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online-privacy-and-security.html.pm
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#lang pollen
◊define-meta[page-title]{Online privacy and security}
◊define-meta[original-date]{2018-12-30}
◊define-meta[snippet]{Securing your devices and online communication}
I am not a computer-security or privacy expert. I'm merely a computer
scientist turned law student who has thought about these topics for a
long time.
Deciding on a security or privacy strategy is deciding on a tradeoff:
a tradeoff between security and privacy on the one hand and
convenience and public participation on the other. To even connect a
device to the internet is to accept a certain level of risk. Know what
you're trading. Know who you're trusting and with what.
The ◊a[#:href "https://ssd.eff.org/en"]{EFF publishes a bunch of
up-to-date security and privacy advice}. I'll be linking a lot to work
they've already done, but will try to highlight what I think will get
most of you most of what you need.
◊fig[#:src "assets/security-and-privacy.png"]{I think about security
and privacy as having four distinct elements: your device, your
accounts, your communication, and your patterns of behaviour. If you
take steps to secure each of these, you'll be in a pretty good place.}
◊heading{90% of the way}
◊sub-heading{Secure your device}
If it is important to you that a person with physical access to your
device not be able to access any data on it, you've got to set up
full-disk encryption.◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/keeping-your-data-safe"]{Keeping Your
Data Safe}; EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/what-should-i-know-about-encryption#0"]{Encrypting
Data At Rest}.} When you set up full-disk encryption, the data on your
disk gets encrypted whenever you shut off your computer or phone. It
can only be decrypted by using the password that you set up, generally
at startup. If you were to lose your phone, or sell it, or have it
seized at the border, nobody would be able to access your data without
the password, even if they were to remove the disk and try to read the
data directly: that data would be encrypted and unreadable.
On Windows, use ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/keeping-your-data-safe#1"]{BitLocker}. On
Android, use ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/keeping-your-data-safe#1"]{Secure
Startup}. On iPad and iPhone, use ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/how-encrypt-your-iphone"]{Data
Protection}. On macOS, use ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/keeping-your-data-safe#1"]{FileVault}.
◊sub-heading{Secure your communications}
Use ◊a[#:href "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS"]{HTTPS} wherever
possible.◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/what-should-i-know-about-encryption#1"]{Encrypting
Data In Transit}.}◊note{The EFF publishes a browser extension,
◊a[#:href "https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere"]{HTTPS Everywhere},
which ensures as much traffic as possible is routed over HTTPS. But,
while HTTPS is increasing in prevalence, not all websites even support
HTTPS. This will protect your most important communications with
banks, email services, etc., but will occasionally be unavailable on
some sites that don't consider their information to be worthy of
encryption.} When you request a URL beginning in ◊tt{https://}, the
traffic is encrypted between you and the target server. For example,
if you travel to ◊tt{https://sanchom.github.io}, a person that views
your request while it is in transit (e.g. somebody snooping on your
wifi access point, your internet service provider, github's internet
service provider, etc.) will not be able to decode what you've asked
sanchom.github.io to give to you. They wouldn't be able to see whether
you asked for ◊tt{https://sanchom.github.io/interveners.html} or for
◊tt{https://sanchom.github.io/colophon.html}. All they'd be able to
tell is that you've requested ◊em{something} from
◊tt{sanchom.github.io}. Further, when the server
(◊tt{sanchom.github.io}) sends data back to you, it will also be
encrypted, so nobody would be able to read the content while it is in
transit. Of course, this doesn't matter so much when you're just
visiting my website, but this encryption in transit is crucial when
you're banking, buying things online, or exchanging what you expect to
be private messages.
To emphasize: HTTPS doesn't prevent the website/server you're talking
to from seeing your request. That site needs to know what you've asked
for and might even log your IP address which can be used to determine
your location and your identity with help from your internet service
provider.
