Privacy Action Plan

Hi from Glenn!

Before you take steps to actually get private and secure, it’s important to first gain a proper understanding of WHY it’s vital that you do so. This understanding will fuel your passion to follow through with the steps that you need to take.

In this lesson I ask that you watch three videos. But first, let’s start with the basics…

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 because they believe, “I’m not doing anything wrong so I don’t need to worry about my privacy.”

But 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. 

THERE ARE THREE PRIMARY THREATS TO YOUR PRIVACY…

1) Hackers, Scammers and Thieves (also stalkers).

2) Big Tech.

3) Big Brother.

All three of these threats are serious, and surprisingly, they all try to do the same thing; create a database on you that they will then use against you.

Hackers, scammers and thieves are ruthless people who are primarily after your money, and they will take every cent that you own if they can. While many hackers and scammers work on their own, many are members of highly organized, well-funded crime syndicates, and others belong to nation states such as North Korea. Of all three threats, hackers and scammers is the most immediate and most dangerous threat to your money and identity.

I group stalkers into the hackers and scammers group, and this is especially important as it pertains to children. If you look at the sheer number of adults who are scammed and hacked online and the amount of money that they lose, is it any wonder that children fall for the sophisticated tricks of stalkers? These people are not just creepy, but they are dangerous.

The second threat is Big Tech companies. These are the wealthiest, most powerful companies ever to exist. They have become this powerful through a business model of surveillance capitalism, in which they gain as much information about a person as possible, and then use this information against them without their knowledge.

Every product that Big Tech creates, from the Chrome browser, to Android operating system for your phone, the Amazon Alexa and the Ring Doorbell is actually a Trojan Horse that is specifically designed to steal your data.

These companies are extremely good at manipulating people without their knowledge, and they do so not just to make money off of us, but they are activist companies with activist employees. YouTube, Google, Facebook and all other Big Tech companies actively censor freedom of speech.

But they don’t do it on their own. They work hand in hand with the third threat; Big Brother.

Of all the threats, Big Brother is the most serious for our nation and our individual freedom.

When Elon Musk purchased Twitter and changed it from a publicly traded company to a privately held company, he revealed that Twitter had been infiltrated by the FBI. In a report called the Twitter Files, we learned that the US government was deeply involved with Twitter and was paying Twitter large amounts of money. In fact, there were so many FBI agents working at Twitter that they had their own Slack channel (chat group).

More than 10 years ago, Edward Snowden revealed the extent to which the US Government is illegally spying on US Citizens. The NSA has extensive capabilities for tracking us.

THEY ARE ALL DOING THE SAME THING.

I want you to notice one very important point. Hackers, Big Tech and Big Brother are all doing the same thing, they are all trying to collect as much information as they can about us and create a database on us.

Hackers collect our information in many ways, but primarily through data breaches. You’ve certainly heard of the big corporate data breaches that constantly happen. When a hacker breaks into Target’s customer database, they then sell this data on the dark web to other hacker groups. And they all want as much information as they can get, and they want the most recent data. They then take this data and turn it into a database on each person, and then this information is analyzed. They look to see your weaknesses, habits, patterns and ultimately your vulnerability level. They will then use your information against you.

Big Tech gathers endless amounts of data about each of us by creating products that are specifically designed to spy on us and steal our data. Your phone gathers your data on every movement you make. Your Chrome or Edge browser collects data on every site you go to. Your Smart device in your home listens to your conversations.

The amount of information they want to collect on you is staggering. They want to know every single thing that they can about you, including where you go, who you meet with, who you talk to, what you read, where you get your news from, what you believe, what makes you mad or happy, any health problems you have, your voice profile, your biometric data and every other piece of data they can get about you.

Then they use this data to manipulate you without your knowledge. Yes, they will use it to get you to buy products, but they also use it to control how you think.

And of course, Big Brother is working with Big Tech to collect your data. The Ring doorbell, for example, is constantly recording what is happening in your neighborhood. Amazon shares this information with law enforcement without warrants.

We also see governments around the world trying to push for Digital IDs or vaccine passports, which are the same thing. These digital IDs will consolidate all of our information into one place; including health records, financial transactions, travel records and every other data point possible.

But why?

WHY DO HACKERS, BIG TECH AND GOVERNMENTS WANT OUR DATA?

Because information is power. And when they have information ABOUT you, they have power OVER you.

Imagine, if you will, what would have happened to the Founding Fathers if King George III’s Britain had the level of surveillance on it’s citizens that our government now has on us.

If they knew where they were every second of the day.

Who they met with?

Who they talked to.

What they said.

What they wrote to each other.

What they believed and what their plans were.

You know what would have happened. They would have been rounded up and shot and America never would have been founded.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS THOUGH.

The good news is that there are steps that you can take to protect yourself.

If you learn and implement the fundamentals of privacy and security, you will become a much harder target for hackers and scammers. Remember that the sheer number of easy targets for them to hit is almost endless, so anything that you do to make yourself a harder target changes the financial equation for them. The harder you are to attack, the more work they will have to do to attack you. Thus, it’s easier and more profitable for them to bypass you and move onto easier prey.

You can also take steps to protect yourself from Big Tech. By using tech solutions that keep you private from Big Tech, you loosen their grip on you and you take away their ability to manipulate you and to make money off of you.

And regarding Big Brother, it’s important to remember that our rights come from God, not from the government. They are wrong to try to spy on us. They are acting illegally and whatever we can do to remain private is our right and our duty. Because freedom requires privacy.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY IS ESSENTIAL!In today’s world, every aspect of our lives is connected to the online world. This makes us vulnerable in countless ways that we are not aware of. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that you understand the fundamentals of privacy and security.

VIDEO #1: PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO FROM GLENN GREENWALD.

