Privacy Action Plan

Hi from Glenn!

In this article I want to tell you what you should expect to achieve from this course. To do this, I want to share a question I received from one of my students. My answer will give you very clear insight into what you will achieve with this class.

The question was…

Hi Glenn, when I’m doing a general search for something and go to all these different sites, how do I know which ones to trust? For example, I found some candles I had been searching for at “suchandsuch dot com” (don’t remember the name), and never heard of them before. How do I know if I can trust places I’ve never heard of? 

Here’s my answer…

When you properly set up your privacy, you don’t need to trust any particular website. For example, let’s say you go to www.MackWeldon.com to buy underwear. But you don’t know…

• If this is a legit site or not. 
• If the password you create for the site will remain secure or not.
• If the site will get hacked and your credit card number stolen. 
• If they are going to keep sending you tons of emails, even if you unsubscribe. 

By the end of the Privacy Action Plan, you will be able to shop on line without fear of having your private information stolen, nor will the store or any hackers even know who you are unless you want them to know.  

You will be able to…

1. Give them fake personal information.
2. Give them a unique credit card number that can only be used at that particular store for the dollar amount that you choose, so you don’t care if it gets stolen. 
3. This credit card won’t be tied into your real name or your real address. 
4. Give them a complex password that will not be reused on any other site, and you will be using two factor authentication, so if someone steals your password they won’t be able to login to this site or any other site. 
5. Give them an email address that will be unique for that website. You will be able to kill this email address at any time, so it won’t matter if the company keeps spamming you, because at any time you can kill the address they won’t be able to contact you ever again.

Your online experience will be much better when you have your privacy figured out. You will be able to relax in the knowledge that your risk is small. 

You will learn…

• Learn how to avoid big tech and big brother surveillance.
• Shop online at any website without putting your credit card or personal info at risk.          
• Communicate with your friends, family and business associates in a completely private and secure way.
• Greatly minimize your risk of being hacked.                
• Kill spam, finally and forever.                
• Create complex, unique passwords for each site you visit.                
• Get support from experts and the community.                
• Use the tools that will make your online experience private and secure.
• Explore the web with peace of mind that you are as private as secure as you can possibly be.
• And much more.

I do want to make one distinction…

I think it’s important to make a point about what not to expect. This course is designed to show regular people how to become private. There are some people, however, who need to take their privacy to a higher level, such as celebrities, wealthy people, political leaders or people who are being stalked.

Such people need to take extra precautions because they will actually be targeted. They will need to do everything described in this course, but then they may have to take extra precautions (which is why I would never want to be a celebrity). 

This class will still be hugely valuable, but if you are actually being targeted you will have to take your privacy actions to a much higher level, which will probably involve hiring a professional.

Welcome…

Again, I welcome you to this class. I know you will really get a lot out of it. Before we get started, I have a very short survey for you to fill out so I can understand your specific goals and requirements. That is the next step.

Glenn Meder

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

The Privacy Action Plan is designed to take you through the privacy process in small bite-sized pieces. But I realize that some people may want to jump ahead on certain aspects of privacy, so I want to share a partial list of resources with you that will help in your privacy journey. 

But, my warning is that many of these things need to be set up properly, and you need to know how to use them, so I recommend waiting until we cover them in class before you implement them. There are a lot of things to think about and it can quickly become overwhelming.

Please note that I will update this as times goes on, so please keep checking on this page.

Mic-Lock has important hardware items you may want to consider.

Mic-Lock is a company that develops anti-surveillance products that are top of the line. They have excellent webcam covers, mic-locks (which prevent computers and phones from listening on you) USB data blockers, and camera finders. Please watch my interview with the founder of Mic-Lock as we discuss their different products. See the Mic-Lock site here*.

I specifically recommend the USB Data Blocker, the webcam covers and the microphone blockers for everyone. If you travel and stay at hotels and AirBnBs, you may want to consider the camera finders.

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The VPNs (Virtual Private Network) We Recommend…

A VPN is an important tool for privacy. A VPN is software that you load on your computer / phone that creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the internet. The goal is to prevent Big Tech, your internet service provider, the government and hackers from seeing what sites you visit or the passwords you use.