◊sub-heading{Secure your accounts}
HTTPS (and as mentioned in the next section, VPNs, and end-to-end
encryption) protect the privacy of your communications. Passwords
instead protect the security of your accounts. Online services use
passwords to let you prove to them that you are who you say you are.
There are a few universally accepted recommendations regarding
passwords:◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/creating-strong-passwords"]{Creating
Strong Passwords}.}
◊itemize{
never use the same password for more than one account
use strong (long) passwords that do not include dictionary words
use a ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/animated-overview-using-password-managers-stay-safe-online"]{password
manager} to allow you to actually do the previous two things
use two-factor authentication on your most important accounts
(e.g. email, the password manager itself)◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/how-enable-two-factor-authentication"]{How
to: Enable Two-Factor Authentication}.}
}
◊sub-heading{Limit how you can be tracked}
Even when you are communicating over a secure channel, not logged into
any accounts, the sites that you visit can ask your browser to store
tokens that allow those sites to track your activity across sessions
and even on other sites. Sites can also recognize your browser based
on its unique configuration.◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://panopticlick.eff.org/"]{Panopticlick 3.0} (how unique does
your browser appear to online trackers).}
You can limit this by telling your browser to opt-out from tracking,
by using a standard browser, with few modifications, and by limiting
how long cookies can be stored. On your phone, you can use Firefox
Focus, which makes it very easy to maintain next to no session
history. Even on your computer, the Firefox browser has better
security options than Google Chrome: Firefox makes it easier for you
to delete all stored information whenever you close the browser. Tools
like AdBlock or Privacy Badger◊note{EFF: ◊a[#:href
"https://www.eff.org/privacybadger"]{Privacy Badger}.} can also help.
If you use a Google account, know what you're sharing with them and
what you're allowing them to store. Opt out of personalized
recommendations and analytics.◊note{Google: ◊a[#:href
"https://myaccount.google.com/intro/privacycheckup"]{Privacy
Checkup}.}
◊heading{98% of the way}
◊sub-heading{VPNs}
A ◊a[#:href "https://ssd.eff.org/en/glossary/vpn"]{VPN (a virtual
private network)} lets you hide more information from your internet
service provider (e.g. Shaw, Telus) and from the websites you
visit.◊note{◊format-work[#:type "magazine/news" #:url
"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/04/heres-how-protect-your-privacy-your-internet-service-provider"
#:author "Amul Kalia" #:title "Here's How to Protect Your Privacy From
Your Internet Service Provider" #:publication "Electronic Frontier
Foundation" #:date "3 April 2017"]} Your service
provider would no longer see what websites you're connecting to. The
websites you're connecting to would no longer see your IP address
(they'd see an IP address of the VPN provider instead). VPN
connections also encrypt traffic between your device and the VPN, even
non-HTTPS traffic. Your ISP would no longer be able to see any of the
traffic between you and the internet.
When you use a VPN, you're moving some of the trust that you would
normally place in your internet service provider (ISP) to your VPN
provider. Your ISP would no longer see and potentially log your
traffic, but your VPN provider might. So, choose a VPN provider
carefully, paying attention to their logging policy and laws in the
country where they are based.◊note{◊format-work[#:type
"magazine/news" #:url
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-you" #:title
"Choosing the VPN That's Right For You" #:publication "Electronic
Frontier Foundation" #:date "9 June 2016"]}
Some caution though: it is actually tricky to set up a VPN to
absolutely route all traffic through the VPN. There are ways that you
could inadvertently side-step your own VPN connection. For example, if
your VPN isn't always-on, any backup services that run in the
background will send traffic over your non-VPN connection any time
that your VPN is disconnected. If those services happen to start up
before your VPN starts up, you'll be revealing your true IP address to
Google Drive, or OneDrive, or DropBox, etc.
