Transnational tech cartels and intel agencies have been spying on us for years.

Most people don’t actually seem to care much about that kinda stuff. So be it. Thankfully, those of us who think otherwise do have some options.

Knowing that these intrusions not only continue to grow but are in fact being gradually legalized around the world compels me to say a few things about homegrown cybersecurity and privacy/data protection. [This is a treat for me because I do not live a very technosexy life].

Unlike other articles related to the topic of privacy and cybersec, I am not crying “hacker!”
Yes, independent hackers exist, and they like to snatch anything of value to sell on the darkweb. But I write today from the understanding that intelligence agencies, big tech, and clandestine contractors are a far greater threat to dimwitted users like you and I than the “lone wolf” in her basement trying to penetrate your stupid macbook to ogle your petty banking information.

For example, this past winter the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), sister agency to Canada’s CSIS, confessed to tracking 33 million Canadians (pretty well the entire population) through their cell phones.

Much to my chagrin this is not a new revelation. That shit’s been happening for years. Like in 2015, for example. Even recently Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, were fined a record $170 million dollars for allegedly collecting data from children without parental consent. Unsurprisingly it is not the first time these depraved organizations have been accused of/caught spying on kids.

It would take a good deal of time for me to document the long, long list of degenerate activity participated in by the Big Five (Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon), but it wouldn’t be necessary in order to show how these companies and its affiliates have become a cancer to a free society.

Thankfully we can share some strategy to help insulate one another from the metastasis of Big Tech and surveillance capitalism.

My first suggestion would be to purge all digital devices and internet use from your life. This is literally the most effective way to preserve your privacy and protect your data. Sadly, this is an unthinkable course of action for the vast majority of us despite the fact that very few individuals needed to bother with anything digital a mere 15 years ago.

Assuming this isn’t an option for 95% of us, ditching your smartphone would be a less radical one.

[The non-smartphone market is on the rise again, folks, so you can pick one up online for a good price.]

Smartphones are surveillance devices, plain and simple. They siphon our attention, distort our understanding of the world, and create unhealthy dependencies. No phone is best, but a more “analog” device is better than the vampiric and absurdly priced trash in stores now.

Next is the computer.

I’ll hazard a guess that if you own a computer, you’re either using an Apple operating system or a Microsoft operating system. Both of these multinational conglomerates are definitely spying on you, collecting your data, and selling it to all sorts of buyers—advertisers, departments of defence, and other seedy partners both foreign and domestic.

Try a Linux-based operating system instead, preferably one with good security checks and features.

If more privacy-security is what you want, there are operating systems available that fit in a thumb drive as small as 4GB in volume. It’s kept physically separate from your hard drive, and when ejected all content gets erased.

You’ll probably want a Virtual Private Network (VPN) too.

This re-routes your IP address (a geolocation marker) through a remote network somewhere else in the world.

I used to think VPN’s were a money-grab. Part of me still does, but after learning a little more about their purpose and a little bit about how they work, I’d err on the side of caution and use one.

Here’s a major tip. Cut all ties with “social media”. It’s a suggestion that cannot be overstated. There is very little that is “social” about social media. It’s actually a misnomer. It is literally a social simulation product (SSP) controlled by vulture capitalists, monitored by data collectors, and inhabited by all sorts of spooks and bots. The more involved we get with SSPs, the more privacy we waive, and thus the more vulnerable and manipulable we become in the long run.

Onion routing is another popular privacy tool, a method that uses layered encryption for anonymous communication online.

The Tor Project is the flagship service provider in this field. A good deal of reading is recommended before utilizing the Tor Network.

Search engines such as MetaGer, Gibiru, and Startpage are good alternatives to Bing, Google, and Yahoo-based engines.

I’m no expert, but so many tools become available to us once we’re willing to learn a little about what’s out there.

I conclude: Without you knowing it, technocrats, censors, and other establishment stooges are now working overtime to construct a digital prison-system for you and your loved ones.

Like Huxley wrote, “People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” And what you may come to see as a progressive and convenient existence in an techno-industrial environment, will in fact resemble something of a ‘smart’ gulag.

Thankfully, for those of us who haven’t resigned to such a fate, a brighter path awaits.