For example, did you know that your internet service provider (ISP) is legally allowed to watch everything you do online and then sell this data? This is a blatant violation of your right to privacy. Also, the IMF is now recommending that your browsing history be put on your credit report, which means that anyone who pulls your credit report will see your private activity online.

A few notes about VPNS…

FIRST, please note that VPNs are not a total solution for privacy, but they are an important piece of the privacy puzzle. For example, if you are logged into your Google account (gmail, Youtube, etc) while browsing the web, Google will be able to see whatever sites you visit even if you use a VPN.

SECOND, while a VPN shields your activity from hackers and your ISP, the VPN company WILL be able to see your online activity. For this reason, it is essential that you choose a highly reputable VPN.

While there are countless VPNs on the market, we only recommend the following three…

PROTONVPN*. ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland, and is a top notch VPN that has been properly audited. I use ProtonVPN every day, I trust it and recommend it.

IVPN is also an excellent VPN and I have it installed on one of my computers. It is a great company, they are completely transparent with everything they do, and I recommend it.

The third VPN we recommend is Mulvad VPN.

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Switch Away from the Chrome and Edge Browser.

Your browser is the app / software that your computer uses to access the internet. Popular browsers are Chrome (which is Google), Safari, Edge, FireFox and Brave.

Remember that the Chrome and Edge browsers are specifically designed to steal your data.

Instead, we recommend the Brave Browser (or download from your app store for your phone).

You can also use the FireFox Browser.

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Switch your search engine from Google to…

It is very important that you switch away from Google.com as your primary search engine. We recommend Brave Search.

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Switch your Messaging App to…

We recommend two private messaging apps.

The first messaging app we recommend is Signal. Signal is a secure messaging app that has widespread usage and has all the functionality that you would expect from WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The downside of Signal is that the people you message with will know your phone number. For this reason, we recommend Signal for friends, family and business associates with, and anyone whom you are comfortable having your actual phone number.

To download onto your computer, go here. To download on your phone, go to the app store.

The second messaging app we recommend is Session. Session is very secure, but it is not as full featured as Signal. Session doesn’t require a phone number so if you want to connect with strangers or anyone you don’t want to share your phone number with, use Session.

To download Session onto your computer, go here. To download onto your phone, go to the app store.

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Preferred password manager…

Bitwarden

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Private and Secure Email Service…

ProtonMail or Tutanota

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Faraday Bags (used to prevent electronics from sending any signals)…

SilentPocket

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Online Virtual Credit Cards…

Privacy.com

* Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that we get a small commission if you purchase using the link. This does not increase your price, and we do not recommend products because of affiliate commissions. We only recommend products that we use and believe in.

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

The replays of our Live Q&A Webinars are posted on this page. I hold Live Q&A Webinars at least once a month, so I recommend that you try to catch them live, but if you miss one, you can watch the replay here. 

Here is our latest Live Q&A Webinar! It was a great one!

Happy New Year! A Look Back at 2022 and a Look Forward!

“Can I link my devices together, and make changes to them all at one time?”

“How do I protect my gmail?”

“How do I deal with email spam?”

“Why should I use a Proton Bridge”

“Which Proton Plan should I go with?”

“Why is my VPN automatically on?”

Here is our latest Live Q&A Webinar from November…

Here is our latest Live Q&A Webinar from October…

Here is our latest Live Q&A Webinar from September…

So apparently I forgot to upload the Live Q&A from August. Sorry about that. Here it is.

Here is our live Q&A from July 2022. I start off by giving you a quick lesson that shows you the power of what you learn with the Privacy Action Plan. And I also introduce you to David, another one of our privacy experts. Enjoy!

And here are the links we discussed in the July lesson…

• The YouTube Proxy that allows you to watch YouTube is: https://yewtu.be
• The service that we recommend for creating burner email addresses is: https://anonaddy.com/
• The website that David recommended regarding privacy policies is: https://tosdr.org/
• The privacy centric map app that Glenn recommends is: Magic Earth https://www.magicearth.com/
• The private note-taking app that David recommended is: https://turtlapp.com/
• Glenn’s non-privacy newsletter is located here: glenn.substack.com

Here is our live Q&A from June 25th. This was a great webinar and we talked about some of the changes we are planning. Enjoy!

Here is our Live Q&A from May, 2022. We had a great time and loved being able to discuss privacy with so many people.

