How to Delete a Reddit Account
If you’re no longer interested in using Reddit, you can delete your account. However, you’ll need to jump through some extra hoops if you want to delete your Reddit posts and comments, too. Here’s how to do it….
How to Switch to DuckDuckGo, a Private Search Engine
DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that’s been online since 2008. Find websites, maps, videos, news, and more—without tracking your searches and serving you targetted ads. Here’s how to make the switch from Goog…
Is My Smart Speaker Always Listening to Me?
Smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Nest Mini can make life easier, but they also present some privacy concerns. Doesn’t a device that responds to voice commands need to be listening all the time? Let’s talk about …
How to Make Your Signal Chats as Secure as Possible
Signal secures all your conversations with end-to-end encryption, offering more privacy and security than your average chat app. But Signal offers some other useful security options. Here’s how to take advantage of them….
What Is Ecosia? Meet a Google Alternative That Plants Trees
Ecosia is a not-for-profit search engine that uses advertising revenue gained from searches to plant trees. It doesn’t have the privacy-focus of DuckDuckGo, nor does it have the search results of Google. But it does have a un…
How to Encrypt Local Backups of an iPhone or iPad on Windows
Most people back up their iPhones or iPads to iCloud, but it’s not completely private: Apple always holds the key so it can help if you forget your password. If you want a truly secure device backup and you have a Windows mac…
What Is End-to-End Encryption, and Why Does It Matter?
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) ensures that your data is encrypted (kept secret) until it reaches an intended recipient. Whether you’re talking about end-to-end encrypted messaging, email, file storage, or anything else, this e…
PSA: Gmail Has Your Old Chat Logs From Google Talk (and Hangouts)
Do you remember Google Talk? Google launched its first chat service back in 2005. It’s long gone, but your old Google Talk chat logs may still be stored in your Gmail account. Gmail may remember your Google Hangouts chat hist…
Apple’s iMessage Is Secure … Unless You Have iCloud Enabled
Apple’s iMessage service uses secure end-to-end encryption. This ensures only you and the person you’re talking to can see your messages. But there’s a big privacy hole in iMessage, and it’s named iCloud. Here’s what you need…
How to See Which iPhone Apps Can Access Your Contacts
Few iPhone privacy issues go deeper than access to your Contacts list, which exposes your private web of relationships to a third party, which can then compare the list to its records or potentially share it with others. Here…
PSA: Telegram Chats Aren’t End-to-End Encrypted by Default
Telegram and Signal are widely popular privacy-focused messaging apps. However, the two apps have some big differences: While all messages sent via Signal are always end-to-end encrypted by default, Telegram messages aren’t. …
What Is DuckDuckGo? Meet the Google Alternative for Privacy
DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t track you. This alternative to Google, Bing, and Yahoo is growing fast. Here’s an introduction to DuckDuckGo and a look at how it protects your privacy….
Why SMS Text Messages Aren’t Private or Secure
You might think that switching from Facebook Messenger to old-fashioned text messages would help protect your privacy. But standard SMS text messages aren’t very private or secure. SMS is like fax—an old, outdated standard …
How to See Which iPhone Apps Are Listening to Your Microphone
Are you worried that your iPhone apps are listening using your device’s built-in microphone? If so, it’s easy to know for sure—and to revoke microphone access if necessary—by checking a list in Settings. Here’s how to do …
How to See Which iPhone Apps Are Accessing Your Camera
Few iPhone privacy issues make people as nervous as whether an app is using your camera or not. Luckily, thanks to Apple’s Privacy settings, it’s easy to know which apps have access to your iPhone’s built-in camera. Here’s ho…
How to See What Data Google Has on You (and Delete It)
There are a few companies that people seem to have trust issues with. Google is one of them, and it’s no mystery that the company collects a lot of data about you. But just how much does it have? Let’s check….
How Devices Use Wi-Fi to Determine Your Physical Location
Did you know that laptops and other devices without GPS hardware can determine your precise physical location—with just a Wi-Fi radio? Here’s how this often-overlooked feature of modern “Location Services” works….
How to Check If Signal Is Down
Is Signal down? At the start of 2021, the encrypted chat app has seen a wave of new users who want to keep their conversations private. Here’s how to check whether Signal is down for everyone else.
The 5 Best Alternatives to WhatsApp
WhatsApp has become ubiquitous with mobile messaging, but it’s not for everyone. If you’re suffering from WhatsApp fatigue or you don’t like the privacy issues with this Facebook-owned app, here are the best WhatsApp alternat…
How to Enable an Extension in Chrome’s Incognito Mode
By default, Google Chrome does not run extensions in Incognito mode because they could potentially compromise your privacy. But, if you’d like to give an extension permission to work in private browsing mode, it’s easy to do….
How to See What Data Facebook Has on You
Facebook knows a lot about you. Some of this information was handed over when you signed up, but there’s some stuff you might not know about. We’ll show you how to see and download it.
What Is Signal, and Why Is Everyone Using It?
Signal is a secure encrypted messaging app. Think of it as a more private alternative to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, iMessage, and SMS. Here’s why you should seriously consider switching to Signal….
How to Open Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode with a Keyboard Shortcut
If you’re browsing the web with Mozilla Firefox and you’d like to quickly open a Private window, there’s no need to reach for a menu. Here’s how to start private browsing in Firefox with just a keyboard shortcut on Windows, L…
Can You Use Signal Without Giving It Your Contacts?
Signal is a privacy-focused encrypted chat solution, but the first thing it wants after you sign up is access to all the contacts on your phone. Here’s why, what Signal actually does with those contacts, and what using Signal…
How to Stop Signal From Telling You When Your Contacts Join
When someone in your contacts signs up for Signal, you’ll see a message saying that person joined Signal. Now you know you can contact them on Signal. If you’d rather not see these notifications, you can disable them….
