在Digital Citizen，我们非常重视在线隐私和安全。(privacy & security)如今，人们不能太小心，这是一个不争的事实，我们掌握的信息越多越好。在这种情况下，知识真的就是力量。因此，我对“控制您的在线隐私(Take Control of your Online Privacy)”这个标题非常感兴趣。这本书能告诉我更多关于在线安全和隐私(security and privacy)的知识吗？这是一本相当短的电子书（118 页），所以它包含足够的信息以使其值得购买吗？让我告诉你我发现了什么。
开个好头
作者乔·基塞尔 ( Joe Kissell ) 从一开始就通过直截了当地介绍本书的目的来吸引读者，然后是一个同样直截了当的挑战：了解你必须隐藏(Learn what you have to hide)的内容。正如他所指出的，我们中的许多人可能认为我们没有什么可隐瞒的，但事实并非如此。即使是最无辜的人也有很多要隐藏的地方，并且有很多方法可以阻止窥探者。
这本书通过准确解释大多数人想要保密的内容（位置、医疗信息、就业信息(employment information)等）以及向谁保密，从而切入正题。一些数据窥探是关于人们的期望（特别是广告商）并且具有相对良性的意图（有针对性的广告）。而且，当然，无论我们是否意识到，各种搜索引擎都会从我们这里吸取数据。
但是还有其他人的意图远非善意（黑客、恶意软件创建者、我们生活中的人，他们可能只是太爱管闲事或实际上希望我们受到伤害等），当然还有世界各地的各种政府机构，我们的意图是只是不知道。
那么，所有这些人和机构都渴望从我们那里获得的所有信息，是否有可能保持真正的私密性和真正的安全性？作者对此很诚实：不。但他随后开始提供易于理解的方式，让大多数人可以拥有尽可能多的隐私。我赞赏诚实和直截了当的方法(straightforward approach)来陈述问题并为读者提供解决方案。
计划和战略
这本书继续详细解释了你需要做什么来负责，从容易解决的事情开始，然后解决更复杂的问题。我们中的大多数人每天都随意使用电子邮件和网络浏览器，而没有过多考虑我们键入的内容和发送的内容可能会被其他人看到和使用，这本书解释了我们在从事这些日常活动时如何保护自己。其中很多都是简单的常识，但如果你手头有正确的信息，常识就会容易得多。例如，有多少日常用户对DNS有所了解？然而，确保这些设置正确完成（或者甚至使用您自己的ISP以外的DNS 提供商(DNS provider)）是您实现隐私的简单步骤家庭网络(home network)。
我怀疑很多人不了解VPN(VPNs)（虚拟专用网络），以及设置它们的难易程度，以便在咖啡店等公共场所进行浏览更加安全。这本书也用简单的术语解释了这一点。
我特别喜欢逐步创建自己的个人隐私策略(privacy strategy)的方法。我敢肯定，我是许多以前从未考虑过做这种基本和必要的事情的人之一。我现在正在做！
甚至还有一个承诺。写得很轻松，但目的很严肃：不要无知，在信息时代(information age)受教育如此容易，不要愚蠢，因为它会(WILL)回来咬你。
采取正确的步骤
这本书充满了接受教育的机会。我们大多数人，包括我自己，都不会每天都在想这些事情。您使用什么设备访问网络、社交媒体和电子邮件？万一被偷了怎么办？我们中的很多人都担心文档和数据，但我们是否会停止认为任何人偷了笔记本电脑或智能手机(laptop or smartphone)然后也可以访问我们的整个浏览历史记录(browsing history)？他们将知道访问了哪些站点，并且可以查看页面本身的缓存版本。如果您使用浏览器存储密码，请考虑可能会发生的恶作剧。
您的电子邮件帐户也是如此。无论您使用电子邮件客户端(email client)（就像我一样）还是直接登录您的网络电子邮件(web email)，任何接触到您的计算机或手机(computer or phone)的人都可以访问您的所有电子邮件。即使你只是和朋友来回闲聊，你也不会真的希望一些卑鄙的人得到你所有朋友的电子邮件地址，是吗？
还有一些像Facebook这样的网站，有些人似乎愿意吐出他们生命中每一个最后时刻的每一个细节。如果有人认为这些东西在任何方面都是私密的，特别是因为Facebook似乎每隔几周就会随心所欲地改变一切，那么他们只是为他们完成了低级生活的工作。
还有一些涉及儿童的特殊问题。不仅幼儿在使用互联网时需要受到保护，而且成年人发布的有关这些儿童的信息，无论多么无辜，也需要得到严格的保护。
提出这些问题后，作者向读者介绍了从简单到高级的解决方案，并清楚地解释了需要做什么以及为什么要做。我想大多数读者会发现，就像我一样，这本身就让人大开眼界。它的作者还制作了一个很棒的视频，作为对这本书的一个很好的介绍。您可以在下面查看它：
结论
这本书很小，但很强大。每一页都有有用的信息，由清楚知道自己在说什么的人写的。这本书很好地组合在一起，带有指向其他部分的超链接以及指向外部资源的链接。我可以毫不犹豫地说，这让我大开眼界，我已准备好开始将建议付诸实践。
判决
控制您的在线隐私(Take Control of your Online Privacy)这本书提供了在线隐私和安全实践(privacy and security practices)方面的基本教育，其中包含大量有用的信息，因此读者可以采取实际行动。这本书10-12美元的价格很划算。为什么会有人想错过这样的教育经历？
Book Review - Take Control of your Online Privacy, by Joe Kissell
Here at Digital Citizen we take online privacy & security very seriously. Nowadays, it's a fact of life that one just can't be too careful, and the more information we have, the better. In this case, knowledge really is power. Thus, I was very interested by the title Take Control of your Online Privacy. Could this book tell me more than what I already had learned about online security and privacy? It's a fairly short e-book (118 pages) so would it pack in enough information to make it worth buying? Let me tell you what I've found out.