I have a quick update for you…

Here is our latest Live Q&A Webinar from April 30th, 2022. Again, we had a great time and we zipped through the questions.

This was a webinar we had on April 26th, with Marc “Morpheus” Goldman called “Freedom and Privacy Coins!” We talked about cryptos and how important they are for ensuring our freedoms. I personally believe that it’s essential to get some of my assets out of the financial system, because this is how they will control us. Just to be clear, we are not providing financial advice.

He also has a course on crypto currencies. I have learned a ton from Marc. He is my go to guy for learning about anything crypto. He offered my audience a special discount, and I’ve asked Marc if we could keep the discount up for our members, and he agreed. Here is a link to the special offer. Use the coupon code GLENN for a great discount on monthly memberships and GLENN2 for a lifetime or annual membership.

This is a very short update…

The links I referred to in the video are…

1. Register for the webinar with John Bush here.
2. Here is the link to the Exit & Build Summit in May.

Here is the short Q&A that I held on March 19th. We primarily focused on chapter one.

Here is our Live Q&A that we did on March 12th, 2022. We had a couple important announcements in this webinar!

Here is our Live Q&A that we did on February 26th. We used a different format this time. We had a ton of questions, like always. Enjoy.

SPECIAL DISCUSSION PANEL! This was a live Q&A Discussion Panel we have on February 22nd with two special guests who are experts in crypto currency. We talked a lot about the Totalitarian Canadian State and how they froze people’s bank accounts, and how you can get your money out of Dodge if you so desire. Plus we answered a lot of privacy questions. Enjoy!

Here is our Live Q&A from January 2022. Enjoy!

Here is our December 2021 Live Q&A. We had a ton of fun, like always!

Here is our November Q&A Webinar. We had a great time, and I was happy to hear the wonderful comments about the Privacy Action Plan.

Here is our Live Q&A Webinar from October 31st, 2021 (Halloween). Like always, we had a great time and we answered a lot of questions. We had some trouble editing the video though, so I just had to use an image over the video. Sorry about that. We will do something different next time. 

Here is the Q&A Webinar Replay from September 18th, 2021. We had a great time! And also, Edu introduced himself and helped answer a lot of questions. He also answered a lot of people in the text chat. I will add the key take-aways from his answers below the video (this may take a couple days to show up). Thank you to everyone who attended. 

Here is the Q&A Webinar Replay from August 22nd, 2021. We had a great time! Thank you to everyone who attended.

Also, below is my video reply to Saskia who was not happy that she had to log into YouTube to watch videos. I included this video because I learned something new with this as well, and it may be of value to you too. Also, it shows another benefit of using a good VPN.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/590638546?h=4ac160d848 

July 17th, 2021. We had a great webinar today and I received a lot of questions. I after watching the replay I noticed that the slides I intended to show to everyone weren’t actually displaying properly, so I fixed it for the replay. Here you go…

Here is an earlier one, from February 6th, 2021.

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

Of all the lessons I include in this course, this one is the most important, because you need to understand WHY privacy is vital. 

For this reason, I ask that you watch all three videos in this article. Don’t skip them, because after this you will be forever convinced and motivated to bring privacy into your life.

ARE PRIVACY AND SECURITY THE SAME THING?

Both privacy and security are very important, but they are not the same thing.

Security is easier to understand. It’s like locking your bike up when you go into a store.

If you don’t practice good security, you can fall victim to theft of your money, your information, your identity, or your time.

Everyone knows the value of security.

Privacy is a harder issue to understand, but in many ways, privacy is more important…

Most people disregard online privacy for two reasons. The first reason is that they believe, “I’m not doing anything wrong so I don’t need to worry about my privacy.” Second, people simply have no idea how much the large tech companies know about them and they don’t understand how this information can be used against them.

Privacy is not about hiding what others consider to be “wrong” or embarassing.  

Privacy is a fundamental part of our lives. You shut your bathroom door, right? Why? Because you expect privacy. You close your bedroom curtains. You talk to your doctor about private matters. You don’t want people knowing what you tell your best friend, what you write in your diary, or what you search for online. Privacy IS important to you.

Privacy is your right, and you need to protect it.

But, big tech, governments and thieves watch you, track you and record everything you do online without your knowledge or consent. This information can be used to steal from you, influence you and ruin your reputation. 

