WEBVTT - Delete your account? 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:07.040 Cool Zone Media. Hello, and welcome back to It Could 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.200 Happen Here, a show that is no longer hypothetical now 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:14.280 that it is happening here. I'm your occasional host, Molly Conger, 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:15.720 and today I just want to talk to you a 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:20.120 little bit about your online security. It's a hot topic 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.159 right now for obvious reasons, and this won't be a 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:27.120 comprehensive overview on the subject by any meanings. I'm sure 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:29.560 there will be more episodes in the future covering specific 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.800 angles on this and more depth, but today I just 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.400 want to touch on some basics, especially for people who 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.360 may be asking themselves some of these questions for the 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:42.199 first time. This is more of a mental framework and 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:46.320 a pep talk. The main message here is don't freak out. 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:49.760 I'm not saying the situation isn't serious for your concerns 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:54.360 aren't real. It's very serious. But freaking out is not 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:56.920 going to do you any good. And if you're looking 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:01.640 for complicated, high tech solutions to the very real anxiety 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.440 that you're feeling right now, this episode doesn't have it. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:06.880 That's not what I have for you today. And I 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.000 know a lot of people have really specific concerns about 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.720 apps they might be using to track their menstrual cycles 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.640 or fertility, and we're not going to touch on that 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.440 today because I think it's a topic that deserves its 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.760 own episode, and an episode where I talk to an 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.320 actual expert. So I'm hoping to get that out next month. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.240 So what are we talking about? The answer is pretty simple, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:35.720 calming down and shutting up. That's right. It's only Thursday 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.160 when this airs, but it is always shut the fuck 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.640 up Friday in our hearts, because the main source of 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:46.000 the risks you can do something about is your own mouth. 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:51.680 Because here's the thing. I'm not an expert on digital security. 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:56.040 I'm not a computer programmer or a hacker. I had 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.720 to call our producer Danil one time because I went 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.280 to record an episode in my little recording device said no, 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.920 and I almost cried. And it turned out I accidentally 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:09.440 slid the little tab on the data card that locks it. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.000 I don't know, but what I do know a lot 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:18.240 about is how to exploit someone else's lack of digital security. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.120 If you're a listener to my show We're Little Guys, 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:23.760 you know that I kind of have a knack for 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.679 finding out everything there is to know about a guy 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:29.079 so what I can offer you is a sort of 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:34.600 reverse engineered guide to stay safe online from someone like 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.239 me but evil. I like to tell people that you 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.200 should be thinking of your digital security kind of like 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.320 your health. People are going to have different risk factors, 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:50.120 different vulnerabilities, different concerns, different goals. If you're undocumented or 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.960 on a student or work visa, the risks and possible 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.760 consequences for you are very different. If you're queer or trans, 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.520 or a person of color, your risk profile looks different. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.239 If you're economically dependent on family members whose politics don't 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.240 align with yours, your risk profile is different. If you 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.320 have a criminal record, if you work in a field 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:11.120 where your political activity is a significant threat to your 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.880 continued employment, if you're running for office, if you have 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.640 a security clearance, if you have children or vulnerable family 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.800 these are all different vulnerabilities, and you're going to have 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.240 specific concerns that are unique to you. And this isn't 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:28.760 meant to address those specific risk scenarios. But just like 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:30.799 people who may have different risk factors when it comes 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.800 to their health, everyone can benefit from the basics. You know, 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.240 no matter who you are, you have to wash your 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:39.840 hands and when it comes to digital security. A lot 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:43.200 of people want to jump right to the exciting, complicated 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:47.160 technical fixes. You know, they want the Kim Kardashian full 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:52.360 body MRI equivalent of being safe online. People want to 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.880 talk about buying burner phones and getting a Faraday bag 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.440 and evading high tech surveillance, but they're not washing their hands. 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:01.400 People love to say they're going to buy a burner phone. