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The Bonner-Denning Letter Special Report - Online Privacy - How to Surf the Web Privatelya) Avoid sites that track your activity. Easier saidthan done, right? Almost everybody has a Facebookaccount these days. But if you want to continueusing sites such as Facebook, you need to be awareof everything you or your friends post to your wall.Don’t post that you’re leaving on a two-week Europeanvacation. You may be publicly inviting burglars to stopby.b) Use a different search engine. Instead of usingGoogle for searches, you can route your search throughStartPage. This site routes your searches to Google, butthrough its own servers. That way, Google won’t knowwho sent the search. Or you can get more privacy froma search engine such as DuckDuckGo. This site doesn’ttrack searches at all.c) Use a browser extension service. Another wayto avoid cookies and trackers is to install a “browserextension” like Ghostery or Privacy Badger on your webbrowser. To do this, you can go to either website andfollow the instructions to install the program. Appslike these allow you to control what kind of cookies ortrackers reach your computer.There are trade-offs for maintaining your privacy.Most people still use Google because they are not doinganything that they care if Google sees. And Google isknown for giving great search results. Some argue thatGoogle and Facebook make life easier.So, if you decide you want to continue using thesepopular sites/apps because you like them, or they helpyou in any way, just be aware of the dangers and actaccordingly.padlock next to the web address.But these secure websites only ensure your data is safeonce it gets to the host site. A man-in-the-middle attackcan intercept your login details before they even get there.Luckily, there are steps you can take to secure yourdevice if you like using public Wi-Fi:(i) Mobile hotspot. The easiest thing to do is toset up your phone as a mobile hotspot. This process iscalled “tethering.” Most phones let you do this.Check with your wireless carrier for instructions onhow to set up tethering on your phone.Once you set up a hotspot, you can connect yourcomputer, laptop, or tablet the same way you’dconnect to any other Wi-Fi network.If you create a hotspot, make sure you passwordprotect it. Otherwise, your hotspot will be just likepublic Wi-Fi and you’ll have the same problems.And never log in to someone else’s hotspot unlessyou know who it is – it could be a hacker trying to getyour data.(ii) Install a Virtual Private Network (VPN).Another protective measure to take when using publicWi-Fi is to install a Virtual Private Network (VPN)on your computer. A VPN is a program that directsall your internet traffic through its server insteadof public Wi-Fi. After you install a VPN, you simplylaunch the program any time you connect your deviceto public Wi-Fi.One feature you should look for in a VPN is “endto-end encryption.” Encrypting your data is important.And for your data to remain encrypted, the data mustleave your computer encrypted and stay that wayuntil it reaches the VPN servers. This way, if a hackeris watching you, he will be able to tell you are sendingdata, but unless he has the encryption key, he won’tbe able to decipher what you sent. But if the data isn’tencrypted on both ends, hackers will be able to readyour data.We don’t recommend any specific VPN providers.But for a detailed review of several VPNs, just clickhere.b) Use different passwords. Using the same passwordfor every site will make things a lot worse if you aretargeted by a hacker. A hacker could access all youraccounts if your password is always the same. So, it isimportant to change your password for different sites.You can either come up with a system to create newpasswords, or get a password management app likeLastPass or Dashlane.3) Privacy from hackersKeeping hackers from your data is the most difficultto accomplish. Doing all the above will help, but it’s notenough.You need to be proactive at all times against this threat.You never know when someone is going to be watching whatyou type or send over the web. Here are some simple ways toprotect your data from hackers while online.a) Avoid public Wi-Fi. The No. 1 thing you can doto keep hackers away from your data is to never log into any website while on free Wi-Fi. Hackers can set upwhat’s called a “man-in-the-middle attack” and steal yourusername and password as soon as you click send.Some people think if they’re on a secure website,they’re safe. Most websites begin with “http.” You’ll knowif you are on a secure website if the web address beginswith “https.” You also will see a picture of a latched3

