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This week on Privacy Tips, host BJ Mendelson walks through Chapter 2's essential security checklist from How to Protect Yourself from Fascists and Weirdos— including why a simple sticky note over your laptop camera matters more than you think, yes even in 2026 ten years after we first gave that advice in our original book on privacy, and how LinkedIn is used as a resource by fascists and weirdos to get "dirt" on their enemies. All this and more, including odd duck sounds, are waiting for you to enjoy.
Creators and Guests
What is Stupid Sexy Privacy?
Stupid Sexy Privacy is a miniseries about how to protect yourself from fascists and weirdos. Your host is comedian Rosie Tran, and the show is written by information privacy expert B.J. Mendelson. Every episode is sponsored by our friends at DuckDuckGo. Tune in every Thursday night —or Friday morning if you're nasty — at 12 am EST to catch the next episode.
BJ Mendelson (00:00)
Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of Privacy Tips, the sister podcast for Stupid Sexy Privacy. I'm your host, BJ Mendelson Today's show is made possible by our friends at DuckDuckGo. So if you enjoy what we do, check out their DuckDuckGo subscription. It comes with a simple and easy to use VPN, identity theft protection, data removal service, and more. Additional information can be found at DuckDuckGo.com slash subscribe.
And some features and offerings will vary based on your location.
Now my friends, stupid sexy privacy has wrapped, and you can find all of the episodes online at stupidsexyprivacy.com. All you have to do is click on that episodes page. And please pardon our dust as we it's it's time for a nice overhaul, I think, of the Stupid Sexy Privacy website. So pardon us if links don't work and things don't go where they're supposed to, we are working on it.
The purpose of Privacy Tips is to give me an opportunity to read from my version of how to protect yourself from fascists and weirdos. You'll be able to purchase the professional recorded audiobook in October, which is far better than what I'm giving you here. actually October is next week. So it should be anytime now. We're we're just waiting. I think the only holdup at this point is me. I never got around to finishing the PDF that's supposed to go with the audiobook. I will take care of that this weekend.
that is on me. so I I think I am the hold up at this point. As we go through my version of the book, I'm also gonna go and take some time to explain how to do certain things and expand on certain concepts that are covered. I think we're still going through the chapter two checklist. so this will be pretty straightforward like last week's and I think next week's will also be the end of the checklist. So it'll be kind of straightforward, but as we go into the actual book, I I will opine a a bit more.
We also have interviews that we're gonna share. next week's episode, which I'm excited to share with you, features an interview with Dr. Viet Trin at Ohio State University. He joined me to talk about policing and Flock safety cameras. So that will be next week's episode, which I think is October first. So October is literally right around the corner. this week though, we're gonna go through the checklist. I did a fun interview and with David Gerard.
that ran over on the Monroe Gazette. So that's why that interview is not included in today's episode. So we're gonna link to our sister podcast. I'm sorry, our sister newsletter. It is also a podcast, I guess. the Monroe Gazette, which is where I try to cover local news, but I I wind up talking way more about national stuff than I do anything local. But over at the Monroe Gazette we'll have the David Gerard interview from Pivot to AI. I'm gonna link to that in the show notes. So that is why Dr. Viet Trin's interview is running next week and not
this week with this episode. Let's get to our checklist though. again, it's pretty straightforward. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you find it useful and if you would like to get in touch with us with questions, comments, or concerns, you can find me at Signal at BJMendelson.32
Okay everyone, we're back and we are going to continue with this week's book excerpt. If you are following along, All you have to do is visit stupid sexyprivacy dot com and click or tap on the word book, and you will get the entire, the entire How to Protect Yourself from Fascists and Weirdos right there for free.
if you want to read more than chapter two, all you have to do is sign up for the newsletter. It does not cost you a thing. And you get these wonderful weekly editions of privacy tips delivered to your inbox. Usually on Thursday morning, unless I am running late like I am today, which is why today's episode's a little behind schedule. All right. We're gonna go into this week's book excerpt.
And again, this is just me run reading off of the chapter two is just a big ass checklist. and I'll explain why that was when we get to next week's episode. From the checklist. Consider poisoning the photos you upload to stop AI companies from stealing them. Nightshade is a program that can help you do that. we didn't say too much about poisoning AI in in the book. That was something that was kind of
cropping up as I was completing it. so that is definitely something that we will come back to in a future edition of Stupid Sexy Privacy or Privacy Tips. so I don't have much to elaborate on poisoning your photos, but that is something you can do. And it's something that we quickly highlighted in the book. Use a sticky note or tape on any internet connected camera in your home. We recommend silenced reusable stickers for this. On your phone, you do not need to cover up
All of your cameras. Just that front facing one went signuse.
Emails sent between Proton users, which is the email service we recommend, are encrypted except for the subject lines. If you send an email from Proton to a non-proton customer, this is very important, you will need to take additional steps to send an encrypted email. Proton does provide a handy little guide for that. We have it linked on our contact page, which is where we tell you to use Proton Mail. So if you want to learn a bit more about those steps and just a bit more about why you should be using Proton Mail instead of anyone else.
go to stupid sexy privacy dot com and click on our contact page. We have a whole thing over there on Proton.
If you're using a Mac, turn on the firewall they provide and file vault. If you're using Windows, switch to Ubuntu. Nothing you do will keep you safe.
