LinkBack URL
About LinkBacksRead more.And which precautions, if any, do you take?
Read more.And which precautions, if any, do you take?
Seriously enough that I suspect lots here would regard it as paranoid.Originally Posted by HEXUS article
Do I read T&Cs? Yes. And regularly decline to provide personal info, or place orders, as a result.
Social media sites, like FB, Twitrer, etc? No way.
Smartphone? No.
Tablet? Yes, but .... NO personal info at all on it. None whatever. And GPS turned off. And I'm VERY selective about installed apps, and DO check what permissions are required.
Store Reward Cards? No. I'm not selling by buying habits to stores?
Online purchases? Not very often.
Credit /Debit card? Yes, but haven't used either for weeks or months. Cash rules, and keeps nosy companies out of my face.
Multiple bank accounts? Yes. No one bank gets a complete picture.
Foreign bank account? Yes, but usage is nominal.
Telephone numbers? Few have my landline, and even fewer my mobile. I'm VERY selective about giving that out. Even my bank have to write to me.
Junk mail opt-outs? Hell yes, for many years.
Opred out from medical data sharing? Oh yes. Opted out several years ago from the last lot, and again recently from care.data, and on BOTH occasions visited the Practice Manager at my GP to make my views crystal clear, and hand-delivered explicit written instructions on the point at the same time. Whatever the circumstances, including perceived medical emergencies, NO data is to be shared about me without my WRITTEN permission where I have ANY right to block it. That includes sharing with hospitals. And I do that in full knowledge of the risks involved.
And so on.
That's how seriously I take my privacy.
Can I entirely protect my privacy? No. But I can go a long way towards it, and I go as far as seems reasonable to me. YMMV, of course.
One thing is certain. Once you've lost control of data, you've lost it forever. So, if you're going to start limiting what you let out, the sooner you start, the less will be out there.
Oh, and periodically, I change telephone supplier and mobile phone carrier, or phone, in order to change number.
And I have one mobile phone the number of which I do give out when I need to, like to government. Good luck finding it turned on, though.
My credit card number is 1234 5678 8765 4321, the expiry is 01/02/03 and the CVV thing is 258.
Please send me the promised Bank Of Noddiland cheque for $86,000,000USD and I shall happily help you launder it in good faith...
Think that it's a bit of an oxymoron asking about "online privacy" - take the view that it's a trade-off, the more "online" you are, the less "privacy" you have.
With one or two exceptions, forum details I try and keep skimpy, and I try and use privacy/security enhancements (ABP, NoScript, etc) on browsers when possible. Downside is that I've got an Android smartphone and do online shopping, plus have a couple of loyalty cards. To me at least, those trade offs of privacy v's ease of use are just acceptable.
I do some Twitter (not much) and similarly the odd Google+ post. The rest of those "social" media sites have zero interest for me - in fact I wish companies etc would stop keep insisting that I be on Facebook "for a better experience".
I AM concerned about the amount of information that various big companies have, but figure that's the price of "doing business" these days. I realise that there's probably a lot more I could do - e.g. anonymous routing etc, strip out all non-essential forum membership info - but I'm not that paranoid ... yet!
Career status: still enjoying my new career in DevOps, but it's keeping me busy...
To be honest do it properly like Saracen or just don't bother. I don't take privacy seriously at all, and any notion that you actually have privacy is a fallacy as far as I'm concerned, you can limit the effect but never eradicate it. CCTV is a prime example - walk down the street and you're already being monitored.
Privacy in today's society is a distant memory and fighting it is ultimately futile. It's not an issue I'm willing to waste my life worrying about.
I'm serious enough that I won't go into details about any of it in an online forum !
TO be honest i generally dont care too much about online privacy. Only time is when im buying things online, otherwise im good.
yes, i do.
which is why the ID remains unconnected to the other online me's, let alone the real one!
5820k / 16GB DDR4 2400 / MSI X99 SLI Plus / Asus Strix Vega64 / AOC 32"
I'm serious about my online privacy. These days too many authorities have extensive intrusive investigation powers. A serious assertion could be made on a harmless incident, leaving you in a difficult and often expensive position to defend yourself. The mantra of if you done nothing wrong then you have nothing to be afraid of is simply untrue.
ID is a commodity and if commercial companies want them then they should at least pay up. My opening fee is £10m!
smithy1158 (01-03-2014)
Not very. Who cares if they have a few of your details in a database with a a few dozen million other people! Just don't send me spam mail!
I live in the US - rumor has it that I have no online privacy...
Several years ago I was told that the only secure computer is one that's disconnected from everything and buried in a six foot hole and then covered in concrete. If you believe some of the stories coming out, then even those extreme measures may not be enough to completely secure a computer.
Privacy is an illusion, the best that you can hope for is that you don't pop up on any lists wherein they decide to take more of an interest in you.
The first thing I thought of, when I heard I am being spied on was that I didn't have anything to hide. I dont mind if someones watching me, they are trying to collect data.
Definitely check the access permissions before installing Android apps. Many, many apps sell your personal data. Because, lets face it, ads are dead! How else can they make money these days?
For example Swype, the swiping keyboard for Android, needs access to all your phone's contacts, and reads your call log. This is 'supposedly' so they can adapt suggestions to your contacts names but it's obvious that's a front to selling data.
Especially with Swype, they were holding back that software for years trying to find a way of monetizing it. This is apparently so bad that Google had to put similar functionality into their own Google keyboard! And Google are the kings of data theft!
"The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
- Douglas Adams.
Swype also has access to scan your text messages, not just generally what you type and your location! For absolutely no reason, but to sell data.
"The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
- Douglas Adams.
This doesn't just happen on Android but in loads of things that are even less regulated.
Check out this reddit story: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...opular_chrome/
It's just a chrome extension but that guy was being quoted over '6 figures a month' for the data he'd collected without any intention of selling it!
"The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
- Douglas Adams.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
