Desperate for data on its competitors, Facebook has been secretly paying people to install a “Facebook Research” VPN that lets the company suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity, similar to Facebook’s Onavo Protect app that Apple banned in June and that was removed in August. Facebook sidesteps the App Store and rewards teenagers and adults to download the Research app and give it root access to […]
The easiest method of installing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is not the cheapest. Then again, the prices seem reasonable for what you receive. I have been using VPNs for years on the various computers I have owned. The security and privacy of VPNs is important to me, and I believe such privacy should be important to every internet user. Who wants hackers, spies, or your local internet provider spying […]
Millions of people are cutting the cords of landline phone service and have switched to cellular or VoIP (internet calling) services. You might think, “That’s nice, but I like my wired landline phone. I plan to keep it forever.” I bet you will change your mind before long. You may not change it today, but I suspect you will change within a very few years. When you do, you probably […]
I have been an enthusiastic customer of Google’s Project Fi cell phone service for more than three years. I also always have a VPN (that I pay for) running all the time in my cell phone. You can read my past articles about the Project Fi cellular service by starting at: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Aprivacyblog.com+%22project+fi%22&t=h_&ia=web. I received a pleasant surprise today when I learned that Google is now offering a FREE VPN to […]
An interesting read for… well, everyone. Or at least everyone who uses a computer or a cell phone. “The recent Facebook scandal has alarmed many because of its clear privacy intrusion. However, only a few are concerned about the constant privacy intrusion by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs probably know more about you than you yourself. They can monitor and log every website you ever visited and sell this data […]
Politicians, business executives, movie stars, professional athletes, and anyone else concerned with their personal privacy might want to have a second cell phone in addition to their primary phone. The second cell phone often is called a “burner phone.” It can be used to hide sensitive information from news reporters, overseas hackers, government agencies, business competitors, law enforcement personnel, Border Patrol, or from a curious spouse! See my earlier article, […]
Last year, ProtonMail introduced a very good free VPN for Macintosh and Windows systems. (See http://bit.ly/2mGoOyg for the earlier article about what was then a new VPN product.) Now the company has expanded its offerings to include a free VPN for Android cell phones and tablets. Unlike most other free VPNs, ProtonMail promises to never include any malware. The company also promises there will be no ads and no selling […]
According to a recently published U.S. Health Department report at http://bit.ly/2icwvuw, 50.8 percent of American homes don’t have a landline telephone. Instead, the residents use a cellphone as their only phone or use a computerized VoIP phone or other, alternative telephone device. The number of landlines in homes has declined in recent years and apparently will continue to fall. There’s simply no need to have both an old-fashioned wired home […]
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are essential tools for maintaining your privacy online. For background information, see my previous articles about VPNs by starting at https://privacyblog.com/category/vpn-virtual-private-networking/ and especially the articles at https://privacyblog.com/2016/01/11/top-5-reasons-to-use-a-vpn/ and at https://privacyblog.com/2015/01/24/how-to-set-up-a-vpn-and-why-its-a-good-idea-to-use-one/. Also, see What Is VPN For? VPN Benefits Explained at https://anonymster.com/what-is-vpn/. Most consumer-grade VPNs are bits of software you install in your computer, tablet, or smartphone. These are relatively low-cost and provide excellent security for that […]
Last month, after Congress rolled back Obama-era FCC protections meant to stop Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from harvesting your private data without permission, consumers quickly hustled to find other ways to protect their privacy. New data reveals that many of those consumers turned to virtual private network (VPN) software, which effectively extends a protected network over a public network like the internet. For consumers, the best line of defense is […]
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