Page 13 - 1708
P. 13
(Continued from page 12) tion apps in smart phones. Message apps
guide to dangers and solutions, and fami- WhatsApp and Signal are also discussed. The
lytreenow.com, a genealogy site, to demon- Advanced Guide discusses how to identify
strate the amount of information that's easy to your security risks and what to do about the
find. ones you find, starting with documenting any
abusers who are bothering you. Sections in-
The chain.co/safety site offers a starter pack clude securing mobile phones, laptops, com-
and an advanced guide about possible scams, puters, and apps; browsing the web, social
dangers and solutions. Both are free and part engineering and phishing, IP addresses and
of the website. Its introduction includes this Wi-Fi, among others. Other topics include anti-
statement: “Modern technology such as the in- virus and firewall software, encryption and de-
ternet/mobile phones etc., has made it increas- leting information, remembering that deleting
ingly easy for abusive partners to stalk, intimi- computer files does not remove files. It just
date and threaten their targets both online and changes the file name, which tells the comput-
offline. The good news: you can take er other files can write over the "deleted" one.
measures to protect yourself! Assess your risk
and take back control with this guide of best FamilyTreeNow.com - As noted above, this is
practices.” a genealogy site, but it could be used by stalk-
ers and others who want to learn more about
The site emphasizes that everyone posts all an individual. "This is a scary, scary thing,"
kinds of information on social media, opens ac- Shalkey said. The opening page asks for the
counts of many kinds, logs in to sites, and have first and last name of the person you want in-
apps on our computers or smart phones that formation about and a state or all states.
have information we seldom think about, such
as Wi-Fi signals and GPS locations, websites Shalkey used himself and the result was ulti-
we've visited and pictures we post. It also sug- mately a long list of associated names, possi-
gests considering how your children's posts ble relatives, possible associates, current and
might affect your privacy. Are they posting their past addresses and phone numbers. Most of
addresses, schools, activities, and places they the entries were valid and names that he rec-
like to visit? General recommendations: ognized. (The writer visited the site and the
· Use a strong password — at least 15 first result was a list of nine people with the
characters, upper and lower case let- name John Weigle. I selected myself and got
ters, and numbers and symbols. a much shorter list than the one Shalkey
· Don’t use the same password on many found. My name and my deceased father's
sites. name were correct. I did not recognize the
· Don’t let your browser save your pass- sole possible associate. Of the eight current
words. and past addresses, four were correct home
· Think passphrase instead of password. or mailing addresses, one was a business site
· Use a password manager and change my brother and I co-owned, and three were
your passwords periodically. wrong. Three phone numbers were correct.).
· Use two-factor authentication.
Browser recommendations A member of the audience noted that the ease
Use the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pan- of finding former addresses is a good reason
opticlick at https:// panopticlick.eff.org. (The not to use them as part of a password. Click-
writer tested the site and it recommended in- ing on an address brings up a picture of the
stalling Privacy Badger, which it says blocks location. “When you think ‘nobody knows any-
tracking ads, and invisible trackers, unblocks thing about me’ — not necessarily true,”
third parties that promise to honor do not track Shalkey said. The site has an opt-out page.
and determines if the browser protects you
from fingerprinting (it lists the information that's Questions and answers Q: Are maiden names
shared). on the site? A: Yes.
The site has instructions on privacy settings for Q: Is there a fee? A: I'm sure there is some-
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Explorer, and others, where, but so far what I've shown you is free.
and discusses private browsing techniques Q: Is the site tracking you? A: I'm not sure. I
within browsers and with add-ons. Facebook could have used incognito browsing, which is
and Twitter settings are explained as are loca- not tracked.
13
