How to keep your personal conversations private? See 4 tips

As we all live more than our lives online, it is important to understand who can have access to our conversations and research on the Internet – and to understand how to maintain privacy in an increasingly connected world.

In the days since billionaire Elon Musk and his government-efficiency department associates have invaded several government agencies, journalists have encouraged federal government workers to contact them through state-of-the-art encryption platforms, such as the Signal Message application.

Signal is one of several relatively simple tools that can be used not only to help maintain safe conversations with reporters, but also to communicate with colleagues when not discussing work projects, researching legal resources or even talking to friends.

Use personal devices and networks

It is safe to assume that anything you do on a computer or phone number can be visible to your employer because they have the right to monitor the use of devices they have.

“You need to think about who has access to the communications you are doing if you are worried that someone can try to retaliate you for having these discussions,” said Daniel Kahn Gillmor, a senior technician of Aclu’s freedom of expression, privacy and technology project.

With that in mind, it is a good idea to use a personal device for personal conversations and google searches.

The same is true for using an employer’s Wi-Fi network, where they can be able to connect the points between employee communications. Keep any complaints about the work for your home network or your personal mobile plan.

In the Wi-Fi at work, “they don’t necessarily see which gossip you are spreading, but summer for those you are spreading,” said Gillmor.

Signal

There are several technology platforms that advertise privacy encryption services – including imessage and WhatsApp – but data security experts often agree that signal is the gold standard.

Signal looks like a normal messaging app to send text messages and make telephone calls. But it is the property of a non -profit organization, not a private company, and the application has end -to -end encryption by default. This means that the content of a conversation is shuffled when traveling between the sender and the recipient, so that no one except the parts of the conversation can see it.

“If you appear with a warrant or subpoena (for the signal), they almost have nothing about you they can deliver,” said Eva Galperin, Cybercinic Frontier Foundation’s cyber security director. In non -encrypted messaging applications, an employer or police authorities could potentially force a platform to deliver a user’s conversations by subpoena.

End -to -end encryption itself is not unique among messaging applications, but certain applications that offer encryption, such as WhatsApp, can still have access to uncleased contacts and other accounts you have changed messages, while Signal creators cannot see this information, according to Gillmor.

And whether you use signal or WhatsApp, experts advise activating the “temporary messages” feature that allows users to automatically delete conversations after a set period – hours or days, depending on what the user select – so that conversations cannot be accessible even if someone else puts their hands on a user’s phone.

Tor navigator

Many people are familiar with VPNs, or virtual private networks, which act as a tunnel between your device and the internet that can mask where your internet traffic is coming from.

VPNs can be a more private way to access the internet, but however, the VPN company could, in theory, be forced to deliver the information it has about its internet traffic.

“When you use a VPN, the VPN company can see all your traffic, they see where you are coming from and where you are going. So if someone on the other side of the transaction comes an IP address that belongs to an VPN company, they can submit an subpoena to the VPN company,” Galperin said.

The safest option, security experts say, is to use the TOR browser. It is a browser that users can download as well as Firefox or Safari, but that distributes internet traffic to a global network of different “nodes” or computers, so that the traffic of any user cannot be accessed from a single point of access. With the Tor, the websites that a user visits are also prevented from viewing this user’s IP address, which could allow it to be identified.

If you used the Tor and “someone later send a warrant to Google asking for all searches that have been done from your home computer or Google browser connected, they don’t see surveys for ‘good journalist to leak information,” Galperin said.

Many news organizations also have SecureDrop folders, allowing users to share anonymously encrypted documents and communications when using Tor.

Other best practices

Some companies have taken aggressive measures to identify employees who leak information, such as placing water brands or adjusting emails so that different employees receive slightly different versions of the same message.

For this reason, security experts encourage people to be cautious when sending exact copies or photos of emails or documents. And any printed documents may include “printer points”, invisible tracking codes that may indicate the time, date and place where something has been printed.

And keep in mind that violating a confidentiality agreement or sharing confidential information can expose it to legal risks if you are identified.

Still, Gillmor says it may be a good idea to identify private communication channels with colleagues or friends.

“Protecting our rights is a team sport,” said Gillmor. “Device time to find out how to do some of these things and help your friends find out how to do these things, even if you never end up using them in more drastic ways … it’s still positive.”

Was this content originally published in how to keep your personal conversations private? See 4 tips on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil