0:01

Fighting surveillance, reclaiming privacy,

0:04

and redefining freedom in the

0:06

digital age. I'm Naomi Brockwell,

0:08

and this is NVTV. In

0:10

today's hyper-connected world, our right

0:12

to control our own information

0:14

is often stripped away without

0:17

our knowledge. They're inside your

0:19

browser, usually, or your mobile

0:21

device, yes. And you haven't necessarily

0:23

invited them in. You have not

0:25

invited them in. Companies, data brokers

0:28

and governments collect vast amounts of

0:30

data about us, more than we

0:32

might imagine. These third parties will collect

0:34

your click stream as you click from site

0:36

to site to site to see what you

0:39

may be reading, what you may be interested

0:41

in. But the good news is

0:43

that we can take back control.

0:45

Privacy isn't about hiding. It's about

0:47

the right to decide for ourselves

0:49

who gets our data. And I've

0:51

seen so many people waking up

0:53

to this reality, pushing back. against

0:55

surveillance apologists and deciding to reclaim

0:57

control of their digital lives. But

0:59

a lot of people just don't

1:01

know where to begin or what

1:03

exactly to do. So this video

1:05

is a privacy 101 guide for

1:07

those of you who are just

1:09

getting started. Basically, if you're overwhelmed

1:11

by the prospect of reclaiming your

1:14

online privacy, don't be. Every small

1:16

step you take makes a big

1:18

difference. We're going to start with

1:20

the lowest hanging fruit, what I

1:23

consider six of the... easiest things

1:25

that you can do right now

1:27

that will have a big impact

1:30

on your daily privacy. These low-hanging

1:32

fruit are browser, search engine, messaging

1:34

app, email, calendar, and VPN.

1:36

A perfectly normal fresh

1:39

delicious strawberry. The aim

1:41

isn't to tell people what to install.

1:43

Every individual is going to know best

1:45

what they value most from a platform.

1:47

So that's why we have a ton

1:50

of other videos doing deep dives on

1:52

all of these topics, looking at a

1:54

wide variety of products and their tradeoffs.

1:57

In this video, I give a few

1:59

examples of specific platforms and tools that

2:01

I personally use, but I highly recommend

2:03

that you explore your options so that

2:06

you can make an informed decision. And

2:08

if you have recommendations for tools that

2:10

we didn't mention, please share them with

2:13

others in the comments. Let's start with

2:15

what I think is probably the easiest

2:17

thing to switch out in your life,

2:20

and that's your browser. Your browser is

2:22

your gateway to the internet. It does

2:24

highly sensitive work. C is highly personal

2:27

information, and it's a huge privacy. leak

2:29

in most people's lives. Chrome browser

2:31

has the largest market share of

2:33

any browser and they track your

2:36

every move. The good news is

2:38

that switching to a privacy focused

2:40

browser is really easy and if

2:42

you take this step you're doing

2:45

better than 80% of the people

2:47

out there. How do you choose

2:49

a good browser? There's a website

2:51

I recommend called Privacy Tests.org where

2:54

they look at all kinds of

2:56

different tracking that browsers can do.

2:58

Brave, Malved and Libra Wolf all

3:00

seem to stand out on the list.

3:02

Next, I recommend that you set this

3:05

new browser as your default browser. On

3:07

Brave, for example, you'd click the Brave

3:09

drop-down menu at the top of your

3:11

screen, select settings, and it will be

3:13

one of the options on the Get

3:16

Started page. Then, to make your transition

3:18

easier, you can actually import all of

3:20

your old bookmarks from your old browser.

3:22

If you were using Chrome, you'd click

3:24

on the three dots on the top

3:27

right corner, go to book. bookmarks and

3:29

select bookmark manager. Once in the bookmark

3:31

manager click the three dots on the

3:33

top right corner again and this time

3:36

select export bookmarks. Choose where you want

3:38

to save your file and click save.

3:40

This will export your bookmarks as an

3:42

HDML file. Then in your new privacy

3:45

browser you can import that file. If

3:47

you're on Brave you'd go to your

3:49

bookmark manager click on the three dots

3:51

in the top right corner, select import

3:54

bookmarks and then select the HDML file

3:56

you just downloaded. attention leaving your old

3:58

browser might be that it logically logs

4:00

you into your favorite site and you

4:03

don't want to lose that convenience. Well,

4:05

you can have that same convenience with

4:07

your new browser too. So the final

4:09

step you might want to consider is

4:11

importing any saved passwords. In your old

4:13

browser, first you'll export your passwords. If

4:15

you're using Chrome, you want to open

4:18

your password manager. You'll either find this

4:20

by clicking on your profile picture or

4:22

the three dot menu icon in the

4:24

top right corner, then selecting the key

4:26

icon, which is Chrome's password manager, or

4:28

you'll find it under settings, then auto

4:31

fill them by clicking password manager.

4:33

But however you get there. Once

4:35

you're inside password manager, click settings.

4:37

Then click export passwords. You'll download

4:39

a CSV file with your passwords.

