our personal privacy is right under our nose.
You’re Just Not That Interesting (Except When You Are)
Worried about privacy? I believe we over-imagine the risks and at the same time are our own worst enemies.
Is There an Email Service that Doesn’t Require a Phone Number? My Recommended Approach, and Alternatives
There are legitimate reasons for not wanting to give your phone number to an email service. Let’s look at alternatives.
Can My Workplace See What Else I Do When I Work from Home?
Working from home can be convenient, or even a necessity. Does it open up your other online activity to scrutiny by your company?
How Does a VPN Protect Me?
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a fully encrypted, private internet connection via a VPN provider. I’ll look at what protection it offers.
Can the Owner of an Open WiFi Hotspot See What Files I’m Downloading?
Open WiFi hotspot downloads are available for the internet cafe owner to see. Whether or not they take the time to do it is another story!
How Do I Remove Myself from a Machine?
Although there’s no way to remove all traces of yourself from a machine, there certainly are ways to remove as much as you can.
If I Do These Things, Will I Be Anonymous?
Anonymity on the internet is really, really hard. Some of the practices we might use to stay anonymous could still be leaking identifiable, traceable information.
Yes, You Should Give Google Your Mobile Number
Google will use your mobile phone number for verification if you lose access to your account. Some people don’t want to provide that information to Google.
Are My Skype Calls Recorded?
Skype calls recorded by Skype? Possible, but until recently, highly unlikely. However, there’s a much scarier scenario that no technology can prevent.
How to Keep Information on a Shared Computer Private
When using a shared computer, it’s too easy for others to see your data or history. If you must use a shared computer, you need to protect yourself.
Supercookies and Evercookies and No Cookies at All: Resistance Is Futile
So-called “supercookies” and “evercookies” track the websites you visit even if you regularly disable or flush normal cookies.
Should I Upgrade to Windows 10?
The most common question related to Windows 10 seems to be “Should I upgrade?” I’ll cover my recommendations.
Adjusting Windows 10 Privacy Settings
We’ll look at how to review and adjust privacy settings in several areas of Win10.
Is “Windows 10 Privacy” an Oxymoron?
Windows 10 has been criticised for encroaching on users privacy. Is it an issue? Is Microsoft being evil? Or is it something else?
Why Is Chrome Automatically Filling in Forms?
Web browsers like Google Chrome try to be helpful by recognizing commonly used forms and fields and remembering previously entered information for you. It’s no conspiracy, but it can seem spooky.
About that Facebook test…
Facebook did some testing. It’s made some people upset. What’s important to realize is that testing is ubiquitous on the web and happens in many different ways.
Do privacy apps really keep me private?
Privacy on the internet means different things to different people. I discuss three different privacy applications out there, explain what exactly each does, and offer some of my own thoughts.
Giving Away Our Privacy
We rail against intrusions into our private affairs and private information; and then post our private information publicly. Where’s the logic in that?
Why Do I Always Have to Sign Out Other Sessions in Gmail?
Isolating other sessions in Gmail can become pretty complex. We’ll walk through a number of scenarios.
Does deleting things really delete things?
Deleting items on your computer usually doesn’t wipe them clean. That’s an extra step.
Does visiting a search-engine cached page prevent the original site from noting my visit?
Even a cached version of a website could send information about you back to the original server. The thing is that we just don’t (and can’t) know.
Can Search Engines Track My Searches?
Search engines have numerous (and quite amazing) ways to gather information on people and the way they search. It’s nothing to worry about unless you have some critical need for privacy.
How Do I Remove Only My Personal Information from a Computer?
Unfortunately, there is no practical way to determine what is and what isn’t personal information. Securing a computer to give away is an all-or-nothing proposition.
Can my boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse tell that I’ve hacked into their account?
Once you’ve hacked into someone else’s account you’ve not only done something morally wrong – you’re at risk of being found out.
