Back again with more tech info for the age where you might want to cover your tracks online. So far we've sorted your browser and what other apps on your phone can see. Next step, what can your ISP see:
Conversation
Usually, your ISP can see what sites you're connecting too and for how long, and they can be forced to hand that data over to governments. To stop that, you use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
1
1
A VPN encrypts your traffic and sends it all to a server owned by the VPN before it connects to the site you're looking at. That means all the ISP can see is that you're connecting to the VPN all day.
1
1
VPNs do a bunch of other great things too! They let you choose what country you exit the VPN in, so if your government restricts certain content you can just look like you're coming from somewhere else entirely.
1
1
And they protect your traffic on public wifi networks, like those at cafes and other public spaces. Without a VPN other users on the network can spy on your traffic and even steal data. A VPN makes that impossible.
1
1
So, if VPNs are so good, which one do you choose? Well, step one is to look at where it is owned. A VPN run from the US, UK, Australia and a bunch of other places is no good, because governments can and will force them to hand over data.
1
1
A VPN hosted somewhere that regularly tells the US government to shove off is a safe bet. So is a country that has good privacy laws. That's not my area, but there are lots of articles listing which VPNs are best.
1
1
My personal recommendation is which has a free tier that you can use forever. It doesn't keep logs so even if someone did try and make hem hand over data, there's nothing to hand over. It's quick, easy to use and easy to set up on your phone and PC.
So now there's one less way to figure out what you're doing. Next up, one of the biggest data collectors on the planet. Google. I can't stress enough how much data google collects from you every time you go online.
1
1
If you want to do something about that, step one is to get email somewhere else. Then just log out of google until you really need it for something. There's lots of other email providers out there. Steer clear of most of the big brands, but there's smaller names to trust.
1
1
Once again, Proton gets my recommendation. Is a really great encrypted email service. From your perspective it works just like a normal email, but it's super secure. They can't read your emails (google does!) and they can't give them to governments (google will!)
1
