It’s the season To go a little more gift-giving. But this year, give the gift of good security (and privacy) and avoid technology that could have risks or unwanted repercussions. We’re not talking about things that bloom at night or suddenly break, but rather about gifts that can have irreversible or continuing consequences into the future.
This year we’ve seen some of the largest hacks involving healthcare and genetic data, and the growing prevalence of consumer surveillance technology that spies on unsuspecting people. everyoneAnd persistent, unscrupulous data practices that sell your private information to anyone who wants to buy it. The best cure for some of these things is to not get involved at all to begin with.
We have a range of gift ideas for you to consider. As for what you should avoid…
Genetic testing tools like 23andMe can have lasting and unexpected consequences
Genetic testing forever. Once you spit into a tube and send it on its way, there’s no way to get it back. It’s not just about digitizing your genes; You can also share your genes with family members and close relatives. What could go wrong?
This year, the profiles and genetic information of millions of 23andMe customers were deleted from the company’s systems, believed to be the largest genetic data leak in recent years. But 23andMe is not the first company to have its data leaked, and it will not be the last.
Even if security is not a concern, the fact that these companies store vast amounts of highly sensitive information to begin with makes them an attractive target for law enforcement trying to solve crimes. While we maintain that companies like 23andMe and Ancestry have – so far – resisted efforts by law enforcement to access their DNA data, according to their own transparency reports, other companies have taken steps. Economic freedom The approach police access to the genetic data they store.
404 media jason kubler Couldn’t say it better: “Taking 23andMe is an irreversible action that can have unforeseen consequences not only for you but for your family or potential offspring.”
Video doorbells that see and hear Everything
You may find some benefit in knowing who’s at your front door before you get there, but the long-term consequences of having a video camera attached to your front door open up a world of surveillance in your neighborhood that you and your neighbors might do. Don’t feel comfortable with.
Record doorbells with video Everything They see and hear using a camera and microphone, which then sends recorded footage to the cloud for you to view later. But this often makes this footage also available to law enforcement, which can be hugely invasive — especially if Police obtain footage from inside the house Without the owner’s permission.
End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) cameras retain the most privacy (assuming the company you purchased the cameras from They don’t lie to you about their encryption claims) because they prevent anyone other than the owner from accessing their snapshots, including the companies themselves. This is a good thing, especially since companies like Ring have been fined in the past for allowing their employees to snoop on customers’ unencrypted videos. Ring now says that after Ring settled the charges with federal regulators Its employees will only be able to access customer snapshots in “very limited circumstances.” Which, of course, Ring did not specify what those conditions would be.
VPNs won’t keep you anonymous, but they may expose your web data
If you think a VPN, or virtual private network, will keep you anonymous online, think again.
Consumer-facing VPNs can claim to hide your IP address (the set of numbers that identifies you to other devices on the Internet) and allow you to access blocked streaming shows by “appearing” as if you were in that region. In fact, VPN providers are bad for your privacy and you should avoid them like the plague.
VPNs allow you to route all your internet traffic away from your internet provider and instead through a VPN provider that ostensibly hides your privacy. Your Internet traffic can contain information about which websites you visit and when you visit them, and can contain highly sensitive information such as passwords and other credentials. But some VPN providers don’t even encrypt users’ data as it flows through their network, despite claims that they do.
VPN providers need to make money like everyone else. Free VPN providers are by far the worst offenders, as they make money by selling or sharing your internet traffic to advertisers (or other bad buyers). Even premium, paid services cannot promise anonymity if you pay by credit card or other traceable method.
If you want to remain anonymous online, you’ll need to use the Tor browser. It’s a slower experience than typical public internet and isn’t ideal for streaming video, but it’s the compromise you make for the strongest privacy. Otherwise, VPNs run the risk of selling or leaking highly sensitive internet traffic. If a VPN is right for your use case, at least consider setting up a VPN that you run yourself.
Tracking your kids with risky location tracking apps is a terrible idea
Everyone can appreciate the stress and fears of having children in an age of stranger danger and online harm. No wonder many parents want to track their child’s phone location. But child tracking apps are a security and privacy mess, and the data these apps collect rarely stays on the device.
Location data is one of the most sensitive data pertaining to a person; Location can pinpoint where someone is at a given time, which can be very revealing and invasive. However, over the years we’ve reported on leaky location-sharing apps that expose people’s real-time location data, and nefarious and obfuscated “stalkerware” apps that leak information to anyone on the Internet. One of the most popular family tracking apps, Life360, was even caught Selling precise location data to its users To data brokers.
There is no reason why you cannot discuss the benefits and risks of tracking your children with Your children. Trust is key, not hidden tracking. If your kids agree to share their location, consider using the family apps and parental controls built into most modern phones. Google also has Family Link, and Apple devices let you share your end-to-end encrypted location with other Apple users so no one else can access it.
Cheap Android tablets can hide malware
Cheaper is (often) not better and Android devices are no exception. Case in point: This year, Alexis Hancock of the EFF found that a low-cost Android tablet given to her daughter was preloaded with software considered malware. The tablet also ran the Android operating system that had been released five years earlier, and had an app store designed for children that was also outdated. Hancock contacted the company that makes the tablet, but received no response.
Although it’s tempting to buy cheap hardware, it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to include kickback programs to offset the price of the device itself. Sometimes, these pre-loaded programs can send data about the device or its user, or worse, contain security bugs that could put the device’s data at risk.
Before you throw away this tablet, it may be possible to salvage it. Hancock has A great guide on how to secure your child’s Android device.
For your actual safety, avoid online sex toys
Last, but certainly not least. There is a general belief in cybersecurity that any device or gadget to which you add an Internet connection will greatly increase the chances of that device being remotely hacked, hacked, or tampered with. One type of device that should never have an internet connection is anything that goes inside you.
We’ve seen our fair share of horror stories involving internet-connected sex toys. In 2020, we reported on a smart chastity lock that had a security flaw that threatened permanent lockout. This year, another smart sex toy maker exposed user and location data to its customers thanks to its leaked servers, which the company has yet to fix.
If your sex toy has a phone app, there’s a good chance the game (or the app itself) will leak your personal data, either accidentally or by sharing the data with advertisers. It’s okay to be weird, no judgment here! But if you have to use a remote-controlled sex toy, consider using a device with only a Bluetooth remote, as this reduces the wireless range into which someone could maliciously interfere.