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.200 But if you go to Walmart and you buy a 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.600 burner phone, and you put your credit card into the 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.840 machine that is recording a video of your face, and 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:10.440 then you take that phone home and turn it on 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.960 inside your house next to your real phone, you've done 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.160 nothing but waste your time and money. So we're not 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:21.000 talking about solutions like that. We are talking about is boring, 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.159 un sexy, basic stuff that everybody can and should be 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.000 doing before they jump into the deep end. If you 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.280 choose to go that route, because I'm not saying you 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.200 shouldn't worry about more advanced threats, I'm just saying you 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.200 have to start here. So before you can figure out 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.279 how to mitigate a risk, you have to nail down 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:43.440 what that risk actually is, What is the outcome that 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.600 you're hoping to avoid. There's a lot of anxiety right 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.880 now about unknowable possibilities, and it's really easy to get 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.400 overwhelmed with the what ifs of a worst case scenario 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:59.839 and then you just end up feeling really helpless. And look, yeah, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.760 there are there are some potential threats here that I 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.800 don't have the tools to help you address. But that 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.279 doesn't mean you shouldn't be taking the steps that are 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.120 within your control right now. You have to fight off 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.279 that feeling of helplessness. So what we're talking about here 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.000 is threat modeling. I gave a little workshop a few 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.560 months ago about digital security, and the first thing I 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.960 asked the group was what is the bad thing that 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.719 you were worried will happen? And most people's answer to 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.240 that was they're worried about getting docksed. Okay, that's fair, 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.039 that's a valid fear, But what do you mean by that? 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.560 What specifically is the piece of information you are worried 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:44.080 someone will discover? Is it your name, your address where 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.839 you work? Is it connecting two pieces of your online 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.919 identity that you thought were separate. Docsing can mean a 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.400 lot of things to different people at different contexts, and 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.320 it can happen in degrees right, like you know my 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:03.920 full legal name. I'm doxed to whatever extent that means anything. 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.080 But this could still happen to me. Someone could still 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.080 discover a piece of information about me that I wish 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:15.200 they didn't have. And most people can't become completely anonymous. 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.600 I can't help you do that, and honestly, I don't 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:24.120 think that should be most people's goals. Don't disappear. I'm 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.720 not telling you you should disappear. This is just about 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.720 figuring out what makes sense for you and what you 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.200 can do to navigate the landscape that you've chosen to 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:48.640 operate in. So, what is the actual negative outcome specifically 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.240 that is making you feel afraid? What is the concrete 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.320 thing that you are thinking about when you experience that fear. 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.360 And people's answers tend to be that they're worried about 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.200 getting harassed, They're worried about their physical safety, they're worried 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.080 about negative fallout at work or at school. People's fears 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.560 tend to be about things like getting arrested, getting sued, 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:15.240 getting fired, getting hurt, and getting embarrassed. And so the 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.680 next question is can you identify the potential sources for 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.480 the kinds of harm you're worried about, and you can 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:25.160 sort these into a few primary categories. The state can 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.160 harm you. That's the police, the government. You can get 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:32.400 charged with a crime. Institutions can harm you. If you're 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.560 a student, you can get in trouble at school. If 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.040 you have some kind of professional license, people could file 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:41.680 complaints against you. Politicians and organized political groups can harm you. 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.920 You know, Marjorie Taylor Green might tweet your TikTok video 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.960 or Canary Mission might do a blog post about where 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.080 you work. And right wing groups can harm you. You 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:55.080 might get targeted harassment from some Nazi telegram channel. The 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:58.480 worst case scenario, maybe you were physically threatened or attacked 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.520 by an extremist group. You could get swatted. And then 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.800 there's just this sort of wild card of the random 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.520 strangers and Internet mobs and the way they factor into 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.600 and exacerbate all of the above scenarios. When it comes 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.640 to harm from the state, that's beyond what we're talking 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:21.080 about with this digital hand washing metaphor. A lot of 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.960 the prevention steps you can take today are still going 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.320 to help you. They're still worth taking. But at the 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.640 end of the day, if the government wants to know 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.880 who runs a Twitter account, who drove to a protest, 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:34.640 who supported a movement, who donated money. That's beyond the basics. 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.080 Most of what I have direct experience with are just 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.480 these basic measures that you can take today to make 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.600 it a little bit harder for the average weird little 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.080 guy to get into your business. It'll stop the average 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.839 online troll, it'll slow down a decent sleuth, but it's 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:53.319 not the kind of stuff that stops a guy with 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.280 a warrant. Think of protecting your online identity like being 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:03.000 inside your house. If you have no curtains, someone walking 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.400 down the street can see you, even if they didn't 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.960 go out of their way to look. If you're putting 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.480 everything out there with no thought to digital security, somebody 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.120 could dock see without even trying, just like they would 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.679 be able to see and through your windows from the street. 