Companies like BuzzFeed have turned online quizzes into a cultural phenomenon. Which “Game of Thrones” character are you? Do you remember these 90s TV shows? Before you answer either of those questions via a quiz, consider doing almost anything else – these quizzes are designed in part to harvest your data and sell it to […]

Providing your email address to a website is often a necessary step for setting up an account. To reduce the amount of mail you receive and avoid phishing more generally, consider using a dedicated email address separate from your personal account. For forums or other quick and non-vital signups, a burner email address might be […]

It’s possible to log in to Facebook with your phone number and to send SMS messages via Facebook Messenger. However, there’s some risk involved, as your number might be sold to marketers or be used by strangers to look up your profile without even knowing your name. Stick with your email address if possible.

Facebook and Messenger are two of the most common mobile apps, but they both ask for extensive permissions and consume a lot of battery. One alternative is to use the Facebook mobile website, which is less resource-intensive and minimalist. You can also find third-party messaging clients like Friendly that handle all of Messenger’s functionality in […]

Some malware and viruses can harvest the login information and personal details necessary to conduct fraudulent transactions in your name. For that reason, you should always scan your financial statements for any mysterious charges so you can alert the institution and take corrective steps like changing your passwords.

You might have heard that deleting something from a device or hard disk drive doesn’t really erase it, and that’s true. Accordingly, be careful if you ever throw away a hard drive or resell an old PC since your old activities and files are theoretically still recoverable. It might make sense to use a deep […]