So I'm planning on moving out soon (expenses will go up more than a thousand fold...sigh...but what can you do...) into most likely a room in a shared house. I was reading the updates about the NSA surveillance and on Snowden and it made me wonder how easy or feasible it would be for a roommate or someone using the same wireless to track everything you do on your computer (blog posts, site visits, email, finances, chat, being a closet mustachian, the whole shebang). Turns out it can be quite easy and I was searching the web and read a couple horror stories on the web and it doesn't end well for most when someone with more technical expertise decides to invade your privacy through a shared wireless network.
So the question is, how does one protect their computer privacy on a shared wireless network? (note: I'm really bad with computer technical skills)
Just some context, I had an experience once where a girl went through my phone to read my text messages. It had a screen lock but apparently she studied the pattern I scroll. And in case you were wondering, it wasn't about cheating or an affair (I was telling someone I wanted some space away from her and she got pissed). I felt violated for some reason, like my mind had been raped and that I didn't have a private thought from this person at that time. Even if there's nothing bad and not a big deal in life overall, having your private thoughts, your privacy being violated is a real terrible feeling and a paranoia sort of sets in (similar to stories I've read). And it seems just unethical to be looking through what someone does without them knowing. That experience made me understand Snowden a bit more and I can't understand those that opposed him if they never experienced it themselves.
Unrelated but is it normal for people to just look or try and peek at your screen at work? It seems like it is, I can tell just by the glare on my screen at times and it feels a bit uncomfortable, even if it's work related. That's why I always try to avoid looking or face backwards sort of when I come up behind someone. Looking at someone's screen is sort of like peeking at what they are doing and what they are thinking.