Rethinking Terms of Engagement

Thinking about how we reach our readers makes us think more generally about the terms of engagement across the Internet. We can start with Gmail: is it worth the compromises? Like many before us, off the site we’ve use Gmail; to avoid the ads and the poor interface we connected via email client. That obviated the ad problem, but it obscured the trade-offs we made for the free service. Namely, the privacy implications for both senders and receivers by turning over that private communication to Google’s bots.

We’ve rethought it and we’re moving our several Gmail accounts off the platform an onto private server-based email accounts. It’s a hassle, sure; but it’s also an opportunity to prune the deadwood. So stay tuned for an address change. We’re also discontinuing use of Google Reader, the search giant’s aggregation platform for RSS feeds.

We give credit to Google for making their changes clear and understandable. When we reviewed their raft of disclosures and new policy statements, it reminded us that when we sign-up for a service like Google or Facebook, we’re tracked every time we sign-in. Thanks for that, Google!

As we march away from anonymity and toward the Orwell-worthy network that is coalescing before us, we have to remember that there’s no cop on the beat in America to police our journey. So we have to apply some imagination about how our information may be used going forward. Problem is that imagination is not evenly distributed among us; Google has cornered the market if you will. And their folks spend every working hour thinking up ways to use our information more creatively. But we have very limited time to think about it because other concerns demand our time.

Take this moment to imagine how your browsing history, friends network, and email might be used. Then take a few minutes to make some changes as we have.

Take Control of Your Browser to Protect Your Privacy

Here are some unsolicited tips for safeguarding your privacy:

Reset your browser (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer) to clear your browsing cookies. That means regularly flushing out all of the cruft that websites load onto your local machine. Cookies are short text files that allow a site to recognize you as a return visitor, but they also track your browsing. They should be flushed weekly, if not daily.

Delete persistent cookies (aka ‘local shared objects‘). Many users know about cookies, but may not recognize that there are so-called persistent cookies that keep an ongoing, complete log of sites visited but are not accessible though the web browser. Adobe’s Flash stores cookies on your machine and on an Adobe site, for example; to delete them you have to visit Adobe to dump your Flash cookies. (We long ago dumped Flash for that reason.)

Use a browser that allows for extensibility. Firefox and Safari are browser ecosystems that access a universe of privacy-enhancing add-ons and extensions (respectively). PC World and Macworld regularly run columns on ‘must-haves’ so have a look and take an hour to familiarize yourself with what’s available to fit your needs. A naked browser is a wasted opportunity!

Block ad trackers. We regularly find fifteen or more ad trackers on popular websites (like most media properties, at right) with more appearing every day. A browser add-on like Ghostery (Firefox/Safari) not only shows you bugs lurking, but allows you to block them.

Block unnecessary and insidious javascript. Javascript is the server-side engine of the modern web; it makes your browser do all kinds of things, good and bad. And indeed we can’t live without it. But some sites include a half-dozen scripts that we don’t need, and can selectively block. Have a look at No Script for Firefox.

And last, use better passwords. Adopt password triage by using unique, difficult-to-guess passwords for the most sensitive sites (banks, paypal, Amazon, etc.) and relegate simple passwords to the raft of sites that you need to care less about. Don’t use a master password on all sites and rotate your key passwords regularly! Here’s a cautionary tale.