Further, if you have other devices in your home that connect to
accounts that you normally use via the VPN, the company running the
account could link that information together. If you connect to your
Google account on your phone and computer through a VPN, but your
Chromecast or smart speakers connect to your Google account not
through the VPN, Google would easily be able to determine that your
VPN traffic should be attributed to the IP address associated with
your Chromecast or smart speakers. The conclusion: to truly protect
your IP address from Google or Amazon, etc. you'd have to either
commit to not using smart devices outside of the VPN, or set up the
VPN connection directly on your router, so that all traffic in your
home is forced through the VPN.
There are other ways that a VPN might provide a false sense of
security: it might leak DNS queries to your
ISP,◊note{◊format-work[#:type "magazine/news" #:url
"https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dns-leaks-can-destroy-anonymity-using-vpn-stop/"
#:title "How DNS Leaks Can Destroy Anonymity When Using a VPN, And How
to Stop Them" #:author "Dann Albright" #:date "14 May 2015"
#:publication "MakeUseOf"]} it might leak IPV6
connections to your ISP.
◊sub-heading{Domain Name Servers}
The weakest link in all of the above may be the service that converts
a website name that you've requested into an IP address. This is
called a domain name server (DNS). Often, your computer and router
will be set up to send those DNS queries to your ISP. This is one way
that your ISP will be able to know what websites you're visiting. But,
there are ways to avoid leaking this information to your ISP. You can
choose a VPN provider that handles DNS queries. Or, at least on the
most recent versions of Firefox, you can ask for your DNS queries to
get sorted out over HTTPS (they'll be encrypted, and sent to a more
trusted DNS service).◊note{◊format-work[#:type "magazine/news" #:url
"https://medium.com/@nykolas.z/dns-security-and-privacy-choosing-the-right-provider-61fc6d54b986"
#:title "DNS Security and Privacy — Choosing the right provider"
#:author "Nykolas Z" #:date "18 April 2018" #:publication
"medium.com"]}
◊fig[#:src "assets/dns-over-https.png"]{The latest version of Firefox
allows for DNS over HTTPS. This would only force your Firefox DNS
requests onto HTTPS and not DNS requests from other applications.}
◊sub-heading{End-to-end encryption}
End-to-end encryption means that messages are encrypted the entire way
between you and the intended recipient. Nobody other than you two can
read the messages, not even the company running the
service.◊note{◊format-work[#:type "magazine/news" #:url
"https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/what-should-i-know-about-encryption#3"
#:title "Transport-Layer Encryption or End-to-End Encryption?"
#:publication "Electronic Frontier Foundation" #:date "24 November
2018"]} WhatsApp and Signal are two messaging services that work this
way. They both use the same open-source encryption protocol. WhatsApp
has an optional cloud-backup system that circumvents this encryption
protection (your backups would be a way for somebody to get the
unencrypted conversations), but you can keep that turned off. Signal
has an optional, encrypted local-backup system.
◊heading{Some other things to read or listen to}
◊itemize{
McSweeney's 54, ◊a[#:href "https://www.eff.org/the-end-of-trust"]{The
End of Trust}.
◊a[#:href "https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/"]{A Podcast Called
INTREPID}, a national security podcast, occasionally discussing
government surveillance, CSIS, warrants, and ◊a[#:href
"https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/podcast/2018/11/20/ep-66-who-security-screens-the-watchers"]{Bill
C-59}.
◊a[#:href "https://www.lawfareblog.com/topic/lawfare-podcast"]{LawFare
Podcast}, another national security podcast, occasionally discussing
encryption, government surveillance, offensive cyber warfare.
Vice Motherboard's ◊a[#:href
"https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/59vpnx/introducing-cyber-a-hacking-podcast-by-motherboard"]{Cyber}
podcast, focused on private internet security and how to avoid being
hacked.
◊a[#:href
"https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-december-7-2018-1.4936365/crazy-to-expect-consumers-to-guard-against-smart-device-hacks-cybersecurity-expert-1.4936392"]{An
episode of CBC's The Current} about the vulnerabilities in smart
devices.
}