I have spent considerable time and effort attempting to control my digital footprint. At some point it became apparent it is a game we can’t win, not without changing our online behavior.
Articles on how to manage your online privacy are prevalent. Rarely a day goes by when news feeds aren’t sprinkled with stories on how to improve your privacy. The dirty secret is none of them accomplish much, more likely they are provided as a means to provide a false sense of security. It isn’t overly cynical to assume that the same companies who want your data for free are the same ones trying to convince you there are steps you can take to protect your data.
A relevant analogy is how we have all been convinced that we can recycle plastic so we’ll feel better about our heavy consumption of plastic. The entire recycling concept was developed by the plastics industry and is a lie. Less than 5% of all plastic materials can be recycled, the rest ends up in landfills across the world. Consumers go through the effort to separate recyclable plastics, local governments and agencies spend millions of dollars to process recyclables. A the end of the day we consume more plastics than we might otherwise.... but we do it guilt free.
Like many of you I went down the rabbit hole of implementing every technical and tool-based privacy recommendation I could get my hands on. However, nothing I did - no matter how technically sophisticated, did much to improve my online presence.
Why haven't those recommended measures worked?
Companies who capture our data are the same companies that provide us our online services, devices and tools. Their strategy from inception was always to provide content, tools and services for the purpose of collecting our personal data. They have spent decades developing technology solely for the purpose of capturing our data as well as turning us into the Pavlovian users of technology we have all become. You have to give credit where credit is due.
No matter what level of protections we put into place, they will never go deep enough to block the level of sophisticated data capture these companies have implemented.
Enter Digital Minimalism
Digital minimalism is a fast growing trend that is meant to take our devices out of our hands and help us find more productive, peaceful and mindful things to do with our time.
Here is a detailed description description:
“Digital minimalism* is a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviors surrounding those tools) add to the value of your life. It is motivated by the belief that intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of tools that really matter, can significantly improve your life.”
*please refer to: - Cal Newton’s book “Digital Minimalism, Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World”
How to practice digital minimalism is pretty clearcut - get offline and stop using your devices. When you must use a device, use it as little as possible, do as little as possible when on it and spend as little time on it as possible.
The challenge is defining what “as little as possible” really means. This varies greatly by person but what I can offer is that not using a device or online service at all needs to be the starting point. Adding to that should be heavily and honestly scrutinized.
Those online services you can’t live without - turns out that you not only can live without them - your overall quality of life gets incrementally better the closer to ‘not being online at all’ you get.
The Co-Dependence of Privacy and Digital Minimalism
It turns out that the best way to protect your online privacy is to practice digital minimalism...
...the easiest way to reduce the amount of data you have online – is to stop providing it.
Revisiting my earlier point - it is worth emphasizing that all the sources providing tips on how to improve your online privacy never address that your first step should be to limit how much information you are providing.
Limiting how much data you provide is not only the first step you should take, it is by far the most significant change you can make toward protecting your privacy.
This brings us back to Digital Minimalism
Practicing digital minimalism will greatly reduce the amount of data you are currently providing.
Trying to improve your online privacy without practicing digital minimalism is a lost cause.
The only way to control your digital footprint is through digital minimalism.
Protecting your digital privacy using tools and processes without digital minimalism has several failings:
It’s a zero sum game. Companies (and governments) have unlimited resources dedicated solely towards mining our information. We will always be a step behind
The technical effort has a high ‘hassle factor’. At some point it fails just due to the required constant effort. I am very technical and even for myself, it just becomes too much work for little benefit.
You have no chance of digital privacy if the service you are using requires:
An account that contains any of your personal information.
Does the service require an account? Why or why not? If not, there isn’t anything wrong with providing ‘fake’ information here.
An application that runs on a smart device or PC or tablet
Applications exist mostly for the purpose of capturing information, not to provide functionality.
A smart device
Every keystroke and bit of inbound and outbound information on your smart device is captured and mined.
How my search for online privacy directed me to digital minimalism
As I started looking into alternative approaches to online privacy I came across a device called the Light Phone. The Light Phone is one of several devices out there that exist for the purpose of enabling digital minimalism. These devices are often referred to as "dumbphones". Dumbphones are devices that can be used to help you escape the digital world without sacrificing your ability to stay in touch. They provide you with the ability to control your digital world rather than having the digital world control you. (For more on this – check out my blog: Taking my life back)
The ultimate goal of digital minimalism is to improve your overall quality of life. However, protecting your digital footprint is an indirect but substantial benefit. This is accomplished by the reduction of information you are constantly uploading online.
Note that your online information is already out there. There are lots of services that promise to clean up your online information but they provide very little value for their cost.
The best thing you can do is to stop feeding the beast. Data miners need fresh data to ensure the data they have on you remains relevant and valuable. Information goes stale over time.
The only way to accomplish privacy is by doing without many (most) digital services, apps and devices. It isn’t as difficult as you think. I do highly recommend getting rid of your smart phone and picking up a dumphone device.
