Get Ready (part 1 of 2)

The legendary spiteful streak of President-Elect Pumpkin is about to be combined with command over the greatest surveillance apparatus in human history.

Worried yet?

Here's why you should start encrypting everything... abso-frikkin-lutely everything!  Even if your plans for the next four years are to keep your head down, stay out of trouble, you can help the people planning massive protests or civil disobedience.

By encrypting all your email, text messaging, and web traffic, you add to the volume of encrypted internet matter that the surveillance apparatus has to crack to figure out what needs its loving attention.  Even if your own messages never rise above the "excitement" level of telling your partner to add milk to the grocery list, it's helpful.  Amping up the volume they have to deal with is what gives the people a chance to flip the script on surveillance.  The apparatus is huge, but it's finite.

That's part of the idea behind HTTPS Everywhere from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  If you use Firefox, Chrome or Opera you can add this extension to your browser.  (If you don't use Firefox, Chrome or Opera, pick one and start!)

In part 2, tomorrow, I will give some recommendations for encrypting your messaging, and safety ideas to practice on social media.