4:41

Keep in mind, this file stores

4:44

your passwords in plain text. So

4:46

you want to keep it somewhere

4:48

really safe. Or consider deleting it

4:50

once you're done. Now you'll simply

4:52

import these passwords into your new

4:54

browser. If you use Brave, go

4:57

to settings, select auto filling and

4:59

passwords. Then click on passwords. Select

5:01

your saved CSV file and click

5:03

import. If you use a password

5:05

manager instead of storing them in

5:07

the browser, you can install your

5:09

password manager of choice, then you

5:11

can import your passwords directly into

5:13

the password manager instead. So let's

5:15

quickly recap because that seems like

5:17

a lot more steps than it

5:19

actually is. Download new privacy preserving

5:21

browser. Stop using browsers like Chrome

5:23

and Edge that are terrible for

5:25

your privacy. And that's it. That's

5:27

the first super easy step that

5:29

you can take to really improve your

5:32

privacy. Now, what are some other easy

5:34

wins? Let's move on to number two.

5:36

Your search engine. What's the difference between

5:38

a browser and a search engine? Well,

5:40

think of your browser like a car

5:42

that takes you to the internet and

5:45

lets you drive around in it. And

5:47

think of your search engine like the

5:49

roadmap that you're using to navigate. the

5:51

things out there on the internet. To

5:53

help you search through it all and

5:55

find what you're looking for. The most

5:58

widely used search engine is Google Search.

6:00

percent of people use it. You probably

6:02

use it. but it's horrendous for privacy.

6:04

Not only is it building a detailed

6:07

profile of your interests, habits, medical concerns,

6:09

or anything else you search for, it's

6:11

also immediately logging your keystrokes when you

6:14

use it and sending them to Google,

6:16

regardless of whether you actually hit the

6:18

search button or not. That's how they

6:21

give you predictive text suggestions for your

6:23

searches. They create these profiles on you

6:25

because you are their product, and they

6:28

sell your attention to basically anyone who's

6:30

willing to pay for it. When you

6:32

use the... Crome browser, Firefox browser, or

6:34

Savari browser, or countless others. Your default

6:37

search engine in the browser is Google

6:39

search. So that means when you type

6:41

a query into the URL bar, that's

6:44

Google that you're using. So a super

6:46

easy privacy win is just to change

6:48

search engines. If you already swapped out

6:50

your browser, so one of the privacy

6:53

focused ones I mentioned before, they actually

6:55

don't use Google search by default. They

6:57

use more privacy focused search engines in

7:00

their URL bar instead. For example, Brave

7:02

users Brave Search, which is my search

7:04

engine of choice. And Moldav and Libra

7:06

Wolf both use Duck Duck Go. Regardless

7:08

of the browser you use, you can

7:10

change your default search engine to one

7:12

that is more privacy friendly. There are

7:14

a bunch of other engines that you

7:16

can try out. See which gets you

7:18

the best results. One final tip with

7:20

search engines. Once you've chosen which search

7:23

engine is going to be your default

7:25

search engine in the URL bar, you

7:27

can also set up a secondary choice

7:29

with this little trick. Make. that your

7:31

browser first opens to be your secondary

7:33

option so that every time you open

7:35

a new window it takes you to

7:38

that search engine home page. For example

7:40

I use Brave in the URL bar

7:42

but can set my browser to open

7:44

on a different search engine so I

7:47

have both options immediately available. If you

7:49

switch out your search engine to use

7:51

something other than Google you're doing better

7:53

than 90% of people. The next step

7:55

on your privacy journey is securing your

7:58

communication starting with your text message. and

8:00

phone calls. SMS and regular phone

8:02

calls are not private. Almost every

8:05

country in the world has mandated

8:07

lawful access laws where governments require

8:09

back doors in telecommunication channels to

8:12

allow them to intercept calls and

8:14

messages. Unfortunately, as with all

8:16

back doors, they're never limited to

8:19

their intended purpose. In 2024, it

8:21

was discovered that the Chinese used

8:23

the American government's own back doors

8:26

to gain full access to U.S.

8:28

communications. the Chinese to geolocate millions

8:31

of Americans and record phone calls at

8:33

will. You should switch to a private

8:35

messaging app to better protect your communication.

