Top 5 steps to make privacy your default

Got a new device? Privacy advocate Dan Arel shares his 5 easy steps to make privacy your default on any device – from turning on encryption and automatic updates to protecting your search with Startpage.

Working in tech, I get a lot of new devices. For anyone who gets a new phone, tablet, or computer, you know they don’t generally come privacy friendly right out of the box, even for those of us who are Linux users.

Most people aren’t Linux users and most people don’t spend hours on their new devices just tweaking privacy settings. But, for those who care about their privacy and want to take just a few quick steps, I wanted to share my top privacy default steps when I get a new device for myself, a family member, or am just helping a friend or colleague. 

Turn on Encryption

On your mobile device, you can easily encrypt your data on the device by turning on your passcode or Face ID (iOS) or turning on Encrypt Device (Android). On your Windows devices, you can setup BitLocker, MacOS has FileVault, and when you’re installing a Linux OS, you can turn on disk encryption. It’s worth noting that just because you encrypt your devices doesn’t mean all your data is encrypted. For example, if you backup to Apple’s iCloud, their backups are not end-to-end encrypted. This means there’s a possibility of unwanted access.

Even so, encrypting your devices is far safer than not. Many of us are not worried about law enforcement even caring about our data, but we do worry if we lose a device, of have it stolen, what could be accessed? With encryption on, your worries and fears can at least go down a great deal.

Turn on Automatic Updates

On any device, you should be sure to turn on automatic updates. When Apple, Microsoft, or any other device manufacturer find a security hole in their system they push important updates. Yet, those updates then announce there is a hole to be exploited and your device could be at even greater risk. Automatic updates help solve that problem by keeping your devices up to date with the latest security software. This also applies to applications on both your personal computers and mobile devices.

Disable Location Services

Not every app needs to know where you are all the time. On your mobile device, you can select which apps can know your location, when they can, or you can disable it altogether. You might want your map application to know you location, but only when you’re actively using the app. On the other hand, you may want to block social media apps from ever knowing. 

Update Your Browsers Search Engine

At ThinkPrivacy we recommend Firefox and Vivaldi as the best browsers you can use for your privacy and choosing one of those to be your default (or for many Linux users, one of these will be your default), you can begin to enhance your privacy. Once install or updated, you can then change your default search engine to Startpage. On Vivaldi, Startpage comes preinstalled, and you can easily select it. On Firefox, it’s as simple of installing the extension. Not sure how to install it on your browser of choice? Click here for an easy guide.

After updating your search engine, install a few browser extensions for enhanced privacy.  

Install a VPN

An immediate recommendation for anyone who travels, but something I tell everyone to do is install a VPN. This simple step can offer you added protection on your device if sitting at a coffee shop, hotel lobby, or on any Wi-Fi you’re not in control of. It can also just be good for bypassing country blocks on media, or for some necessary protection from prying eyes of state-sponsors of surveillance. There’s plenty of options from free to paid.

It doesn’t have to stop there. On ThinkPrivacy, we offer a privacy checklist, and while you’ll find some of the above on it, you will also find tips like switching to a secure email service such as StartMail, turning on two-factor authentication, and using a password manager.

What’s important is that you take the steps that are right for your threat model and comfort level. The above offers some pretty basic and simple default settings that not only help protect your data from Big Tech, but also protect your data in the unfortunate case your device falls into the wrong hands. 

Dan Arel is a privacy and digital rights activist, founder and curator of ThinkPrivacy.ch, as well as an award-winning journalist, and best-selling author. His work has appeared in the Huff Post, OpenSource, Hacker Noon, Time Magazine, and more. You can follow him on Twitter @danarel.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Startpage.