How To Use the Internet in 'Stealth Mode' (The Key To Staying Private When Big Brother is Watching)

"For the first time ever, it will become technologically and financially feasible for authoritarian governments to record near everything in other words said or done within their borders - every phone conversation, electronic message, social media interaction, the movements of almost every person and vehicle, and video from every street corner." This was from the opening paragraph of a Brookings Institution report. Does that send chills up your spine? If so, don't read the rest of this article: you might not touch your computer for a week. As I discussed in the case for e-mail diversification, planting your electronic flag is truly an important part of the "online privacy equation", as it gets the storage and routing of your e-mail messages out of jurisdictions which are not respectful of your privacy. But, there are additional concerns that you should be worried about. Many Internet Service Providers in the western world are required by law to track near everything you do online. During the US government has been trying to hide their electronic wiretapping program as a state secret, the EU made theirs public by passing the Data Retention Directive of 2006. Article 5, in accordance with "Categories of data to be retained", lists the gory details of what is tracked. This is required for home phones, mobile phones, Internet telephony and e-mail. And depending on the country, this information will be kept for 6 months to 2 YEARS. Pursuant to this agreement the Data Retention Directive, here is what is being tracked in every e-mail sent:

How is this useful?

How is this useful? Then, let's say you're an international traveler who is as well a Hulu addict. You are in a location where Hulu has but to negotiate viewing rights. So you fire up your VPN and choose to have your traffic appear as if it's coming from a computer in the USA. Voila! Now you can watch recent US-based TV shows on Hulu through your VPN connection in whatever far off land you may find yourself in. Not all VPN providers are created evenly For those less interested in Internet entertainment and more interested in privacy, we should discuss different aspects of VPN providers that differentiate them from each other...

Next steps Start investigating what other international travelers and privacy-inclined individuals are using for their VPN services. Find out what their primary needs were and how their chosen VPN service "scratched their itch". There are three different threads regarding VPNs going on right now in the Innovation and Personal Privacy section of the International Man Forum. Become a free member of the International Man Network, and you can join in to discuss this topic and many others. Special Thanks to Paul Rosenberg from CryptoHippie for his feedback during writing this article. Paul was interviewed by International Man back in July 2011 and you can find that conversation here.

If you don't have a strategy for dealing with the dangers of the online world, download our Online Privacy report, which will share some common sense steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from the dark side of the Internet. Available to International Man Members at no cost in the member's area. If you are not but a member, claim your free membership here.

Self-taught

Kyle Gonzales is a self-taught, self-made business professional with 13 years of experience in the IT industry. Over that time, he has assumed leadership positions ranging from corporate networking to technical sales. In 2011 he launched JumpShip Services, a firm that offers "multi-flagged" e-mail solutions that offer enhanced security, privacy and peace of mind for your digital communications.