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Em

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Em is a full-time staff writer at Privacy Guides. She is a public‑interest technologist and researcher who has been working on various independent projects in data privacy, information security, and software engineering since 2018.

Em is passionate about digital rights, privacy advocacy, solid security, and code for the public good. In her free time, you can find Em on Mastodon giving privacy tips or boosting photos of cats and moss.

@Em0nM4stodon@infosec.exchange

  • in News

Queer Dating Apps: Beware Who You Trust With Your Intimate Data

Photo of a hand holding a phone with a rainbow gradient and a white heart on it. The hand holds the phone in front of a vertical rainbow background with an open eye displayed transparently over it, symbolizing surveillance.

When discussing the intersection of data privacy and LGBTQ+ experiences, it's inevitable to also talk about queer dating apps. Due to a smaller percentage of the population and a number of factors complicating in-person dating, people part of the queer community are more likely to seek online platforms to meet lovers and friends. Unfortunately, using queer dating apps can be very dangerous for privacy, and even for safety.

You Can Say NO

Black and white cutout photos of two hands over a blue background. One hand does an offering gesture and the other one a refusing gesture. The word "No!" is printed in the middle.

In the age of facial recognition and age verification, it might feel like our data is being harvested left and right, completely outside our control or consent. Yet, we still have a powerful weapon to fight back against surveillance: The power to say no.

  • in News

Stay Safe, but Stay Connected

Photo of a rainbow heart with each color made of a neon light.

In data privacy, we often talk about the dangers of data collection and exposed data. It can get overwhelming to learn more about all the information that is collected on us, especially at the beginning. As a coping mechanism, some people react by downplaying concerns, disregarding dangers, and ignoring precautions altogether. Others react the opposite way: by isolating themselves, and no longer sharing anything with anyone. But neither is a viable solution.

Selling Surveillance as Convenience

Stylized and colorized photo of a large wooden horse standing over a blue sky.

Increasingly, surveillance is being normalized and integrated in our lives. Under the guise of convenience, applications and features are sold to us as being the new better way to do things. While some might be useful, this convenience is a Trojan horse. The cost of it is the continuous degradation of our privacy rights, with all that that entails.

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The Importance of Data Privacy For The Queer Community

Photo of a Progress Pride Flag with a semi-transparent padlock icon over it.

Data privacy is important for everyone. But for some marginalized populations, data privacy is indispensable for social connection, access to information, and physical safety. For Pride month this year, we will discuss topics at the intersection of data privacy and experiences specific to the LGBTQ+ community.

Your Online Life Is IRL

Photo of an illuminated red street sign with the word Internet on it.

If you, like myself, have been inhabiting the internet for a few decades, you're probably familiar with the old adage IRL: In Real Life.

The acronym was used a lot when the distinction between online life and offline life was much greater than it is now. In today's world, can we really keep referring to our digital life as being somehow disconnected from our "real life"?

KeePassium Review: A Flexible Password Manager for iOS and macOS

The KeePassium logo over a yellow background showing Apple devices.

If you have been looking for a password manager giving you full control over your data, KeePassium is a fantastic option. The application available for iOS and macOS keeps your password database offline by default. KeePassium still offers synchronization and backup options, but allows you to choose which storage provider to trust with your database, and change it whenever you want.

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Sam Altman Wants Your Eyeball

Image of a red circle of light that resembles a human iris over a black background.

Last week, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman announced in San Francisco that the World project he co-founded, formerly known as Worldcoin, is opening six stores across the United States, allowing users of the project's app to scan their eyeballs.

Simply put, the premise is this: scan your eyeball, get a biometric tag, verify yourself, buy our apps (and cryptocurrency). The scary part is the for-profit company developing the project has now gathered millions in venture capital investment, powerful partners, and is ready to expand and impose its Minority Report style technology everywhere. Welcome to Dystopialand.

  • in News

Age Verification Wants Your Face, and Your Privacy

A stylized photo showing a person holding a printed photo of their face in front of their actual face.

Age verification laws and propositions forcing platforms to restrict content accessed by children and teens have been multiplying in recent years. The problem is, implementing such measures necessarily requires identifying each user accessing this content, one way or another. This is bad news for your privacy.

In Praise of Tor: Why You Should Support and Use Tor

The Tor Project logo over a series of Tor icons on a purple background.

You might have heard of Tor in the news a few times, yet never dared to try it yourself. Despite being around for decades, Tor is still a tool too few people know about.

Today, Tor is easy to use for anyone. It helps not only journalists and activists, but anybody who seeks greater privacy online or access to information regardless of location. But what is Tor exactly? How can Tor help you? And why is it such an important tool?

Encryption Is Not a Crime

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Contrary to what some policymakers seem to believe, whether naively or maliciously, encryption is not a crime. Anyone asserting encryption is a tool for crime is either painfully misinformed or is attempting to manipulate legislators to gain oppressive power over the people.

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Interview with Micah Lee: Cyd, Lockdown Systems, OnionShare, and more

Photo of Micah Lee over a yellow and purple graphic background, and with the name Micah Lee written on the right.

If you don't know who Micah Lee is yet, here's why you should: Micah is an information security engineer, a software engineer, a journalist, and an author who has built an impressive career developing software for the public good, and working with some of the most respected digital rights organizations in the United States.

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Privacy Means Safety

Photo of a padlock with "SOS" written on it and a drawn heart instead of an "O" letter. It is locked on a metal fence.

Privacy is a human right that should be granted to everyone, no matter the reason. That being said, it's also important to remember that for millions of people around the world, data privacy is crucial for physical safety. For people in extreme situations, privacy can literally mean life or death.

KeePassXC + YubiKey: How to set up a local-only password manager

Illustration showing a laptop computer with the KeePassXC logo on it. On the right is a green plus sign and a photo of a YubiKey.

If you are looking for a good remote password manager you can use from anywhere, there are plenty of excellent options to choose from. However, if you prefer to only store your passwords locally, KeePassXC is what you need. In this tutorial, we will set up KeePassXC to work with YubiKey as an additional factor to secure your local-only password database.

Privacy is Also Protecting the Data of Others

Illustration from a photo of two children standing in a grass field. The taller child holds a yellow umbrella protecting the smaller child.

In privacy, we talk a lot about how to protect our own data, but what about our responsibility to protect the data of others?

If you care about privacy rights, you must also care for the data of the people around you. To make privacy work, we need to develop a culture that normalizes caring for everyone's data, not just our own. Privacy cannot solely be a personal responsibility, data privacy is team work.

  • in News

The UK Government Forced Apple to Remove Advanced Data Protection: What Does This Mean for You?

Photo of a person reading a book. The book is George Orwell's 1984. In the upper left corner is an Apple logo with two bites taken off.

On February 7th this year, Joseph Menn reported from the Washington Post that officials in the United Kingdom had contacted Apple to demand the company allows them to access data from any iCloud user worldwide. This included users who had activated Apple's Advanced Data Protection, effectively requesting Apple break its strong end-to-end encrypted feature.

No, Privacy is Not Dead: Beware the All-or-Nothing Mindset

Photo of a protest with someone holding a sign saying Fight Today For a Better Tomorrow.

In my work as a privacy advocate, I regularly encounter two types of discourse that I find very damaging to privacy as a whole. The first one is the idea that privacy is dead, implying it's not worth putting any effort to protect personal data anymore. This is the abdication mindset. This attitude is the one that scares me the most because without giving it a fight then of course the battle is lost in advance. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, privacy is dead if you let it die.

CryptPad Review: Replacing Google Docs

Article cover photo showing a phone icon over a protest

If you have been thinking about migrating to a privacy-focused replacement to Google Docs, now is the time. Google products, as convenient and popular as they might be, are atrocious for data privacy (not to mention ethics).

  • in News

The Future of Privacy: How Governments Shape Your Digital Life

Black and white photo of a street post at night. The street post has some ripped stickers on it and a stencilled graffiti saying Big Data is Watching You.

Data privacy is a vast subject that encompasses so much. Some might think it is a niche focus interesting only a few. But in reality, it is a wide-ranging field influenced by intricate relationships between politics, law, technology, and much more. Further, it affects everyone in one way or another, whether they care about it or not.