Archives for November 2024

“We are not to throw away those things that can benefit our neighbor.” Clement of Alexandria.

Each year, millions of people upgrade their computers and phones for a newer, faster technology. It’s estimated that 80% of the old devices end up in a landfill. Electronics that sit in landfills release heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, and lead into the groundwater. This is a significant health hazard.

Old devices can sometimes be donated or sold. As our friend Clement of Alexandria reminds us, if others can benefit from our old devices, this is preferable to discarding them. If others cannot productively reuse our devices, we should responsibly recycle them. And whether we donate, sell or recycle old electronics, we should do so securely.

Here are some things to think about when you upgrade your computers and phones and relinquish your old ones.

• Make sure you have a current backup of your old device. I discuss this at length in the prior posts on “Backup and Recovery”.
• Review the process to transfer password managers and two-factor authentication apps to a new device. The password managers I recommend in the posts on “Password Management” require no special preparations. Some two-factor authentication apps, like Authy, may require additional steps.
• Transfer your data and applications to the new device. Ensure that the new device is fully operational, and that all data transferred successfully, before you proceed further.
• Encrypt the hard drive on the old device if you have not already done so. Do this even though you will reset the device in the next step. This provides an extra layer of protection. I discuss this in the post on “Full Disk Encryption.”
• Reset the device. This will wipe the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Here are some brief instructions:
  • Windows 10: Go to “Settings > Update and Security > Recovery > Reset this PC.” Follow the instructions on the screen. This will delete your files, applications, and settings, and reinstall the operating system.
  • Windows 11: Go to “Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC.” Select the option “Remove Everything.” A “How Would You Like to Reinstall Windows” screen should then appear. Choose the option appropriate for your circumstances, either a local or cloud based re-installation.
  • macOS: Follow the instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-us/102664 .
  • IOS: Follow the instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-us/109511 .
  • Android: Follow the instructions at https://support.google.com/android/answer/6088915?hl=en .
• Remove the device from your operating system account. You can find more information on accounts in the posts on “Managing Privacy Permissions.” For further information on removing a device from your account, use the following links:
  • Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/remove-a-device-from-your-microsoft-account-dda2c664-9d57-e5db-acf0-67f14d5fdf3c
  • macOS/iOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102649
  • Android: Go to your Google Account. Select “Security” in the left navigation panel. In the “Your devices” panel, select “Manage all devices.” Select the device and click on “Sign out.”

If your device is inoperable, ask the recycling agent to remove and destroy your hard disk or other storage media.

Remember, hackers may be able to harvest data off of your old devices if you don’t take action to prevent it. Don’t get hacked. Practice safe reuse.

Information provided in this post is subject to the disclaimer in the first post of this series.

“If you really want to get to know someone, take a good hard look at their bookshelf.” A Personal Friend.

If you invite a guest into your home and they take great interest in the books on your bookshelf, you might feel flattered. And their interest provides an opportunity to discuss the wonderful book you just read, instead of railing about politics or the latest reality TV show.

However, if someone broke into your home, cataloged all the books on your bookshelf, used that catalog to develop a personal profile of you, and sold that catalog to hundreds of advertisers, I suspect you would feel deeply offended. And report the home invasion to the police.

Web browsers are commonly used to traverse the Internet and, metaphorically speaking, “read the books” on the World Wide Web. Standard web browsers maintain a great deal of private information about you, including your browsing history, user-ids, and passwords—and autofill information, such as your name and address, and credit card numbers. They store “cookies” and “trackers” on your computer, placed there by the sites that you visit. They can reveal identifying information about your location, system settings, hardware, software and much more. Using “private” or “incognito” mode will not protect you. Web browsers also have large “attack surfaces” and can be compromised by hackers in many ways.

And I regret to say that many common web browsers are highly sophisticated data collection and surveillance applications. Use of these browsers can defeat many other actions you take to protect your privacy online.

If you don’t take steps to protect your privacy while browsing the Internet, a catalog of every website you visit will be cataloged and sold to data brokers and advertisers. What you read on the Internet will be “open book.”

Using a VPN every time you connect to the Internet is a necessary step to take to protect your privacy—necessary but not sufficient. As discussed in the posts on VPNs, a VPN does not provide anonymity when you access a website, or protect your communications between the VPN service and the website servers.

