IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Winter 2014 - 41

Switch to Encrypted Versions
of the Services You Use Most

Author Information

Now that people are wising up to surveillance, a
bumper crop of new programs can help keep your
chats, texts, and even phone calls private. Fight for
the Future has put together a helpful Privacy Pack of
encryption tools you can use to "reset the net." You
can download encrypted alternatives to your favorite
tools at their Reset the Net website [10].

Encourage Websites to use Encryption,
and Support Pro-Encryption Activists
When you see "HTTPS" in a website's URL address
when you connect to it, that's your sign the website is foiling eavesdroppers by encrypting what you type and what
the site displays to you. Sites that handle sensitive data like
email and credit card numbers should always display the
"https" (and often a lock) in the address bar. Not all sites
are using this protocol yet, but activists groups like Access
are working hard to get the whole Internet on board. You
can support their efforts at Encrypt All the Things [11].

Encrypt Your Hard Drive
and Portable Devices
It's easier than you think to encrypt your laptop and
other devices that can be lost or stolen - or confiscated.
While recent rumors warn that some hard-drive encryption programs may have been compromised, they can
still provide a first level barrier against snooping. Look
online for tools to encrypt your platform. For Windows
use BitLocker; for Mac, FileVault; for Linux search for
"Encrypted LVM" and your Linux distribution name.

Equip Yourself for
the Information Arms Race
Modern encryption goes beyond protecting personal
files, it's about equipping yourself for an information
arms race that is fundamental to privacy and civil liberties. Even if you're the NSA's biggest fan, consider that
sharing unencrypted information online is like showering in front of a picture window with the curtains wide
open. Have some self-respect, folks. Draw the shades!

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

WINTER 2014

Katherine Albrecht is the VP Marketing for StartPage, Inc. Email: kma@startmail.com.
Liz McIntyre is the co-author of Spychips. Email:
liz@startmail.com.

Acknowledgment
This article has been adapted from three previous
online posts first published by the authors on eHow.
com between June 30, 2014 and July 14, 2014
[12]-[14].

References

[1] "Yahoo Mail FAQ," Yahoo.com, 2014; https://info.yahoo.com/
privacy/us/yahoo/mail/ymailfaq/.
[2] M. Brinkmann, "At least 1% of the Top 10000 websites use
fingerprinting to track users," ghacks.net, Oct. 11, 2013; http://www.
ghacks.net/2013/10/11/least-1-top-10000-websites-use-fingerprintingtrack-users/.
[3] Startpage, "the world's most private search engine," startpage.com,
2014; www.startpage.com.
[4] Firefox, "Privacy and security settings - Cookies," Mozilla support,
2014; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/privacy-andsecurity/Cookies.
[5] Google, "Manage your cookies and site data," Help, 2014;
https://support.google.com /chrome/answer/95647?hl=en&ref_
topic=3421433.
[6] "Delete and Manage Cookies," Windows, 2014; http://windows.
microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/delete-manage-cookies#ie=ie11-win-7.
[7] "Safari 7 (Mavericks): Manage cookies and other website data,"
apple.com, May 29, 2014; http://support.apple.com/kb/PH17191
[8] Missouri Information Analysis Center, "MIAC Strategic Report:
The Modern Militia Movement," constitution.org, Feb. 20, 2009;
http://www.constitution.org/abus/le/miac-strategic-report.pdf.
[9] G. Greenwald, "Edward Snowden: NSA whistleblower answers reader questions," theguardian.com, June 17, 2013; http://www.theguardian.
com/world/2013/jun/17/edward-snowden-nsa-files-whistleblower.
[10] "Privacy pack," Reset the Net; https://pack.resetthenet.org/, accessed Nov. 1, 2014.
[11] "Encrypt all the things," 2014; https://encryptallthethings.net/.
[12] K. Albrecht and L. McIntyre, "Six ways websites ID and track
you - and how you can fight back!," Ehow.com, Jun. 30, 2014; http://
www.ehow.com/ehow-tech/blog/ways-websites-track-you-and-howyou-can-fight-back/.
[13] K. Albrecht and L. McIntyre, "Why care about online privacy (if you've
got nothing to hide)," Ehow.com, Jul. 7, 2014; http://www.ehow.com/ehowtech/blog/who-cares-about-online-privacy-got-nothing-to-hide/.
[14] K. Albrecht and L. McIntyre, "Encryption 101: Keep the NSA out
of your private stuff," Ehow.com, Jul. 14, 2014; http://www.ehow.com/
ehow-tech/blog/encryption-101-keep-nsa-out-of-your-private-stuff/.

http://www.Yahoo.com https://info.yahoo.com/ http://www.ghacks.net http://www http://www.ghacks.net/2013/10/11/least-1-top-10000-websites-use-fingerprinting http://www.startpage.com http://www.startpage.com https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/privacy-and https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en&ref_ http://windows http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/delete-manage-cookies#ie=ie http://www.apple.com http://support.apple.com/kb/PH17191 http://www.constitution.org http://www.constitution.org/abus/le/miac-strategic-report.pdf http://www.theguardian.com http://www https://pack.resetthenet.org/ https://www.encryptallthethings.net/ http://www.Ehow.com http://http:// http://www.ehow.com/ehow-tech/blog/ways-websites-track-you-and-how http://www.Ehow.com http://www.ehow.com/ehow http://www.Ehow.com http://www.ehow.com/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Winter 2014