Here’s what it comes down to…online privacy is important because information is power, and the more information companies, governments and thieves have about you, the more power they have over you. 

Here is a good explanation, “By now, most people are aware that their data is worth money. But your data is not valuable only because it can be sold. Facebook does not technically sell your data, for instance. Nor does Google. They sell the power to influence you. They sell the power to show you ads, and the power to predict your behaviour. Google and Facebook are not really in the business of data – they are in the business of power. Even more than monetary gain, personal data bestows power on those who collect and analyse it, and that is what makes it so coveted.“

“The power that comes about as a result of knowing personal details about someone is a very particular kind of power. Like economic power and political power, privacy power is a distinct type of power, but it also allows those who hold it the possibility of transforming it into economic, political and other kinds of power. Power over others’ privacy is the quintessential kind of power in the digital age.“

Please watch this video.

Big tech uses extremely devious ways to track you, monitor you, and watch everything you do. And they do this without your consent. You have no idea how aggressive these big tech companies are with poking into your lives. 

This is a very important video that shows you how these big tech companies are built from the ground up to steal your information and weaponize it against you. 

Did that video shock you? Even though I am in this industry and I research it every day, I’m still shocked at how evil (I don’t know what other word I can use) these big tech companies are.

So I want to leave you with one final thought. 

Imagine a government as evil and power hungry as the Nazis that has almost total moment-to-moment information on its citizens. They know exactly who the troublemakers are, who questions authority, and who will stand up to that authority. They know who their friends are, who they associate with and where they are at any given moment. Governments could be highly selective at rounding up dissidents, and in today’s hate-filled environment it’s not a stretch to imagine people supporting these actions.

While that scenario is possible, there is another scenario that is certain, and it’s called the Chinese Social Credit System, which is in place now in China, and it’s soon coming to the US and Western Countries. In short, it’s a form of technological slavery. 

In short, this system is about tracking every single part of your life, and giving you rewards for the good things you do, and penalties for the bad things you do. What is good and bad, of course, is up to the government and big tech companies. 

Remember that people in power always want more power. This has always been true, and it always will be true. So anyone who has the power to see everything you do, everywhere you go, what you purchase, who you talk to, and what you believe WILL USE THIS POWER. And just to be clear, this is not a partisan statement.

Right now, big tech and the government already have this information on you, and they have the means to use it against you. What they now are trying to figure out is how to work with government to roll it out in a stealth way. They will drip this into your life, so that the changes happen slow enough to not cause panic. They will try to “sell” it to you so that you see the benefits, and not the penalties until it’s too late for you to do anything about it.

Please understand what I am saying, this is happening now. In five years our lives will be dramatically different, and not for the better.

This is why it’s important to take steps now, and to put the pieces in place that will allow you to protect your privacy. More than this, we need to convince others to do this too. We need to take the power away from big tech and the government.

Privacy is essential for freedom, democracy, human rights and civil liberties.

I hope you are finally and forever convinced about the need to get private! So let’s get started!

Glenn Meder

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

There is one privacy step that all security experts agree on; the need to cover the cameras on your computers and devices. 

Another person who agrees is former FBI director James Comey, who recommended that we all cover our webcams with tape for security reasons. Comey believes that doing so is a simple step for people to “take responsibility for their own safety and security.” Mark Zuckerberg also covers his webcam, as does Edward Snowden.

An article in Engadget said this, “Aside from institutional malfeasance, there’s been a thriving black market for compromised webcams and the video or photos they can produce — for many years. A clearly startled 2013 BBC reporter claimed the going price for access to a woman’s webcam was priced at $1 per girl, whereas computer webcams belonging to men cost $1 — for one hundred. And even then, three years ago, it was old news. The programs that capture images, take videos and record audio are not expensive, and they do their jobs surreptitiously by overriding the “record” light so victims don’t know they’re being spied on.“

Yes, this is a real threat to your privacy.

TODAY I HAVE TWO TASKS FOR YOU…

For today’s task I FIRST want you to go around your house and determine how many cameras are inside your home. This includes all the cell phones, smart TVs, computers, baby monitors and even security systems. Write down how many there are, where they are, and whether they are connected to the internet or not. 

