Browser History Privacy is Not Necessarily Dead: Be Proactive
Investigators are often called upon to develop Personal Identity Information on witnesses in order to correctly identify and locate them. The Information Age spawned this terminology which is often mentioned in privacy legislation on the State and Federal levels as well as by information and data provider companies such as Lexis Nexus, TransUnion and others. The Social Security Number, date of birth, and residential address are key personal identifiers, as you would suspect. The worldwide proliferation of cell phones and personal and business computers, including desktops, laptops, and tablets, all now allow for another form of personal identity information: the user’s IP – Internet Protocol address. How do you protect your online identity?
Federal privacy rules that were enacted last year and were about to take effect were rescinded by the President this past April. This development has allowed Internet Service Providers to now sell your browsing history as they know your specific IP address in the normal course of commerce. As a result, you have just suffered a major assault on your privacy. You will be targeted primarily for commercial reasons since the buyers of this information will know, for example, that you are an avid fly fisherman, boater, or even a ballroom dancer. You will become inundated with fishing equipment advertisements, marine gear ads and yes, even ads for dancing shoes.
This is already happening and quite likely you have noticed, if you are a Facebook user, that ads that are personally suited to your purchase history are appearing regularly in your feed. So, what is the down side? Besides wading through many more advertisements, your website habits will become known, and many firms will have this information. What is to prevent the U.S. government from purchasing this information? We have all read about the major cellular providers that were giving customers’ cellular usage information to the U.S government ten years ago without their knowledge. The cellular companies did not want to lose government contracts so they therefore, provided this information without your knowledge. They justified their behavior by the notion they were helping anti-terrorism efforts. The more principled firms did not provide this data.
Ten years ago, I was doing extensive online research as a defense investigator for the defense team in the U.S. v. Eric Rudolph case in the Eastern District of Alabama. Rudolph became notorious as the alleged bomber of Centennial Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics. He also allegedly bombed abortion clinics in Birmingham and an abortion clinic and gay nightclub within Georgia. I recall being a bit nervous as I was routinely researching militant anti-abortion sites, and online book retailers that sold such subversive classics like The Anarchist’s Handbook. I was visiting Neo-Nazi, White Supremacy and KKK sites since there was crossover between these groups within the militant anti-abortion movement. Fortunately, the very government that I suspected could be privy to this sort of browsing history, was most likely not involved in this kind of electronic surveillance, but it was a concern even though I had a solid professional reason for visiting these sites.
As an attorney in your given practice area, can you foresee instances where your browsing history, if public, could possibly compromise a case? Your IP address could easily become known to opposing counsel simply by looking behind the scenes at your email address or header which identifies you. It is not a long stretch to conceive this possibility especially if the stakes were high.
VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS
A solution to this form of online exposure is fairly easy. You have no doubt heard the term “VPN” or virtual private network. You can download an app and connect to any website on the internet with a VPN proxy. You will be able to encrypt your internet traffic and hide your IP address. Your internet service provider will not be able to track your online activities and therefore, will be unable to sell your browsing history. You may want to use an interim solution such as the search engine www.duckduckgo.com which makes your web use anonymous. Also, you may want to consider email encryption key apps. I suggest that you discuss this alternative with your IT professional.
I recommend that you also use a VPN on your laptop or tablet when traveling and utilizing a hotel’s unsecured wi-fi access. It adds a lot of security. IPVanish is a popular app and in the $50.00 range. That is a lot of security for the money. Tor is also a respected free app for encrypting web traffic. There are numerous other apps or software solutions. You will need to trust the VPN service too, since they know who you are and run the encryption servers. I recommend that you discuss this with your firm’s IT professional. If you have a medium to large firm, there may be more robust forms of server protection geared for larger firms. If you have a smaller firm, you may want to contact your computer or network consultant or a knowledgeable colleague.
Disclaimer: I am not an IT professional. I deal in information and try to stay up to date. I highly recommend that you discuss this problem in order to find a solution with those professionals mentioned above before coming to a decision as to what is right for you and your firm.