In the Digital Analytics course, one of the first tasks is to create a log file where you document who has already tracked you today, where the data is now, and how long it will be stored. While this exercise raises awareness, it doesn’t provide any guidance on how to protect yourself from any kind of tracking. This article aims to do just that.
The term “Digital Self-Defense” is not mine, but comes from digitalcourage, a nonprofit organization that primarily advocates for data protection and civil rights (disclaimer: I am a supporting member). Digitalcourage offers an entire section on their website dedicated to the topic of Digital Self-Defense, and I particularly recommend the Self-Defense for the Busy guide.
Some of the tips are challenging. Anyone who has tried MetaGer knows what I mean 🙂 It’s a balancing act between convenience and privacy because more privacy often means you can’t always use the most convenient tools. However, it is possible to use Google without giving away all your data. Here are some additional tips:
- First, I always recommend using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). A VPN “tunnels” the communication between your computer and a point on the internet, so no one can intercept it. In a public Wi-Fi network, using a VPN is absolutely essential, as it’s very easy for someone to eavesdrop on your communication. At home, a VPN prevents your Internet Service Provider from recording your communication. However, you must be cautious when choosing a VPN provider, as they could also log your communications. Additionally, using a VPN doesn’t necessarily speed up your internet, but if it’s a fast VPN, you won’t notice the difference. For best results, install the VPN not just on your computer, but also on your phone and other devices. And don’t forget to check out DNS service recommendations.
- Gmail is still my favorite email service, but I no longer use it. Unfortunately, the commonly recommended services like Posteo or mailbox.org are not ideal in terms of UX/UI. I think ProtonMail is good, although they’re not on the list of recommended email services from digitalcourage. Also, ProtonMail is quite expensive, but it offers encrypted mailboxes, so even ProtonMail’s operators cannot access my emails.
- Using Firefox as your browser is always a good idea, and Brave offers some additional privacy settings.
- It’s essential to use different passwords for every site, and a password manager is a must.
- Try not to stay logged in everywhere. And if possible, avoid profiling like in the Google Ad Settings.
- Incognito or private browsing modes in browsers don’t help much. Google Analytics, for example, still tracks you. And the server on the other end logs everything anyway. So, you should always use a VPN.
- When it comes to cloud storage, I am a big fan of NextCloud. It works just as well as Dropbox and even has some additional features. The only reason I stopped using it is because it didn’t always work flawlessly, partly because I tinkered with it myself. I currently use iCloud, which is not recommended, as the data still resides on another server. However, I trust Apple’s claim that my data is only readable by me, as it’s encrypted on their server. Here, I’m trading convenience for absolute security. With Dropbox, on the other hand, data is stored unencrypted. I would still recommend NextCloud, as digitalcourage does, but I’d suggest using a provider rather than self-hosting everything.
- For messaging apps, Signal is really the only option. Telegram is not, nor is Threema, and definitely not WhatsApp.
For DNS, only 1.1.1.1 is an option. Every time you enter a URL in the browser, it needs to be translated into an IP address. This translation is done by DNS. Normally, your Internet Service Provider (Telekom, Vodafone, etc.) forwards this request to their own DNS service. But you can use 1.1.1.1 instead 🙂 They don’t log anything. - If you want to know exactly what the software on your computer is doing and whether it’s sending data home, you should only use open-source software, like Linux. This can be a big hurdle, but Ubuntu is also user-friendly and more stable than Windows, for example.
- Discount cards like the Payback card should not be in any wallet. Most of the time, the products you can get with the points are cheaper elsewhere. This doesn’t include non-personalized punch cards (“The 10th coffee is on the house!”).
And for anyone still wondering why they should do all this, please watch the following video: