Protecting Yourself from Government Surveillance

If you live in the United States, it's a good idea to start thinking about how you can protect yourself from being surveilled by the government. 

As Wired Magazine says in their Guide to Protecting Yourself from Government Surveillance:

“Undocumented immigrants, Muslims, pregnant people, journalists, really anyone who doesn't support him” need to reconsider their personal privacy safeguards, says Runa Sandvik, a former digital security staffer for The New York Times and the founder of the security firm Granitt, which focuses on protecting members of civil society. “Whatever platforms you're on, whatever devices you have, you need to have a sense of what kind of data you're generating and then use the controls available to limit who can see what you're doing.”

The guide covers several key areas:

• Encrypted communications
• Encrypted devices
• Cloud storage
• Online anonymity
• Location data
• Financial privacy
• Burner phones
• Your digital past, present, and future

Even if you're not a US resident, this article is worth reading as the measures it suggests may help protect your from scammers and abusive trolls.