ONLINE DATING? WE CAN HELP KEEP YOU SAFE…

Those of you looking for love online may already know that Hide My Ass! can help. No, Jack the Donkey isn’t going to teach you chat up lines. (Although he is quite the ladies man.) But we can help keep you safe online!

Using Hide My Ass! Pro VPN will encrypt your online activity, keeping your personal information safe, and will give you a new IP address and location to keep you hidden.

Our friends at Datingadvice.com can tell you more.

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IS GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE ENCOURAGING INTERNET SELF-CENSORSHIP?

Do you avoid voicing your opinions online? Perhaps you refrain from posting controversial political opinions in case of a potential backlash from friends, work colleagues or even strangers who hold a perceived majority view compared to your own view? According to a recent study, Under Surveillance: Examining Facebook’s Spiral of Silence Effects in the Wake of NSA Internet Monitoring, published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, government surveillance of the internet could be responsible for the self-censorship of online opinions.

Ever since the doors were flung open on the National Security Agency’s domestic snooping program by Edward Snowden in 2013, the vast majority of American citizens and overseas nationals are no longer strangers to their government monitoring and storing their online activities. According to the study, which uses the ‘spiral of silence’ theory (where people stay silent when their views are perceived to be the minority), government surveillance could be responsible for ‘stifling the expression of minority political views’ online.

Freedom of speech vs Government surveillance

255 people volunteered for the online study spearheaded by Elizabeth Stoycheff – assistant professor at Wayne State University. During the first stage of the study, all participants were asked about their political beliefs, personality traits and media use. Next, 121 out of 255 respondents in the group were reminded that their online activities are monitored by the U.S. government.

All participants were then shown a fictional Facebook post about US airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and asked to ‘imagine that they came across it in their news feeds’. They were then asked for their opinion on the story and to publicly express their views on it, and how they thought other Americans would feel about it.

If you thought the select number of respondents who were reminded that their online activities were being monitored by the U.S government suppressed their views publicly, you’d be correct. The study found that this ‘significantly reduced the likelihood of speaking out in hostile opinion climates.’ The study also found that respondents who believed they held the majority opinion were much more likely to express their opinions.

“The adoption of surveillance techniques, by both the government and private sectors, undermines the Internet’s ability to serve as a neutral platform for honest and open deliberations. It begins to strip away the Internet’s ability to serve as a venue for all voices, instead catering only to the most dominant,” says Elizabeth Stoycheff lead researcher of the study at Wayne State University.

A study by the Pew Research Centre conducted in 2014, entitled Social Media and the Spiral of Silence found that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter could actually encourage self-censorship. The study indicates that while people are very concerned about the NSA leaks, they aren’t comfortable with airing their opinions about the agency on Facebook. 86% of Americans surveyed said they were happy to discuss it in person, but only 42% of Twitter and Facebook users would post it online.

There have been other studies to back the fear that government surveillance programs are stifling freedom of expression and one study found that people ‘might stop visiting certain websites or not say certain things just to avoid seeming suspicious.’

This particular study Chilling Effects: Online Surveillance and Wikipedia Use by Oxford Phd candidate Jonathon W. Penney, ‘explores how traffic to Wikipedia articles on topics that raise privacy concerns for Wikipedia users decreased after the widespread publicity about NSA/PRISM surveillance revelations in June 2013.’ The study found that, due to the repercussions of the Edward Snowden document leaks, people have changed the way they used the internet.

The following is an excerpt from the study “Chilling Effects: Online Surveillance and Wikipedia Use:

‘Using the total article views as of May 2013 (2,960,778), this decrease represents an immediate drop-off just under 20%. This suggests that the revelations in June 2013 caused a sharp and sudden decrease in traffic that may be characterized as a chilling effect. More importantly, however, is that after June 2013, there is not only a large and immediate drop in views but also a statistically significant change in the overall trend in the month-to-month views of the Wikipedia articles. Rather than increasing on a monthly basis, the trend after June 2013 has completely changed. Due to the statistically significant decrease of 63,593 monthly views, the overall data trend has shifted an increase of 30,367 views per month to a decrease of 33,226 per month. This is important because it means that the NSA/PRISM surveillance revelations not only caused a sudden chilling effect, but also caused a longer term, possibly even permanent, decrease in web traffic to the Wikipedia pages studied.’

Speaking to The Washington Post, Penney said: “You want to have informed citizens… if people are spooked or deterred from learning about important policy matters like terrorism and national security, this is a real threat to proper democratic debate.”

How many times have you thought about airing your opinion online and decided against it? What stopped you? Fear of government surveillance, or that your view is perceived as a minority one? One of the hot topics that flooded popular social media sites, was the US presidential election. Whether you were in favour of Trump or Clinton why should you have to pull back in fear of what others will say? Shouldn’t we be able to voice our opinions, regardless of whether our friends or others agree or disagree with us?