The Bonner-Denning Letter Special Report - Online Privacy - Private Email, Texts, and CallsPrivate Email, Texts, and CallsYou can install apps on your computer to encryptemails from desktop programs (think Outlook) and fromweb-based email clients (Gmail or Hotmail).For details on how to do this, check out this articleon Lifehacker.b) Avoid free email service providers. Anotherimportant factor when it comes to the privacy of youremails is the service you use. Do you use a free emailprovider like Microsoft, Yahoo, or Google? Be assured,there are no free things in life and email is no exception.These companies all use the emails you send to collectinformation to help marketers target you.While using your web-based email, have you evernoticed an advertisement on the side suspiciously closeto the topic of your email? You might now. If you typethe word “baby” into an email – even if you’re justsweet-talking your spouse – you’ll probably see diaperads. Writing about a trip to Vegas? You’re probablyabout to be bombarded with ads from casinos.If this kind of thing bothers you, you may want toconsider paying for your email service. ProtonMail isone such paid email provider. Right now, you can evenget a free secure email account from them. If you needmore storage than the free account provides, there areoptions to upgrade. Another paid service is Neomailbox.It is more expensive than ProtonMail, but it has moreoptions for maintaining privacy.c) Use a non-U.S. email service provider. While onthe topic of secure email providers, you should considerone hosted outside of the United States. This is justone more measure to protect yourself against a pryinggovernment. Both ProtonMail and Neomailbox haveservers in Switzerland – where the government stillconsiders privacy a basic human right.Paid and non-U.S. email service providers arebetter options than most anonymous email websites.Anonymous email sites say you can send an email tosomeone without them knowing who sent it. Which istrue – you can send an email and the recipient won’tknow who it is unless you identify yourself. The problemis most of these sites record your IP address. So, if yousend this from your home, it’s possible to trace whosent it. One example of an anonymous email site isKeeping emails and text messages private is just asimportant as keeping your web browsing private. In fact,you can follow many of the same precautions to ensureyour messages are secure.1) Email privacyToday, we share many of our most private detailswith others through cyberspace. Whether it’s personaltransactions, business deals, or love letters, they are allturned into ones and zeroes and sent into the digitalabyss. These messages go through servers, nodes, andcables to their destinations. That gives people plenty ofopportunities to intercept your message. So here are a fewthings you can do to prevent that:a) Encrypt your emails. As with encryptedbrowsing, both you and your message’s recipient needto have encryption. If one of you does not partake inthe encryption, the message is not secure. So, if you areserious about email encryption, you will have to getothers onboard.Many people use PGP encryption. This is a freeservice with strong encryption. Most hackers will notbe able to break the encryption. Neither will the NSA, ifyour encryption key is good enough.4

The Bonner-Denning Letter Special Report - Online Privacy - Private Email, Texts, and CallsSend Anonymous Email – it lets you send messages,but records IP addresses and has worked with theauthorities. So, don’t use this site if you want completeprivacy.videos in 2014, many of them of a very personal nature.Outspoken tech billionaire Mark Cuban has asolution to this problem – an app called Cyber Dust.This app has all the same features as SnapChat, butit doesn’t store files on its servers. Therefore, oncethe message deletes from the other phones, it is goneforever. Many businesses utilize this service to ensureprivacy.Mark Cuban created this app after the SECinvestigated him for insider trading. Cuban watched asthe SEC tried to use any message in any context theywanted to further their case. In the end, the courtsfound him innocent. But Cuban had to spend moremoney defending himself than if he had just paid theSEC fine. He was outraged and wanted to help othersavoid a similar situation.c) Encrypt your texts. Text messages sent fromone Apple iPhone to another are automaticallyencrypted. That – along with other privacy measures– makes the iPhone a decent starting point for privatemessaging. We know the encryption is good becausenot even FBI experts can break into an iPhone. In arecent high-profile case, the FBI reportedly had topay a company 1.3 million to unlock the iPhone of asuspected mass shooter after Apple refused to unlockit for them. But Apple immediately set about fixingthe code to prevent that method of breaking into thephone. This is good for your security. Even if you’renot doing anything illegal, knowing your phone isalmost “unhackable” means criminals also can’t breakinto your phone.There are other apps available for private textingsuch as Privatext, Smiley Private Texting, and PrivateSpace. These apps just encrypt your texts, but don’tautomatically delete your text like Cyber Dust does.2) Texting PrivacyMany people choose text messaging forcommunication instead of email. Texting creates acompletely new set of issues.First, let’s talk briefly about simple phone security.a) Always lock your phone. Some people likethe convenience of not having to unlock their phoneevery time they want to use it. This is a mistake. In thebest-case scenario, a phone thief only wipes all yourdata from the hard drive and sells your phone. Worstcase scenario: they log into all your apps, get sensitivedata, and use that to steal your identity. Or someonecould read your text messages and find potentiallyembarrassing information.3) Phone Call Privacyb) Be careful what you send. With texts (andemails), when you send them, you lose control of thetext. Your recipient can get that message and save itforever. Everything you say can be used against you forever. This doesn’t just include the messages yousend, but also any pictures and files you send throughthe texting app.If you think you can get around that by usingSnapChat – an app where you can decide for how longpeople can see your message – you’re wrong. SnapChatstores the pictures and videos on its servers. Thisallowed hackers to release 100,000 “private” photos andEver since the Edward Snowden leaks in 2013, we’veknown that the NSA has the ability to monitor all ofour phone calls. Taking that one step further means thetechnology is out there for anyone to listen in to your calls.Think about the different parties you give personalinformation out to over the phone. Doctors, banks, creditcard verification, the list goes on.As far as you know, no one has illegally gotten yourprivate info from your phone calls. But as most phonecalls are now transmitted digitally, phone call encryptionis now something you really need to think about. Here area few things you can consider doing:5

The Bonner-Denning Letter Special Report - Online Privacy - Private Email, Texts, and Callsa) Use an

It’s About More Than Big Brother Government agencies use digital surveillance of web communications to follow foreign terrorist suspects. This is a noble cause – we need to know if there is a threat of attack by terrorists. But as Bill explains in his b