Do you want these cameras watching you? Would you want them pointing at you if you knew that someone could be watching what you do, and recording you?  

Yes, cameras can be turned on and be used to watch you. The FBI issued a warning recently that said…

“Smart TVs are called that because they connect to the Internet… A number of the newer TV’s also have built-in cameras. In some cases, the cameras are used for facial recognition so the TV knows who is watching and can suggest programming appropriately… Beyond the risk that your TV manufacturer and app developers may be listening and watching you, that television can also be a gateway for hackers to come into your home. A bad cyber actor may not be able to access your locked-down computer directly, but it is possible that your unsecured TV can give him or her an easy way in the backdoor through your router… In a worst-case scenario, they can turn on your bedroom TV’s camera and microphone and silently cyberstalk you.”

NEXT, let’s cover those cameras. I’ve bought many different types of camera covers over the years, but I’m not really a fan of many except this one. But, even this one I only like for my laptop. It doesn’t work well for my phone because it keeps popping off and getting lost.

I also don’t like using masking tape, because it’s translucent at best. I did find this tape though, and this good instructional video on how to use the tape. This is a good, cheap option. 

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. Also, when you are done with this task, comment “Done” in the comments. 

Here’s a FAQ video I created based on many of the questions I’ve received…

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

Did you get the last Privacy Action Step done? 

Today we have two steps for you. FIRST, we’re going to get rid of potentially malicious apps on your phone, and then SECOND, we’re going to update your phone.

Overview

It’s important to understand that apps on your phone can gather a TON of information about you, not to mention that many apps are poorly written and can have bugs that allow hackers to gain access to your phone.

For example, just last week a big announcement came out telling people to delete a very popular app for Android phones called “ShareIt”. This app has been installed on over 1 BILLION PHONES! 

The ShareIt app has has unpatched security bugs that have gone unfixed for a few months. This means that the Android version of this app could be used to leak a user’s sensitive data, execute arbitrary code, and possibly lead to remote code execution (hijack the phone). 

Remember this though, this bug was found recently, but it’s been there all along. How long have hackers known about it? Have nation-states used this to infiltrate people’s phones? 

If you start looking into it, it’s shocking how much information these apps can steal from you. Many apps have actually been found to be Trojan Horses, and their actual intent has nothing to do with what they say they are for.

The classic case of this is the flashlight app. Before flashlight buttons became a regular feature on phones, you had to download a flashlight app. But the top 10 flashlight apps were actually found to be malware, and many more were very suspicious because they requested access to things like the phone’s microphone, location data and the ability to make calls. 

The fact that these apps are so overlooked made them a perfect place to hide malware and tracking software. I recently checked my father’s phone, and although he has an iPhone 12, which has a flashlight function built into it, he still had a flashlight app loaded on his phone. 

Do more research here.

STEP ONE: Carefully look through your phone apps and delete as many as you can. 

• If you don’t use it, delete it. 
• Old games that you don’t play anymore? Delete.
• Utilities, such as flashlight, delete.
• The big evil companies, including Google, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, delete.
• I think it’s a good idea to delete the news apps too.
• Do you really need the different weather apps? Weather apps have been known to hide malware too.

Here’s how to delete iPhone apps. 

Here’s how to delete Android apps.

You don’t have to go crazy with deleting apps that you use everyday, but I do want to tell you about an important feature of both iPhones and Android phones…You can go to your favorite website on your browser, and then create a shortcut to that website that looks like an app on your phone. Having a link to a website is much better than having an app on your phone.

For example, if you like Fox News, instead of having the Fox News App on your phone, open the website to FoxNews.com and then follow the directions below to create an icon on your phone that takes you directly to that webpage. This is how I’ve gotten rid of my YouTube app, and many of the news apps on my phone. Here’s how to do this…

For iPhone…

For Android Phones…

STEP TWO: Update Your Phone and Your Apps. 

Now that you have cleared away all of the apps that shouldn’t be on your phone, now it’s time to update your operating system and your apps. Also, I recommend that you turn on auto-update. If you don’t know how to update your phone or your apps, here are the simple instructions.

First, the iPhone Operating System…

Also, here’s how to update the apps on your iPhone…

Here’s how to update your Android Phone Operating System…

Here’s how to update apps on your Android…

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved.