Time to look ahead.
There are some things that can't be done in five minutes—but that doesn't mean they can't be broken into smaller pieces. In this session, we look at how to make long-term plans to fully shift your internet life away from services that track, harvest, and control your information.
This includes finding alternative email servers and cloud storage, and looking at alternative social platforms. We look at the habits that are baked into our lives and plan achievable ways to de-integrate from or replace those services over time.
To be honest, I'm not a tech genius, and my adventure into the world of privacy is still relatively new. I've been saving my photos to the same service for fifteen years. It's a free service, because they make their money harvesting my information and selling it to the highest bidder, or using it to predict my buying habits. That's been the norm on the internet for over a decade now! That's not something I can change in five minutes, but that doesn't mean it's a lost cause. I'll join you in talking through which alternatives work best for you, weighing your options, and setting aside doable blocks of time to chip away at the larger projects.
In the words of High School Musical, we're all in this together. Privacy protects ourselves and our communities—and just like anything worth doing, the kinder we are to ourselves in the process, the more we'll get done.
Think we missed something? Do you have a tool that you'd love to share? Reach out to [email protected]!
Need a step-by-step worksheet to follow along? Keep an eye on this space for more resources and how-to guides.
About the Series
Whether you're emailing about your upcoming season choices or sending tasteful nudes to that special someone, you deserve to know that your chats, emails, and digital identity are free from prying eyes. But when the biggest Peeping Toms these days are the platforms we use, it can be hard to feel like we have agency over our online existences, let alone take it.
It's an overwhelming task, especially if you—like me—have been weaving your online identity into these platforms for over a decade. But if you—like me—have a petty streak, it may be motivating to remember: these companies profit when you believe that protecting your privacy is an impossible task.
It's not. I'm here to help you break this overwhelming task into little steps, and give you the motivation and space to reclaim your online identity.
In this series, we'll talk about why it's important to protect our right to privacy for ourselves and our community, and also give you space and time to take immediate actions. Have you been meaning to install a VPN or set up a password manager? We'll make space for that. Do you keep forgetting to change the passwords on your online bank accounts? Do it while we're on this call. Don't leave the tab open in the background for months—join the party and get it done.
Some of the solutions will be easy, and some will take a little more investment. But each little action you take becomes a part of your commitment to a better future.
About Thea
Thea Rodgers (she/her) is a writer, actor, space nerd, and HowlRound TV Producer. She grew up in the Bay Area through the tech boom-and-bust of the early 2000s and, before joining the team at HowlRound, worked as tech support at her college's IT Desk. These experiences gave her a superficial interest in how technology works and a deep, deep interest in the ways it's used to shape and change society—some ways that feel beautiful and exciting, and other ways that feel driven by an insatiable desire for profit. Thea is a proud union member of the WGA-West. She is not a coder, programmer, hacker, or console cowboy. She's just a girl, standing in front of her computer, asking it to stop updating every five minutes and help her build a better future.
About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world’s performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page.
Comments
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Thanks indeed for this series! Haven't found a links sheet posted for those who couldn't join live, but the approach and services mentioned are helpful!