It’s good for all of us to be privacy literate, given that things can take a turn for the worse in many places, or already are bad. There was a post a few days ago that highlighted how the vast majority of trans people rely on internet access 🤔

I’ll start by saying that matrix seems to be a solid solution for communication, and tor for accessing information. It’s worth it to get familiar with them before you need them yourself, but also to understand them as a community so we can support each other globally 🏳️‍⚧️

I am also wondering if any of you are familiar with getting around network restrictions. For example a DIY mesh network? 📡

  • Melody FwygonEnglish
    3•1 month ago

    Privacy is a spectrum. Your privacy needs may vary; depending on your personal situation.

    But good first steps are pretty easy.

    • Leave your email accounts at services like GMail, Yahoo, or any other big corporation. Find a privacy respecting provider such as Tuta or ProtonMail.
    • Log into all accounts you have online; switch them over to the new email.
    • Minimize your use of ‘Corporate’ social media. Delete any accounts you can live without. (Meta/Instagram/Pinterest)
    • For any of the “Social Media” accounts (like Facebook) you choose to KEEP; you must log into them and lock them down, and make sure all the privacy settings are configured to minimize invasive tracking. Repeat this step on a monthly basis.
    • Seek out alternate social media. (Lemmy/Mastodon/Fediverse)
    • Use 2FA. For everything. No Exceptions. This will cut down on problems later if your data gets leaked.
    • Set a unique password for everything, and use a password manager to help you do this! Seriously. Bitwarden is good.
    • Switch messengers. Matrix, Signal and the like are good; but understand you may not be able to get everyone around you to switch, so don’t rush this too quickly.