Three changes you need to protect your privacy online

Did you know that there are some things that you can do right now to help improve your personal privacy and security? Changing a few critical software apps that you likely use daily, will do wonders for keeping your private information safe. Here’s how:

First is securing your SMS and texting communications. Get the Signal app, and send & receive secure texts as well as voice and video calls with other Signal users. You can also still use the same app to text your contacts who aren’t yet on Signal (though such texts will still be sent insecurely via normal SMS). https://signal.org

Then, second is setting up your web browser for maximum privacy. Install and switch to the Brave browser. It blocks ads and trackers while you’re surfing the internet. Further, when on a mobile device, using a browser such as Brave to visit Facebook and similar services, instead of the native app, will limit the access that they have to your device and the data it contains on your life. https://brave.com

Lastly, switch your main email address away from a “free” email service that reads through your emails in order to build a personal profile on you to target their ads to you more effectively. For easy email encryption and security, use one of the secure email offerings that have since been developed. One of these services, that offers a pretty good replacement for Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo/etc, is called Tutanota (which is Latin for “secure note”). Based in Germany, they go to great lengths to protect your data and privacy at every step. Even better, when you email another user of their service, your email is automatically end-to-end encrypted so that nobody but you and your recipient can read it. Your contact list of friends and family, as well as your personal calendar, are also secured and kept private just for you. Tutanota has a free option, and paid accounts start at just slightly more than $1 a month. https://tutanota.com/ For more standard email service, with less of a focus on encryption, look at Mailbox.org and Posteo providers.