Excellent advice about online security from Jacqui Murray. We all use social media, especially during this pandemic, but the big tech giants make their money from selling our info to the ad networks. They’ve turned us into their ‘product’.
Jacqui Murray outlines some simple things you can do to protect your loved ones even if you don’t think you have ‘anything to hide’.
If we humans aren’t giving away our personal information (as we do on FB, Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter and every other social media outlet), we’re having it stolen without our permission and sold to those who mean us harm. This is a bigger deal for writers than most because:Most of us have found our books being given away or sold on nefarious platforms that obtained them illegally and are now profiting from our labor. Because of this, I spend more time than most Normal People trying to secure my online environment.
Here are six easy steps everyone should implement. To keep this article as short as…
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Meeka's Mind 
July 21st, 2021 at 4:17 am
Thanks for sharing this, Andrea. It sounds like a post I should read since I don’t pay enough attention to cyber security. Right up your alley though! 😀 Thanks!
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July 21st, 2021 at 9:28 am
-grin- Yes, you should! As writers we have to have a public presence, but that just means we have to guard our personal privacy even more.
-links arms with Jacqui-
Do it. 😀 😀
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July 21st, 2021 at 9:49 am
Ugh. All that technology is so intimidating! Every time I download something, I have to spend a day fixing my laptop. Putting tape on the camera? I can do that. Lol. I just want to buy one program that gives my laptop clad security across the board! 😀
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July 21st, 2021 at 3:34 pm
I do empathize! For what it’s worth, I alternate between Kaspersky antivirus and BitDefender. Both are very good, but sadly nothing takes the place of caution. When you download something, do you save it to your harddrive and check it with your antivirus /before/ you install it? That can save you so much frustration and time in the long run.
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July 22nd, 2021 at 1:45 am
Ummm… probably not since I don’t know what you just asked me. Lol. I just hit download and suffer.
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July 23rd, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Aaaah…really? Okay, I’m going to do a post on this because if someone as cluey as you doesn’t know…
I’m on it.
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July 23rd, 2021 at 11:28 pm
LOL. Thank you! I am not good with tech at all. Once I learn it, I’m okay, but new stuff… my anxiety goes up because I need instructions to understand the instructions.
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July 24th, 2021 at 11:18 am
Just did a quick how-to post about the Windows right click menu. Seriously, this is one of the best things about Windows and I’m always amazed at how few people know about it. Think context sensitive options. That’s what the right click menu gives you.
-hugs-
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July 20th, 2021 at 11:41 pm
It’s the trouble with wanting something for ‘free’ isn’t it? I’d be perfectly happy to pay a subscription for my social media to avoid it.
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July 21st, 2021 at 9:30 am
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Dawn. We pay for ‘free’ by becoming the product. Sadly, until governments make it specifically illegal to do this kind of thing, simply paying for a social media product no longer guarantees anything. I pay for my game-of-the-moment [Elder Scrolls Online], but when I read their privacy policy, it became quite obvious that my data would still be used however the heck it suited them, or the ad networks lurking like spiders in the digital background. Grrrrr…..
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July 20th, 2021 at 2:18 am
They definitely do access our social media and sell our info. I posted about our visit to the Colosseum in Rome last week Friday and I’m getting ad after ad for vacations in Italy.
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July 20th, 2021 at 9:26 am
It’s become almost ridiculous commonplace hasn’t it? And it’s disguised as ‘personalisation’. I am so sick of words being manipulated to make actions sound benign whilst really they’re anything but.
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July 20th, 2021 at 2:51 pm
I agree, this behaviour is invasive and a breach of personal privacy.
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July 21st, 2021 at 9:33 am
The big tech companies won’t change until the groundswell of outrage either a) costs them a lot of money or b) causes govts worldwide to say ‘enough’. Seeing as how most individual govts are useless at demanding their fair share of taxes, I don’t like our chances in the near future. 😦
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July 21st, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Well said, Meeks. You have, unfortunately, nailed it.
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July 21st, 2021 at 3:31 pm
Yeah. 😦
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July 19th, 2021 at 11:02 am
Good share, Meeks 🙂 x
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July 19th, 2021 at 9:41 pm
Thanks, Carol. This is close to my heart. 🙂
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July 19th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Thanks for sharing this, AC. There are a lot of free things you can do that don’t take much time. The low-hanging fruit so to speak.
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July 19th, 2021 at 10:47 am
Yes. Just wish more people wanted to pick it! Will tweet a bit later. Cheers!
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