Social Security
Recommendations
The field of Internet security and privacy is vast and flush with products that provide a wide range of protections. This page is not intended to be a comprehensive list of products and strategies for protecting yourself on the net. No product listed is being advertised as 100% effective. The goal of this page is to provide you tools, and get you started on a way of thinking, that will have you on a path of incrementally reclaiming your personal space much in the same way it has been invaded over the past decade or so - a little at a time.
Browser Selection
- Firefox
- We are suggesting only one browser at this time. Firefox runs on every common operating system, including mobile devices, except iOS. The Mozilla organization behind Firefox has a clearly stated commitment to the privacy of those using their software and it isn't produced by a company with a business model focussed on data harvesting. We are planning a section for Safari, the predominent browser on iOS.
| Plugin | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Abine DnT | blocker | The Abine company's "Do Not Track" (DnT) tracking blocker offers pretty good protection against sites that broadcast you are visiting them to third parties. Abine also has additional cost tools that mask information provided to sites in the way of email adresses and phone numbers to disassociate the provided data from the person providing the information. |
| Ghostery | blocker | The Ghostery browser tracking blocker is a comprehensive tool for blocking the functionality of sites that send off information about visitors to their sites. As of this writing the Ghostery blocks over 1,665 trackers. |
| Better Security | cleaner | Better security addresses the problem of Locally Stored Objects (LSOs), otherwise known as "supercookies," or "Flash cookies." Normal cookies have always had an expiration date, are restricted to communicate only with the site that placed them, have limited data storage abilities and can not initiate a communication. LSOs are exactly the opposite in that they hold large amounts of data, can initiate oubound communication, are not restricted to interacting with the site that placed them and do not expire. Internet browsers have built in means of managing normal cookies, they do not manage LSOs. The "Better Security" FireFox plugin provides a means to manage, and even eliminate LSO's. |
Private VPN Service
- What is this?
- When browsing the Internet you can think of your router as your garage door. Taking the analogy further, your data travels from the garage in a convertible with your house address stamped into the license plate when using a standard public connection. Everywhere the convertible goes everyone bothering to look can see what's inside and knows where it came from. With a Virtual Private Network (VPN) the data is encrypted between the source and destination. This is like the car leaving the garage with blacked out windows and no license plates until arrives where it is going, then it opens up and the cover comes off the license plate.
With a VPN service the data is encrypted as it travels from your garage to a public garage in the stealth vehicle, then finishes the trip in the convertible. While not as secure as a fully private VPN connection, it is more flexible and provides security through anonymity. Nobody ever saw the stealth car leave your garage and when the data leaves the public garage in the convertible the license plate is for the address of that garage. So, the data is no longer tied to you while out in public view.
| Plugin | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PIA | fee | The Private Internet Access site (PIA) is rated highly by "LifeHacker" as one of the top 5 VPN services that take your privacy seriously. |
| Astrill | fee | Leading VPN service established in 2009 supporting a wide range of platforms. Approximate fees are $6.00 - $10.00 a month depending on duration of contract purchased. |
| BolehVPN | fee | One of the top 5 VPN services (acording to their site) Fees range from approximately $7.00 to $10.00 a month depending on the lpan you choose. Bolaeh also has plans for as little as $2.00 for those who have very short term need or just want to try the service. |
| VPN Gate | Community | A communnity driven network of VPN servers started as a project supported by the University of Tsukuba Japan. The VPN server is free to download. Those wishing to provide VPN servces can install the server and make it available to the community. The Windows client is also a free download. Other platforms such as OS X, iOS, Linux and Android do not require client software. Instructions for connection can be found on the VPNGate site. |
Work with these tools. Discover new ones. Pass word of these and others you discover forward. Then in the next decade we may be able to reclaim the personal space, that is right of each of us to have in a free society, just as comletely as it has been invaded today.