I very strongly recommend that you use a secure and privacy-friendly web browser when you surf the Internet. These browsers, in combination with a VPN, provide excellent security and privacy protections.

In the next post, I recommend two web browsers, discuss options for additional configuration and add-ons, and review the choices made by our friends Alice and Bob.

Information provided in this post is subject to the disclaimer in the first post of this series.

Web browsers are complex and feature rich and I will not list selection criteria here. For almost all users, I only recommend two web browsers: Brave and Firefox (modified).

Brave is a secure browser with strong privacy protections. It’s based on the open-source browser, Chromium, which is the foundation of the Google Chrome browser. Unlike Google Chrome, it’s configured for privacy protection by default. This makes it a great choice for those who lack the know-how and desire to configure their browser manually for privacy and security. And it supports Chrome extensions, making it a great replacement for Chrome.

While Brave is U.S. based, it’s free, open-source and has been extensively reviewed by security researchers. It incorporates strong encryption and does not collect your personal information. It’s available on all major operating systems and devices. A privacy-preserving ad program funds Brave, providing a dependable source of revenue to maintain and evolve the browser without selling you as the product.

The link to Brave is: https://brave.com/

Firefox is a product of the Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation (https://foundation.mozilla.org) advocates for privacy, inclusion and decentralization, to create a safer, more transparent online experience for everyone. Among other activities, they maintain the free and open source browser, Firefox. Firefox is a descendant of the original Netscape browser and has been around since 2002. It’s arguably the best browser available that combines strong privacy protection features, good security, active development, and regular updates. Firefox is available on all major operating systems and devices. It’s funded by donations to the Mozilla Foundation.

Updated January 2025: Firefox “out of the box” requires further configuration to be private and secure. See the configuration guide at: https://cyberinsider.com/firefox-privacy/ . CyberInsider is a terrific resource for tools and information on privacy and security in digital environments. If you want to dig deeper into any of the topics in this blog, CyberInsider (https://cyberinsider.com/) is a great place to start. I agree with the positions taken by CyberInsider on most topics.

The link to Firefox is: https://www.mozilla.org . Select the tab to “Firefox Browsers.”

If you choose to use Firefox, I recommend installing the following five browser add-ons. To install them, click on the application menu (three horizontal lines, all the way to the right on the Menu Bar), select “Add-ons and themes,” and search for the extensions below. You can install them directly from the return results by clicking on “Add to Firefox.” Note that the protections they provide are largely incorporated directly into the Brave browser.

• HTTPS Everywhere: Forces an encrypted HTTPS connection to sites that you visit if the site supports it.
• Privacy Badger: Blocks spyware and trackers. This may break some web sites but is easily disabled for a site.
• uBlock Origin: Efficiently filters both ads and trackers.
• Decentraleyes: Protects against tracking by content delivery networks operated by third parties.
• Firefox Multi-Account Containers: Isolates browser storage between tabs. This prevents inadvertent sharing of data between sites. For instance, you may wish to have separate tabs for banking, shopping, social networking, and news.

Let’s see how our friends Alice and Bob met their web browser needs.

Alice has a Windows 10 PC to support her personal IT consulting business and a MacBook Pro for personal use. She carries an iPhone for both personal and business calls. Alice installed Firefox Desktop on her Windows PC and her MacBook. She modified the browsers using the guidance on CyberInsider, and being an IT professional, added some further hardening based on her personal knowledge. She also added the five extensions recommended above. Alice installed the iOS Firefox app on her iPhone, which required no further configuration. She contributed to the Mozilla Foundation to support their excellent work in the public interest. She always contributes to open source software products that she uses. Fair is fair.

Bob installed Firefox on his desktop PC and configured it as tight as a drum. He also installed the extensions recommended above and several others. His configuration broke some websites but, in his paranoia, he was undeterred. He installed the Brave browser on his sister’s PC and phone. She was less technical, less paranoid, and the privacy-preserving ads did not bother her. Bob also preferred not to become her permanent tech support and Brave was easier to manage.

You now have the knowledge you need to make your own choice. Make that choice a secure and private browser. You won’t regret it (and you may regret not doing so.)

Next, we’ll talk about managing metadata in photos you take with digital camera and phones.

Information provided in this post is subject to the disclaimer in the first post of this series.