If you further investigate digital minimalism you will hear a lot about how to limit your smart device(s) and practice digital minimalism.
Most of us who have gone down that path finally realized the only way to accomplish this - is to get rid of your smart device. Otherwise it is always ‘calling out’ to make sure you get it back in your hand.
In time, you won’t miss those services and you'll enjoy not being chained to a device. You’ll come to appreciate how much of your bandwidth they took up and how much stress and anxiety they create in your life.
My goal in this post is to point out that digital privacy can not be accomplished without digital minimalism. Hopefully I have made a case for using digital minimalism not just to improve your quality of life, but also as the primary mechanism to reduce your digital footprint and protect your online privacy.
I have also included additional information and guides how you can achieve personal online privacy alongside digital minimalism. First, I recommend you check out why you need to be concerned about your digital presence.
Why you should be concerned about your personal online data.
Additional Steps for managing your online privacy
Technical steps you can and should take.
Why you should be concerned about your personal online data
“I have nothing to hide so I’m not concerned with keeping my data private. Privacy is only a concern to those who are engaged in spurious or illegal activities so I have nothing to worry about”
It is true that most of us don’t engage in activities that requires privacy. This doesn’t mean your information won’t be used to manage your online experience and be used against you at some point in time.
Everything you see online is tailored and personalized based on your online history.
As you review news sources, shop, stream entertainment, listen to music, check email, communicate, participate in social media… anything digitally online, everything you do is captured, analyzed and used to manipulate your entire digital experience:
News feeds are tailored to make sure the content fits your viewing history and derived (mined) ideologies, ensuring you aren’t exposed to alternative viewpoints, to keep you coming back.
Much of the current political polarization is caused by the lack of digital privacy. It is validating that everything you read agrees with your viewpoints.
Your entertainment options are hand picked and prioritized based on past history, greatly limiting your choices and keeps you from broadening your horizons.
Products are constantly pushed at you based on your past purchase history, your online research, how much you earn, your race/gender, where you live and so on.
How much you pay for a product is often changed in real-time to ensure profits are maximized.
Communication channels (email, txt, etc...) are constantly scanned in an effort to learn as much about you as possible to aid in targeting content.
Authoritarian governments* (and companies) use your communications to identify dissidents.
* Don’t be so certain the country you live in isn't doing the same.
Your online history is already being used against you:
Prospective employers review your digital footprint and can choose to pass on your application without revealing why.
Employers review your online history with the intention of finding an excuse to terminate your employment – for cause.
Socially your online history will be used to pass judgment (usually not to your benefit).
White collar criminals use your information to hack into your financial and credit card accounts to steal your money as well as your identification.
Blue collar criminals use your information to determine what valuables you have, how much security you have and when you are not going to be home.
Governments* and companies profile you and can place people at the wrong place at the wrong time. Add facial recognition to that and what you do, where you do it and who you do it with become extremely difficult to do privately.
*Note: very recently the state of Massachusetts ruled that personal text history can be used in criminal investigations - this is completely independent of established guilt
Steps to take for managing your privacy
You are in a bad relationship with your smart device. Just like being in a person to person relationship, you aren’t aware how bad it is until you end it.
Get a digital divorce and rid yourself of a toxic relationship
Stop using your smart devices as much as possible, then use them less even less
Dumb down your smartphone (should you decide to keep using it)
remove all apps, notifications, alerts, etc...
android users can try out UnPluq, an app and device that ‘dumbs down your smart phone
·Get rid of your smart device and get a dumb phone (I highly recommend the LightPhone LP2!
Don’t forget to check out my blog “Taking my life back”
Stop using social media
If you are using social media then you should stop trying to protect your privacy – it isn’t possible.
Move your online activities to your personal computer
MOST things can be done from a browser, don't install apps - use your privacy browser (see browser recommendations below)
More private and secure than a smart-device
More productive, better use of your time, easier to stop using
Full sized keyboards and displays - YEAH!
Practice ‘Digital Abstinence’
Unplug and stop using all your smart devices and smart speakers as they listen all the time and capture everything you say or do on them.
You really do not need instant knowledge gratification. You’ll live better without it.
And no - being able to get your questions answered by google or siri or alexa - immediately doesn’t make you smarter...
Replace your music streaming service with a device that plays uploaded music.
It's actually ok to purchase music and you’ll be supporting your favorite artists much more so than streaming their music!
Use DuckDuckGo for searches
NEVER use google, bing, etc...
For hard-core privacy - find a SEARX server and use it for searching
Turn off location services and quit using maps such as google or apple..
Every step you take is being logged and tracked.
Providers know where you work, where you live, how you commute, how long your commute is, when you are home, when you are not, where you were, where you are going…
Get a GPS device (I use the Garmin Drive Smart)
Don’t use news consolidators, feeds or get your news from social media.
Get news the old fashioned way – buy a newspaper. What you decide to read is 100% private. You’ll also be exposed to a range of news, not just content tailored to your profile
Enjoy reading your newspaper by reading it over a freshly brewed cup of coffee/tea.
