Mind Set Central

In today’s technological world, people gladly give away their privacy and freedoms for convenience.  Convenience makes life easier, simpler and more straightforward, but unfortunately it all comes with a price.

Using computers, Cell Phones and GPS units all make daily lives easier, but this is a two way street.  GPS units are not only incredibly useful for knowing where you are, but they are also incredibly useful for “others” to know where you are.

A wonderful site called “irevolution” has sprung up, to give all freedom loving people information on how to balance privacy and convenience.  Or if you are unlucky enough to live in a country where your government is run by imbeciles (Wait! That’s Pretty Much Everywhere), there are detailed instructions on how to communicate securely in an oppressive environment.

An important section which is worth publishing here, is a section on blogs and internet publishing.

Blogs and social networking sites

• Know the laws in your country pertaining to liability, libel, etc.
• When signing up for a blog account where you will be publishing sensitive content, do not use you personal email address or information.
• In your blog posts and profile page, do not post pictures of yourself or your friends, do not use your real name, and do not give personal details that could help identify you (town, school, employer, etc.).
• Blog platforms like wordpress allow uses to automatically publish a post on a designated date and time. Use this functionality to auto-publish on a different day when you are away from the computer.
• On social networks, create one account for activism under a false but real-sounding name (so your account won’t be deleted) but don’t tell your friends about it.  The last thing you want is a friend writing on your wall or tagging you in a photo and giving away your identity.
• Even if you delete your account on a social networking site, your data will remain, so be very careful about taking part in political actions (i.e., joining sensitive groups) online.
• Never join a sensitive group with your real account.  Use your fake account to join activism groups. (The fake account should not be linked to your fake email).
• Don’t use paid services.  Your credit card can be linked back to you.