Getting off to a good start
The author, Joe Kissell, draws the reader in right from the get-go with a straightforward introduction to the book's purpose, followed by an equally straightforward challenge: Learn what you have to hide. As he points out, many of us may assume we have nothing to hide, but that just simply isn't so. Even the most innocent person has plenty to hide, and there are plenty of ways to keep snoopers out.
The book gets right down to business by explaining exactly what most people want to keep private (location, medical information, employment information and so forth) and from whom. Some of the data snoops are about what people expect (advertisers, in particular) and have relatively benign intentions (targeted ads). And, of course, the various search engines suck up data from us whether we realize it or not.
But there are others out there whose intentions are far from benign (hackers, malware creators, people from our own lives who may simply be far too nosy or actually wish us harm, etc.) and of course various government agencies world wide whose intentions we just don't know.
So, with all those people and agencies lusting after all the information they can get from us, is it possible to stay really private and really secure? The author is honest about it: No. But he then starts out to provide easy to understand ways in which most people can have as much privacy as is possible. I appreciated the honesty and the straightforward approach to stating the problem and giving the reader a path to a solution.
The plan and the strategy
The book goes on to explain in detail exactly what you need to do to take charge, starting with things that are easy to fix and moving on through more complex problems. Most of us use email and web browsers casually every day without much thought about how what we type and what we send might be seen and used by someone else, and the book explains how we can protect ourselves while engaged in these everyday activities. A lot of it is simple common sense, but common sense is a lot easier if you've got the right information on hand. How many everyday users know anything about DNS, for example? And yet making sure those settings are done right (or even using a DNS provider other than your own ISP) is one simple step towards privacy from your home network.
I suspect a lot of people don't know about VPNs (virtual private networks), and how easily they can be set up so that browsing from public places like coffee shops can be much more secure. The book also explains this in simple terms.
I especially liked the step-by-step approach to creating one's own personal privacy strategy. I'm sure I'm one of many people who never even considered doing something this basic and essential before. I'm doing it now!
And there is even a Pledge to take. It's written in a lighthearted manner, but the purpose is serious: Don't be ignorant, when getting educated is so easy in the information age, and don't be stupid, because it WILL come back to bite you.
Taking the right steps
The book is filled with opportunities to get an education. Most of us, and I'm including myself, don't think about these things from day to day. What device do you use for web access, social media and email? What would happen if it got stolen? A lot of us worry about documents and data, but do we stop to think that anyone who steals a laptop or smartphone then has access to our entire browsing history as well? They'll know what sites were visited and can see cached versions of the pages themselves. If you use your browser to store your passwords, think of the mischief that might be done.
The same could be said of your email accounts. Whether you use an email client (as I do) or just log into your web email directly, anyone who gets their hands on your computer or phone then has access to all your emails as well. Even if you've just been chit-chatting back and forth with friends, you don't really want some lowlife getting their hands on all your friends' email addresses, do you?
And then there are sites like Facebook, on which some people seem to be willing to vomit up every last detail of every last moment of their lives. If anyone thinks that stuff is in any way private, especially since Facebook seems to change everything on a whim every few weeks, they've just done the lowlifes' job for them.
There are also special issues involving children. Not only do young children need to be protected while using the internet, but information adults post about those children, no matter how innocently, needs to be fiercely protected as well.
Having brought up these issues, the author then walks the reader through solutions that range from the simple to the advanced, with clear explanations of what needs to be done, and why. I think most readers will find, as I did, that this is an eye-opener in itself. It's author has also created a great video that serves as an excellent introduction to the book. You can view it below:
Conclusions
This book is small but it's powerful. There is useful information on every page, written by someone who clearly knows what he's talking about. The book is well put together, with hyperlinks to other sections and links to outside sources as well. I can say without hesitation that it was a major eye-opener for me and I'm ready to start putting the advice into practice.
The Verdict
The book Take Control of your Online Privacy provides an essential education in online privacy and security practices, with plenty of useful information so the reader can take practical action. And the $10-12 price of the book is a bargain. Why would anyone want to miss out on an educational experience like this?