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.600 Somebody who is a little more curious about you might 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.840 walk into your yard. But if you put up a fence, 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.640 maybe that person will decide this isn't really worth my time. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.320 Somebody who loves peeping in windows and really wants to 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.440 see you, he's gonna hop your fence, right. But the 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.800 average troll will see these barriers and they'll get bored. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.680 But again, curtains, a fence, a locked door, a guard dog, 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.319 these don't stop a guy with a warrant. So we're 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:49.480 talking about just putting up barriers that slow down and 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:54.640 discourage the average low to mid level weirdo. In short, 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.360 delete your Facebook, set your accounts to private, you signal, 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.120 put a passcode on your phone, and say less and 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.640 try to do something about the data brokers. Let's break 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.400 these down one at a time. I'm sure it's been 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.120 talked about on this show before, but I tell everyone 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.680 in my life download Signal. Download Signal. It's free, put 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.680 it on your phone. It's just an encrypted messaging app, 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:21.800 and I use it by default, pretty much exclusively in 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.360 place of regular texting, just because it's easier for me 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.120 to have everything in one place. It doesn't collect or 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.560 store your metadata, it doesn't back up to the cloud, 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.360 and you can set all of your conversations to automatically 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:37.400 disappear at whatever time interval you choose. You don't need 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.360 text messages from a year ago, You don't. Those can 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.640 never help you, They can only hurt you. Just let 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:47.080 them go and turn off the biometric unlock on your phone, 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.920 whether that's a fingerprint or a face ID, turn it off, 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:54.640 turn it off. Set a passcode. If you get arrested 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.160 and you have your phone on you, they can use 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.560 your finger or your face to unlock it without warrant. 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.640 But if you have a passcode, you're a little bit safer. 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.400 So set a pass code that's at least six digits 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:09.640 long longer if you can bear it, I know. But 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.480 when it comes to social media, you have some choices. 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.560 You may look at your own threat model and say, well, 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.880 I don't care if everyone can see what I've posted, 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:22.800 and that's okay, right. We all have different goals and vulnerabilities. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.560 And if you're a very public organizer, then yeah, you 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:30.280 need public social media. But if you've been using Facebook 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:35.199 for twenty years, you probably weren't always very careful about 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.800 what was on there. And there are privacy settings now 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:40.480 where you can retroactively set all of your old posts 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.679 to a new privacy settings. You should do that start 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.920 there if you haven't done that, but that still leaves 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.000 a lot of digital debris. If you've changed your display 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.760 name to something more private in recent years, something that 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:58.080 isn't your current legal name, old posts that other people 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.600 made about you still have your old name in them. 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:05.280 So if they tagged you ten years ago, that old 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:09.280 name is still a link to your current profile, and 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.160 you can't control the content that your friends and family 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.920 posted years ago. And on the flip side, if in 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.200 the end you decide you don't care what's on your 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:23.439 Facebook about you, when you're doing your threat modeling, consider 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.560 the people close to you, because when I'm working at 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:29.240 this from the other side, a lot of times I'll 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:31.880 find that, you know, the guy that I'm looking for 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.880 has done a pretty good job cleaning up his own 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:39.800 digital presence, but his wife, his mom, his sister, someone 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.320 in his life as not. So if there's someone in 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.959 your life who maybe is at greater risk than you are, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.319 don't be their weak spot. And if you're in a 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.240 position to do so, talk to the people in your 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.760 life about this. Have these conversations about what are our risks, 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.079 what are our goals, Let's do a digital hygiene and 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:04.520 check together. Because you can build an impenetrable digital fortress 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.240 around yourself. But if you're aunt Kathy is live streaming 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.480 your baby shower, that didn't do you much good. And 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.280 now that more people are talking about these kinds of concerns. 