Let’s not forget that we are lucky enough to enjoy freedom of speech unlike many of those living in countries such as North Korea. Why do we deny ourselves our fundamental human right to voice our own opinions?

Many internet users are still concerned that their browsing activity is monitored by their government, their ISP or other third parties. One piece of software that you can use to maintain anonymity online is a Virtual Private Network (VPN). When you connect to any one of +940 VPN servers we offer at Hide My Ass! Pro VPN, you are assigned one of our IP addresses, your connection is encrypted and you can browse the internet anonymously and securely.

  

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USING PUBLIC WI-FI? HERE’S HOW TO STAY SAFE

Public Wi-Fi is almost everywhere these days. Coffee shops, bus stops, subways – you name it, they’ve got it. Which is great for quick and easy internet access whenever we want it. However, public Wi-Fi is nowhere near as safe as we’d like to think it is – password protected or not.

When you sign in to public Wi-Fi you’re sharing a network with a lot of other people, which means your data is at risk. Yes, most wireless routers do have a firewall but this doesn’t protect you from the other people using that very same network. The world wide web is filled with hackers, trackers and snoopers just waiting to get their hands on your personal information. It’s unbelievably easy to get hold of someone’s username and password on a network of this scale and once that’s in the wrong hands they can do anything they want with that info. Private messages, bank details, personal information – they’ll have access to it all.

So, what’s the solution? Not using public Wi-Fi isn’t the answer that’s for sure, in this day and age we need constant internet access now more than ever. Luckily there is a way to protect yourself and your data whilst online, even on a public Wi-Fi network – by using a VPN.

A VPN is a virtual private network which allows you to surf the internet as if it were your very own private network. No hackers, trackers or snoopers allowed in. A VPN works by giving you your own private network on the internet, just think of it as your very own private mail box. When you’re connected to the internet a VPN will give out one of their IP addresses, not yours. The result? High secured internet allowing you to surf the net in peace – safely, seamlessly and best of all securely.

So what does that mean when using Public Wi-Fi. In a nutshell, it means you’re safe. Using a VPN protects you and your personal data from being accessed by anyone else and in short, makes you anonymous on the internet. As well as preventing hackers from stealing your personal passwords, bank details and credit card numbers. Plus, your device is protected from phishing, malware and spam. Which means you can use any Wi-Fi you like with peace of mind.

Here at HMA! we offer a variety of packages depending on the length you need a VPN for as well as a cancel any time policy. Not to mention we have over 190 servers all around the world, making us the largest in the world. What does that mean for you? Well, choose from one of our multiple servers and you can be hidden on the internet in almost any country you like, safely and securely.

And when you do make use of HMA! there are a whole range of added benefits on top of using public Wi-Fi securely. Using a VPN allows you to access your favourite sites and services, no matter where you are in the world. Meaning you’re able to bypass online government restrictions or workplace censorships with constant access to the sites you use at home. For more information head over to hidemyass.com for some extra reading.

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HMA! STANDS WITH INTERNET PRIVACY

It’s the right we all must continue to fight for (and you thought “to party” was the most important right.)

As anyone who cares about the right to access the internet (and the right to privacy while doing so) knows, US President Trump recently reversed regulations passed under President Obama.  These regulations would have prevented internet service providers (ISPs) from selling users’ web browsing data without their consent. Now the ISPs have free rein over making money from everyday people’s personal information.

The HMA! team has obviously been following this story closely, from the time it began during the Obama administration. And our stance remains now what it was then and has always been. This is wrong. It is a violation of privacy, of the right to freely access information, and of the right to retain ownership of that information.

Firstly, let’s dive into what this piece of legislation means. Last October, President Obama passed regulations that required ISPs to obtain consent before collecting your personal browsing data. Set to go into effect later this year, those regulations are now dead in the water.  Arguably, since they hadn’t yet been implemented, the state of internet privacy is surely now the same as it’s always been? So why are President Trump’s measures so significant, and why has this become an issue? Let’s break it down. 

We’re all aware we’re being watched online. We’re all aware of hackers, identity thieves, and other dangers that go along with accessing the web. That we’re also tracked by legitimate companies isn’t news, either. Who hasn’t had a conversation with a friend about how creepy it is to Google something one day, then see an ad for it on your Facebook account the next? I’m sure we can all agree it’s sort of scary to know how much is known about us, but the conversation ends there. We never take the conversation further.

Let that sink in. We never take the conversation further. Imagine someone was following you around the grocery store, always at your elbow, watching you take every item from the shelf or the produce bin and put it in your cart. After making a run for your car, locking the doors, and getting the hell out of there, would there be anything else you’d talk about for the rest of that day? That week? You’d tell your friends, you might even tell the police, you’d do everything you could to prevent it from happening again.

For many of us, simply accepting this kind of surveillance as the price we must pay for using free online services is not okay. Not only does this new legislation violate that belief, it’s just another example of what seems like the government’s being controlled by the highest bidder.

