Harrison Paul
Dr. Koellner
German Lit in Translation
8 December 2020
My Data Diary
Day 1 (December 1st):
Today I decided to no longer use Google and to switch to a different browser that is more secure. The browser I have chosen is DuckDuckGo. The benefits of switching to DuckDuckGo are boundless. Everything from less propagated search queries to less of my data being sold.
Day 2 (December 2nd):
My next step in practicing counter surveillance is downloading and using a VPN. Today I installed NordVPN. By using a VPN, all of my internet use is now secure. This means that I am able to use the internet without the worry of my information being sold and my internet practices being under close scrutiny. There are also hidden benefits of downloading a VPN. I am also able to now watch Netflix shows that aren’t available in the United States, as well as watch videos that are banned in this country.
Day 3 (December 3rd)
Today I realized the importance of setting all of my social media to private and being careful of all of the information I share. Due to this I turned my instagram account to private and I turned off my location services on Snapchat, a service that allows other people to see your personal location.
Day 4 (December 4th):
This may sound simple but today I decided to cover up my webcam. With the presence of “always-on” programs such as Zoom, I find the extra safety precaution to be fairly necessary. And for the record, former FBI director James Comey said himself that Americans should cover their webcams.
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/295933-fbi-director-cover-up-your-webcam
Day 5 (December 5th):
Now that it’s winter during the pandemic, I feel the most hidden in my entire life. When I wear my mask and a hoodie, I feel as if I have a blanket masking my identity. I think this will be my “get-up” for everytime I go out now.
Day 6 (December 6th):
Today I connected my Twitter account to applymagicsauce.com as a way to have some personal surveillance over myself, and while I have only tweeted a less than 50 times I was extremely surprised to see that the data profile that was created for me was insanely correct.
Day 7 (December 7th)
Today I decided that I would no longer fall into the trap of social media and I decided to stop using it entirely. As well I have decided to download all of my data in order to have personal agency over myself. Goodbye Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.
Counter Surveillance and Taking Agency Over Yourself
In the year 2020, humans have become subjugated to surveillance that is at a level that is completely unprecedented. By the means of social media, satellites, search engines, advertisements, and many other mediums, humanity has become surrounded by surveillance at every front. As well, privacy is dwindling down for the average person, more and more everyday, with very little chance of it ever returning to what it was. As each day passes, new algorithms are developed, with each one better than the last. These algorithms are designed in order to suck a person into the illusionary world of the surveillance state, making users more and more addicted to platforms that surveille them. It is no secret that these surveillance tactics have become incredibly detrimental to the mental health of humanity and due to this, counter-surveillance has become more important than it ever has been. Counter-surveillance is the actions that a person can put in place in order to take personal agency over how their data is being surveilled around the world and on the Internet.
In order to take back agency over myself and my own personal surveillance, I decided that I would spend each day incorporating a new counter-surveillance method that would give me back freedom in the presence of a surveillance state. In chronological order these include, switching over search engines, using a Virtual Private Network, covering my web cameras and front facing mobile cameras, wearing surveillance-conscious clothing, analyzing my own social media data, and lastly getting rid of social media.
On the first day of my counter-surveillance experiment I decided to switch my search engine from Google to DuckDuckGO. Google is an incredibly infamous company due to their lack of privacy concerns, and is known to track users. From the Associated Press, “An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so.” DuckDuckGO, does none of this, at least according to them they don’t, and this alone does wonders from a counter-surveillance perspective. As well, Google is notorious in 2020 for heavily censoring search results for many different topics. In fact, I am still mesmerized by how different my experience on DuckDuckGo has been compared to Google.
Following this, on the second day, I started using a Virtual Private Network. Virtual Private Networks, also known as VPNs, disguise its users internet connection by rerouting it through a different location. During this process, the users browsing data becomes invisible to hackers, ISPs (Internet Service Providers), and even the government. The VPN that I chose to use is called NordVPN. NordVPN allows its users to choose a custom location that their virtual network is located in. This comes with many hidden benefits as well; Netflix shows and videos that are unavailable in the United States are accessible using a VPN. Instantly after using NordVPN, I feel more safe and secure.
The third step in my journey towards freedom from the surveillance state was to reassess all of my privacy related settings on social media. First I set all of my non-anonymous social media accounts to private, specifically Instagram and Facebook. This allows me to have direct control over who I allow to have agency over me. Following this I decided to go on Snapchat and edit all of my location services settings. Snapchat has a feature on its app that allows friends to see where other friends are located; while this is an amazing idea in concept, it is the antithesis to what counter-surveillance stands for. I changed the settings so that only my best friend and my girlfriend can see my location.
On the fourth day, I covered all of my webcams and front-facing mobile cameras. According to former FBI director James Comey, “If you go into any government office, we all have our little camera things that sit on top of the screen, they all have a little lid that closes down on them.” A lot of people find this to be silly, but in my personal opinion I believe that this is an obvious measure. This provides direct protection from the likes of hackers, the NSA, or whoever. Another reason that I incorporated this into my own life was to give myself peace of mind. With the prevalence of free applications such as Snapchat and Zoom, I decided to take the FBI’s advice and put tape over my cameras.
Following this, on the fifth day, I decided to take the advice of surveillance conscious filmmaker Hito Steyl, and I made myself satellite proof. Due to the arrival of winter and the existence of the pandemic, this has become fairly easy. When I leave my house I wear a mask and a hoodie, as a result of this, all of my defining features are able to be disguised and invisible to satellites. According to Hito Steyl’s ironic short film “How To Not Be Seen,” satellites have the ability to focus on any location in the world by a radius of only a couple feet. Due to this, I found it incredibly important to be more satellite-aware in my fashion choices.
On December 6th, I took direct action on created personal agency over myself and my own data. By using the website applymagicsauce.com, I was able to import my own social media data and create a data analysis sheet. The results shocked me, simply by looking at my posts and other social media activity, applymagicsauce.com was able to pinpoint nearly every single one of my personal intellectual characteristics. Honestly, this came to me as a shock and it took me a while to process all of this.
On the last day of my experiment, I decided to hang up the towel on Social Media. The six days prior to this, showcased the many reasons that I should stop falling for the illusion that social media provides. As a result, I deleted Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter from my phone. Of all the applications that I used in my experiment, I have found that this has given me the most freedom in the presence of the surveillance state.
In conclusion, this personal experiment allowed me to take back control in my own personal digital identity, and I would go as far as say that I feel free from the presence of the surveillance state. In the twenty-first century it is incredibly important for humanity to really think about what is more important: easability or freedom. Following my personal experiment, I discussed the implications with a group of four people who also attempted this on their own lives. After discussing with my group, I have found that we all took a very similar path to finding personal freedom; we all switched search engines, assessed our privacy settings, and started to cover our webcams. As a whole, we all found this to have an extremely positive outcome on our lives.
Works Cited
Steyl, Hito, director. How Not to Be Seen. A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File. Steyl, 2013.
“FBI Director Says He Covers His Webcam And Shares Other Security Recommendations”. Business Insider, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-director-covers-webcam-2016-9. Accessed 8 Dec 2020.
“The Importance Of Using A VPN – Stay Safe Online”. Stay Safe Online, 2016, https://staysafeonline.org/blog/the-importance-of-using-a-vpn/#:~:text=A%20virtual%20private%20network%20(VPN,your%20online%20security%20and%20privacy.&text=Additionally%2C%20because%20your%20data%20is,intercept%20your%20data%20en%20route. Accessed 8 Dec 2020.