Author Topic: How do you handle internet privacy/security?  (Read 1250 times)

ohsnap

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How do you handle internet privacy/security?
« on: September 07, 2018, 04:45:14 PM »
It seems that most every day I read another article about the complete lack of privacy & security online or even when not online - just carrying a phone.  Other than tossing my phone into the river and using cash for all transactions, how can I reduce the data that the tech firms and ad agencies are collecting on me?

Here's an example from last week: Google admitted that they and Mastercard have a data sharing agreement.  So if I use Google's search engine to look for "Super Duper Widget" and click on an ad for the XYZ store, Google tracks that even if I don't make a purchase.  If in the next 30 days I then go to a brick & mortar location for the XYZ store and pay with a Mastercard, Google and MC somehow match up my online data with my store purchase. I use a different search engine, but am still using a Chrome browser so who knows if Google still tracks me.

Of course we've long known that Google reads our emails, so I switched to another email service a while back (although I still use gmail to some extent- it's hard to transition out of an email account you've had for 12 years!)

I briefly used a non-google non-waze map app on my phone, but then realized that because I have an Android phone, Google has all my location data anyway.  My resident tech expert tells me I'll be much happier with the privacy of an Apple phone but the price has always put me off of them.

What says the Mustache community?  Is it possible to reduce my shared data? My primary questions are what do you use for:
Browser
Search Engine
Email
Map app
What type of phone you have.  (I do need a smart phone, although I don't get the newest most expensive one - usually the retiring model and I keep for 3-4 years instead of upgrading at 2 years)
And anything else you want to share.

(of course feel free to say I'm just being paranoid)