8:38

These apps don't rely on insecure telecom

8:40

channels. Instead, they encrypt your messages end

8:42

to end and send them over the

8:45

internet. If they're ever intercepted, only you

8:47

and your recipient will be able to

8:49

actually read them. But not all private

8:52

messaging apps are created equal. You've almost

8:54

surely heard of some of the most

8:56

popular ones like what app and eye

8:59

message. While the content of these communications

9:01

is protected, which makes them far better

9:03

than SMS and normal phone calls, Facebook

9:05

and Apple respectively still get a lot

9:08

of your data. There are more private

9:10

apps that you can use and signal

9:12

is probably my favorite. They take awesome

9:14

care to really minimize the amount of

9:17

data that they collect to the point

9:19

that they don't even have that information

9:21

to hand to governments when asked. Even

9:23

the way they handle stickers and gifts

9:25

is privacy preserving. can use any VoIP

9:28

number to sign up and you can

9:30

keep your number private from others on

9:32

the platform. It would be better if

9:34

account management wasn't tied to a number

9:36

at all, but as far as private

9:38

messaging apps go, it's really simple to

9:40

use and the one that I've had

9:42

the most success converting people to. And

9:45

it's far more popular than people realize,

9:47

so you'll probably find that some of

9:49

your contacts are already on there, but

9:51

there are other private messaging apps you

9:53

can try out too. Take a secure

9:55

messaging apps. You have trouble converting people

9:57

to the private messaging app of your

9:59

choice. We made a video with some

10:01

helpful tips for convincing your friends and

10:04

family to ditch SMS. You can do

10:06

it! The next part of your private

10:08

communications to tackle is your email. Free

10:11

email services like Gmail scan and analyze

10:13

your inbox to build comprehensive profiles on

10:15

you. There are privacy focused email providers

10:17

like Proton Mail and tutor that end

10:20

to end encrypt your messages in network.

10:22

Use zero access encryption for emails at

10:24

rest, which means that email sent from

10:26

other providers to your inbox are all.

10:29

out of their reach and offer password

10:31

protected emails so that if you have

10:33

to send an email to Gmail or

10:36

Microsoft you can protect your communication from

10:38

those companies prying eyes too. Changing your

10:40

email could seem like a really big

10:43

change to make but it's way easier

10:45

than you probably realize. In proton mail

10:47

for example you can import your entire

10:50

Gmail history with a single click. You

10:52

can also import your contact list at

10:54

the same time so that you don't

10:57

lose them in the transition. You Proton

10:59

Mail account, for example, you can forward

11:01

all future Gmail messages to your new

11:04

inbox. And then you can respond from

11:06

your Proton address, gradually moving people over

11:08

to your new system. It's also super

11:10

easy to set up custom domains in

11:13

Proton Mail. This means that you can

11:15

have a professional work email like contact

11:17

at my website.com. But under the hood,

11:20

you're using a super private email provider

11:22

like Proton Mail. Switching your calendar is

11:24

another one of the super easy low-hanging

11:27

hanging fruits. that you can start with

11:29

on your privacy journey. Your calendar

11:31

is intensely personal. It contains every

11:33

medical appointment you've had, every birthday

11:35

of those you know, your daily

11:37

habits, addresses you visit, every future

11:39

plan. For most people, these are

11:41

handed straight over to Google and

11:43

Apple. But there are private calendars

11:45

that you can use instead, such

11:47

as those from Proton or tutor.

11:50

Chooser calendar offering is new, but

11:52

really promising. Proton's has been around

11:54

for a while, and the process

11:56

is crazy simple. You can import

11:58

your entire calendar history of... past

12:00

and future appointments with a single

12:02

click. They're instantly transported to your

12:05

new, end-to-end encrypted provider, where they're

12:07

now private. This is a huge

12:09

and easy win for your privacy,

12:12

and you'll never look back. The

12:14

final, easy privacy switch that you

12:17

can make is using a VPN.

12:19

A VPN encrypts your internet traffic

12:21

leaving your device, which isn't so

12:24

important these days, because basically everything

12:26

we do online uses HTT CPS.

12:28

hide your IP address so that

12:31

you're not handing it over to every

12:33

website you visit. This is important because

12:35

your IP address can help people find

12:37

your physical location and it can also

12:40

allow websites and data brokers to more

12:42

easily build profiles on you. With the

12:44

VPN websites instead see your VPN's IP

12:47

address, adding an additional privacy layer to

12:49

your activities. A really important caveat though

12:51

is that the VPN industry is... really

12:53

shady and you have to be very

12:56

careful which vp n you use and

12:58

trust that they're not just collecting and

13:00

selling your data themselves. Reputable companies

13:02

like Mulvad and Proton are highly

13:05

regarded options for vp n's. Reclaiming

13:07

your privacy isn't just about protecting

13:09

yourself. It's about your right to

13:11

choose. You don't have to give

13:13

all your information to thousands of

13:15

entities and lose control over what

13:17

happens to that information and how

13:19

it's used. There are so many

13:21

amazing privacy. Privacy. that you can

13:24

start using today to take back

13:26

control of your digital life. Don't

13:28

be overwhelmed. If you even start

13:30

with one thing on this list, you

13:32

will have made a big impact on

13:34

your privacy. The digital age can sometimes

13:37

feel like too much to deal with,

13:39

but you are far more empowered and

13:41

capable than you realize. And it feels

13:43

really good to start reclaiming control over

13:46

your digital life. Your privacy is worth

13:48

protecting. It's time to take it back.

13:50

MBTV is a project of the Lud

13:52

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13:55

researches and educates about the latest in

13:57

tech privacy. Help us educate people about

13:59

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14:01

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14:17

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14:21

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14:24

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14:26

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14:28

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14:30

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14:33

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14:35

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