Personal Cybersecurity Under Tech Authoritarianism

Moment of Truth with Ami Chen Mills

Personal Cybersecurity Under Tech Authoritarianism

00:00 / 58:35

In a special joint radio program, Ami Chen Mills joins Luigi Oppido, host of “The Computer Man” show to discuss the massive breaches of security at the Treasury Department and multiple, other federal departments by Elon Musk and his DOGDY team of apparently virulently racist youngsters–and how to protect our information, if we still can.

What do we do about our private information and communications now that Tech Broligarchs seem intent on gaining entry into every aspect of our lives?

Covered in this episode:

Freezing lines of credit, due to DOGE security breaches
Signal, Protonmail, etc.
Google and Gmail privacy
License plate readers and ring cams
Can you keep your phone from being tracked?
Can people listen in to your phone conversations or hack your phone?
How safe our desktop and laptop devices?

Note to Listeners: Our resources were going to include a comprehensive list of what to do about what. Due to what we felt was some urgency getting this episode, we offer what we can below (which turns out to be a lot, actually). We have been very busy! We will add more later. Thanks.

Personal Data and Cyber Security

First, the Dodgy Musk Team’s mass, illegal theft of personal data from various federal agencies, including: social security numbers, Tax ID numbers, medical records via Medicare and Medicaid and bank accounts linked to IRS payment systems.

First, we recommend you listen to this entire program and/or see the program transcription at Apple Podcasts.

Luigi recommends:

Initiate a credit freeze with the major credit companies: Experian. Equifax. TransUnion. (See contact info in resources below.)
Move money out of IRS accessed accounts and close those accounts (these are the accounts where you get your direct deposit tax refunds. Set up on account to receive funds from the IRS)
If you are very concerned (and we recommend moving money locally and out of the big, fossil-fueled banks), move money into local credit unions and (possibly) foreign banks or block chain monies (however, risky!)

A few questions we asked:

MOT: What are the capacities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and now the federal government in general? … with their tracking/hacking software, along with that of major tech companies?

Luigi: DHS is able to intercept photo data via technology that acts as a “middleman” between cell towers and your phone. Additionally, malware from hackers from China and elsewhere have hacked into AT&T and Verizon and this malware has not been removed. Update: these companies now say they have handled this problem, as of last December. You be the judge.

MOT: What happens when you shut your phone off? Turn off location services? Can it still be tracked?

Luigi: According to Edward Snowden, there are parts of our phones that can be “powered up” via electromagnetics even if our phones are off.

To be very safe, leave phones at home. Or use a Faraday Cage and put your phone inside. You can buy a Faraday Cage online, or you can make your own Faraday Cage with a few layers of tin/aluminum foil, a metal garbage can or cocktail shaker: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-make-your-own-faraday-cage

MOT: What happens when you get off of wifi on your desk or laptop? Can it still be “hacked”?

Luigi: Recommends turning of your modem entirely to be safe. Some of his clients have a timer that turns their modems off automatically.

Info & Resources re: Security Concerns

Freeze Your Credit:

You can create accounts with all three credit agencies (Transunion, Experian, and Equifax) for free but some agencies make the links for the free login creation hard to find. You can also freeze your credit over the phone. A credit freeze does not impact your credit score or keep you from using your credit cards, etc. A credit freeze allows you to protect your credit and someone who is not you from accessing your credit to use to take out a loan, etc.

Credit Bureau Phone Numbers & Free Account Login Creation Links:

Transunion: