This has been a terrible weekend for Americans.
With President Trumps fear mongering executive order on immigration and refugees, CNN is currently running this headline, “Cell phone screening next?“

This got me thinking of sharing steps showing how to protect your digital privacy, then I recalled the UK’s recent online surveillance changes reported by The Verge and their similar tips that followed.

While originally written to inform residents and travelers in the UK, these are good steps to take for any digital citizen worried about unlawful surveillance.

tl:dr version:

  1. Use a Virtual Private Network. A good one will cost some money, I recommend Private Internet Access.
  2. Use an encrypted messaging app. Signal is highly recommended. ios / android
  3. Use a web browser that supports anonymous browsing. The big browsers, Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, all support this. Additionally you could use Tor.
  4. And while you’re at it strengthen your passwords! LastPass will do this.

Stay safe.