Looking to secure my privacy

randommayham · Aug 1, 2013

I have been thinking about my privacy and how private and secure all my data and communications really is. Snowden and NSA has really exposed how open our data and private information really is, not that I or most people have something to hide but do I really want the government ready my steamy texts to my significant other?
So the question is how do you protect yourself? Obviously a typewriter and the post office can at least protect your content, even if the government knows when and who you sent the letter to.
Basically my communications devices are:
Phone – phone calls, text messages and emails
Computer – emails and instant messaging
Sorry for putting all these questions in one post, but they are all connected to the main question how do you protect yourself.
For my cell phone, I am using Tigertext secure texting for all my text messages, which auto delete the messages and allow me to do a remote wipe. For my photos, I immediately move the images to my dropbox account and delete them from the phone.
So, the phone security questions I have are:
1) How do I protect my contacts, meaning is I lose my phone how can I make it so someone who hacks the phone isn’t able to get them get them? What about my call logs?
2) can someone hack my phone while I am using it, and get my contacts, call logs and other stuff, and if so how can I prevent this from happening?
3) What about my emails, can I secure them as well like my text messages?
For my computer, I am using ZoneAlarms firewall, and Malwarebytes anti virus. I have lots of images and documents on my computer.
My computer security questions are:
1) How can I secure my email – I use gmail and yahoo, but don’t use outlook.
2) Are my images and doc more secure on my computer, or in the cloud on Dropbox or another cloud service?
3) Can my Skype messaging and conversation be recorded or logs by our government or anyone else, and is there a way to protect them?
Any advice or suggestion on these questions would be a great help, thanx.

DavidGP · Aug 2, 2013

Hi

So the question is how do you protect yourself?
Click to expand...

Damn difficult and the standard answer is "get on the internet and dump all tech" but that's easier said than done and why should we, I don't personally think we have anything to fear and in the 15+yrs I've been on the internet the men in black have not kicked down my door.

Information has always been able to be gathered by security forces around the world and this is not a new thing just because of recent events at all, as you mention postal service letters can be traced, so can landlines, you are monitored by your bank and tax services, if you have a store loyalty card then you are monitored for your shopping habits (so no buying more porn films)

The road's network have cameras not only for speed but they can trace number/licence plates.

Lets see if I can address these in part at least

So, the phone security questions I have are:
1) How do I protect my contacts, meaning is I lose my phone how can I make it so someone who hacks the phone isn’t able to get them get them? What about my call logs?
2) can someone hack my phone while I am using it, and get my contacts, call logs and other stuff, and if so how can I prevent this from happening?
3) What about my emails, can I secure them as well like my text messages?
For my computer, I am using ZoneAlarms firewall, and Malwarebytes anti virus. I have lots of images and documents on my computer.
Click to expand...

1. Depends on the phone you have, if its one that connects to a PC and has software to manage contacts etc a bit like iTunes for iPhone then you may be able to backup your contacts to your PC, in some instances contacts are stored on the SIM.

Some phones and iPhones 3GS and above and Windows 7 and 8 Phones can lock the phone, locate it and erase the contents of the phone if lost or stolen (don't know about others, maybe folk with Android and Blackberries can enlighten us)

I would always if you can use a PIN code on your mobile phone.

2. Its possible via Bluetooth or Wireless so turn these off.
3. Not as far as I know on the actual mobile phone apart from using a PIN code to lock your phone and maybe not using a email app on the phone but getting your email via the phones internet browser.

My computer security questions are:
1) How can I secure my email – I use gmail and yahoo, but don’t use outlook.
2) Are my images and doc more secure on my computer, or in the cloud on Dropbox or another cloud service?
3) Can my Skype messaging and conversation be recorded or logs by our government or anyone else, and is there a way to protect them?
Click to expand...

Main part here is to always have a login and password access for your PC. Always keep your Windows version up to date as well as all software/security software, safe surf and download.

If you use a laptop and free community WiFi then don't as its not secure, you could use a service like Hotspot Shield or SurfEasy to use a VPN Tunnel.

1. Pretty difficult in reality as your data is stored online on Googles servers and thus as we know open to a legal subpoena
2. More secure on your PC as the "cloud" varients are again open to a legal subpoena
3. Yes but again only with probable cause and a subpoena

But in reality and I'm not going to turn this into a debate on the current news on Ed Snowden as that's not really relevant to the technical aspect of these forums. That's a political subject and this forum and political/religious topics don't bode well for those taking part as it ends up nasty in the end.

But I would say that 99%+ of the folks that are using mobile/internet these days will never be subject to snooping by Gov, Police etc, the persons you should be more worried about are the criminals after your data via malware.

I think we can be overly paranoid, all we need to do in the area of mobile and internet is to take care over our surfing habits and where we download and what we download. If we become too hooked up on revelations on spying then we run the risk of it consuming our lives.

Be happy surf and geek on!

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Looking to secure my privacy

randommayham Private E-2

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member