PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY
In a world where the concept of online privacy is an afterthought at best, David Rutland looks at the hazards of the digital landscape and what you can do to protect yourself.
Few people like being tracked online. Sure, there are some legitimate reasons for it: you may be a threat to national security – busily searching up combustible materials, bidding for the infamous and stylish Casio F-81W on eBay, or meeting up with your fellow government toppling anarchists on Facebook (although no one is better at overthrowing HMG than HMG). We’re sure there are warehouses full of counterterrorist officers sitting behind ancient CRT monitors, watching the humdrum daily activities of suspected terrorists as they scroll through 60-second TikToks, work on mind-numbing romance novels, and call their grandmas on WhatsApp to make sure they’ve remembered to take their meds and have enough milk. A James Bond lifestyle it ain’t.
In reality most tracking takes place with little or no human interaction, and is for commercial purposes. Your data is sold, rented or other otherwise surrendered for cash. If you have a Google account and use Chrome, for instance, everything you do online is synced across Google. If you use a Google handset, that data is tied to your realworld activity, the locations you visit and the contacts you call or text.