LINKDING

> Learn various steps you can take to protect your privacy online. I don't want to fearmonger, but you might want to consider being a little more private these days. These are basic steps you can take to protect yourself. You probably know most of them, but if you don't, here you go.

A good list of alternatives to Google for everything from email to web searches.

Reading about [Cleariew AI](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html?_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJtZUBicmV0dHRlcnBzdHJhLmNvbSIsICJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogImU3WUMzdSJ9) will make you want a pair of sunglasses that obscures your face from surveillance cameras...

Deep links to opt-out of data sharing by 60+ companies.

A great post in response to the “Why should I care? I have nothing to hide” argument that comes up when discussing digital privacy.

Pointed out to me by Adam Wood, this is a handy (and complete) checklist for staying safe on the internet, as a continuation of some of the themes I've been bringing up lately.

A great report from the team at Ghostery on all of the trackers and tools that retailers are tracking your online shopping, including some tips for maintaining your privacy this holiday season.

Aside from being enamored with the presentation of this story, this is a chilling look inside China's "Sesame Credit" system. If you're not already familiar with what's happening there, you should definitely read up.

> Cloudflare's mission is to help build a better Internet. We're excited today to take another step toward that mission with the launch of 1.1.1.1 — the Internet's fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service.

> The Cambridge Analytica revelations illustrate why we cannot trust Facebook to police its own platform. So now is as good a time as ever to remind you that — beyond deleting your Facebook account for good — there are some precautions you can take to protect your privacy and make use of Facebook as a utility without compromising your personal data.

I don't know if you read the EasyDNS newsletter, but I've come to appreciate it as a very non-partisan source of information on privacy, technology, and the politics surrounding it. Post Cambridge Analytica revelations, my long-running question of how to handle the paradox of wanting to remain connected while wanting to remain safe, questioning my abillity to use tech to bring change while avoiding tech controlling me, have all become increasingly urgent.

The EFF has created a site where you can quickly draft a letter to the FCC in response to their request for public comment on net nuetrality issues. Also see the clever link "This Week with John Oliver" created to take you directly to the buried policy comment page on the FCC site: [gofccyourself.com](http://gofccyourself.com).

As an alternative to Unroll.me, this open source Google Script helps easily unsubscribe from newsletters and bulk emails in Gmail. Without giving anyone permission to scrape your inbox.

A Chrome plugin for anonymizing your digital footprint using obfuscation.

A thorough comparison of currently available VPN services, covering speed, encryption level, usability and cost. The site isn't affiliated with any particular VPN, and the ranking/scoring is fair (and useful).

Privacy and security are of more interest than ever right now. Product Hunt offers a list of some of the best tools for maintaining both.

A plug-and-play VPN service to keep your online activity, identity, and location private. Pay €5/mo with Bitcoin, cash, bank wire, credit card (PayPal), or Swish.

A Chrome extension that tracks you while you are on Facebook to show you your own data traces and reveal how machine learning algorithms use your data to gain insights about your personality.