Episode Summary
In today’s episode of Stupid Sexy Privacy, a WAYWO.TV Special Report sponsored by DuckDuckGo, Comedian Rosie Tran explains why you should regularly update the software on the devices inside your home (but especially, your router.) Than, Rosie explains how to keep the username and passwords for these household devices by ... You guessed it. Keeping them in your Privacy Notebook.
Show Notes From 2022 (Slightly Revised for 2024)
Hi! Welcome to our educational and hopefully funny miniseries about how to protect yourself from fascists and weirdos.
Just a note before we begin that Stupid Sexy Privacy is sponsored by DuckDuckGo. So if you like the show, go check them out and let them know we sent you.
In today’s episode, comedian Rosie Tran explains why you should practice good privacy hygiene. This is especially important for your Internet-connected devices. Otherwise, your fancy robot vacuum cleaner may start shouting racial slurs at you. No. We’re not joking.
Also in this episode: We share more from B.J. Mendelson’s first book on privacy, “Privacy: And How We Get It Back.” Roger Wayne, the narrator of the world-famous “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” is the voice actor who narrated the audiobook. This week’s excerpt features a fun history lesson about World War 1. Great to know because World War 3 looks like it’s just around the corner!
Listen to this episode to learn:
- Why you should set aside a dedicated time each month to ensure that all the software on your most important devices is up to date.
- Why you should keep your most important passwords offline (and how to decide if it’s important and what’s not.)
- How and when the American government started invading the privacy of its citizens.
Key Episode Takeaways
-Investing in security to protect your devices and information is not a top priority for most companies. So once a month, you need to set up some time to make sure your software is up to date.
-If the device is important (like your router and modem) you want to keep those passwords offline, in your privacy note book. You bought one already, right?
-All other passwords can be kept in a password manager like KeepassXC (for advance listeners) and 1Password (for everyone else.)
Episode Highlights
💡 Our goal is to educate & entertain so, we may sound a bit ridiculous. Some might say snarky even.
We want you to remember what we’re saying, so we will say it multiple times and in many different ways, including some which may be aggressive or hilarious. We’re trying to find an inroad into the deepest pathways of your brain and your memory so you’ll remember what we say.
💡 This show features a realistic take on what data privacy can look like for all of us.
By using the Internet, intrinsically, we give up some of our data and to use so many of our favorite services a bit more. But we probably aren’t ever going to stop using them completely, and so all of this advice is given within that framework. We can minimize the amount of data being collected by doing simple things like taping over our camera and using DuckDuckGo instead of Chrome and Safari.
💡 Most companies don’t invest in good cyber security, meaning that customers are, unfortunately, responsible for protecting themselves and their data through practicing good privacy hygiene. That means building good habits is important to keep yourself safe from facists and weirdos. We recommend setting aside some time, once a month, to make sure your software is up to date for your most important devices.
Top Quotes
[2:30] “If you access the service through your phone or laptop, you can put the passwords into your Password Manager. There are exceptions, like for your One Password Master Password, but almost everything else can go into One Password online.”
[2:54] “So, why do you want to keep track of these Internet-enabled devices? They're easy to hack. That's really the bottom line here.
And that's because most people just use the default username and password for those devices and then forget to update the software on a regular basis.
[5:05] “For most Americans, the government collecting data en masse and doing who knows what with it, is less than desirable. But this government collection of data has also been occurring for over 100 years, longer than you and I have been alive.
[8:25] “If you're an American, World War I is usually a blip on the radar screen of history class. This is because America didn't get involved in the global conflict until near the end of the war, and also because most history teachers are stuck teaching to tests generated by large for-profit companies that have swindled their way into completely dominating the American education system.”
Support The Show
*You don’t need to use these affiliate links. They don’t cost you anything extra to use. But. IF you do use these links, it’ll kick a couple of dollars our way to help support this project.
For more news and tips concerning maintaining your privacy and security, we recommend listening to our friends at Smashing Security.
Reserve Your Seat
BJ Mendelson and Amanda King are the authors of the upcoming book, “How to Protect Yourself From Fascists and Weirdos.” They are designing an email-based course around the topics discussed in the book and on our show. So, if you want more information on how to protect yourself from fascists and weirdos, complete with step-by-step details and tutorials, we recommend reserving a seat for the course.
All you need to do is email us at BJMendelson@Duck.com with “Privacy Course” in the subject line.
We’ll let you know when this course becomes available for purchase.
Did You Know?
There’s an audio error in this episode where Rosie reads the same line twice. You’re not losing your mind. It was a mistake BJ made in writing the episode.
This episode was originally posted in October of 2022. The story about the Internet-connected vacuums shouting racial epithets at their owners? Yeah, tha...
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