NYC Digital Safety

Now that we know about how and why we're being tracked on the internet, where can we turn for updated information?

 

Transcript

Davis: David, thank you so much for joining us for the series of episodes on how and why ads follow us around the internet. It’s been so great to talk to you. You mentioned several tools and techniques over the past few episodes and I’m wondering if we could get a quick review. Can you just quickly list for us the tools that folks who are interested in particular privacy should prioritize?

David: For mitigating ad tracking, Privacy Badger is great for your computer’s web browser, and mobile browsers like Brave and DuckDuckGo help do the same thing when browsing on your smartphone.

Speaking of smartphones, location data can be particularly sensitive, so turning off precise location data for apps you don’t want to share that with is something you can do on both iOS and Android phones now. Ad tracking from search engines can also be mitigated by turning ad personalization off, or just using a search engine that doesn’t personalize ads.

For mitigating ad tracking, Privacy Badger is great for your computer’s web browser, and mobile browsers like Brave and DuckDuckGo help do the same thing when browsing on your smartphone.

The scariest form of data collection, in my opinion, is data brokers, but luckily you can opt out of them with a service like a Albine’s DeleteMe, or just opt out of each data broker one at a time.

Davis: So we mentioned across the series that privacy and technology generally is sort of a moving target. It’s always changing. We know now that Apple is creating new anti-tracking measures. Google is about to follow. So maybe we can talk more about how and where library workers can tune in for more information about how to help themselves,
as well as their patrons with questions about these topics? What further reading might you recommend?

David: I would recommend checking out the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Cover Your Tracks website, which helps you explore some of the different ways ads are able to identify you as you browse the web. I would also recommend checking out Consumer Reports’ Security Planner as well.

Davis: Gotcha, and again we’ll have the links below. I would also recommend staying tuned into privacy issues on your standard media sites like New York Times, Washington Post. Those sources are are now keeping pretty good track of technology and all the things that are changing in this world, so, yeah, that’s my recommendation. and David, again, thank you so much, it’s been really great to talk to you.

What’s next for you in terms of your work helping folks understand their data privacy and make different choices? And also where can we go to learn more about you and your work?

David: Well a lot of my work is in helping protect one’s privacy is geared towards journalists and media makers but it turns out a lot of the same advice works pretty well for others too. Our digital security team over at Freedom of the Press Foundation has a collection of written guides on different topics relating to online privacy and security and we’ll share a link below on that.

Ad tracking from search engines can also be mitigated by turning ad personalization off, or just using a search engine that doesn’t personalize ads.

Davis: Great, thank you so much. I’m so glad to hear that you’re doing all that great work for people who really need it Before we say goodbye for the last time in this series, do you have any last words of advice?

David: Yeah. I think that although a lot of the internet may seem really scary and privacy online may seem impossible, I want to assure you it’s not. People are able to use the web while protecting their privacy online all the time. The more you learn about how things online work the more you understand how to manage risks around that and eventually it becomes second nature.

Davis: Before I too say goodbye until series three, I’d like to thank my wonderful project partners at Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library and Queens Public Library. That’s in alphabetical order, as always. This project is funded by the Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer. Thank you all so much and I’ll catch you again in series 3.