We at HMA! believe no one has the right to to violate your online privacy, and certainly not to profit from it. We’ve spent years building and honing a service that embodies our belief that everyone should have access to any online information, everyone should be able to access it safely, and that no one should have to sacrifice device performance to do so. The fact that we have to continue reiterating these principles is proof of their importance: they never stop being challenged.

So, what now? Is internet privacy really dead?

It doesn’t have to be, not if ordinary people like all of us fight.

Hide My Ass! encourages you to stay educated and help educate those around you, so you can take action. Know what’s happening worldwide with internet privacy, censorship, access. We’ll continue to share the most relevant news on our Facebook and Twitter channels, as well as here on the blog. Pass along news you think others need to know. Then let your elected officials know what you think. This former Congressional staffer has good advice about how to be heard, and apps like Resistbot, Democracy.io, and Call to Action make it unbelievably easy to do so, repeatedly.  

Second, protect your privacy online. Period. Whether it’s from your ISP, Google, Facebook, or cyber criminals, you need to take responsibility for taking this step and encouraging those you care about to do so, too. You should look at and adjust your privacy settings, pay attention to what you opt into online, and install and use Hide My Ass! VPN (virtual private network) to encrypt your data and hide your activity.

So the next time you and your friends discuss the news of the day, like the rollback of the FCC regulations, or share how freaky you find it that search engines seem to know your every move, don’t stop with astonishment or outrage. Don’t just throw up your hands. Continue the conversation. Then do something about it, because online privacy is everyone’s right. And rights only stick around when they’re fought for.

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WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY?

What is net neutrality?

You are familiar with the internet? That wonderful thing that gives you access to this puppy video? Well, net neutrality is one of the principles that truly makes the internet great. It’s the concept that individuals using the internet should have open and equal access to all websites, applications, and content. The effect of this open market is that, for instance, startups can challenge established players. So who would ever want to get rid of that basic principle? Your internet service provider (ISP), that’s who.

Without net neutrality, your ISP can begin to charge companies, websites, and products a premium to allow people faster access to their content. Your ISP can potentially then turn around and charge you for different levels of access (faster or slower), based on your location, websites you want to visit, or services you desire.

Imagine for a moment that net neutrality hadn’t existed in the early days of social media. Facebook probably never would have stood a chance. We’d all still be on Myspace worrying about who’s in our top eight. And no one wants that, right?

How did we get here?

Once upon a time, in the early 2010s, the FCC pushed to classify ISPs under the less regulated Title I. Then Verizon, owner of this cringe-worthy commercial and powerhouse ISP, sued the FCC and won. Over the next few years, debate of the issue raged.

Then, in 2014, John Oliver called on President Obama, the FCC, and the whole internetto bring public attention to the importance of preserving net neutrality.

A year later, the FCC passed landmark regulations making net neutrality a regulated practice under Title II. Title II is what we currently use to classify ISPs as telecommunications services, a highly regulated industry.

Fast-forward to 2017, and Ajit Pai, the current, Trump-appointed FCC chairman, claims that net neutrality hurts the growth of the internet service industry. Pai has for a long time been one of the loudest voices against net neutrality. And now he heads the Republican-controlled FCC that just voted to begin the process to get rid of net neutrality.

All this, despite the fact that hundreds of tech companies of all sizes support net neutrality. Hundreds of articles have been published about how much this will negatively impact the internet for everyone. The public seems to agree with keeping net neutrality.

So it’s not hard to pinpoint who’s behind this campaign against net neutrality. ISPs are already invading your internet privacy. They have been caught lying about the situation. Ajit Pai used to work for Verizon.

Bottom line: the internet has always been an open and free place. It’s the companies giving you access who seem to want to ruin that.

How can individual citizens make a difference?

John Oliver has covered everything from televangelists to Brexit. One of the few things he has covered more than once is net neutrality. That’s one way, and probably the best way, of measuring how serious this situation is.

When Oliver first covered the issue in 2014, he challenged everyone on the internet to publicly comment on the FCC website. Which made their site crash.

This time around, the FCC is prepared for a big rush of comments, and it will probably take many times the number of comments to convince them net neutrality ought to be preserved, because the people demand it.

But the people of the internet won’t be outdone. With websites like www.battleforthenet.com  which provides you with everything you need to fight for net neutrality. No seriously, everything. From a form that will send to your Congress members and the FCC to the relevant memes to post on your social media pages.

This fight will only be won with an overwhelming amount of public support. Don’t be silent. And see you in the comments section!

In the meantime, start thinking about how to begin to protect yourself. Without net neutrality, ISPs could potentially favor certain websites or locations. HMA! actively combats ISPs from viewing the websites you visit while hiding your location. Get Hide My Ass! to stay private online, safe from your ISP’s prying eyes.

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