Also for Mac customers, we recommend Knockknock and Task Explorer to help scan and keep your computer free of malware. That's Nock Knock and Task Explorer. We also recommend Lulu. Lulu helps monitor outgoing connections made from your device. All three of these programs are free and offered through the Objective C Foundation, a not-for-profit focused on Mac security. You run Knock Knock and Task Explorer at least once a week.
setting up Lulu can be a little confusing. there's a you get a whole lot of dialogue boxes when you first install it. And if you don't know what those things are, it can be a little overwhelming at first. but it is worth doing. So if you choose to use Lulu and I personally use it, I've been using it for a year or so now
Since we first came across the program, but it does take some time just to if you're gonna use it, read through the documentation about how to appropriately use it and how to like navigate those because you're gonna install it, you're gonna get hit with like a wave of pop-ups and you're not necessarily gonna know what they are. So do read the documentation if you have a few minutes just to kinda figure those out. Back up your files on external hard drive instead of the cloud.
Make sure you have a third backup option in addition to the external hard drive, which is your first and your laptop, which is your second. A third backup option should include your most important documents. Give this to a trusted friend or family member on a flash drive. If no friends or family are available, put this info on a flash drive and keep it in a safe.
Anytime you're asked to accept cookies, reject them. If you can't, select on where it usually says only the necessary ones.
Watch out for LinkedIn connections. If you don't know who someone is on LinkedIn, do not connect with them. Remove any followers you do not know on social media platforms that you use. Fascists and weirdos will try to find everything they can to attack and discredit you. LinkedIn is usually their first stop.
Run Block Party, which can delete your older posts on many social media platforms such as LinkedIn. It also is very good at tightening up your security settings. after publication, Block Party was purchased by the people who put out Delete Me. So I I at this time, at the time that I'm recording this and talking to you, there doesn't appear to be any major changes, but that's something just to keep an eye on. That Block Party was sold to another company.
so I you know, in the future if you're listening to us, there might be some things that change there.
If you work at home, don't forget to disable your cameras and microphones. Talk to your human resources department about what information the company collects, what they do with it, and if you can opt out. They will probably say no. But it is a conversation worth having. And if they say no, this is when you unionize and make them say yes. We're we're a pro union family here at stupid sexy privacy. So any chance we can to tell you to join a union or or
Form your own. We're we're gonna do it. And that's just another good in example of that.
Speaking of opt outs, many doctors' offices and hospitals now use software like MyChart and Phreesia Phreesia allows you to write to opt out of any data sharing if you email them and request it. Epic, the company behind MyChart, did not respond to our request to clarify whether or not you can opt out of any data sharing involved with their app. You can, however, speak to your doctor's office to share your privacy concerns. HIPAA does not protect your medical information at all. Like people
Think that HIPAA is like this magical thing that shields everything and does not. So that is very important for you to keep in mind when you're using my chart in Foraesia. That like HIPAA does not protect you there. So always be aware of what medical data is being collected by your apps and devices. If you're the victim of a scam, visit victimconnect.org or call them directly at 1-855-4 Victim. That's 1-855-4855.
Victim, which actually translates to 855-484-2846. That number again is 855-484-2846. As they describe the service, the Victim Connect Resource Center is a 24-hour a day, seven day a week, anonymous and confidential hotline, where victims and survivors of crimes can receive support, information, and referral options confidentially and compassionately.
If you are the victim of a romance scam, blackmail, or identity theft, you are not alone. Tell your friends and family and ask for help. Report scams whenever you can, and if these scams lead to identity theft, which they probably will, report it to the FTC ASAP at identitytheft.gov. Follow the FTC's suggestions on what to do next. You'll also need the FTC report, by the way, to bring to the police to file an official report, so do not lose it.
And that website again is identityft.gov. And finally for this week, don't open random links. I mean, if you're listening to this, you probably have a good idea not to do that, but let's repeat it. Do not open random links. If you have a question whether or not that link is legit, we recommend running it through virus total.com. That's virus total.com slash G UI slash home slash URL.com slash G UI slash home slash URL. And that's a great place to go.
If you have questions about the legitimacy of whether or not a link you sent is safe to click on. That's all for this week. I I mentioned these are pretty straightforward. We'll finish the checklist next week. And we'll also have Dr. Via Trin join us as well. if you have any questions about anything we talk about in this book excerpt, again, you can find me on signal BJ Mendelson dot thirty two.
Today's episode of Privacy Tips was recorded in Hollywood, California, sponsored by DuckDuckGo. It is written, produced, and hosted by me, BJ Mendelson. Before we go, I want to give a shout out to the production team at Stupid Sexy Privacy. They will return. It's just a question of money. When there is enough money, they will return. So let's give a shout out to Andrew Van Voris, Rosie Tran, and Amanda King. We will try to bring you new episodes as soon as we can. They are expensive to produce, but we are going to try our best. And of course, we like to thank our friends at DuckDuckGo.
If you enjoyed today's show, we hope you'll take a moment to leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you may be listening. This won't take more than two minutes of your time. You see, we have this crazy goal and we need your help to achieve it. We want 5% of Americans to be 1% better, just 1% better, at protecting themselves from fascists and weirdos. Leaving us a review can help make that happen. That's because your reviews will help other people find the show. So please take a moment to leave us a review and we'll see you next Thursday.
Thursday, Thursday on privacy tips.