How to lie and cheat your way to better online privacy; Windows 10 is going to hog more of your disk space, and Samsung makes a commitment to do something good for the environment.
Trending on Twitter, yesterday was Data Privacy Day. Organized by the National Cyber Security Alliance, the day was all about boosting awareness of best practices for online privacy. In that spirit, I have a few tips that I’m calling “How to lie and cheat your way to better online privacy:”
- If you’re signing into a public WiFi hotspot, never share your real information. Just enter a fake email address and most times you’ll just get connected. And pay attention to whether you can just skip this screen altogether.
- Create a disposable email account that you use to sign up to online promotions or contests. That way you can still verify that you received the email when you have to, but you won’t reveal your real name or email.
- Lie about your birthday. Just because an online service asks you for your birthdate doesn’t mean you have to give it to them. Just make up any other date. Having your real date of birth could be used by fraudsters to steal your identity.
Trending on Reddit, Microsoft now requires that you reserve 7 GB of disk space dedicated to Windows 10. This is so critical operating system functions have access to disk space and to help keep Windows up to date. Having reserved disk space means that users can’t fill up their hard drives to the point that there’s no space left to download and install new updates. The feature is rolling out to everyone later this year, but if you’re a Windows Insider then you can get access now.
Trending on Google, Samsung is getting rid of its plastic packaging. The Korean electronics manufacturer says it will use only sustainable materials starting in the first half of this year. By next year, it will be using only paper packaging materials. An internal task force has been given the job of coming up with ways of avoiding plastic packaging. Even your phone charger cables will look different, with no more glossy exterior or plastic protection films coating the exterior. Samsung says it’s committed to the change, even if it means higher costs.