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.880 You can try approaching the subject with people in your 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.240 life that may not have been receptive to it a 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.120 year ago. Show your mom how to set her Facebook 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.840 to private. Take the time to explain to your less 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:29.160 political siblings why they should think about the ways in 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.959 which their social media use might expose someone they care about. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.000 Don't just scold them or you say it's reckless that 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:51.000 you're doing this, talk about why so when it comes 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.880 to social media, I'm saying delete your Facebook as a 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:59.720 sort of shorthand for the general cleanup of the stuff 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:04.000 that you've left online for the last twenty years. Cleaning 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:06.760 up your online presence is the number one thing you 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:11.600 can do right now to thwart the bizarro universe version 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:13.800 of me who is trying to collect every piece of 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:18.160 information about you. Because even if you're careful today, even 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.360 if you're so smart about it now and you're not 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:24.640 putting anything online that puts you at risk, you weren't 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.040 always that careful. We're all guilty of it. People who've 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.240 been doing this for a long time, people who know better, 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:34.440 We're all guilty of being a little messy online. It's okay, 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:37.720 there's no shame that you didn't know before. Don't feel silly, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.960 don't feel guilty. Just start cleaning it up today and 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.280 so to figure out what exactly you might have been 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.960 leaving out in the open, one thing you can try 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.960 is doxing yourself, or do it with a friend, right, 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.920 try doxing each other. So start with a completely clean cash, 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.800 deleat your cookies, whatever, Open an incognito browser, start with 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.640 a blank slate, and just google yourself. Google your name, 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:07.240 your address, your phone number. Google the usernames that you 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:11.360 currently use on various sites. But google the username you 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.280 used in high school. Google your old aim handle, Google 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.200 the email address you made when you were twelve. What 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:22.360 comes up? And is that information you want everybody to have? 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:27.400 Probably not. Start by deleting accounts you don't use anymore. 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.320 Just wipe those bad boys right out. You don't need those. 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.560 A lot of people have no idea that the ghost 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:39.480 of their old MySpace page still exists online. I've actually 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.760 used that one fairly recently to confirm the details about 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.080 a person's close associates and family members. They hadn't logged 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.680 into MySpace since twenty ten. But your top eight lives 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.640 forever so delete or set to privates any account that 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.400 you don't use, don't need, or just don't need to 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:02.280 be public facing. Log into every social media site, every forum, 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:06.320 every online store where you've ever created an account, and 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.840 just look at what's visible. Your online reviews may contain 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.720 information about where you live. Your profile on some forum 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.520 you posted on in twenty twelve probably has your birthday 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.480 on it. And if you're an active Pinterest user, your 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:23.440 Pinterest boards are probably revealing a lot more information about 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.920 you than you realize, information about your family, your interests, 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.160 your plans for the future. People will make Pinterest boards 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:34.480 with names like Jaden's second birthday, and now I know 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.560 that you have a son named Jaden whose second birthday 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.880 party you were planning last July. That's a real example. 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.720 So set these things to private. Change your profile picture 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.720 to something that isn't your face. Look at your username. 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:49.720 Did you have to put some numbers at the end 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.280 of that because the one you wanted was taken? Are 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.440 those numbers your birthday? And vary your usernames a little bit. 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.720 Unless you have some kind of professional reason for using 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.720 a personal brand across every platform, don't use the same 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:09.120 username everywhere. Keep separate areas of your life. Separate, don't 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.320 make it any easier than it needs to be to 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.320 connect these different pieces of your digital footprint into one 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:19.600 picture of who you are. Because again I'm not talking 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:23.800 about becoming completely anonymous online. A lot of people need 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.280 to exist online as the person that they are. You 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.960 have a LinkedIn, you do public facing organizing. I'm not 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.760 saying you need to disappear from online, but if you 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.920 have accounts that you don't want connected back to your 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.480 true identity, If there are pieces of you that exist 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.880 that you don't want side by side, don't connect them. 