VIDEO #2: SHOSHANA ZUBOFF ON SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM

VIDEO #3: THE SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM IS COMING TO THE USA.

No, I did not show you any videos on hacking or scamming, but I will soon. The videos I showed you are VERY important. They show you what is happening right now, and what the future holds.

Yes, the governments of the world are working right now on implementing the social credit system in the USA and other Western Countries.

In short, this system is designed to track 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!

Glenn Meder

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved. 

Hi from Glenn!

Today’s lesson is a simple, yet very important one. It is essential that you cover your webcams and block your mics. Please watch my video…

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

One 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.“

Here are a few articles that demonstrate how serious this is…

“Dad, 60, hacked into 772 webcams across the world to watch 47 women have sex”

And yes, that is bad, but what it’s worse when your children are being watched…

“Mom shocked after webcam in children’s bedroom hacked, streamed online”

And sometimes it’s not even random creeps doing this. The FBI, NSA and EVEN YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL may be watching them. Here’s a quote from the article, “Approximately 1,800 students at the district’s two high schools have  been given laptops as part of a state- and federally-funded “one-to-one”  student-to-laptop  initiative.

“Pennsylvania schools spying on students using laptop webcams, claims lawsuit”

The other thing to understand, however, is that if a creep hacks into your webcam, he can then “livestream” it to websites for anyone else to watch.

“Peeping into 73,000 unsecured security cameras thanks to default passwords”

So, yes, it is extremely important that you cover your cameras on your computer, Smart devices, and even your phone.

But before I talk about how to do this, there is something else that is related that we have to also talk about; your microphone.

BLOCK YOUR MIC.

Blocking your microphone so that no one can listen to you is just as important as covering your webcam. Here are few more articles…

“Why Your Computer Microphone Is a Real Privacy Concern”

And this article explains the power that apps have to listen in on you using just the developer tools that Apple or Google gives to developers. It’s really shocking actually.

“Some apps were listening to you through the smartphone’s mic to track your TV viewing, says report”

And this article shows a real-world application that hackers could use for listening to you. Basically it says that they can record the sound of your keystrokes and can run that through a computer program and then figure out what keys you are typing. So this is one of many ways that they can steal your passwords.

“Listen for the log-in: Hackers may glean your password by listening to how you type on your phone”

Now, I hope I clearly communicated the importance of covering your cameras and blocking your microphones. Now let’s talk action steps…

ACTION STEPS…

FIRST, cover your cameras.

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 or your children? Would you want them pointing at you if you knew that someone could be watching what you do, and recording you?  

So 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. This one is made of material that feels like a wet suit, and it sticks to your webcam with little micro suction cups not adhesive, so if it ever loses it’s stickiness, just run it under water to clean it and it will be like brand new.

You can also do a DYI version with simple tape. But, don’t use masking tape, because it’s translucent at best. I did find this tape though. This is a good, cheap option.

Regarding my phone, I find that the best way to cover the camera that faces towards me is to cover it with nail polish. This is because any cover that I put on it comes off when I continually put my phone in and out of my pocket. Nail polish doesn’t come off though, and if I ever want to actually use that camera, I can just scrape it off with my fingernail and it just pops off. But I want to say, DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I am not going to replace your phone for you if it gets damaged.

Whichever method you use to cover your camera, test it to make sure it works. Simply turn your camera on and see if the method you chose adequately blocks your camera (for example, your camera will see right through masking tape).

SECOND, block your microphone.

Blocking your microphone is not quite as simple as covering your cameras, but it’s still pretty easy with the right product.

Please watch my interview with Ric Ralston from Mic-Lock (below) as he explains his product. It’s not just a plug for your microphone outlet, but it provides feedback to your computer/phone that an external mic is plugged in.

They have Mic-Locks for every one of your devices, and some of them allow you to still have headphones or external speakers plugged in.

Buy these products here. I recommend that you scroll down the page until you get to the tool called, “Which Mic-Lock Fits my Device”. Or you can purchase the “Everything Bundle”.

This ends today’s lesson.

A Snippet from my Interview with Ric Ralston.

The Full Interview.

A Common Question: What About Smart TVs?

Here is a recent warning from the FBI…

“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.”

But notice that the FBI’s advice focuses exclusively on hackers. Just as big a threat, I believe, is the government itself. Remember, they consider mom’s who care about their kids and speak up at school meetings to be domestic terrorists now.

So what to do about your Smart TV? There are a few options…

1. You may choose, as I do, to not use Smart TVs. Instead use a dumb computer monitor that does not have any additional functionality, and then stream from your computer.
2. Disconnect your Smart TV from the internet.
3. Cover the camera on your Smart TV.
4. The FBI offers a few guidelines and best practices to ensure your security and privacy:
5. Know exactly what features your TV has and how to control them. Do a basic internet search with your model number and the words “microphone,” “camera,” and “privacy.”
6. Don’t depend on default security settings. Change passwords if you can—and know how to turn off the microphones, cameras, and collection of personal information, if possible. If you can’t turn them off, consider whether you are willing to take the risk of buying that model or using that service.
7. If you can’t turn off a camera but want to, a simple piece of black tape over the camera eye is a back-to-basics option.
8. Check the manufacturer’s ability to update your device with security patches. Can it do this? Has it done it in the past?
9. Check the privacy policy for the TV manufacturer and the streaming services you use. Confirm what data they collect, how they store that data, and what they do with it.
10. Advanced: Use a Protectli Home Vault which allows you to control what data is transferred from any of your devices.

Please Note: The above links for the Mic-Lock are affiliate links. I only recommend the best products, and products that I personally use and would recommend to my mother.

© Copyright 2023. Glenn Meder All Rights Reserved.