For Freedom Friday this week, I want to mention something you may not have heard about.
I had no idea this was going on until just yesterday…
…and for countless Americans, this has been happening for YEARS.
That’s the thing — nobody knows how long, because it’s been completely secret…
…and only just got revealed by ACCIDENT!
See, a couple of days ago, the Justice Department accidentally unsealed a “keyword warrant” — a secret warrant used to ORDER Google to hand over search data on anyone who searched for a specific person’s name.
The data Google gave the government included user names and IP addresses.
That’s all the government needs for a warrant to come after you — which means you search for a term, maybe even just out of curiosity for something you see on the news, and you could get picked up for questioning… arrested… even thrown in jail as a suspect!
And there’s no way to create a list of “forbidden Google search words,” because the words could completely innocent without context.
They all come down to what the government secretly tells Google it wants to monitor.
So basically, you’re taking your freedom in your hands every time you search with any search engine.
So what do you do about it?
You only have a few options.
First, you could follow some of the general data security protocols in books like Avoiding The Eye — which basically tell you some simple steps you can take to make your data harder to track.
Most importantly, you could start using a Virtual Private Network for your phone and computer(s).
A VPN basically routes all your Internet traffic through encrypted servers at the VPN service’s facility, so your Internet Service Provider and your search engines only know that you went to that VPN, NOT what you searched for.
At least until the government makes VPNs illegal, or outlaws the information in books like Avoiding The Eye, that’s your best line of defense.
But you HAVE to start protecting your data.
Because you could become a criminal just for typing in a search word… and there’s no way to know what that word could be!
