Synopses & Reviews
Privacy is a basic principle of democracy, but these days it seems privacy is almost obsolete. Armies of government snoops, corporate data miners, identity thieves, private investigators, and even nosy neighbors can easily dig up as much information as possible on you, your loved ones, and everyone else. They can find out exactly what youve said on the phone, what youve e-mailed, the websites youve visited, your financial details, what youve paid in taxesor what youve paid for anything at all!and where youve driven, flown, or shopped. Crooks and scam artists can access your Social Security information, transfer money out of your bank accounts, issue themselves credit cards in your name, and even steal your identity.
And thats not all! Were constantly under surveillance with thermal imaging, millivision cameras, face-recognition technology, scanners, and satellite technology.
Is there any hope of reclaiming our privacy and saving our identities?
Yes! Protect Your Privacy shows you how to plug the leaks, foil investigators, protect your financial records, and more. Learn how to safeguard yourself in virtually every situation, whether youre surfing the Internet, chatting on the phone, or even dealing with overzealous government agents empowered by the Patriot Act. Discover how to stop snoops and scam artists before they have a chance to compromise your privacy.
Synopsis
Identity theft is at an all-time high. Protect Your Privacy gives you everything you need to know about protecting your computer security, financial and telephone privacy, identification, freedom of movement, and more! Learn to safeguard your privacy in virtually every situation—on the internet, telephone, face-toface, even with the government enforcing the Patriot Act. Stop scam artists before they have a chance to compromise your private information.
Synopsis
Everything you need to know about how to protect your computer security, financial privacy, telephone privacy, identification, freedom of movement, and more!
About the Author
Duncan Long is an internationally recognized author on the subject of survival, weapons, and warfare.
Table of Contents
Annotated Table of ContentsIntroduction
Youre facing an army of government snoops, corporate data miners, and private investigators, all intent on collecting as much information as they can about you. They arent doing this for your good, though they often claim otherwise. In truth theyre looking for ways to exploit you.
Chapter 1: The Dangers
This chapter will look at the greatest dangers to your privacy and offer a few horror stories of how various government and corporate snoops can cause things to go tragically wrong in the lives of unwitting victims. The chapter will explain data mining and how corporations and government agencies are exploiting it.
Tips will be offered as to avoiding a detrimental information flow into data banks. Youll also be shown ways to upgrade your profile” to look better than you might otherwise to various intelligent” software as well as the individuals accessing your data. Also some ways to monkey wrench” collection systems will be offered, helping to keep them from prying into places they dont belong.
Chapter 2: Your Home Is Your Castle
This chapter will look at ways to protect your home from both electronic as well as physical intrusions (which might be exploited to place bugs in a home, collect data, or place Trojan horse” software on home computers).
Chapter 3: Face-To-Face Privacy
This chapter will contain tips on protecting your privacy from the various leaks that can result in day-to-day encounters. Included are some basic human engineering and body language techniques for appearing friendly and open while actually revealing little that can harm you. Also tips on how to minimize the threat posed by meter readers and delivery personnel and how to keep schools, churches, or organizations from creating data leaks” that endanger your privacy.
Chapter 4: Telephone Privacy
Most people dont realize how pervasive phone taps may be today. CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) now requires phone companies to build mass surveillance capabilities into their networks. Additionally, cell phones can now be tracked by government agencies, giving clear indication of where a person is from one moment to the next; this allows tying a phone call not only to an individual, but even to where he was standing when he made the call. This chapter will look at ways to minimize the risk to your privacy when communicating via the phone or similar device.
Chapter 5: Computer Security
Info on firewalls; the dangers presented by spyware, Trojan horses, malware, root programs, etc. (and how to thwart them by making it impossible for them to phone home” to reveal your data and then youll learn how to kill these pests. This chapter will also cover dealing with pretexting, pharming, and phishing dangers; reveal how to reduce the personal information presented online; show how to use online payment services; detail methods for limiting or even removing personal data from online directories; and how to protect your privacy when using a library or public computer (and how to exploit such systems for greater protection of your privacy). Also, how search engines can pose a risk to your privacy (and what you can do to fix this problem) and a brief look at the security features in MS Office, with ways to protect privacy when using public wireless networks.
Chapter 6: Financial Privacy
There are a number of government and corporate data collection tools that, while created for lofty purposes, can also be used to abuse your privacy. This chapter will take a look at ways to protect this data from both snoops as well as identity thieves, how to minimize data collection on you, and how to avoid setting off alarms” when depositing money in bank accounts. This section will also explore setting up trusts and corporations to protect assets while adding a layer of privacy to economic dealings, and note what types of jobs and businesses that are less apt to attract the attention of various local, state, and federal agencies. The pros and cons of offshore corporations and the employment of nominees for added privacy will be discussed along with tips on using cash to circumvent undo government scrutiny.
Chapter 7: Big Brother Watches
Thermal imagining, millivision cameras, face-recognition technology, scanners, and other electrical gear have done away with privacy in public places. In many urban areas, its actually impossible to travel without being seen at any given time by surveillance cameras in stores, mounted on cash machines, or festooned atop light poles on city streets. While the pictures being collected can be key in solving or even preventing crimes, the potential for abuse is ever present and equally bad, the data collected is often accessible by almost anyone who requests it.
Fortunately there are measures a person can take to minimize the abilities of these devices to identify you and thereby compromise your anonymity. Included will be information on obtaining duel citizenship (and the privacy and safety advantages this offers) as well as how one might become nationless,” employ bank accounts in various nations around the world, and take other measures to spread out your identity and thereby create fewer paper trails that can be accessed by any one government.
Also, a look at steps you can take to prevent data leaks” when youre traveling (these also minimize the chance that your home or business will be broken into while you are enjoying your vacation).
Chapter 8: Identification
This chapter will examine the problems as well as taking a hard look at the coming, massive use of ID cards and biometrics. It will then show how to minimize the risks these technologies pose to your privacy. Youll also learn how to give minimal amounts of data on census forms and other government documents without breaking the laws or causing undo interest in what you might be hiding (and thereby working counter to your desire for privacy). Included in this chapter are tips on how to use mail, how to avoid getting on various mailing lists that may be data mined” by corporations and governments, and why most contests you enter are disadvantageous in terms of your privacy. Also, proof that the US Postal System is not as secure as one might think when it comes to privacy.
Chapter 9: Freedom of Movement
A variety of tracking devices are being added to vehicles, from satellite tracking to electronic E-Z Pass,” Smart Tag,” and similar systems. These reveal who a car belongs to and where it is at any given time. While this technology is sold as providing easy navigation, quick recovery of stolen vehicles, or painless collections of tolls, theres a dark tradeoff that is seldom made public: An overall loss of freedom in travel and, in some cases, even the loss of private conversation as the technology allows corporate or government snoops to listen to what youre saying even as you speed down the interstate.
This chapter will take a look at how to minimize such risks to your privacy and also help you assess whether or not a little loss in privacy might be worth the added convenience being offered. Radar/laser speed traps, red-light cameras, radio tagging, satellite/global positioning systems, drivers license/national ID cards, and other threats will be examined with tips on how to avoid losing your privacy to these systems.
Chapter 10: Strategies for Thwarting SnoopsThis section will take a hard look at how a persons habits can be exploited to learn more about them and how you can turn the tables on snoops by modifying your habits and interests over time. Also, a look at jobs that offer a lower profile, and what places in the US (as well as in other nations) provide the most freedom from government and corporate snoops.
Finally, with upcoming technologies such as artificial intelligence, implanted chips on appliances (and even in people), and other dangers now on the horizon, suggestions will be made as to how these threats can be minimized to maintain privacy.