Shield Yourself From Prying Eyes: The EFF Launches Surveillance Self-Defense Effort

Earlier today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched its Surveillance Self-Defense project. Designed to "educate Americans about the law and technology of communications surveillance and computer searches and seizures, and to provide the information and tools necessary to keep their private data out of the government's hands," the online guide informs readers on many ways to shield personal data from government eyes.

Ways to avoid security risks to your computer? Check. Tips to protect personal data form law enforcement officials? Check. Defensive ideas around surveillance and terrorism investigations? Check. Check.

"You can imagine the Internet as a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking up all of the private information that you let near it. We want to show people the tools they can use to encrypt and anonymize data, protecting themselves against government surveillance," said EFF Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley. "Privacy is about mitigating risks and making tradeoffs. Every decision you make about whether to save an email, chat online, or search with or sign into Google has privacy implications. It's important to understand those implications and make informed decisions based on them, and we hope that Surveillance Self-Defense will help you do that."

It's can be as simple as managing account passwords securely, but staying abreast of your privacy rights as an individual and taking steps to protect them are two critical ways to ensure these rights aren't infringed upon.

We may live in an increasingly paperless world, but that doesn't mean information exchanged via the Internet is any safer from spying eyes. Take the hint and peruse the guide to learn what you're not doing to protect yourself.