The Surveillance Self-Defense Site

As an admitted geek, I have often tried to help people in understanding the importance of information security, especially when it comes to data storage and transmission.  From what kind of software you run, to how you communicate with others your data can be vulnerable.  From employers to government agencies, neighbors to hackers, what you say and keep can be taken and used in ways that you don’t want.  But teaching everything people should know to keep themselves safe is often a long process, and something I often have to revisit to remind people.

But now there is a great site that will help *you*, no matter what level your computer understanding is, get a better idea of the fundamentals of what your rights are, and how you can keep yourself safer in our age of digital communication.  The site is the Surveillance Self-Defense, set up by an organizations called the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  The EFF is a non-profit organization that combines geeks, lawyers, and activists to fight for digital rights and freedoms for all people, and has long been a group I’ve supported and worked with.

The Self-Defense site gives a great tutorial in a non-technical manner about what your legal rights to privacy are, and gives many helpful links on simple measures you can take to keep yourself safe at home, at work, or when travelling.  The information does not require you to be a geek to understand it, so please take a few minutes to check out the information they have.