Brew your own coffee/tea, you won't have to leave your house, fight crowds and you'll save $$ (more than enough to pay for your newspaper!)
Better yet, stop following the news so much...
Limiting your access to news may be the best thing you can do to improve your anxiety and stress.... and open up your mind!
Technical steps you can and should take
guide: "E"-asy | "H"-arder |"C"-omplicated
"$0-free | $$-inexpensive | $$$-more expensive
Caution... while these technical steps will help - unless you practice digital minimalism they won't accomplish much on their own.
For a comprehensive guide on privacy, check out: Privacy Tools
E | $0 - Use the TOR browser and network. The ONLY way to be anonymous is by using TOR. VPN services won't make you anonymous
E | $0 - Use a privacy based browser, I recommend Firefox but Vivaldi is also a good choice:
Never use a browser made by Microsoft, Apple, Google
Don’t use a chrome-based browser as anything chrome uses Google's 'engine' and shouldn’t be trusted
‘harden’ your browser just to the point it protects you without too much hassle. (HERE is a great guide on browser security, or check out this video: Techlore-Hardening Firefox
Enable and use Firefox' containers feature
Use firefox settings to enable HTTPS-only mode
E | $0 - Use privacy search engines only (such as DuckDuckGo).
Searxng is a great privacy-based search engine, you can install it on your own server: SEARXNG or check put existing Searxng engines ready for use
E | $0 - Replace standard sites such as YouTube with privacy based alternatives such as FreeTube. This will allow you to search the internet privately. Use the browser extension privacy-redirect. It will route links to private sites. It will redirect other social media sites to anonymous sites for: reddit | instagram | maps | twitter, etc...
E | $$ - Use a private email service. I use and recommend ProtonMail
H | $$ - create your own domain for email – that way it is very easy to change your email service without changing your email address!
Protonmail has many built-in security features that are there to reduce tracking and increase privacy
E | $$ - Use an anonymous email service. Highly recommend Anonaddy
By using emails that are anonymous (not associated to you or a service), you can’t be tracked.
By creating a unique email for every situation – you can easily shut it off and track who is selling your email information. Even for accounts I do transactions with – I have a separate anonymous email for their marketing lists and promotions; account@mydomain.com (for purchases and such), account-promos@mydomain.com (for marketing and promotions)
Using Anonaddy with protonmail (along with your own domain) is a win-win combination that provides an infinite amount of private aliases and easy management
E | $0 - Use a private messenger service instead of texting
Signal is right now the ‘goto’. It works just like texting - but everything is encrypted between signal users. Plus - you can video chat and call all from the same app.
Whatsapp provides encrypted messaging - but it is owned by Facebook (do the math)
H | $$ - Replace your DNS service with NextDNS (highly recommended) or similar provider
Here is a great article on dns to manage your privacy Control Security with DNS
All internet activities requires the use of DNS (the phone book of the internet) for finding sites. Without DNS you can’t use the internet
Your ISP/Carrier uses their own DNS resolver - allowing them to track every single thing you do online - and sell it.
E | $$ - UPDATE I used to recommend using a VPN service but upon further research it turns out the only times a VPN provides value are:
If you are using a public wifi: e.g.: starbucks, airport, etc…)
It is required to access your companies' internal systems.
For a guide on why a VPN isn't needed check out: Don't Use a VPN
If you use a VPN I recommend only these: IVPN, Mullvad, ProtonVPN
C - $0 - If possible, use Linux to run your PC (it has gotten pretty easy and will extend the life expectancy of your computer by years)
Its more private and easier to configure
It won’t force software and apps and updates down your throat and won’t keep forcing you towards their EDGE browser
E | $0 - Use fake names and fake account information wherever you can - ESPECIALLY when doing searching, asking questions and performing research. Only give valid personal information when absolutely necessary to perform a transaction.
your anonymous emails (see protonmail-anonaddy) become invaluable for this purpose
E | $0 - Don’t use your browser or a service provider’s password manager. I use BitWarden, its very secure and convenient.
its best to let a password manager generate random passwords and store them for you
If you do use your own password it is best to string meaningless words together rather than mixing numbers and characters (though many sites require numbers and case)
H | $$$ - Purchase your own Router from a company that specializes in networking hardware (e.g.: Netgear, Ubiquiti, TP-Link, Asus...). Having your own router will allow you to manage the previously mentioned DNS. Many ISPs don’t want you to change your DNS so they don’t let you modify those settings on their router.
don’t trust any router provided by your ISP or by a company that mines your data: (Amazon - (eero), Google(nest, etal), Apple...)
I am a fan of NetGear's Orbi or Ubiquiti's Amplifi Alien
Also purchase your own 'modem' to ensure your router and modem are separate
Note: You’ll save money in the long run by purchasing your own equipment.
C | $$$ - Note2: for the really hardcore, build your own router with OPNSense (router/firewall software) and use your mesh wifi platform (wifi satellite only) for whole house wifi.
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