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:48.399 So if you anonymously run a social media account for 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.920 an activist group, don't use it to follow your own 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.600 real account. Don't like your boyfriend's posts when you're logged 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.880 into your anarchist shit posting account if you don't want 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.960 it connected to you, don't create overlap. If you post 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.320 a screenshot from one social media platform onto another, a 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.040 screenshot of a tweet on your Instagram, whatever, be mindful 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:13.199 of what's in that image. Is there a thumbnail of 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:16.359 your own profile picture in there? Does the screenshot show 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.800 that you interacted with that post? Because a filled in 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.600 heart on an Instagram screenshot is something I have used 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.000 as a building block for a docs. And maybe you've 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:30.800 never posted anything identifiable on Twitter, but if you've posted 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.480 a link to your Twitter account on Reddit, or are 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.399 you in a big discord and you shared one of 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:38.600 your own posts with your friends in there, like hey 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.240 look at this bang or tweet I'm going viral. And 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.040 I say both of those specifically because both of those 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.320 are specific mistakes that I have seen people make that 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:51.760 were for me a crucial link between two accounts that 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.080 connected the dots to figure out who they were. Use 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:59.119 two factor authentication, use a password manager, use complex passwords, 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:03.560 never recycle a password. Check databases like have I been poned? 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.919 See what's been leaked about you? And some of that 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.680 data is out of your control now, but it's out 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.240 there and you can't call it back. But you can 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.399 change all of your passwords today. You can download a 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.719 password manager and change all of your passwords today, and 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.359 all of your passwords should be something different from one another. 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.000 I'm going to say it again, change all your passwords. 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.520 Stop using your dog's name as your password for everything. 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.720 It was hard, but I did it, okay. And when 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:35.000 you're doing this digital hygiene check. You know you're googling yourself. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.400 You're checking these breach databases. One of the things you're 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.439 going to find is your address, your email address, and 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.000 your phone number, and your parents' names and your parents address. 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:49.000 All of these pieces of what you thought were personal 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:53.560 private information. They are bought and sold to data brokers, 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.439 and these data brokers put them online on sites that 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:00.159 people can pay to access. Fel like people find your 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:05.000 true people search white Pages. There's hundreds of them. Now. 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.840 By law, all of these sites have to have a 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:10.240 link on them somewhere where you can ask them to 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.439 delete your information. Some of them make it kind of hard, 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.080 and it may take weeks for them to actually honor 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.720 the requests, and you may have to follow up. But theoretically, 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.320 if they're operating legally, you do have the ability to 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.359 manually clean up how much of your personal information comes 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.480 up from these data brokers. But I'll be honest with you, 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.639 it's whack a mole. You could spend one afternoon a 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:37.840 week for the rest of your life making opt out 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.240 requests and following up on them and checking back to 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.399 make sure it's really gone. You can do that. I 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.080 used to do that, but there are also services that 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:48.560 will do it for you for a fee. I think 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.040 there may be an episode in the pipeline examining that 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:54.480 particular ecosystem and some more details. So I won't go 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.080 into the pros and cons of different services that exist, 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:00.399 but if that's something you're interested in paying for, do 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.600 some research about it before you put your money down. 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:05.520 But at the end of the day, I just want 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:10.439 you to remember you can't solve this whole problem. That 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.800 might sound like a defeatist message, but I think it's healthy. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.159 I'm not saying it's hopeless. I'm saying you have to 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.479 spend your energy where it counts. People ask me all 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:23.520 the time, you know, are you worried about this or 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:27.960 that specific threat? And the answer is yeah, probably, Yeah, 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:30.879 of course I'm worried. But you can't let that fear 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:34.320 overwhelm you. You know, if I get fixated on the 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:38.560 existence of threats that are outside of my control, I'll 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.760 just freak out, and that makes me less capable of 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.680 focusing on mitigating the threats that are within my control. 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:48.960 So don't put blinders on, don't lie to yourself, you know, 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:53.200 be realistic, but don't wear yourself out worrying about things 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:55.400 that are so far out of your control that all 0:21:55.440 --> 0:22:01.080 you have is fear. So today, now take a deep breath, 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:05.320 delete your MySpace account, and talk to your mom about 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:11.920 setting all her old Facebook pictures to private. It could 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.359 Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media. For 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:18.160 more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website foolzonmedia 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:21.000 dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 0:22:21.040 --> 0:22:24.600 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:27.000 now find sources for it could Happen Here, listed directly 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:29.320 in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.